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Jammed 999 lines and not enough ambulances to go round

This is a sick country, getting sicker. NHS waits will take years to clear, if at all. While people wait, they get sicker. When more and more people slip into absolute poverty – a fifth of people now – they get even sicker. More sicken as they age, and that peak has not yet been reached. Every part of the NHS feels at the sharp end, coping mostly because, amazingly, they just do, even with no end in sight to the stress.

NHS data released last week on people waiting more than 18 weeks with serious heart problems suggests some will probably die before they get treatment. When waiting patients have heart attacks and strokes they call an ambulance – so there’s been an astonishing 7% rise in those category 1 calls.

At an ambulance dispatch centre in Kent, Polly Toynbee listens in to calls like this at the South East Coast Ambulance Service dispatch centre in Gillingham, north Kent, covering Surrey, Sussex and Kent. She sat with D, a seasoned and sympathetic emergency medical adviser, call handler and life-and-death decider.

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Source: The Guardian, 17 April 2024

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Jamaica’s women let down by failure of cervical cancer vaccine drive

Plans to prevent one of the deadliest cancers for women in Jamaica have been significantly set back by the Covid pandemic, new figures reveal.

The scheme to vaccinate schoolgirls against cervical cancer in Jamaica – which is the cancer with the second highest death rate in the Americas – began in 2018, but the Pan American Health Organization says inoculation rates fell to just 2.71% in 2021. This represents a drastic drop from the 2019 rate of 32%, and far from the WHO target of 90% by 2030.

The cancer, which is curable if caught early, kills 22 in every 100,000 women in Jamaica. By comparison, in the UK the rate is 2.4 in every 100,000, and in Canada it is 2.

Prevention of cervical cancer in Jamaica is also hindered by low rates of cervical screenings. 

“Women are afraid of the screening process and potential pain, but there is also a fear of a cancer diagnosis itself,” said Nicola Skyers of Jamaica’s Ministry of Health. “Some people just prefer not to know. But I also think that healthcare providers don’t offer screenings often enough. If a healthcare provider is really ‘selling’ the pap smear, more often than not the woman will choose to have it.”

Health workers are forced to focus on cures rather than preventions amid staffing shortages and an overburdened healthcare system, said Skyers. “As a doctor, you won’t be encouraging every women you see to do a pap smear if you have 40 patients waiting outside.”

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Source: The Guardian, 2 February 2023

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JAMA editorial blasts FDA's reporting of medical device problems

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) needs to do more to quickly and substantially reform its system for reporting adverse events caused by medical devices, two researchers wrote in an Editorial published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The editorial notes several instances where information on a medical device was withheld from the public or not reported fully. 

The current adverse events reporting system relies on device makers to voluntarily report adverse events, which the authors say does not place patient safety as a priority. 

The editorial specifically highlights a study involving Medtronic's Insync III model 8042 heart failure pacemaker, which the authors said caused a "high burden of serious adverse events (including death)." The authors said it took the FDA 19 months to recall the device after the first instance of the device failing was reported. The FDA also decided to classify the recall as Class II, which signifies a low probability of serious adverse events. 

"This long unexplained delay before the recall and the inappropriate recall classification raise concerns about patient harms that could have been prevented by speedier and stronger regulatory actions," the authors wrote. 

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Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 10 January 2020

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Jailed women in UK five times more likely to suffer stillbirths, data shows

Women in prison are five times more likely to have a stillbirth and twice as likely to give birth to a premature baby that needs special care, new data collected by the Observer shows.

Following two baby deaths in prisons since 2019 there have been increasing concerns about safety for pregnant women and their babies.

Figures obtained through freedom of information requests made to 11 NHS trusts serving women’s prisons in England show 28% of the babies born to women serving a custodial sentence between 2015 and 2019 were admitted to a neonatal unit afterwards – double the national figure, according to data from the National Neonatal Research Database.

The findings come as the House of Lords prepares to vote this week on proposed changes to bail and sentencing laws that would improve the rights of pregnant women and mothers facing criminal charges.

A report published in September examined the circumstances of a baby’s death at Bronzefield prison in Surrey where an 18-year-old was left to give birth alone in her cell. 

When Anita rang her cell bell at 5.30am when she went into labour the guards said they would send somebody. It was only during the morning rounds at 7.30am that a nurse was called. She was transferred to hospital at 10.30am. Anita said: “Despite being in active labour the guards would not remove my handcuffs and ignored me when I asked them to call the baby’s father and my mum – who were eventually contacted by a doctor.”

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Source: The Guardian, 5 December 2021

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Jabbed adults infected with Delta ‘can match virus levels of unvaccinated’

According to new data, those who have been vaccinated against Covid-19, can still  harbour virus levels as high as unvaccinated people if infected with the Delta variant. This new data suggests that hitting the threshold for herd immunity remains unlikely. However, it evidence does show vaccination still offers protection against hospitals and infection. 

“We don’t yet know how much transmission can happen from people who get Covid-19 after being vaccinated – for example, they may have high levels of virus for shorter periods of time, but the fact that they can have high levels of virus suggests that people who aren’t yet vaccinated may not be as protected from the Delta variant as we hoped.” said Sarah Walker, a professor of medical statistics and epidemiology at the University of Oxford.

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Source: The Guardian, 19 August 2021

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Jab for winter virus could cut baby hospitalisations by 80%, study says

Hospital admissions from a winter virus could be reduced by more than 80% if babies are given a single dose of a new antibody treatment, a study says.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms, but can lead to bronchiolitis and pneumonia.

More than 30,000 under fives are hospitalised with RSV in the UK annually, resulting in 20 to 30 deaths.

One British parent said her son getting RSV was "very scary" as a first-time mother.

Lorna and Russell Smith's eldest son, Caolan, got the virus when he was eight months old and was admitted to hospital twice - each time requiring oxygen.

Now aged two, he has made a full recovery.

"I hadn't heard of RSV and wasn't sure what to do. He had laboured breathing due to high temperature and was quite lethargic. It brought a lot of anxiety and stress," Lorna said.

The Harmonie study involved 8,000 children up to the age of 12 months, with half receiving a single dose of the monoclonal antibody treatment nirsevimab.

The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that RSV-related hospitalisation was reduced by 83% in those receiving the jab and admissions for all chest infections were cut by 58%.

Side effects were similar in both groups and mostly mild.

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Source: BBC News, 27 December 2023

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IVF clinic investigated over possible damaged eggs

More than 100 patients who had eggs and embryos frozen at a leading clinic have been told they may have been damaged due to a fault in the freezing process.

The clinic, at Guy's Hospital in London, said it may have unwittingly used some bottles of a faulty freezing solution in September and October 2022.

But it said it did not know the liquid was defective at the time.

One patient at a second clinic, Jessop Fertility in Sheffield, has also been affected, the BBC has learned.

The fertility industry regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), said it believes the faulty batch was only distributed to those two clinics.

It is believed that many of the patients affected have subsequently had cancer treatment since having their eggs or embryos frozen, which may have left them infertile. This means they now may not be able to conceive with their own eggs.

Guy's Hospital's Assisted Conception Unit is now being investigated by the HFEA, because of a delay in informing people affected.

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Source: BBC News, 14 February 2024

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IUD perforation is rare, but women should still know about it

New study results in more precise language in the federally mandated warning about this possibility. (Article from the USA)

Women who choose to use an intrauterine device, or IUD, for birth control should be aware of the very small possibility that the device could puncture their uterus. They should know how to recognize that circumstance if it occurs, according to a new study published in The Lancet.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration mandated the study to evaluate women's risks when an IUD is placed in the year after giving birth and when an IUD is placed during the period that a woman is breastfeeding a baby. These results were compared, respectively, with non-postpartum insertions and insertions in non-breastfeeding individuals, explained UW Medicine’s Dr. Susan Reed, the study’s lead author.

Across the study cohort of 327,000 women, the percentage of perforation cases diagnosed within five years of IUD insertion was 0.6 %, the study concluded.

  • The risk of perforation increased by nearly seven times if it was inserted between four days and six weeks postpartum, and increased by about one-third if inserted during the span of breastfeeding.
  • The risk of an IUD-related perforation was relatively lower when inserted in women who were more than a year beyond delivery, in women who had never had a baby, and when the insertion occurred at delivery.

Read full article here

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Italy's medical workers: 'We became heroes but they've already forgotten us'

"I'm not sure I want to be a nurse anymore," she tells me. "I've seen more people die in the past two months than in the whole six years."

Some 70% of health workers dealing with COVID-19 in Italy's hardest-hit areas are suffering from burnout, a recent study shows. "This is actually the hardest moment for doctors and nurses," says Serena Barello, the author of the study.

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Source: BBC News, 26 May 2020

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Italy announces inquiry into its handling of Covid-19 pandemic

Italy will carry out an inquiry into its handling of the coronavirus pandemic in a move hailed as “a great victory” by the relatives of people killed by the virus but criticised by those who were in power at the time.

Italy was the first western country to report an outbreak and has the second highest Covid-related death toll to date in Europe, at more than 196,000. Only the UK’s death toll is higher.

The creation of a commission to examine “the government’s actions and the measures adopted by it to prevent and address the Covid-19 epidemiological emergency” was approved by the lower house of parliament after passing in the senate.

Consuelo Locati, a lawyer representing hundreds of families who brought legal proceedings against former leaders, said: “The families were the first to ask for a commission and so for us this is a great victory. The commission is important because it has the task, at least on paper, to analyse what went wrong and the errors committed so as not to repeat the massacre we all suffered.”

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Source: The Guardian, 15 February 2024

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It’s scandalous so few pregnant women in the UK are vaccinated against Covid

It is coming up to a year since the first mRNA vaccines were approved for use against COVID-19, and almost seven months since they were approved for expectant mothers. The initial government advice was was that they should hold off getting a jab, but since more data has become available, medical experts have been encouraging women to get vaccinated. But there has been no big government awareness campaign, despite pregnant women being identified as a vulnerable group. The proportion of fully vaccinated pregnant women in the UK is as low as 15% (in the US, it is more than twice that, at 33.8%).

That such a small porportion of pregnant women are fully vaccinated in the UK, seven months after vaccines were approved for them, is nothing short of a scandal. And more women and their babies are at risk of dying because of it. Recent figures for England show that one in six critically ill patients are unvaccinated pregnant women with Covid. Of the 20 pregnant women requiring the highest level of life-saving care, 19 were unvaccinated and one had received one dose.

These are frightening statistics, but on their own they do not seem to be enough to persuade pregnant women to get vaccinated. In order to do that, it’s important to understand why we are seeing such high levels of hesitancy...

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Source: The Guardian, 29 October 2021

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It’s beyond dreadful. We’re now running A&E out in the corridor and waiting room

The intense pressure on the NHS in recent weeks has left hospitals unable to cope, patients at risk and staff in despair, writes an A&E doctor in this Guardian article.

"I’ve worked in the NHS for over 10 years and I’ve never known it as bad as it is now. A&Es are swamped and primary care is swamped too. It’s a very sorry of state for all concerned. The last few weeks have been beyond dreadful and it was all predicted by those on the ground months ago".

We’re now in a position in our A&E where we are looking after a ward and a half of admitted patients, who take up the bedded spaces, while simultaneously running an emergency department out of the corridor and waiting room. Having to manage the very sick in inappropriate areas is now becoming the norm.

An emergency department (ED) is not a safe place. It’s filled with some of the sickest people in a hospital, in a chaotic environment. There are lots of comings and goings, with patients being moved frequently and staff looking after multiple patients. It’s a recipe for things getting missed.

If you add in the fact that ED personnel work a shift rota, so new staff come on duty every few hours and they don’t necessarily know the patients, there is more scope for potentially vital information being lost.

"As ED doctors, we have always tried to give the dying a place of privacy, where loved ones can be with them in some relative peace. I would hope that same degree of compassion was present in all A&Es, but it’s becoming more challenging to provide."

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Source: The Guardian, 12 January 2023

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It's time to end the stigma: 62% of women would put off going to the doctor with symptoms of endometriosis

New stats from Endometriosis UK this week for Endometriosis Awareness Month reveal that 62% of women (aged 16-54) would put off going to a doctor with symptoms of endometriosis.

Reasons include they don’t think it’s serious enough to bother a doctor with, they’d be embarrassed, they don’t think they’d be taken seriously, or they think symptoms including painful periods are normal. This statistic rises to 80% of 16-24-year-olds.

1.5 million UK women  are currently living with endometriosis, with average diagnosis time standing at an unacceptable 8 years

Endometriosis UK says it is vital that Governments, society, the NHS and workplaces wake-up and recognise the symptoms and impact endometriosis can have, and afford those with the condition the support and access to treatment they need to manage their symptoms.

Commenting on the new research, Emma Cox, CEO of Endometriosis UK said: “Endometriosis is a long-term chronic health condition affecting 1.5 million in the UK, yet it still all too often considered a taboo or not important due to links with the menstrual cycle. Symptoms including chronic pelvic pain, painful periods, painful bladder and bowel movements, and infertility, can have a major, life-long impact, physically and mentally. But far too many find their symptoms are not believed nor taken seriously."

“Myths such as “chronic period pain is normal” or “you must have a low pain threshold” manifesting in society, workplaces, schools, and even healthcare settings contribute to those experiencing symptoms being put off from seeking medical advice and contribute to diagnosis taking on average a shocking 8 years.

“The impact of delayed diagnosis on people’s physical and mental health can’t be overstated. If undiagnosed, the disease may progress, and negatively impact people’s careers, education, relationships and all aspects of their life.”

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Source: Endometriosis UK, 1 March 2021

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It'll take four years for NHS to recover from COVID-19, health chiefs warn

The NHS will not be able to get back to providing its full range of services for as long as four years because of the huge disruption caused by COVID-19, hospital bosses have warned.

Patients will face much longer waits than usual for operations and diagnostic tests because hospitals’ drive to remain infection-free means they are closing beds, and surgeons’ need to wear protective clothing means they are carrying out fewer procedures than before the pandemic.

In a stark admission of the complexity of reopening the NHS, a key health service leader has predicted that some hospitals will be able to provide only 40% of the care they previously delivered.

Hospitals are under pressure from ministers and health charities to restart services as soon as possible for patients with conditions such as cancer, obesity and joint problems. But the chief executives of three NHS trusts in England have told the Observer that the “sheer complexity” of getting back to normal amid the lingering effects of COVID-19 means progress will be very slow.

“It could be four years before waiting times get back to pre-Covid levels. We could see that. It’s certainly years, not months,” said Glen Burley, the group chief executive of Warwick hospital, George Eliot hospital in Nuneaton and County hospital in Hereford.

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Source: The Guardian, 27 June 2020

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IT systems called to be changed after two suicides

After two cases where men took their own lives, coroners have called for changed to be made to GP IT systems. 

Coroner Emma Brown has raised concerns that a fault in the EMIS system can cause a GP to miss appointments due to consultation lists not being updated properly. The problem was reported in July 2020 and has still not been fixed. 

According to an inquest, one man who took his own life had been described as ' extremely anxious' after attending Accident and Emergency for a physical ailment and became very concerned about his health. Mr Pardeep Singh Plahe, an NHS pharmacist, was scheduled to have a telephone consultation, however, due a fault in the system, he was unable to have the call. It is believed that had he been able to have the call, he would still be alive today. 

Another case found that 21 year old Dyllon Milburn took his own life. He been found to be non-compliant with regards to taking his medication and the current EMIS system is not set up to remind patients to request and collect their repeat prescription, which may have helped encourage him to take his medication. Changes to the IT system could be set up to do this, but so far, no alerts have been set-up. 

A spokesperson for EMIS has said they acknowledge the coroners comments and will respond to them directly. The EMIS spokesperson believes the issue would also be best addressed through a practice’s standard safety medicine management process. 

Read full article. (paywalled).

Source: HSJ, 14 June 2021 

 

 

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IT system which sparked safety alert dropped by 13 trusts

More than a dozen trusts have changed their maternity IT system – or are in the process of doing so – following a national patient safety alert.

NHS England issued the alert  in December, after a fault was discovered with the Euroking maternity EPR, supplied by Magentus Software. It said information recorded in the EPR could overwrite previously recorded data, meaning the system could mislead clinicians.

While no cases of patient harm have been reported, NHSE instructed trusts using the system to “consider if Euroking meets their maternity service’s needs” and “ensure their local configuration is safe” by June.

A spokesperson for Euroking said: “We have identified a solution to the issues raised in the NPSA [alert], which has been shared with NHSE and with our customers. We’re now meeting each customer and are working with them individually to support the changes that need to be made based on their local configurations. We will continue working with the trusts to support them meeting the deadline outlined in the NPSA.

“As the NPSA outlined, it has been issued as a precautionary measure and there is no evidence of harm being caused to patients.”

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Source: HSJ, 12 April 2024

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IT system linked to clinical harm still used by 14 trusts

More than a dozen trusts are still using a widely criticised “suboptimal” electronic patient record system, which was discontinued by its supplier more than two years ago, HSJ can reveal.

A total of 14 trusts in England are still using the Lorenzo electronic patient record, made by the firm Dedalus, according to information collected by HSJ.

The supplier announced in 2022 it was no longer offering its Lorenzo product in the UK, and instead encouraging customers to move to its newer Orbis EPR.

Of the 14 trusts still using Lorenzo, eight have yet to carry out a procurement for a replacement, with some blaming a lack of funding.

Many trusts began moving away from Lorenzo in 2020 following the failed National Programme for IT and amid concerns about its quality.

Several incidents of clinical harm have been linked to the system in coroners’ reports and inquests, with issues including record duplication, deleting patient records and failing to send patient letters.

An NHS spokesperson said: “The NHS is investing additional funding to ensure hospitals have the right digital foundations in place to share information effectively so health and care staff can provide better care to patients.

“Electronic Patient Record procurements are large and complex investments for local organisations and implementations are a lengthy endeavour, which is why the NHS is providing comprehensive support to NHS organisations.”

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Source: HSJ, 13 September 2024

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IT outages hit thousands of services

Thousands of GP practices — and some other localised services — are without their IT systems today, due to global outages also affecting banking, media and aviation.

All EMIS GP IT systems, which are used by more than half of the 8,000-odd GP practices in England, were down. It was leaving many practices unable to book appointments or consult with patients first thing on Friday morning.

This will quickly lead to a backlog of appointments and likely pressure on other urgent care.

Patient-facing digital services linked to EMIS also appeared to be down, such as records access via the NHS app.

The National Pharmacy Association said some community pharmacy services were down — such as “accessing of prescriptions from GPs and medicine deliveries” were disrupted. It’s unclear if that is also caused by EMIS, or other systems.

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Source: HSJ, 19 July 2024

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It is crucial that doctors listen to patients – and their families

Merope Mills’s recent article in the Guardian should be mandatory reading for all medical and nursing students. All of us who are senior doctors or nurses will recognise only too well the dangerous conditions that Merope describes: the senior doctors with overinflated egos; the internecine warfare between departments; the nursing staff and junior doctors who are rendered impotent by repeated attempts to galvanise action from off-site but know-it-all seniors; the lack of integrated thinking that results when there is no consistent lead clinician; and, most dangerous, not listening to the patient or their relatives, and not directly examining the patient.

Candour and co-production are terms much used in healthcare, but for some staff these aspects of care are a million miles away from the ego-driven practice in which they engage. This is why Merope’s advice is so important. Do not have blind faith in your clinician. Do not leave all the thinking to them. Do equip yourself with knowledge and, most of all, do demand to be treated as an equal partner in the care of your body or your loved one.

Current and former healthcare professionals respond to Merope Mills’s account of losing her daughter after a series of catastrophic medical errors.

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Source: The Guardian, 11 September 2022

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IT failures causing patient deaths, says NHS safety body

Urgent action is needed to address NHS computer failings which are causing harm to patients, the patient safety watchdog has told BBC News.

The watchdog has evidence of patient deaths due to IT system errors.

The government called the reports "concerning" and said it would work with NHS England to take necessary action to protect patients.

A recent investigation found thousands of hospital letters were unsent due to computer issues.

The Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) says IT failures are among the most serious issues facing hospitals in England.

"We have seen evidence of patient deaths as a result of IT systems not working," said interim head, Dr Rosie Benneyworth.

Dr Benneyworth cited the example of a patient who was found unresponsive and then wrongly identified by healthcare staff as not wishing to be resuscitated.

Staff were unable to access information on the patient quickly through their IT system, which would have shown a mistake had been made, said the watchdog.

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Source: BBC News, 16 December 2023

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IT failure disrupts patient care ‘at number of trusts’

An IT failure has left clinicians at ‘a number of trusts’ which use the Cerner Millennium system unable to access patient records or write discharge summaries, according to an internal trust email seen by HSJ.

The email, sent to staff at Barts Health Trust this afternoon, said there was a “performance issue” with Cerner PowerChart which was affecting “a number of other trusts”.

The Powerchart programme is the part of the Cerner Millennium electronic patient record system used by clinicians to process document notes, request tests, view blood tests and scan reports.

At least 13 trusts in the English NHS are known to use the Cerner Millennium system but it is not yet clear how many trusts aside from Barts have been affected.

One clinician told HSJ the outage was “overwhelmingly unsafe” for patients.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 11 October 2022

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Israeli doctor believes he caught Omicron variant of Covid in London

A doctor who was one of the first people in the world to become infected with the Omicron variant says he believes he caught the virus when he was in London for a major medical conference attended by more than 1,200 health professionals.

The disclosure from Elad Maor will raise fears that the variant may have been in the UK much earlier than previously realised – and that other medics could have been exposed to it too.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Maor, a cardiologist at Sheba Medical Centre near Tel Aviv, described how he returned to Israel on 23 November after the three-day meeting at ExCeL London, a large convention centre in Newham, east London. He began experiencing symptoms within days, and tested positive on 27 November.

The time from exposure to symptom onset (known as the incubation period) is thought to be up to 14 days, though symptoms typically appear within five days of exposure.

Maor has so far shown mild COVID-19 symptoms, including a fever, muscle ache and a sore throat.

The revelation will raise fresh questions about how early the new variant may have been present in the UK and Europe. Governments around the world are urgently scouring databases for recent cases of Covid infections, screening travellers and decoding the viral genomes of the new variant as they try to measure how far it has spread and where it originated.

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Source: The Guardian, 1 December 2021

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ISMP to develop first community pharmacy medication error reporting programme for the State of California

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), a world leader in improving medication safety, is building a medication error reporting program and portal for community pharmacies licensed by the California Board of Pharmacy. This will be the first state-mandated medication error reporting program in the nation focused specifically on community pharmacy.

The creation of the California Medication Errors Reporting Program is a result of the enaction of Assembly Bill 1286 (Haney, Chapter 470, Statutes of 2023) in 2023 to improve patient safety and address staffing and workplace conditions in community pharmacies.

ISMP has decades of experience collecting and analysing medication error reports to identify risks and guide safety improvements across care settings. ISMP runs the only national voluntary, practitioner-based reporting system, the ISMP National Medication Errors Reporting Program, as well as the ISMP National Vaccine Errors Reporting Program and ISMP Consumer Medication Errors Reporting Program. 

Building upon the experience with existing ISMP reporting programmes, analysis, and error prevention efforts, ISMP will use submitted medication error reports to identify key trends, patterns and safety issues. ISMP will also provide the California Board of Pharmacy with an annual report based on aggregate data that includes reduction strategies and other actionable recommendations for safety improvements.

“The California Medication Errors Reporting Program will produce data-driven insights about preventable adverse events that can drive broad systemic change,” says Rita K. Jew, president of ISMP. “Reporting errors and near misses is essential to ensure the success of efforts to reduce risk in the community pharmacy setting. We applaud California for being a national leader in taking this forward-thinking step to safeguard patients and hope other states will implement similar programs.”

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Source: ECRI, 8 May 2025

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Isle of Wight patient sent home on first day of COVID-19 lockdown almost died

A patient almost died after being misdiagnosed and sent home from hospital on the first day of the lockdown as the NHS curtailed many normal services to focus on COVID-19.

The NHS trust involved has admitted that its failings led to the man suffering excruciating pain, developing life-threatening blood poisoning, and contracting the flesh-eating bug necrotising fasciitis. He needed eight operations to remedy the damage caused by his misdiagnosis.

The man, his wife and his GP spent three weeks after his discharge trying to get him urgent medical care. However, St Mary’s hospital on the Isle of Wight rejected repeated pleas by them for doctors to help him, even though his health was deteriorating sharply.

The man, who does not want to be named, said his experience of seeking NHS care for something other than COVID-19 during the pandemic had been “debilitating and exhausting” and that feeling the NHS “was not there” for him had been “very distressing” for him and his wife.

Mary Smith, of the solicitors Novum Law, who are representing the man in his complaint against the trust, said his plight highlighted the growing number of cases that were emerging of people whose health had suffered because they could not access normal NHS care in recent months.

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Source: The Guardian, 16 June 2020

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