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Derriford Hospital trials routine pregnancy Group B Strep tests

A trial testing for Group B Strep during pregnancies has been welcomed by a mum who lost her son to the bacterial infection.

The trial at Derriford Hospital will see routine testing for the bacteria that can put newborns at risk.

Dawn Byly lost her third child Leo to the infection a day after he was born in Truro in 2003. "I would love to think this might help prevent other families going through such a traumatic loss," she said.

About one in four pregnant women are carriers of Group B Strep. Most do not have any symptoms, but it can spread to their child during labour and in a small number of cases the infection can be life-threatening.

Currently only women identified as being at risk are tested and if positive are offered antibiotics during labour and birth.

Tests are available privately and involve a late swab in pregnancy.

"Suffering the loss of a child is a tragedy and we are committed to making sure all women get the right support and best possible maternity care," said the Department of Health and Social Care.

"The UK National Screening Committee reviewed the evidence to screen for Group B Strep at 35 to 37 weeks of pregnancy in 2017 and concluded there was insufficient evidence to introduce a national screening programme," it added.

Dr Alexander Taylor, from Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, said: "It's felt uncomfortable as an obstetrician in the UK knowing America, Canada and many of our European neighbours have been routinely screening for Group B Strep.

"This large trial aims to uncover both the clinical effectiveness but also the cost effectiveness of instituting a programme like this."

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Source: BBC News, 9 November 2021

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East of England Ambulance Service warns of 999 call delays

An NHS ambulance service boss has urged 999 callers to not hang up as "there may be a delay before we pick up".

The East of England Ambulance Service (EEAS) said demands on the health service meant it was extremely busy.

Marcus Bailey, EEAS chief operating officer, said delays were due to a "combination" of Covid, winter pressures and recruitment.

He said the service planned to recruit 100 call-handlers over the next few months to help ease pressure.

The EEAS has published posters online telling emergency callers to be patient.

The service covers Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

Mr Bailey told BBC Look East: "It's about us warning people who are phoning 999 that it's really busy and at some points there may be a delay before we pick up the 999 call.

"Remain on the line, don't hang up, and we will get to you as soon as possible."

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Source: BBC News, 9 November 2021

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California couple sue clinic for alleged IVF swap 'horror'

A California couple gave birth to a stranger's child after being given the wrong embryo by a fertility clinic during in vitro fertilisation (IVF), says a lawsuit.

Daphna and Alexander Cardinale say they gave birth in September 2019 to a girl that looked nothing like them. After a DNA test, they found the couple that carried their daughter to term, and together decided to swap the girls.

This is not the first alleged mix-up during an IVF procedure.

IVF is a procedure during which a woman's eggs are fertilised by man's sperm in a laboratory before the embryos are implanted into a woman's uterus.

The Cardinales are suing the Los Angeles-based fertility centre, the California Center for Reproductive Health (CCRH), as well as In VitroTech Labs, an embryology lab.

The lawsuit alleges medical malpractice, negligence and fraudulent concealment. Neither company responded to a BBC News request for comment.

In an emotional news conference on Monday, Mrs Cardinale said her family's "heartbreak and confusion can't be understated".

"Our memories of childbirth will always be tainted by the sick reality that our biological child was given to someone else, and the baby that I fought to bring into this world was not mine to keep."

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Source: BBC News, 9 November 2021

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Long waits at A&E becoming normal, warn doctors’ groups

Long waiting times in emergency departments are becoming normal, with some patients spending days in A&E wards before they can be moved into other hospital beds, emergency physicians have warned.

Leaders of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) and the Society for Acute Medicine (SAM) said that some hospitals had effectively run out of space, meaning patients could not receive the right care until a bed became free.

NHS figures for September show that 5,025 patients waited for more than 12 hours to be admitted to hospital in England. That is only 1% of the 506,916 admitted via A&Es, but it is more than 10 times as many as the 458 waiting more than 12 hours in September 2019 and nearly twice as many as the January peak of 2,847.

Scientists at the Zoe Covid study said last week that UK cases of coronavirus may have peaked. But the React study at Imperial College found that the R number was between 0.9 and 1.1 with Covid cases at their highest levels.

Pressures on hospitals have prompted the Royal College of Nursing to call for a return to compulsory mask-wearing, while Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said that ministers should reimpose a legal obligation to wear masks on public transport, allowing police to enforce the law.

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Source: The Guardian, 7 November 2021

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Springfield Village - new community-based mental health facility

A new community-based mental health facility is under construction in South West London.

Set to open during 2022, the new facilities will provide high quality inpatient services that are designed to deliver the most modern mental health care in the country. The service will give people the best chance to recover in the best environment and will support Trust staff to deliver outstanding care. The new buildings will form part of the new ‘Springfield Village’, which will include a new 32-acre park at Springfield Hospital, as well as hundreds of new homes. 

Ian Garlington, Director for South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust’s Integrated Programme, which is delivering investments in NHS mental health services in South West London, said: “We are proud to be leading the way in breaking stigma by developing facilities that will sit at the heart of our Springfield Village, alongside a fantastic new 32-acre park, supporting the health and wellbeing of our whole community.”

hub topic lead, Steve Turner, said: As a nurse who completed my registered nurse training at St George's Hospital and mental health nurse training at Springfield Hospital in the 1980s, I am very pleased to see this development on the site where I once worked and will be following progress with interest."

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Source: NHS South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust

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In-person GP appointments save lives and must return

Last week a receptionist saved a patient’s life. She put him straight into a face-to-face appointment early in the day. The doctor saw him and sent him to A&E urgently. He was operated on the same day.

Receptionists are are given an impossible task, to fit a large number of patients into a small number of slots, and they have to stay calm. When the slots run out – which sometimes happens by 9am – they then have to persuade one of the doctors, already at the end of their tether, to add any patient they are especially worried about to their list.

So it’s not surprising that when during the early part of the pandemic demand for appointments dropped by 30%, some very stressed and overworked GPs found their lives were a lot nicer without patients. And now that appointment levels have finally (as of May 2021) gone back to normal levels, some are finding the demand very difficult to cope with.

This could explain GPs’ persistence at keeping patients at arms length. Telephone consultations are less intense somehow, less tiring. Some GPs feel they can control the day better by using telephone consultations and only bringing in some patients. But patients are experiencing this persistent distancing as rejection. And these rejections are hurtful. Some people have held on to problems for six months or more and then finally felt free to book an appointment when the restrictions ended in August.

Except the restrictions haven’t ended, not in general practice. GPs seem unable to let the remote triage go. GPs say: “We are seeing patients face-to-face. We’ve been seeing them throughout the pandemic,” which is true. But only some patients. Plenty of patients who would have benefitted from a face-to-face appointment or an examination have not been seen. Patients are not idiots. They know telephone consultations are not as good. They know, especially older patients, that proper doctoring involves an examination. They know that the rapport and connection with a doctor can only come from a face-to-face appointments. And they wish to book an appointment with their GP themselves, without facing multiple barriers.

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Source: The Independent, 6 November 2021

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‘Outstanding’ rated trust given CQC warning notice after staff raised alarm

An acute trust currently rated ‘outstanding’ has been served with a warning notice by the Care Quality Commission, after senior doctors’ safety concerns prompted an inspection.

Inspectors visited University Hospitals Sussex Foundation Trust days after HSJ reported on a letter from consultants highlighting “an extremely unsafe situation” and calling for elective work to be moved away from one of the trust’s main hospitals.

The inspection looked at surgical areas at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton, and maternity services at four sites – the RSCH, St Richard’s in Chichester, Worthing Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.

In a letter to all staff, seen by HSJ, chief executive Dame Marianne Griffiths said the trust was “striving to improve” but that “the last four months are like nothing I have ever seen before. Like others we are facing unprecedented daily challenges”.

She said: “High patient numbers combined with continuing to work through the pandemic with the stringent infection prevention and control processes that entails make for a challenging work environment.”

Chief nurse Maggie Davies said: “The safety of our patients is always our number one priority. Our services remain under unprecedented pressure and our staff are working hard to provide the highest standards of care to all our patients.

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Source: HSJ, 5 November 2021

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‘Get the vaccine’: family of Covid victim’s plea to pregnant women

Saiqa Parveen was eight months pregnant and weeks from welcoming her fifth daughter to the world, but died of Covid after putting off getting the coronavirus jab. Her family have now issued an emotional plea for pregnant women to get vaccinated.

Parveen, 37, had planned to delay having the jab until her baby was born, her family said, but she was admitted to hospital with breathing difficulties in September and put on a ventilator.

A decision was taken by medical staff at Good Hope hospital in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, to deliver the baby by emergency caesarean section. Parveen died on 1 November after spending five weeks in intensive care.

Asked what her last words were, her husband Gahfur said: “She couldn’t even talk. She couldn’t breathe properly … She couldn’t talk.”

He added: “I’m going to pass this message to the whole world, I just beg all people to get the vaccine, otherwise it’s very hard for them. It’s a very deadly disease, you know. She planned so many things, and this disease didn’t give her a chance.”

Covid vaccines are recommended for pregnant women. In a letter to midwives, obstetricians and GP practices in July, the chief midwife for England, Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, said all healthcare professionals had “a responsibility to proactively encourage pregnant women” to get vaccinated.

Parveen chose not to have the vaccine, but concerns have been raised that pregnant women are being turned away from vaccine clinics despite clinical advice.

Members of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation told the Guardian that they were urging ministers to focus more on pregnant women because only about 15% in the UK have been fully vaccinated. 

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Source: The Guardian, 7 November 2021

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America's ERs are swamped with seriously ill patients, although many don’t have covid

Inside the emergency department at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Michigan, staff members are struggling to care for patients showing up much sicker than they’ve ever seen.

Tiffani Dusang, the ER’s nursing director, practically vibrates with pent-up anxiety, looking at patients lying on a long line of stretchers pushed up against the beige walls of the hospital hallways. “It’s hard to watch,” she said.

But there’s nothing she can do. The ER’s 72 rooms are already filled.

“I always feel very, very bad when I walk down the hallway and see that people are in pain, or needing to sleep, or needing quiet. But they have to be in the hallway with, as you can see, 10 or 15 people walking by every minute,” Dusang said.

The scene is a stark contrast to where this US emergency department — and thousands of others — were at the start of the pandemic. Except for initial hot spots like New York City, in spring 2020 many ERs across the country were often eerily empty. Terrified of contracting covid-19, people who were sick with other things did their best to stay away from hospitals. Visits to emergency rooms dropped to half their typical levels, according to the Epic Health Research Network, and didn’t fully rebound until this summer.

But now, they’re too full. Even in parts of the country where covid isn’t overwhelming the health system, patients are showing up to the ER sicker than before the pandemic, their diseases more advanced and in need of more complicated care.

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Source: Kaiser Health News, 29 October 2021

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David Fuller: NHS mortuaries record 30 security breaches in five years

There have been more than 30 serious security breaches at NHS hospital mortuaries in the past five years, The Independent can reveal.

The figures come as local MPs demand a public inquiry into the crimes of NHS electrician David Fuller who sexually abused 100 corpses, including three children, over a period of 12 years.

The calls for a full inquiry have also been backed by Labour’s shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth who said on Friday: “It is important the secretary of state listens to the concerns of the local MP and the families of those who have been involved, and establishes a full, swift public inquiry, so that lessons can be learned from this appalling incident and ensure this is never repeated.”

Fuller, aged 67, pleaded guilty on Thursday to the murders of two women, Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20, in two separate attacks in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in 1987.

Detectives searching Fuller’s home found four million images of sexual abuse he had downloaded from the internet on computer hard drives.

They also found footage he had filmed of himself carrying out attacks on the bodies of women at the now-closed Kent and Sussex Hospital and the Tunbridge Wells Hospital, where he had worked since 1989.

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Source: The Independent, 5 November 2021

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Patients set to access new entries in TPP and EMIS health records

From next month, patients will be able to access all new entries in their online health records, if their GP practice use TPP or EMIS IT systems.

According to NHS Digital, patients who use online accounts – such as the NHS App – and whose surgery uses TPP, will be able to view entries from December 2021 onwards. While, patients on an EMIS system should expect to see theirs from ‘early 2022’. Practices which use the Vision system are still currently in discussions over access.

NHS Digital says that patients will not be able to see specific personal information, such as positive test results, until they have been ‘checked and filed’, so that GPs have the opportunity to contact them first. The body adds that the move, ‘supports NHS Long Term Plan commitments to provide patients with digital access to their health records’, and also shares its aim for patients to be able to request their historic coded records from 2022, through the NHS App.

As ’80 per cent of the 18 million NHS App users’ are said to want ‘easy access to their health records and personal information’, it’s hoped that the initiative will reduce queries around negative test results and referrals, and encourage patient awareness and empowerment in regards to their health.

However, NHS Digital does advise General Practice staff to ‘be aware that patients will be able to see their future records’, and to ensure ‘sensitive information is redacted as it is entered’ into systems, with a support package and training sessions available to guide clinicians and staff in these areas.

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Source: Health Tech Newspaper, 5 November 2021

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Johnson and Johnson lose their application to appeal federal court's decision in favour of over 10,000 mesh injured Australian women

The High Court in Canberra, Australia, has ruled against big pharma giants Johnson and Johnson's application to appeal the Federal Court’s decision in favour of the survivors of their defective medical devices in November 2019.  This means the decision of the Full Federal Court, in favour of the Lead Applicant and group members, will stand.

Shine Lawyers', which has led the class action, has launched further actions against American Medical Systems (AMS), another manufacturer of mesh and tape implants supplied in Australia. The AMS implants, which are used to treat pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence, have left many Australian women with severe complications. The legal group has also moved against Boston Scientific for defective vaginal mesh and sling implants received by women in Australia and opened a second Ethicon / Johnson & Johnson’s on behalf of women implanted with a defective mesh product on or after 4 July 2017.  The class actions were filed in the Federal court and MIA believe other class actions, including hernia mesh, are underway.

Kath Sansom, founder of the Sling the Mesh campaign, said "Brilliant news from Australia! Johnson & Johnson Loses High Court Appeal against the pelvic mesh verdict of 2019. This means J&J can no longer appeal the verdict! I realise compensation may still take time to be awarded to the 10,000+ mesh injured but at least the appeals are over! Congratulations to all the Australian mesh campaigners!"

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First pill to treat Covid gets approval in UK

The first pill designed to treat symptomatic Covid has been approved by the UK medicines regulator.

The tablet - molnupiravir - will be given twice a day to vulnerable patients recently diagnosed with the disease.

In clinical trials the pill, originally developed to treat flu, cut the risk of hospitalisation or death by about half.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the treatment was a "gamechanger" for the most frail and immunosuppressed.

In a statement he said: "Today is a historic day for our country, as the UK is now the first country in the world to approve an antiviral that can be taken at home for Covid."

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Source: BBC News, 4 November 2021

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North Devon District Hospital staff shortages 'put patients at risk'

A hospital in Devon has been told it "requires improvement" as patient safety has been put at risk by staff shortages.

The North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple was inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in July 2021 following concerns about its staffing levels.

The CQC found the hospital’s medical care services were limited because there were not enough members of medical or nursing staff available.

But staff were praised for treating patients with compassion and kindness.

The report added that care was not always provided "in a timely manner" and the CQC’s head of hospital inspection, Cath Campbell, believes the situation is concerning.

She said: "When we inspected the medical care services at North Devon District Hospital, we found a high number of vacancies with a reliance on agency staff, and not addressing issues around the availability and responsiveness of medical staff for deteriorating patients. This put patients at risk of harm.

"Although nursing staff were quick to identify and act when they spotted patients who were at risk of deteriorating, medical staff did not always attend to these patients quickly."

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Source: ITV News, 3 November 2021

 

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100 corpses sexually abused in two NHS mortuaries: The full story of David Fuller’s mortuary attacks

A man who murdered two women 34 years ago went on to sexually abuse 100 female corpses in hospital mortuaries, taking videos and images of his crimes, HSJ can reveal.

David Fuller was employed as an electrician and later a maintenance supervisor at the now closed Kent and Sussex Hospital, in Tunbridge Wells, and later the Tunbridge Wells hospital in Kent. Over a period of 12 years from 2008 to 2020 he used his access to the hospital mortuaries to sexually abuse the bodies of women and girls.

HSJ first learned of David Fuller’s crimes in June this year, but agreed to a request by Kent police not to publish before his trial concluded. They can now reveal all that they discovered.  

Police have identified 80 victims – from mortuary records and name tags visible in some of the photos and videos Mr Fuller took of the abuse – but 20 are currently unidentified.

Mr Fuller’s mortuary offences – which he admitted at a court hearing last month – only came to light when he was arrested for the 1987 murders of Caroline Pierce and Wendy Knell. Police searching his home in Heathfield, East Sussex, discovered millions of videos and photographs, some clearly showing him abusing the bodies.

To many of his colleagues at Tunbridge Wells Hospital, David Fuller was an affable and helpful maintenance supervisor who was always willing to carry out small tasks and was the “go to” man if a problem needed sorting. His arrest on murder charges last December was greeted with shock and disbelief by those who knew him.

Both the families of the women violated by Mr Fuller and some staff at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells are expected to need psychological help to deal with the enormity and nature of Fuller’s crimes.

Families will be offered a range of support, including psychiatric counselling, and will also be given a letter from Mr Scott, with a personal apology and containing an invitation for them to contact the trust if they want to.

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Source: HSJ, 4 November 2021

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Covid: Hospital-linked deaths in Scotland under investigation

A special Crown Office unit set up to probe Covid-linked deaths is considering 827 cases in Scotland's hospitals, latest figures show.

The unit was set up to consider the circumstances of Covid-linked deaths such as those in care homes. But the prosecution service has also received reports of hundreds of hospital-related virus deaths.

Prosecutors will eventually decide if these deaths should be the subject of a fatal accident inquiry or prosecution.

As of 7 October, Crown Office figures show Scotland's biggest hospital, the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, has the highest number of reported Covid-linked deaths at 113.

This was followed by the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley and Glasgow Royal Infirmary which both had 71 Covid-related deaths referred to the Crown Office.

The figures do not include deaths at home addresses or hospices, or where a care home resident died in hospital after contracting COVID-19 in a home.

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Source: BBC News, 4 November 2021

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Inequalities responsible for thousands of adverse birth outcomes in black and Asian women

Socioeconomic inequalities account for an estimated quarter of stillbirths, fifth of preterm births, and a third of births with fetal growth restriction, according to a study published in the Lancet of over one million births in England

The nationwide study across England’s NHS was carried out by the National Maternity and Perinatal Audit team, who analysed birth records between April 2015 and March 2017 to quantify socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities in pregnancy outcomes.

They found that an estimated two thirds (63.7%) of stillbirths and half (55.0%) of births with fetal growth restriction in black women from the most deprived neighbourhoods could be avoided if this population had the same risks as white women living in the most affluent 20% of neighbourhoods.

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Source: BMJ, 2 November 2021

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Mandatory Covid jabs to be imposed on NHS staff despite warnings

Mandatory Covid vaccinations will be imposed on NHS staff, despite fears it could cause a workforce exodus, The Independent understands.

Sources have confirmed the government is expected to make an announcement tomorrow on plans to make jabs a condition of employment for the 1.3 million NHS staff in England.

Ministers are likely to delay the new requirement until next spring, after health bosses raised concerns over the impact it would have on NHS staffing levels during this winter.

Earlier this week. NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts in England, warned the imposition of vaccinations could drive staff out of the NHS. Around 100,000 workers are yet to have a Covid vaccination.

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, warned the government needed to acknowledge the risk to patient safety if thousands of unvaccinated NHS staff opted to leave their jobs rather than have the vaccine.

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Source: The Independent, 3 November 2021

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NHS waiting list patients ask if life is worth living

Huge waiting lists have left patients questioning whether their lives are worth living, a surgeon has warned.

Paul Williams, an orthopaedic surgeon at Neath Port Talbot Hospital, dubbed the effect of long delays on mental and physical health "horrific".

A health think-tank said waiting times were the biggest challenge the NHS in Wales has ever faced. The Welsh government said it wanted to "radically transform" how healthcare was delivered.

Mr Williams said: "To be living with pain from an arthritic joint is terrible.

"We sent out a questionnaire recently and many of the patients have actually replied that they're questioning if their life is worth living because of the pain they're in."

The latest figures for the Welsh NHS showed another record high for those waiting for hospital treatment.

The number of patients waiting more than 36 weeks has grown from 25,634 in February 2020 to 243,674 by August 2021. The longest waits included 56,279 people who needed orthopaedic or trauma treatment.

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Source: BBC News, 3 November 2021

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‘It’s incredible’: HPV vaccine saves thousands of women from cervical cancer, UK study shows

The NHS vaccination programme to prevent cervical cancer has so far stopped thousands of women from developing the disease and experiencing pre-cancerous changes to cells, a study has found.

In the first proof that the programme launched in England 13 years ago is saving lives, the Cancer Research UK-funded study found that cervical cancer rates in women offered the vaccine between the ages of 12 and 13 (now in their 20s) were 87% lower than in an unvaccinated population.

Researchers said cases in this age group, which are rare, dropped from about 50 per year to just 5.

There were also reductions in cervical cancer rates of 62% in women offered vaccination between the ages of 14 and 16, and 34% in women aged 16 to 18 when vaccination was introduced.

Professor Peter Sasieni, lead study author, from King’s College London, said: “It’s been incredible to see the impact of HPV vaccination and now we can prove it prevented hundreds of women from developing cancer in England.

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Source: The Guardian, 4 November 2021

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Covid pressure forces cancellation of most operations

Planned operations including ”priority two” procedures were postponed at short notice at one of England’s largest hospital trusts earlier this week due to rising covid compounding other operational pressures, HSJ understands.

Several sources said Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust cancelled the large majority of elective operations scheduled for Tuesday 2 November due to rising occupancy in intensive care and throughout the trust, particularly linked to increasing numbers of covid patients.

The postponed operations included ‘priority two’ cases, which must be undertaken within one month to avoid further harm and deterioration, a well placed source told HSJ.

The trust said it did not, however, cancel ‘priority one’ urgent operations, which must be performed within 72 hours. It said most elective operations resumed on Wednesday as pressure had “eased a little” since Tuesday. Some daycase surgery was also postponed, it said, as areas had to be repurposed for emergency care.

One concerned family member of a Leeds patient whose operation was cancelled, who contacted HSJ, said: ”My relative is on the cardiology list and might not be fit enough for the op if there are further delays — that could be fatal.”

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Source: HSJ, 4 November 2021

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Research confirms impact of COVID-19 on doctors’ mental health

The COVID-19 crisis triggered high levels of anxiety and depression among doctors in the UK, Italy and Spain, a new study has found

The research of 5,000 survey responses, across the three countries, found Italian doctors were most likely to have suffered during the crisis last year.

The study, published in PLOS ONE, measured the mental wellbeing of doctors in Catalonia (Spain), Italy and the UK during June, November and December 2020.

It found that around one in four medical doctors in Italy had experienced symptoms of anxiety in June and December 2020, with around one in five reporting symptoms of depression over the same period.

In Catalonia around 16% of doctors reported anxiety and around 17% experienced depression. In the UK around 12% of doctors reported anxiety and around 14% had symptoms of depression.

The study is among the first cross-country analysis of mental wellbeing among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and the first to focus on medical doctors.

Across all countries, female doctors and doctors under 60 were more likely to have anxiety or depression.

Professor Quintana-Domeque, professor of economics at the University of Exeter Business School, who carried out the study said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has been classified as a traumatic event, with healthcare workers arguably having the most direct and longest exposure to this disease."

“The results of this study suggest that institutional support for healthcare workers, and in particular doctors, is important in protecting and promoting their mental health in the current and in future pandemics.”

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Source: The Independent, 3 November 2021

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Cancer detection fell in Scotland during pandemic

About 1,600 fewer people than expected were diagnosed with the three most common cancers during the first nine months of the Covid pandemic.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) has attempted to work out how restrictions put in place at the start of coronavirus affected diagnosis of the disease. The statistics show that breast cancer diagnosis was down by 19%, bowel cancer by 25% and lung cancer by 9%.

The data also showed cancer was not being diagnosed at the earliest stages. This is when treatment is most successful.

Cancer Research UK called for urgent action to prevent progress on cancer survival going backwards.

David Ferguson, from Cancer Research UK in Scotland, said the PHS report reinforced fears that opportunities to diagnose cancer at an early stage were missed during the pandemic.

He said: "Urgent action is needed. Cancer survival wasn't good enough before the pandemic. Too many people are waiting far too long for diagnosis and treatment so this must be addressed."

He called for a "road map" to tackle staff shortages and backlogs.

"If swift action isn't taken, our fear is that cancer survival in Scotland could go backwards," he said.

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Source: BBC News, 3 November 2021

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#MedSafetyWeek November 2021: support the safety of vaccines

This week is the MHRA's sixth annual #MedSafetyWeek social media campaign. download.png.f9b00951306c16d145bc53ac95f13abf.png

This year’s campaign theme is reporting suspected side effects following vaccination. This forms part a global effort by national medicines regulatory authorities from over 60 countries and their stakeholders to raise awareness about the importance of reporting.

Vaccines are life-saving medicinal products that are given to protect individuals against serious infections and sometimes the most effective way to prevent infectious diseases.

The MHRA are calling on all healthcare professionals (HCPs), national immunisation programme staff, as well as patients, their carers and families to report suspected side effects from vaccines or medicines to the MHRA Yellow Card scheme.

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Leak reveals hour-long ambulance delays have quadrupled in 12 months

Ambulance handover delays lasting more than 60 minutes have increased four-fold compared to this time last year, according to internal NHS data.

NHS data seen by HSJ suggests there were around 28,900 ambulance handovers lasting longer than an hour during a four-week period in October. This was almost four times higher than the 7,772 hour-long handovers recorded in October 2020.

It is also significantly higher than the 17,137 seen in January 2021, which was the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Last week NHS England wrote to trusts and integrated care systems telling them to take urgent action to “immediately stop all delays” to ambulance handovers, and that “corridor care” is “unacceptable as a solution”.

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Source: HSJ, 3 November 2021

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