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‘A fake Ozempic jab nearly killed me – it’s time for the Government to step in’

A 45-year-old mother who almost died after injecting herself with a life-threatening amount of insulin she thought was Ozempic is calling on the Government and social media companies to crack down on the online counterfeit weight-loss jab trade.

Michelle Sword, a receptionist from Carterton, Oxfordshire, first took Ozempic without any issues after she was prescribed it by a legitimate online pharmacy in early 2021. Ms Sword said she completed an online questionnaire and gave a false BMI that she knew would qualify her the drug. “I just told them what they wanted to hear,” she said.

Ms Sword said she takes responsibility for her actions, but criticised rogue sellers for taking advantage of people with insecurities and selling a product that “can kill you”.

She also wants the Government and social media companies to step in to tackle the trend. “I think the drug was in such infancy in what we knew about it that they weren’t able to “police” who got it, who took it, who sourced it. I think they [the Government] need to look at that.”

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Source: inews, 26 November 2023

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Bristol surgeon Tony Dixon defends not waking patient for consent

A surgeon has said it would have been "cruel and unacceptable" to have woken up a patient to get consent for a mesh operation.

Anthony Dixon is accused of failing to provide adequate clinical care to five patients at Southmead Hospital and the private Spire Hospital in Bristol.

He had pioneered the use of artificial mesh to lift prolapsed bowels.

Mr Dixon appeared at a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing in Manchester on Thursday.

He faces charges of performing procedures that were not "clinically indicated", failing to carry out tests and investigations and failing to obtain consent from patients.

It followed complaints many had suffered pain or trauma after having pelvic floor surgery using artificial mesh, a technique known as laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy (LVMR).

Giving evidence, he was asked why he did not consider waking up one female patient who underwent an LVMR, to get her consent to surgery.

Mr Dixon said it would have meant giving her more drugs for pain relief and could have "multiplied the risks" to her.

He is also accused of failing to advise patients about the risks of procedures, failing to discuss non-surgical options and dismissing patients' concerns when they experienced pain or other symptoms following surgery.

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Source: BBC News, 23 November 2023

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Official data masking long waits for the sickest patients

Several trusts are failing to admit their sickest emergency patients in a timely fashion, despite performing well in official waiting time statistics, HSJ can reveal. 

The internal NHS England data, obtained via a Freedom of Information request, reveals 12 trusts which have performed above the average against the four-hour accident and emergency target are delivering relatively poor waiting times for patients who require admission, as opposed to those who, for example, can be discharged after being seen. 

The unpublished provisional data shows an average of just 30% of admitted patients in England spend four hours or less in A&E against the 95% target.

But many trusts are falling significantly below this – including those trusts at or around NHSE’s interim target of 76% for four hours performance for all patients by March 2024.

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Source: HSJ, 24 November 2023

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Poor people much more likely to die from sepsis, study finds

Poor people and those with existing health problems are much more likely to die from sepsis, one of the UK’s biggest killers, a study has found.

Sepsis, or blood poisoning, is a potentially fatal condition triggered when the body reacts to an infection by attacking its own tissues and vital organs. It leads to an estimated 48,000 deaths a year in Britain.

Research from the University of Manchester has disclosed for the first time how some groups are at much higher risk of dying from the condition than the general population.

An analysis of 248,767 cases of non-Covid sepsis in England between January 2019 and June 2022 has found that the most deprived people are twice as likely to die from it within 30 days.

The findings, published in the journal eClinicalMedicine, also show that:

  • People with learning disabilities are almost four times more likely to get sepsis.
  • People with liver disease have about three times greater risk.
  • Patients with chronic kidney disease that is at stage 5 are more than six times as likely to develop it.

“This study shows socioeconomic deprivation, comorbidity and learning disabilities are associated with an increased risk of developing non-Covid related sepsis and 30-day mortality in England.”

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Source: The Guardian, 23 November 2023

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Dumped in A&E and left untreated for 5 days or more: Shameful plight of some of our most vulnerable patients

Doctors have sent a stark warning over the dire state of emergency care for mental health patients after half of A&Es revealed patients were waiting more than five days in hospital before getting the treatment they need.

The “truly alarming” figures, shared exclusively with The Independent, show vulnerable patients are being let down by “unacceptable delays” to their treatment, with one campaigner warning the issue has become a national emergency.

The data, collated by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), prompted a bleak verdict from top doctor Dr Adrian Boyle who said the system – which sees patients being cared for by A&E staff who are not specifically trained for their needs – was failing the most “fragile” patients.

Warning that mental health patients are being hit the hardest by long waits in A&E, Dr Boyle, the RCEM president, added: “These patients need effective and efficient care, they deserve compassionate care – crucially, they deserve better.”

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Source: The Independent, 20 November 2023

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Medicine shortages show broken system, pharmacists warn

The system for sourcing medicines in England is broken and needs a fundamental overhaul to prevent shortages, senior pharmacists have told MPs.

They were giving evidence at the first session of an inquiry by the Commons Health and Social Care Committee, which is exploring issues largely affecting community, primary care, and hospital pharmacy services.

Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, told MPs that shortages of antibiotics, hormone replacement therapy, and medicines to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder over the past few years were symptomatic of "a real problem". Pharmacists constantly find that "medicines come on the market and then, all of a sudden as soon as the demand goes a little bit up, they are no longer available," she explained.

She told the inquiry: "That indicates that something in the system is not right."

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Source: Medscape, 22 November 2023

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Hospital launches social care service to reduce ‘astronomical’ delayed discharges

An acute trust is launching its own social care service to reduce the ‘astronomical’ costs of delayed discharges.

Harrogate and District Foundation Trust is among the first NHS providers to branch out into direct social care provision, in what the trust says is a “lift and shift” from the model adopted by Northumbria Healthcare FT.

HDFT is now embarking on a six-month pilot of its new social care service. It comes as around 20 of the trust’s 300 beds are occupied by patients waiting for social care packages on a given day. 

Chief operating officer Russell Nightingale told HSJ  delayed discharges are leading to patients who could have returned home with the right support deteriorating in hospital and ending up in care homes. 

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Source: HSJ, 23 November 2023

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Eye patients pay for private treatment – or risk going blind in NHS backlog

Patients are being forced to pay for urgent eye care or risk going blind because of long NHS waits.

MPs will today hear the scale of the “emergency” with four in five high street optometrists revealing their patients have paid for private procedures in the past six months.

Dame Andrea Leadsom, the former House of Commons leader, business secretary and environment secretary, is being called on to commit to improving NHS eye care in her new role as public health minister.

Four in five optometrists say they have patients waiting more than a year to be referred for an NHS appointment or treatment, according to analysis by the Association of Optometrists (AOP), leaving them at risk of going blind.

About 640,000 people are waiting for an NHS ophthalmology appointment, more than any other speciality – accounting for about one in 11 people on the 7.8 million waiting list.

About half of these people say their sight is deteriorating while they wait to be seen. Tens of thousands have been waiting more than a year, the AOP said.

In a letter to Dame Leadsom, Adam Sampson, the chief executive of the AOP, said that high street optometrists should be used more widely across the NHS for “cataract surgery, help for glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration”.

Mr Sampson said: “With the expansion of primary eye care services, more patients will have a better chance of receiving improved treatment, faster and locally, which could prevent avoidable irreversible sight loss.”

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Source: The Telegraph, 23 November 2023

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Boy, 10, with asthma died due to ‘neglect by healthcare professionals’

A 10-year-old boy with severe asthma died as a result of multiple failings by healthcare professionals amounting to neglect, a coroner has concluded.

William Gray, from Southend, died on 29 May 2021 from a cardiac arrest caused by respiratory arrest, resulting from acute and severe asthma that was “chronically very under controlled”. His death has led to calls to improve asthma treatment for children nationwide.

The court heard that William’s death was a “tragedy foretold” having previously suffered a nearly fatal asthma attack on 27 October, 2020, which he survived.

The coroner said that William’s death was avoidable, his symptoms were treatable, and he should not have needed to use 16 reliever inhalers over 17 months, but instead his condition should have been treated with preventer medications and should have been controlled.

Julie Struthers, a solicitor at Leigh Day who represented the family, said, “In an inquest involving concerns with medical treatment it is rare for a coroner to find neglect, and even rarer for a coroner to find Article 2, a person’s right to life, to be engaged. This reflects the real tragedy of what happened to William, the substantial number of failures by multiple healthcare professionals in his care, and the importance of improving asthma treatment for children nationwide.”

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Source: inews, 22 November 2023

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Watch for measles, UK doctors told, as vaccine rate dips

Doctors must be on high alert for measles as vaccine rates among young children have dipped to a 10-year low, leaving some unprotected and risking outbreaks of the highly infectious and dangerous virus, experts say.

It is the first time in decades the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has issued national guidance such as this.

At least 95% of children should be double vaccinated by the age of five. But the UK is well below that target.

Latest figures show only 84.5% had received a second shot of the protective measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab - the lowest level since 2010-11.

Measles can make children very sick. The main symptoms are a fever and a rash but it can cause serious complications including meningitis. For some, it is fatal.

The RCPCH is worried the UK is now seeing a "devastating resurgence" of virtually eliminated life-threatening diseases such as measles, because of low vaccine uptake.

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Source: BBC News, 22 November 2023

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Third of UK carers with bad mental health have thoughts of self-harm, survey finds

A third of carers with poor mental health have considered suicide or self-harm, data shows.

Figures given to the Liberal Democrats by Carers UK reveal that many of the UK’s millions of carers who look after relatives have bad mental health, with some “at breaking point”.

In a survey of nearly 11,000 unpaid carers, the vast majority said they were stressed or anxious, while half felt depressed and lonely. More than a quarter said they had bad or very bad mental health. Of these, more than a third said that they had thoughts related to self-harm or suicide, while nearly three-quarters of those felt they were at breaking point.

Helen Walker, the chief executive of Carers UK, said: “Unpaid carers make an enormous contribution to society, but far too regularly feel unseen, undervalued and completely forgotten by services that are supposed to be there to support them.

“Not being able to take breaks from caring, being able to prioritise their own health or earn enough money to make ends meet is causing many to hit rock bottom.”

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Source: The Guardian, 22 November 2023

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New discharge data reveals significant variation among trusts

The trusts with the most patients waiting at least a week after they are ‘ready’ to be discharged can be identified for the first time, following publication of new NHS England data.

The new collection shows how long patients are spending in hospital after being deemed fit for discharge, with around 3.7% of all patients in England waiting a week or longer in hospital following their “discharge ready” date — although about half trusts have so far failed to report accurate data. 

However, there is considerable variation across the country, with six trusts recording more than double the national average in terms of the proportion of patients declared medically fit for discharge being delayed by a week or more.

Sarah-Jane Marsh, NHSE’s national director for urgent and emergency care, told HSJ in February that NHSE would aim to set a “baseline” for the discharge-ready data.

HSJ understands NHSE will revisit the idea of a new target based on how long patients wait for discharge after they are “ready”, using the new collection, when more trusts are publishing data.

It is also planning to publish data based on responsible local authority in future, given councils’ major role coordinating social care support for some people awaiting discharge.

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Source: HSJ, 23 November 2023

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ICSs told to prepare ‘nuclear’ service cuts as NHSE plays ‘hardball’

Health systems are still struggling to meet their financial plans, despite hundreds of millions being raided from investment budgets to help balance the books.

Senior leaders in most regions said the cash falls short of their existing financial gaps.

Earlier this month, NHS England announced that £800m would be made available to integrated care systems (ICSs) to offset the additional cost of strikes. 

HSJ understands ICSs reported a combined deficit that was £1.5bn worse than planned in the six months to October, which implies a gap of several hundred million pounds unless systems can report substantial surpluses for the second half of the year.

HSJ spoke to senior sources in all seven regions, with more than half saying their systems would still fail to deliver breakeven, despite the funding transfers.

A source in the South East said their system’s share of the funding “won’t touch the sides”, adding that NHSE was playing “hardball”.

Another local source said they had identified a set of “nuclear options” to balance the books, but these would be “catastrophic for quality of care and/or nigh-on impossible to deliver”.

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Source: HSJ, 22 November 2023

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Bleach does not tackle fatal hospital superbug, UK researchers find

Liquid bleach does not kill off a hospital superbug that can cause fatal infections, researchers have found.

Clostridium difficile, also known as C diff, is a type of bacteria found in the human gut. While it can coexist alongside other bacteria without problem, a disruption to gut flora can allow C diff to flourish, leading to bowel problems including diarrhoea and colitis.

Severe infections can kill, with 1,910 people known to have died within 30 days of an infection in England during financial year 2021-2022.

Those at greater risk of C diff infections include people aged over 65, those who are in hospital, people with a weakened immune system and people taking antibiotics, with some individuals experiencing repeated infections.

According to government guidance, updated in 2019, chlorine-containing cleaning agents with at least 1,000 ppm available chlorine should be used as a disinfectant to tackle C diff.

But researchers say it is unlikely be sufficient, with their experiments suggesting that even at high concentrations, sodium hypochlorite – a common type of bleach – is no better than water at doing the job.

“With antimicrobial resistance increasing, people need to recognise that overuse of biocides can cause tolerance in certain microbes, and we’re seeing that definitely with chlorine and C diff,” said Dr Tina Joshi, co-author of the research, from the University of Plymouth.

While chlorine-based chemicals used to be effective at killing such bacteria, that no longer appears to be the case, she said.

“The UK doesn’t seem to have any written new gold standard for C diff disinfection. And I think that needs to change immediately,” she said.

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Source: The Guardian, 22 November 2023

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To engage the private sector in health, we must align goals and share risks

Engaging the private sector in delivering health care and goods requires a sound understanding of how to align resources with the strategic priorities of a health system. The WHO Regional Office for Europe and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies have released a new report for policy-makers that analyses governance evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The question is not whether we should do it, but what we can do to do it well,” explained Dimitra Panteli, programme manager at the Observatory, who presented the policy brief during a WHO-hosted launch session at the European Public Health (EPH) Conference in Dublin.

Having played a key part in the COVID-19 pandemic, the private sector showed that it holds resources and expertise that can enhance the delivery of health goods and services and help achieve Universal Health Coverage. It also has a wider role in the maintenance of essential health services and in ensuring health system resilience. 

“We cannot have the illusion that we should not work with the private sector, especially as health services struggle to cope with backlogs caused by the pandemic,” pointed out Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, Director of Country Health Policies and Systems at WHO/Europe. 

This collaboration can however present challenges, for example around governance practices. Policy successes and failures during the pandemic provide lessons for countries on how to engage the private sector in their health systems effectively.

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Source: European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, 20 November 2023

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Patient privacy fears as US spy tech firm Palantir wins £330m NHS contract

The NHS has sparked controversy by handing the US spy tech company Palantir a £330m contract to create a huge new data platform, leading to privacy concerns around patients’ medical details.

The move immediately prompted concerns about the security and privacy of patient medical records and the suitability of Palantir to be given access to and oversight of such sensitive material.

NHS England has given Palantir and four partners including Accenture a five-year contract to set up and operate the “federated data platform” (FDP).

The British Medical Association, which had previously voiced concern about the NHS’s alleged lack of scrutiny of bidders on “ethical” grounds, said Palantir’s winning bid was “deeply worrying”.

NHS England sought to allay such concerns. It stressed that none of the companies in the winning consortium would be able to access health and care data without its explicit consent; that it would retain control of all data within the platform; and that it would not include GP data.

It said the new software would be protected by the highest possible standards of security through the deployment of “privacy enhancing technology”.

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Source: The Guardian, 21 November 2023

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Concern after unqualified medics given senior Birmingham hospital roles

Medics who are not qualified doctors have been used in senior roles at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

Physician associates (PAs) have worked as the responsible clinician in the liver unit with a consultant on call.

The RCPCH said it had heard the concerns of its members and the need for a clearly defined physician associate roles and training pathways.

The doctors' union, the British Medical Association, called for a delay on recruitment of PAs until the group was properly regulated and supervised.

The trust running the hospital said the physician associates did not work in isolation and only did the role with the right level of experience.

Introduced in 2003, the PA role involved supporting doctors so they could deal with more complex patient needs.

Usually, physician associates have a science degree and do a two-year post-graduate qualification. They are not doctors and are not allowed to prescribe drugs.

The role is currently unregulated with the government planning legislation for regulations to be introduced before the end of 2024.

PAs have worked at Birmingham Children's Hospital for 10 years but the BBC saw rotas which show them on tier two - normally a rota for senior doctors called registrars.

PAs were not allowed to work unsupervised overnight and there were consultants on call at all times to offer advice, they said.

Dr Fiona Reynolds, the trust's chief medical officer, insisted the safety and quality of care offered to children, young people and families remained a priority for everyone at the trust and would not be compromised.

"Although small in number, [the PAs] skills and dedication to offering the best for our patients complements that of their colleagues in all fields - all of which are hugely valued by our trust," she added.

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Source: BBC News, 21 November 2023

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Letby inquiry to seek rapid change to NHS services and culture despite legal delays

The public inquiry into the Lucy Letby murders will seek changes to NHS services and culture next year despite the fact that formal hearings are likely to be delayed until the autumn.

Inquiry chair Lady Justice Thirlwall will issue an update message later today. In it she will stress the inquiry will “look for necessary changes to be made to the system of neonatal care in this country in real time and at the earliest opportunity, avoiding delays in making meaningful change”.

HSJ understands Lady Thirlwall will look to agree on some changes, based on the inquiry’s evidence gathering and discussions with the sector before it begins oral hearings – which are unlikely to start for at least a year due to ongoing legal action.

Lady Thirlwall will say the legal constraints mean its early work will focus on the experience of families who were named in the cases already heard; and “on the effectiveness of NHS management, culture, governance structures and processes, as well as on the external scrutiny and professional regulation supposed to keep babies in hospital safe and well looked after”.

She said, “I want this to be a searching and active inquiry in the sense that it will look for necessary changes to be made to the system of neonatal care in this country in real time and at the earliest opportunity, avoiding delays in making meaningful change”.

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Source: HSJ, 22 November 2023

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USA: Despite decades of promises, health research still overlooks women

Women are underrepresented in clinical trials, and even lab mice are predominantly male – and the effects show up in almost every aspect of human health

Women are twice as likely as men to die from heart attacks; when a nonsmoker dies of lung cancer, it’s twice as likely to be a woman as a man; and women suffer more than men from Alzheimer’s and autoimmune disease.

Yet research into these conditions, and many more, generally fails to examine women separately. It’s even less likely to look at disparities affecting women of color – why, for instance, Black women are nearly three times more likely to die in pregnancy than white women are.

It’s been 30 years since the US Congress ordered the National Institutes of Health to make sure women were included equally in clinical trials. Despite some progress, research on women still lags, and there’s growing evidence that women and girls are paying the price.

“Research on women’s health has been underfunded for decades, and many conditions that mostly or only affect women, or affect women differently, have received little to no attention,” the first lady Jill Biden said in announcing a new White House initiative on women’s health research on 13 November.

“Because of these gaps, we know far too little about how to manage and treat conditions like endometriosis, and autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. These gaps are even greater for communities that have historically been excluded from research – including women of color and women with disabilities.”

Not only do researchers fail to include enough women in clinical trials, they often don’t look for differences between how men and women respond to treatments.

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Source: The Guardian, 20 November 2023

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Culture of impunity for NHS staff accused of sexual violence, say campaigners

There is a culture of impunity around sexual violence by healthcare staff in the NHS, with known perpetrators going unchallenged, campaigners have warned.

A report by Surviving in Scrubs, a group of female doctors campaigning against misogyny in healthcare, said staff known to be perpetrators of sexual violence, who are most often senior male doctors, are tolerated or regarded as untouchable.

The study, which analysed 174 incidents of staff-on-staff sexism, sexual harassment and sexual assault anonymously self-reported to the group’s website, found those who had been abused – mainly junior female doctors – struggled to get their complaints addressed.

Some women said they faced threats of reprisals from those they were accusing. They reported feeling gaslit by colleagues who they said remained silent and, in some cases, colluded with the perpetrator.

One woman referred to a perpetrator as the “Jimmy Savile of the surgical community”, and was told by a senior female colleague that “he was known for this behaviour, that he’d got away with so much before and he was capable of ruining careers”.

Of the 209 incidents reported to Surviving in Scrubs since it launched last summer, just over 42% (89) were sexual harassment, a fifth (43) were sexual assaults, nearly 2% were rapes, and almost 37% (77) concerned sexist behaviour. Some incidents were recorded in more than one category.

Dr Becky Cox, the co-founder of Surviving in Scrubs, said a culture of sexism and sexual abuse had become normalised in the NHS.

“When you’re [a woman] coming into this profession, you see senior male consultants who are derogatory, use sexist language, and assault you. Male medical students see this behaviour and think that’s normal. Then they go up the ranks and continue to perpetrate the behaviour. It’s a never ending cycle.”

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Source: The Guardian, 21 November 2023

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Brazilian butt lift death prompts meeting between UK and Turkey officials

UK officials are to meet with counterparts in Turkey following the death of a British woman during so-called Brazilian butt lift surgery at a private hospital in the country’s capital Istanbul.

Melissa Kerr, 31, from Gorleston in Norfolk, travelled to the private Medicana Haznedar hospital for the buttock enlargement surgery in 2019.

She died at the hospital on the day of the surgery, which involves fat taken from elsewhere on the body being injected into the buttocks.

An inquest into her death, which took place place in Norwich earlier this year, heard that Kerr, who was self-conscious about her appearance, was given only “limited information regarding the risks and mortality rate” associated with the operation.

Jacqueline Lake, the senior coroner for Norfolk, wrote to the health secretary expressing concern about people travelling overseas for cosmetic surgery.

In a written response to Lake, health minister Maria Caulfield confirmed UK officials would be travelling to Turkey to meet with their counterparts.

“The intention is to discuss the regulatory framework, and the protections that are in place for UK nationals, and to identify concrete areas where the UK and Turkish authorities should work together to reduce the risks to patients in the future,” Caulfield says in the letter first reported by the BBC.

“Specifically, I have noted in your report the lack of standard pre-assessment questions provided to Ms Kerr in Türkiye.

“We remain aware countries providing healthcare tourism often conduct pre-assessment checks that may not match UK regulatory standards and we want to encourage all providers treating UK nationals to meet international best practices on pre-operative procedures whenever possible.

“Such transparency and standardisation are important to reduce potential risks to patients and improve patient care in the UK and overseas."

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Source: The Guardian, 21 November 2023

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'Poor' NHS interpreting services leading to misdiagnosis and deaths, says group

Calls are being made to improve NHS interpreting services, with staff resorting to online translation tools to deliver serious news to non-English speaking patients.

The National Register of Public Service Interpreters said "poorly managed" language services are "leading to abuse, misdiagnosis and in the worst cases, deaths of patients".

The BBC's File on 4 programme has found interpreting problems were a contributing factor in at least 80 babies dying or suffering serious brain injuries in England between 2018 and 2022.

NHS England says it is conducting a review to identify if and how it can support improvements in the commissioning and delivery of services.

Rana Abdelkarim and her husband Modar Mohammednour arrived in England after fleeing conflict in Sudan, both speaking little English.

It was supposed to be a fresh start but they soon suffered a devastating experience after Ms Abdelkarim was called to attend a maternity unit for what she thought was a check-up.

In fact, she was going to be induced, something Mr Mohammednour said he was completely unaware of.

"I heard this 'induce', but I don't know what it means. I don't understand exactly," he said.

His wife suffered a catastrophic bleed which doctors were unable to stem and she died after giving birth to her daughter at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in March 2021.

He said better interpreting services would have helped him and his wife understand what was happening.

"It would have helped me and her to take the right decision for how she's going to deliver the baby and she can know what is going to happen to her," he added.

The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) found there were delays in calling for specialist help, there was no effective communication with Ms Abdelkarim, and the incident had traumatised staff.

Gloucestershire Royal Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has apologised and said it had acted on the coroner's recommendations to ensure lessons have been learned to prevent similar tragedies.

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Source: BBC News, 21 November 2023

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Two-year waits for community mental health services revealed for the first time

HSJ analysis of the NHS England data also found that 19,000 adults with a serious mental illness are waiting for longer than 18 months for a second contact with community mental health services. This is seen as a more meaningful metric for adults than the first contact.

In total, almost 240,000 children and young people were waiting for treatment from community mental health services in August 2023, as well as more than 192,000 adults.

The data revealed the median, or typical, waiting time for children and young people from referral to first contact was 178 days. The median wait time for adults from referral to “second contact” was 120 days.

The NHS long-term plan set out proposals for a four-week waiting time standard for children and adults to access community mental health services. This approach was piloted and a consultation published, but the new standards are yet to be implemented.

Sean Duggan, chief executive of the mental health network at the NHS Confederation, said leaders would be concerned – although “not surprised” – that patients were waiting so long for community services.

He added: “We need access and waiting times standards for all mental health services, to help us improve national data and to direct and allocate resources effectively.”

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Global partners cheer progress towards eliminating cervical cancer and underline challenges

World leaders, cervical cancer survivors, advocates, partners, and civil society came together last week to mark the third Cervical Cancer Elimination Day of Action. The Initiative, which marked the first time Member States adopted a resolution to eliminate a noncommunicable disease, has continued to gain momentum, and this year's commemoration promises to be a beacon of hope, progress, and renewed commitment from nations around the world.

“In the last three years, we have witnessed significant progress, but women in poorer countries and poor and marginalized women in richer countries still suffer disproportionately from cervical cancer,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “With enhanced strategies to increase access to vaccination, screening and treatment, strong political and financial commitment from countries, and increased support from partners, we can realize our vision for eliminating cervical cancer.”

Australia is on target to be among the first countries in the world to eliminate cervical cancer, which the country anticipates to achieve in the next 10 years. 

In Norway, researchers have recently reported finding no cases of cervical cancer caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) in 25-year-olds, the first cohort of women who were offered the vaccine as children through the national vaccination programme.

Indonesia announced this week a declaration committing to reach the 90-70-90 targets for cervical cancer elimination through the national cervical cancer elimination plan (2023 to 2030).

In the United Kingdom, England’s National Health Service (NHS) pledged this week to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040.

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Source: WHO, 17 November 2023

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Toxic doctors put patients at risk, says NHS watchdog

Patient safety is being put at risk by the “toxic” behaviour of doctors in the NHS, the health ombudsman has said.

Rob Behrens, who investigates complaints about the NHS in England, warned that the hierarchical and high-handed attitude of clinicians was undermining the quality of care in some hospitals.

He called for medical training to be redesigned to encourage a more empathetic and collaborative approach from doctors.

Pointing to failings in the treatment of sepsis and the problems in maternity services, Behrens said he was “shocked on a daily basis” by what he saw as ombudsman. Too often, “organisational reputation has been put above patient safety”, he told The Times Health Commission.

The ombudsman warned of a “Balkanisation” of health professionals, with rivalries between doctors and nurses or midwives and obstetricians harming patient care. “For all the brilliance of clinicians quite often they’re not very good at working together,” he said. “Time and again, the handover from one clinician to another, from one shift to another, or the inability to raise the issue at a senior level has been a key factor in what has gone wrong.”

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Source: The Times, 18 November 2023

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