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Families asked to take in Covid-positive loved ones as NHS faces ‘perfect storm’

NHS chiefs have issued an extraordinary plea for families to help them discharge loved ones even if they are Covid-19 positive as the health service faces a “perfect storm” fuelled by heavy demand, severe staff shortages and soaring Covid cases.

Hospitals and ambulance services across England are under “enormous strain”, health leaders have warned, after NHS trusts covering millions of patients declared critical incidents or issued stark warnings to residents.

Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, which represents the whole healthcare system, said the situation had become so serious that “all parts” of the health service were now becoming “weighed down”. This will have a “direct knock-on effect” on the ability of staff to tackle the care backlog, she added, as well as the current provision of urgent and emergency care.

On Wednesday evening, the crisis became so acute in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight that its chief medical officer urged relatives of patients well enough to be discharged to collect them immediately – even if they were still testing positive for coronavirus.

Dr Derek Sandeman, of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System, revealed that almost every hospital in the two counties was full, and said the number of people with Covid-19 being cared for in hospitals across the area was 650 – more than 2.5 times higher than in early January. He added that 2,800 staff working for local NHS organisations were off sick, half of which absences were due to Covid-19.

“With staff sickness rates well above average, rising cases of Covid-19 and very high numbers of people needing treatment, we face a perfect storm – but there are some very specific ways in which people can help the frontline NHS and care teams,” said Sandeman.

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Source: The Guardian, 6 April 2022

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‘Big personalities’ accused of bullying thought to be ‘bullet proof’, finds review

Doctors at an acute trust believe their clinical leaders have failed to tackle the ‘big personalities’ accused of being aggressive bullies, a review has found.

The probe at University Hospitals of North Midlands Trust was prompted by a survey carried out last year by the British Associations of Physicians of Indian Origin, after concerns were raised by its members.

The review was undertaken by Birmingham-based equalities charity Brap, and Roger Kline, a research fellow at Middlesex University Business School. It found the trust was not an outlier in statistical measures of bullying and harassment, but suggested the situation was still worse than leaders would wish.

They said: “The most common reason people cited for bullying/harassment they experienced was the personality, attitude, and disposition of their managers and colleagues… it is felt senior clinical leaders have, in the past, failed to tackle these ‘big personalities’.

“It is worth noting feedback from interviews suggesting many doctors feel they have endured poor behaviour – talking over people during meetings, criticising work in public, aggressive questioning – for years, and have simply become inured to it.

The reviewers found that as a consequence, certain people within the organisation were perceived to be “bullet proof”, and added: “We would suggest the trust needs a big, long-term plan to ‘rehumanise’ the organisation.

“The trust’s existing culture has permitted, and continues to permit infringements in behaviour… While this is not condoned by senior leaders in the trust, the lack of a plan to proactively tackle a legacy of overlooking poor behaviours has allowed them to persist.”

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Source: HSJ, 6 April 2022

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Patients continue to die and be harmed by the failure to learn from unsafe care

Press release: 7 April 2022

Today the charity Patient Safety Learning has published a new report, ‘Mind the implementation gap: The persistence of avoidable harm in the NHS'.

The report is an evidence-based summary of the failures over decades to translate learning into action and safety improvement.  It highlights that avoidable unsafe care kills and harms thousands of people each year in the UK and costs the NHS billions of pounds for additional treatment, support, and compensatory costs.  The report highlights how we fail to learn lessons from incidents of unsafe care and are not taking the action needed to prevent harm recurring.

The report focuses on six sources of patient safety insights and recommendations, ranging from inquiry reports into patient safety scandals, such as the recent Ockenden report into maternal and neonatal harm at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital, to the findings of Coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths reports. It calls on the Government, parliamentarians, and NHS leaders to take action to address the underlying causes of avoidable harm in healthcare and proposes recommendations in each policy area. Patient Safety Learning is calling for system-wide action in healthcare to transform our approach to learning and safety improvement.

Helen Hughes, Chief Executive of Patient Safety Learning, said:

“Today’s report highlights the all too frequent examples of where healthcare organisations fail to learn lessons from incidents of unsafe care and not taking the action needed to prevent future harm. Time and time again there is a lack of action and coordination in responding to recommendations, an absence of systems to share learning and a lack of commitment to evaluate and monitor the effectiveness of safety recommendations.”

“This is a shocking conclusion that is an affront to all those patients and families who have been assured that ‘lessons have been learned’ and ‘action will be taken to prevent future avoidable harm to others’. The healthcare system needs to understand and address the barriers for implementing recommendations, not just continually repeat them. Hope is not a strategy.”

This report has been published as part of the Safety for All Campaign, which calls for improvements in, and between, patient and healthcare worker safety to prevent safety incidents and deliver better outcomes for all. The campaign is supported by Patient Safety Learning and the Safer Healthcare and Biosafety Network.

Notes to editors:

  1. Patient Safety Learning is a charity and independent voice for improving patient safety. We harness the knowledge, insights, enthusiasm and commitment of health and social care organisations, professionals and patients for system-wide change and the reduction of avoidable harm.

  2. Safer Healthcare and Biosafety Network an independent forum focused on improving healthcare worker and patient safety and has been in existence more than 20 years. It is made up of clinicians, professional associations, trades unions and employers, manufacturers and government agencies with the shared objective to improve occupational health and safety and patient safety in healthcare. COVID-19 pandemic has provided a stark reminder of the vital role healthcare professionals play in providing care to those in our society who need it most and this was recognized in the WHO Patient Safety Day in September 2020: only when healthcare workers are safe can patients be safe. In 2020, the Network launched a campaign called ‘Safety for All’ to improve practice in, and between, patient and healthcare worker safety to prevent safety incidents and deliver better outcomes for all.

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Increase in hepatitis (liver inflammation) cases in children under investigation

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has recently detected higher than usual rates of liver inflammation (hepatitis) in children. Similar cases are being assessed in Scotland.

Hepatitis is a condition that affects the liver and may occur for a number of reasons, including several viral infections common in children. However, in the cases under investigation the common viruses that cause hepatitis have not been detected.

UKHSA is working swiftly with the NHS and public health colleagues across the UK to investigate the potential cause. In England, there are approximately 60 cases under investigation in children under 10.

Dr Meera Chand, Director of Clinical and Emerging Infections, said:

"Investigations for a wide range of potential causes are underway, including any possible links to infectious diseases. We are working with partners to raise awareness among healthcare professionals, so that any further children who may be affected can be identified early and the appropriate tests carried out. This will also help us to build a better picture of what may be causing the cases."

"We are also reminding parents to be aware of the symptoms of jaundice – including skin with a yellow tinge which is most easily seen in the whites of the eyes – and to contact a healthcare professional if they have concerns."

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Source: UK Health Security Agency, 6 April 2022

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NI Health: Quarter of cancer patients diagnosed in A&E

More than a quarter of cancers in Northern Ireland are being diagnosed in hospital emergency departments, according to Cancer Research UK.

The study, published in The Lancet Oncology, was supported by NI Cancer Registry at Queen's University Belfast.

It looked at 857,068 cases diagnosed between 2012 and 2017 in six countries including Australia, Denmark and the UK.

Clare Crossey, 35, from Lurgan was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in February 2018 after being admitted to hospital as an emergency.

The 35-year-old mother-of-two, who is a domiciliary care assistant, suddenly became very unwell with symptoms including tiredness and bruising.

She told BBC News NI she had contacted her local health centre, where a GP told her she was being overly anxious.

Ms Crossey said she had panicked, fearing she may have leukaemia after looking up her symptoms on the internet.

"I had a feeling that things weren't right," she said.

"The doctor did not agree with my suspicions as they passed me the number of the Samaritans helpline, a prescription for beta blockers and told me to wait a week for blood tests."

She said: "I went to Craigavon's A&E, they did blood tests and within hours a consultant broke the news to me that I might have leukaemia."

The medical team told her that had she waited any longer to come to the emergency department, she could have died, said Ms Crossley.

Barbara Roulston, from Cancer Research UK, said the study confirmed too many people were only being diagnosed with cancer once their health had deteriorated to a point when they needed to go to their emergency department.

"We need to reduce the number of cancer diagnoses that are happening in this way," she said.

"That means renewed focus on early diagnosis and prevention through things like better awareness of symptoms, better uptake of screening programs and the way to do that is to get funding for the cancer strategy which was published recently.

"If we don't, the risk is that we will start to see cancer survival going backwards."

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Source: BBC News, 7 April 222

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Covid had devastating toll on poor and low-income communities in US

The devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on poor and low-income communities across America is laid bare in a new report that concludes that while the virus did not discriminate between rich and poor, society and government did.

As the US draws close to the terrible landmark of 1 million deaths from coronavirus, the glaringly disproportionate human toll that has been exacted is exposed by the Poor People’s Pandemic Report. Based on a data analysis of more than 3,000 counties across the US, it finds that people in poorer counties have died overall at almost twice the rate of those in richer counties.

Looking at the most deadly surges of the virus, the disparity in death rates grows even more pronounced. During the third pandemic wave in the US, over the winter of 2020 and 2021, death rates were four and a half times higher in the poorest counties than those with the highest median incomes.

During the recent Omicron wave, that divergence in death rates stood at almost three times.

Such a staggering gulf in outcomes cannot be explained by differences in vaccination rates, the authors find, with more than half of the population of the poorest counties having received two vaccine shots. A more relevant factor is likely to be that the poorest communities had twice the proportion of people who lack health insurance compared with the richer counties.

“The findings of this report reveal neglect and sometimes intentional decisions to not focus on the poor,” said Bishop William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign which jointly prepared the research. “The neglect of poor and low-wealth people in this country during a pandemic is immoral, shocking and unjust.”

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Source: The Guardian, 4 April 2022

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Public health ‘at risk’ as leading Covid surveillance programme ends

Ministers will be left in the dark on Covid spikes just as case numbers reach unprecedented levels if a “world-beating” surveillance programme is scrapped, scientists have warned.

The React-1 study, which played a crucial role in detecting and tracking the spread of the Alpha variant in December 2020 ahead of the second lockdown, has been stopped as part of the government's plan to cut its Covid costs.

But in its last report, the study found 6.37% of the population was infected between 8 and 31 March – the highest figure since it began in May 2020. More worryingly, the scientists behind the research said the prevalence rate has also reached new highs for people aged 55 and over, at 8.31 per cent.

The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) said dismantling the project while cases were at record levels damaged preparedness and put public health at risk.

The spread of Covid within hospitals is also fuelling staff shortages, bed closures and delayed discharges in multiple regions of the country. This is coinciding with delays in ambulance handovers and response times, NHS sources say.

Information seen by The Independent revealed hundreds of beds are currently out of use at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals trust due to Covid outbreaks. A senior clinician said the “hospital is coming apart at the seams” and that, across the northeast, even “high” performing emergency departments were “crashing” and “stacking ambulances outside of hospital”.

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Source: The Independent, 6 April 2022

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Procurement of PPE, diagnostics and medical devices to be in-housed by national agency

The national supply chain agency will bring management of significant areas of NHS spend in-house on a permanent basis in a major overhaul of its operating model, HSJ has been told.

NHS Supply Chain’s current operating model, which has existed since 2018, has outsourced day-to-day management of the procurement of most of the goods and services bought by trusts as part of the “category towers” structure.

Under this structure, 11 category towers each cover a different spend area with a service provider to manage the available products and services.

But, in an exclusive interview, NHSSC chief Andrew New said the 11 categories would be reduced to eight. Three of the new categories — personal protective equipment, “medical capital” (which combines large capital diagnostics equipment with smaller scale diagnostics, pathology and point of care testing categories) and “medical clinically complex” surgical products and services — would be managed in-house. 

The new model will come into effect in 2023-24 following a procurement process to find new suppliers for the revamped category structure, which starts on 11 April 2022 with the publication of the contract notice.

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Source: HSJ, 4 April 2022

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Autistic girl, 14, unlawfully detained in hospital, high court judge finds

A 14-year-old autistic girl was unlawfully detained in hospital and restrained in front of scared young patients, a high court judge has found.

On one occasion last month the teenager managed to break into a treatment room where a dying infant was receiving palliative care. She was restrained there by three security guards, Mr Justice MacDonald said in a judgment in the family court that ordered Manchester city council (MCC) to find the girl a suitable community care placement instead of what he described as the “brutal and abusive” and “manifestly unsuitable” hospital environment.

Nurses witnessed the girl screaming “very loudly” and sounding “very scared” when repeatedly held down on her hospital bed so that she could not move her legs, arms or head, before being tranquillised. Other children on the ward were frightened to witness the frequent battles between the girl and security guards, the judge said.

The judge noted that the teenager made “regular and determined” efforts to run away, sometimes using screwdrivers to try to unlock doors and windows, and running away from her family on walks. 

He described the teenager as having an autistic spectrum disorder and a learning disability. She demonstrated “complex and extreme behaviour” that could not be controlled even within a school environment involving six adults to one child supervision, he added.

Despite this, the council and NHS trust decided to have the girl be detained in hospital on a general paediatric ward “solely as a place of safety”, without applying for the necessary court order to do so, the judge found. She did not require any medical treatment, the judge said.

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Source: The Guardian, 5 April 2022

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Lincolnshire Trust fined after patient suffered serious avoidable harm

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust has been ordered to pay a total of £111,204 in fines and legal costs after pleading guilty to failing to provide safe care and treatment to an elderly patient, causing them avoidable harm, following a sentencing hearing on Friday, 25 March at Boston Magistrates’ Court.

The case was taken by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) under regulations 12 and 22 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

The case against  United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust involved the care of an elderly patient, Iris Longmate, who was admitted to the Greetwell Ward at Lincoln County Hospital on 20 February 2019.

On March 3, 2019 Iris fainted and fell unsupervised from a commode, and was found face down on the floor in her room. Iris sustained spinal injuries and a cut to the head as a result of the fall, but then also suffered significant burns to her thigh and left arm as a result of being pressed against a radiator whilst being assessed by staff following the fall.

Iris was subsequently transferred to Queens Medical Centre for assessment and treatment. She sadly contracted pneumonia in hospital and died on March 14, 2019.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust pleaded guilty to a single offence of failure to provide safe care and treatment causing avoidable harm to Iris, for which the trust was fined £100,000. The court also ordered the trust to pay £170 victim surcharge and £11,034 costs to the CQC.

The trust was found to not have taken all reasonable steps to ensure that safe care and treatment was provided, resulting in avoidable harm to Iris. In pleading guilty to the offence of causing avoidable harm to Iris, the trust also acknowledged that other patients on the Greetwell Ward had also been exposed to a significant risk of avoidable harm.

Fiona Allinson, CQC’s deputy chief inspector of hospitals, said: "This death is a tragedy. My thoughts are with the family and others grieving for their loss."

"People have the right to safe care and treatment, so it’s unacceptable that patient safety was not well managed by United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust," she said. "Had the trust addressed the issues with the exposed heating pipes before Iris fell, she wouldn’t have suffered such awful burns injuries."

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Source: Medscape, 2 April 2022

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Overcrowding, delays, cross infection: Review reveals emergency department issues

Patients in nine hospitals in Ireland were often treated in the wrong places, sometimes corridors, in situations where it was “unclear” who was supposed to be providing their care, a clinical review has found.

It warned of the potential for people to receive inappropriate specialist input and recommended specific wards be used to avoid so-called “safari rounds” where consultants must seek out scattered patients.

The independent review team consisted of clinical and management experts from Scotland and England who undertook a programme of visits between August and November, 2019.

“The review team witnessed widespread boarding and outliers – any bed, anytime, anywhere and including mixed gender,” the document said.

“This does not create extra capacity, leads to safari rounds, increases length of stay, introduces harm by non-specialist care and increases staff absenteeism.”

Although acknowledging often excellent work by staff, the report was commissioned to examine non-scheduled care at nine hospitals found to be “under the greatest pressures” during the winter season of 2018/2019. These had “significant numbers” of patients waiting for long periods on trolleys.

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Source: The Irish Times, 4 April 2022

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Basildon Hospital blood tests contaminated in 'major failure'

THE majority of blood tests taken at Basildon Hospital to identify life-threatening illnesses have been contaminated in a “major failure”.

An investigation has been launched by health bosses, with staff shortages allegedly causing the issue with “blood cultures”.

Blood cultures, which look for germs or fungi in the blood and more deadly bacteria are routinely carried out ahead of operations.

However, latest figures show that 70% of tests taken in the year up to January 2022 were found to be contaminated, leading to treatment being delayed as patients are re-tested.

The normal limit of contaminated tests would be below 3%.

The issue was raised at a joint board meeting of the clinical commissioning groups, which oversee local healthcare, on 24 March.

Katherine Kirk, chairman of quality and governance committee at the Basildon and Brentwood group, said: “If I’m understanding this right and it’s about the effectiveness of blood tests, what’s going on? It’s clearly a major failure.”

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Source: The Echo, 4 April 2022

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NHS not making progress on early cancer diagnosis

The NHS in England is struggling to make progress on its flagship target to diagnose three-quarters of cancer cases at an early stage, MPs are warning.

The Health and Social Care Committee said staffing shortages and disruption from the pandemic were causing delays.

Some 54% of cases are diagnosed at stages one and two, considered vital for increasing the chances of survival.

By 2028, the aim is to diagnose 75% of cases in the early stages, but there has been no improvement in six years.

It means England - as well as other UK nations - lag behind comparable countries such as Australia and Canada when it comes to cancer survival.

If the lack of progress continues, the committee warned that it could lead to more than 340,000 people missing out on an early cancer diagnosis.

The Department of Health said it recognised "business as usual is not enough" and said it was developing a new 10-year cancer plan.

But a spokesman said progress was already being made, with a network of 160 new diagnostic centres being opened.R

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Source: BBC News, 5 April 2022

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Repeated maternity failings uncovered in Sheffield NHS trust

Hospital inspectors have uncovered repeated maternity failings and expressed serious concern about the safety of mothers and babies in Sheffield just days after a damning report warned there had been hundreds of avoidable baby deaths in Shrewsbury.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found Sheffield teaching hospitals NHS foundation trust, one of the largest NHS trusts in England, had failed to make the required improvements to services when it visited in October and November, despite receiving previous warnings from the watchdog.

As well as concerns across the wider trust, a focused inspection on maternity raised significant issues about the way its service is run. When it came to medical staff at the Sheffield trust, the “service did not have enough medical staff with the right qualifications, skills, and experience to keep women and babies safe from avoidable harm and to provide the right care and treatment”, the report said.

Inspectors found that staff were not interpreting, classifying or escalating measures of a baby’s heart rate properly, an issue that was raised by Donna Ockenden in her review of the Shrewsbury scandal.

Despite fetal monitoring being highlighted as an area needing attention in 2015 and 2021, the most recent inspection “highlighted that the service continued to lack urgency and pace in implementing actions and recommendations to mitigate these risks, therefore exposing patients to risk of harm”.

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Source: The Guardian, 5 April 2022

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New algorithm will improve bowel-cancer patient care

An algorithm which can predict how long a patient might spend in hospital if they’re diagnosed with bowel cancer could save the NHS millions of pounds and help patients feel better prepared.

Experts from the University of Portsmouth and the Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust have used artificial intelligence and data analytics to predict the length of hospital stay for bowel cancer patients, whether they will be readmitted after surgery, and their likelihood of death over a one or three-month period. 

The intelligent model will allow healthcare providers to design the best patient care and prioritise resources.

Bowel cancer is one of the most common types of cancer diagnosed in the UK, with more than 42,000 people diagnosed every year.

Professor of Intelligent Systems, Adrian Hopgood, from the University of Portsmouth, is one of the lead authors on the new paper. He said: “It is estimated that by 2035 there will be around 2.4 million new cases of bowel cancer annually worldwide. This is a staggering figure and one that can’t be ignored. We need to act now to improve patient outcomes.

“This technology can give patients insight into what they’re likely to experience. They can not only be given a good indication of what their longer-term prognosis is, but also what to expect in the shorter term. 

“If a patient isn’t expecting to find themselves in hospital for two weeks and suddenly they are, that can be quite distressing. However, if they have a predicted length of stay, they have useful information to help them prepare.

“Or indeed if a patient is given a prognosis that isn’t good or they have other illnesses, they might decide they don’t want a surgical option resulting in a long stay in hospital.”

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Source: University of Plymouth, 30 March 2022

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Autistic children wait up to five years for an NHS appointment

Children are having to wait up to five years for an NHS autism appointment, according to figures obtained by the Observer that lay bare the crisis in children’s mental health services.

Figures acquired under the Freedom of Information Act show that 2,835 autistic children referrals at Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust have still not had a first appointment an average of 88 weeks after being referred. The longest wait at the time the response was sent in January stood at 251 weeks – nearly five years.

Meanwhile, 1,250 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) referrals at the trust have yet to have a first appointment, having waited an average of 46 weeks – and 195 weeks in the worst case.

Across 20 NHS trusts that provided figures, children with outstanding autism referrals have waited nearly six months on average for their first appointment.

Cathy Pyle’s daughter, Eva, spent 20 months waiting for an autism assessment from her local NHS child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in Surrey, having already had to wait 11 months for a mental health assessment after she became increasingly distressed during her first year of secondary school, culminating in self-harm.

“The sensory aspects of her autism are really significant,” Pyle told the Observer. “So she found the crowding in the corridors, the jostling, being pushed and shoved – she found the noises really, really unbearable.”

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP, Labour’s shadow cabinet minister for mental health, said: “The NHS does an incredible job with the resources that it has, however, long waits for treatment have a considerable impact on patients and families. It’s unacceptable that a six-month wait has become the standard for autism referrals, with many others waiting years to be seen, on the Conservatives’ watch. Waiting so long for treatment will have a detrimental impact on a child’s development.”

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Source: The Guardian, 4 April 2022

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Police investigating deaths of two babies last year at scandal-hit trust

Detectives have begun an investigation into the deaths of two babies at the hospital trust at the centre of the largest maternity scandal in NHS history.

The babies died in separate incidents last year at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, both during birth. One of them was a twin.

The cases were among 600 examined by West Mercia police alongside an inquiry by Donna Ockenden, a senior midwife and manager, into failings at the trust. Her report revealed last week that 201 babies had died and 94 suffered brain damage as a result of avoidable mistakes. Nine mothers also died because of errors in care.

Detectives are working with prosecutors to determine whether charges should be brought over the two deaths last year, after years of warnings that maternity services were in crisis. West Mercia police said they were investigating the trust as an organisation as well as individuals.

The trust could face a charge of corporate manslaughter if it is found that the way the hospital organised and managed its services caused a death that amounted to a “gross breach” of its duty of care. If found guilty, the trust would face an unlimited fine. Individuals charged with gross negligence manslaughter could go to jail if convicted.

The move by the police comes amid growing fears that the unsafe care identified in the report could be taking place in maternity services in other parts of the country.

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Source: The Times, 3 April 2022

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Nurse's conviction should be wake-up call for health system leaders, IHI says

RaDonda Vaught's conviction for a fatal medical error has already damaged patient safety and should serve as a wake-up call for health system leaders to improve harm prevention efforts, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement has said.

Ms. Vaught was convicted 25 March of criminally negligent homicide and abuse of an impaired adult for a fatal medication error she made in December 2017 while working as a nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. 

"We know from decades of work in hospitals and other care settings that most medical errors result from flawed systems, not reckless practitioners," IHI said. "We also know that systems can learn from errors and improve, but only when those systems encourage reporting, transparently acknowledge their mistakes and are held accountable for those errors."

The organization said criminal prosecution of errors over-focuses on the individual and diverts attention from necessary system-level issues and improvements. 

"Were this practice to be repeated in future cases of a serious or fatal error, there will be more damage, less transparency, less accountability and more lives lost," IHI said. "Instead, this case should be a wake-up call to health system leaders who need to proactively identify system faults and risks and prevent harm to patients and those who care for them."

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NHSE warned of ‘inaccurate’ and ‘unethical’ investigation into man’s death

An independent investigation into the death of a man with autism and learning difficulties in NHS care may never be published in full as his sister has rejected several drafts as inaccurate, telling NHS England they were ‘totally unethical’.

Anthony Dawson died from a burst gastric ulcer in Ashmount, a residential care home run by Surrey and Borders Partnership Foundation Trust, in May 2015. The jury at an inquest into his death found there were gross failings in his care and his death was contributed to by neglect.

NHS England commissioned an independent investigation into the incident from Sancus Solutions in June 2017. But seven years after Mr Dawson’s death the investigation’s report has yet to be published, despite several reports being submitted.

His sister, Julia Dawson, has written to NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard in recent weeks saying: “The investigation has not had my brother at its heart which we were assured would be the case” and that its reports had been “totally unethical”.

Ms Dawson has asked that only the executive summary of the latest draft of the investigation be published, alongside a statement saying that she feels it has inaccuracies and misses out important points.

She says that successive drafts have misrepresented her brother’s situation and failed to address what she believes was the real cause of his death – the frequent use of NSAIDs (ibuprofen) without any measures taken to protect his stomach. This ultimately led to the undiagnosed gastric ulcer bursting. An expert witness told the inquest into his death that treatment with proton pump inhibitors and stopping NSAIDs would have eradicated the ulcer.

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Source: HSJ, 4 April 2022

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‘She died in excruciating pain, instead of being properly treated,’ says sailor’s father

Seaman Danyelle Luckey “didn’t die in combat or any military operation. She died from gross negligence of the medical providers on the ship she served, the USS Ronald Reagan,” said her father, Derrick Luckey.

Danyelle Luckey died from sepsis on 10 October 2016. The 23-year-old had been on the ship for two weeks, and had been going back and forth to medical from 3 to 9 October with worsening symptoms. “Her death was very preventable. She died in excruciating pain, instead of being properly treated,” Derrick Luckey told lawmakers during a hearing about patient safety and the quality of care in the military medical system.

“If the medical providers had given her a simple treatment of antibiotics instead of turning her away, she would be alive today,” he said.

Luckey and Army veteran Dez Del Barba, who said he lost part of his left leg and suffered 70% muscle and tissue damage after his strep infection went untreated, urged lawmakers to make changes so others in the military community don’t have to suffer.Both contend this could have been avoided if proper medical care, such as antibiotics, had been provided. And both said they haven’t been able to get any information on investigations, or any actions to hold anyone accountable.Read full story

Source: Yahoo News, 31 March 2022

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Clinically vulnerable Covid patients denied access to life-saving antivirals

Clinically vulnerable people infected with Covid are being denied access to potentially life-saving antiviral medicine, patients, health officials and charities say.

Around 1.3 million people with underlying health conditions in England have been identified by the NHS as at-risk and sent letters explaining they will be assessed for antiviral treatment if infected with Covid.

The NHS said “tens of thousands of the most vulnerable patients” have received the medication to date, but told The Independent it was “aware of some local issues” in which clinically vulnerable people have struggled to access the antivirals. It comes at a time of record-breaking infection levels.

Patients seeking the treatment, which suppresses an infection to prevent disease escalation and hospitalisation, have reported being turned away by GPs and hospital doctors, while others say they’ve been “pushed from pillar to post” in an attempt to access the medication.

An NHS manager told The Independent that only 15% of eligible patients cared for by Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group received antiviral medication in February.

Anthony Nolan, the blood cancer charity, and Kidney Care UK both said they had received reports that Covid Medicine Delivery Units (CMDUs), which are responsible for ensuring antiviral medication reaches patients, were overwhelmed and struggling to provide treatment.

“Weekends are a particular problem and it causes a lot of stress,” said Fiona Loud, a policy director a Kidney Care UK. “We have had reports from people in different parts of the country.”

Paxlovid, molnupiravir and remdesivir are available via the NHS as antiviral medicine. All three have been shown to be effective in reducing the risk of hospitalisation among infected vulnerable patients. Antibody treatment, administered intravenously, is also available.

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Source: The Independent, 4 April 2022

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Swamped NHS mental health services turning away children, say GPs

Children and young people who are anxious, depressed or are self-harming are being denied help from swamped NHS child and adolescent mental health services, GPs have revealed.

Even under-18s with an eating disorder or psychosis are being refused care by overstretched CAMHS services, which insist that they are not sick enough to warrant treatment.

In one case, a crisis CAMHS team in Wales would not immediately assess the mental health of an actively suicidal child who had been stopped from jumping off a building earlier the same day unless the GP made a written referral. In another, a CAMHS service in eastern England declined to take on a 12-year-old boy found with a ligature in his room because the lack of any marks on his neck meant its referral criteria had not been met.

The shocking state of CAMHS care is laid bare in a survey for the youth mental health charity stem4 of 1,001 GPs across the UK who have sought urgent help for under-18s who are struggling mentally. CAMHS teams, already unable to cope with the rising need for treatment before Covid struck, have become even more overloaded because of the pandemic’s impact on youth mental health.

Mental health experts say young people’s widespread inability to access CAMHS care is leading to their already fragile mental health deteriorating even further and then self-harming, dropping out of school, feeling uncared for and having to seek help at A&E.

“As a clinician it is particularly worrying that children and young people with psychosis, eating disorders and even those who have just tried to take their own life are condemned to such long waits”, said Dr Nihara Krause, a consultant clinical psychologist who specialises in treating children and young people and who is the founder of stem4.

“It is truly shocking to learn from this survey of GPs’ experiences of dealing with CAMHS services that so many vulnerable young people in desperate need of urgent help with their mental health are being forced to wait for so long – up to two years – for care they need immediately.

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Source: The Guardian, 3 April 2022

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Gynaecology waits soar by 60% during pandemic

Gynaecology waiting lists in England have risen by 60% during the pandemic - more sharply than any other specialty.

Across the UK, more than 570,000 women are waiting for help.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) said patients were "consistently deprioritised and overlooked".

NHS England says hospitals are making progress on dealing with the Covid backlog and average waiting times for elective treatment are coming down.

The RCOG is calling for much greater attention to women's views, and for care to be designed around their needs.

Chetna Mistry says she is a "prisoner" to endometriosis, a painful condition in which tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places, like the ovaries.

She described it as "a whole-body disease which affects you physically and mentally". It has left her infertile, and, at 42, she needs a hysterectomy.

Chetna said she was referred to a specialist in June 2020, but 21 months later still does not have a date for surgery.

RCOG president Dr Edward Morris said he felt helpless not being able to speed up access to care for women and people on his waiting lists.

"There is an element of gender bias in the system. I don't think believe that we are listening to voices of women as well as we should be. The priority they urgently need is not being given to them."

The Royal College asked 830 women on waiting lists about the other impacts on their lives.

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Source: BBC News, 4 April 2022

 

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Patient care and safety put at risk in A&E at brand new £350m hospital

Patients visiting Wales' newest emergency department were likely to have been put at risk of harm due to the lack of processes and systems in place, inspectors found. Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) carried out an unannounced inspection of The Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran between 1 and 3 November last year and published its findings on 29 March.

On the day of their arrival inspectors said The Grange was at full capacity with no empty beds in A&E or in the hospital in general. Despite the best efforts of staff who were "working hard under pressure" the report stated the emergency department had several issues which could have compromised the privacy and dignity of patients. This included problems with the physical environment of the waiting room, which was described as a "major cause of anxiety" for visitors, as well as with the flow of patients through the hospital in general.

It found that patients were not triaged and medically managed in A&E in a timely fashion with many being placed on uncomfortable chairs or in corridors for hours on end. Between 1 April 2021 and 1 November 2021, the average waiting time in the department was six hours and seven minutes.

The report said some issues required immediate action including the fact patients in the waiting area were often left to "deteriorate without being overseen". There were also infection control failures which could have led to the cross-contamination of Covid-19. "We were not assured that all the processes and systems in place were sufficient to ensure that patients consistently received an acceptable standard of safe and effective care," the report stated.

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Source: Wales Online, 1 April 2022

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Bullying among top surgeons sparks two national investigations

‘Horrifying and upsetting’ reports of bullying in prestigious heart units are being probed by national officials and professional leaders, HSJ can reveal.

Health Education England told HSJ it was “undertaking a national thematic review of training in cardiothoracic surgery”, while the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery separately revealed it was investigating concerns about “bullying, harassment and undermining behaviour” in the specialty following high-profile recent cases in Newcastle and Wales.

Society president consultant surgeon Simon Kendall, who is based at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, told HSJ he has been made aware of wider problems beyond those identified in the North East and Wales.

Mr Kendall revealed allegations reported to the society have included people being shouted at in public, problems resulting from a “legacy culture of sarcasm and public humiliation”, and more personal disputes between individuals.

The consultant surgeon told HSJ: “The job is hard enough for all of us, without picking on each other and making it worse."

He added: “It’s the extended team that is affected by these behaviours and it will have an impact on patient safety and patient care.

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Source: HSJ, 1 April 2022

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