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NHS England agrees new A&E target

Trusts will be told to hit the four-hour A&E target in 78% of cases by next year after NHS England finally made an agreement with government, HSJ understands.

The new target is just two percentage points higher than the target set for the current year of 76% – and must be hit in March 2025, according to NHS planning guidance.

NHS England will also aim to maintain “core” general and acute beds at 99,000 on average across 2024-25 after funding was agreed with the government. This would maintain the beds at levels seen over recent months, but it would be a significant increase in the permanent “sustainable” beds available in the health service compared with previous years.

Most trusts have fallen well short of the 76% target through much of 2023-24, and NHSE has pressed for them to make last-ditch attempts in recent weeks to try and get closer to the target ahead of the March 2024 deadline. This has included offering new capital funding rewards for improvement and telling trusts to focus on non-admitted patients.

Elective recovery targets are expected to slip, and government has conceded making significant progress on these is almost impossible, with ongoing doctors strikes on top of other capacity problems. 

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Source: HSJ, 27 March 2024

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Fumes from idling ambulances stuck outside A&Es endangering staff

An ambulance trust is having to protect its staff from the effects of fumes – including potential cancer risk – as they are spending so long in their vehicles outside hospitals.

South Western Ambulance Service Foundation Trust (SWASFT) has carried out a risk assessment of the impact of diesel engine emissions after following concerns from staff, many of whom are spending hours waiting to handover on each shift. The region has faced the worst handover delays to emergency departments in recent years.

Ambulance engines normally have to be kept on while waiting, to keep essential equipment running, and sometimes for warmth. But with queues of a dozen or more ambulances at times, staff and patients can be exposed to substantial emissions for long periods.

The trust’s risk assessment – which has been seen by HSJ – warns exposure to diesel emissions is associated with eye and upper respiratory tract irritation, while prolonged exposure can lead to coughing, increased sputum production and breathlessness.

There is also “epidemiological evidence which indicates that sustained occupational exposure to diesel engine exhaust emissions may result in an increase in the risk of lung cancer”.

It gives a risk rating of 20 – one of the highest possible – which, under the trust’s policies, indicates “activities must not proceed” until mitigations are in place.

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Source: HSJ, 27 March 2024

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‘Treated like an animal’: NHS nurse attempted suicide twice while waiting 10 days for hospital bed

A senior mental health nurse suffered “degrading and humiliating” treatment while she languished for 10 days on an unsuitable NHS ward during a mental health crisis, The Independent has been told.

Rachel Luby, 36, was admitted to Basildon Hospital A&E in Essex on 5 January this year after attempting to take an overdose of over-the-counter medicine following a traumatic assault.

This, she claimed, was the start of weeks of horrific care she endured while waiting for a mental health bed. It culminated in her being restrained and forced into a caged van “like an animal”.

She revealed her story after The Independent reported on a warning from top emergency doctors that self-harming and suicidal patients who go to A&E are not being treated with compassion because staff are overwhelmed.

Ms Luby, an award-winning nurse, said she waited more than a week and a half in a general hospital before she was moved to a bed on a mental health ward.

Ms Luby was able to leave the ward and find medication to overdose again, despite staff allegedly assessing her as a risk. In a second incident, she went to the bathroom and attempted to take her own life.

She told The Independent: “I feel that this is something I will not recover from. I will not ever reach out for help in the future.

“If this is the treatment that I’m getting as a nurse, then what the heck is happening to those that don’t have the voice or education that I have? It horrifies me to think what is happening to people that are far more vulnerable than me.”

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Source: The Independent, 27 March 2024

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NHS must stop sending eating disorder patients to die, watchdog says

NHS teams are giving up on patients with severe eating disorders, sending them for care reserved for the dying rather than trying to treat them, a watchdog has warned the government.

In a letter to minister Maria Caulfield, the parliamentary health service ombudsman Rob Behrens has hit out at the government and the NHS for failures in care for adults with eating disorders despite warnings first made by his office in 2017.

The letter, seen by The Independent, urged the minister to act after Mr Behrens heard evidence that eating disorder patients deemed “too difficult to treat” are being offered palliative care instead of treatment to help them recover.

The ombudsman first warned the government that “avoidable harm” was occurring and patients were being repeatedly failed by NHS systems in 2017, following an investigation into the death of Averil Hart.

The 19-year-old died while under the care of adult eating disorder services in Norfolk and Cambridge. In 2021, following an inquest into her death and the deaths of four other women, a senior coroner for Cambridge, Sean Horstead, also sent warnings to the government about adult community eating disorder services.

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Source: The Independent, 27 March 2024

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Wrong patient fitted with coil after Caesarean

A new mum was confused for another patient and mistakenly fitted with a contraceptive coil after a C-section.

Another patient in north Wales almost had the wrong toe removed during surgery to amputate two others.

A third incident happened when a patient, unable to swallow oral medication, had it crushed, mixed with water and administered with a syringe.

These so-called "never events" happened at hospitals in the Betsi Cadwaladr health board area in February.

In a report into the three incidents in February, Betsi Cadwaladr health board outlined how a patient had a coil - an intrauterine device which prevents pregnancy - inserted after undergoing a Caesarean section.

Described in the report as "wrong procedure", it had been planned for a different patient but a mistake had been made after the "list order was changed due to the increase in category for this patient".

Another incident, described in the report as "wrong site surgery", described a patient who was due to have their second and third toes amputated. However, an incision was made in their fourth toe by accident.

Luckily, the error was spotted and the correct toes were amputated.

In the third never event, described as "wrong route", the report details the case of a patient who was unable to swallow oral medication.

To administer it, a member of staff crushed it, mixed it with water and "inadvertently" gave it intravenously, according to the report.

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Source: BBC News, 28 March 2024

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Hospital caring for Nottingham triple killer left patients worse than when they went in, damning report finds

Patients at the hospital that treated killer Valdo Calocane were discharged too soon and released in a worse state into the community, the NHS safety watchdog has found.

Serious failings by Nottinghamshire Hospital Foundation Trust in keeping patients and the public safe have been identified in a review from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

More than 1,200 patients are waiting to be seen by community services, the report found. Meanwhile, several hundred who are receiving treatment did not have a clinician overseeing their care,the CQC found.

The review was launched by the government following the conviction of killer Valdo Calocane, who was under the care of the NHS trust’s community services.

The CQC review said patients reported that crisis services are either “useless” or detrimental to their health.

The three broad areas of concern, highlighted in the CQC’s report, were:

  • High demand for services was leading to long waiting times for care and a lack of oversight of those waiting.
  • The trust does not have enough staff to keep patients safe in the community and within some hospital services.
  • Senior leaders at the trust do not have clear oversight of the risks and issues within the service.

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Source: The Independent, 27 March 2024

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New documents reveal patient safety concerns over strike day cover

An investigation published by The BMJ today reveals new details of requests to recall striking junior doctors from picket lines for patient safety reasons. 

Documents show that while most trusts in England did not make such requests, those that did were rejected by the BMA in most cases. Some of these trusts warned of potential harm to patients from cancelling operations at the last minute and short staffing, reports assistant news editor Gareth Iacobucci.

However, the BMA said it takes concerns about patient safety “incredibly seriously” and provided The BMJ with summaries of why requests were turned down.

The union’s chair of council Phil Banfield said, “Throughout industrial action we have engaged thoroughly and in good faith with the derogation process, considering each request carefully to ensure that granting a derogation is necessary and the last and only option.”

He said that poor planning by some trusts had led to some routine care being inappropriately booked in on strike days. In other instances, he said trusts had failed to make sufficient effort to draft in the necessary cover for strike days.

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Source: BMJ, 28 March 2024

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Global research agenda on knowledge translation and evidence-informed policy-making

While the importance of translating evidence into policies and practices is widely acknowledged by evidence producers, intermediaries, users, and funders, there is much less agreement on suitable mechanisms for promoting effective evidence use. As a response, the World Health Organization (WHO) has initiated an extensive and inclusive research priority-setting exercise in Knowledge Translation (KT) and Evidence-informed Policy-making (EIP) through a series of technical consultations.

This priority-setting initiative, coordinated by the Evidence to Policy and Impact Unit in WHO’s Science Division, involves national and international researchers, practitioners, and organizations across all WHO regions. Collectively, they will assess the evidence base for effective research utilization in decision-making. The overarching goal of this project is to maximize the impact of KT and EIP research to promote the translation of evidence into effective policies that enhance population health and well-being. Key objectives include:

  • Efficiency and Synergy: Streamlining research efforts in KT and EIP.
  • Strategic Funding: Directing research funding toward identified priority areas.
  • Effective Approaches: Enhancing understanding of evidence use for policy-making.
  • Collaboration: Promoting cross-sectoral collaboration in KT and EIP research.
  • Awareness: Championing for evidence-informed policy-making at all levels.

In the first half of the 2024, global experts – selected during an open call – are now actively participating in a series of consultations to identify gaps and opportunities in KT and EIP research. The consultations provide a pivotal opportunity for participants to discuss current research gaps, harmonize terminology and chart a course toward shared priorities.

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Source: WHO, 22 March 2024

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WHO launches new toolkit empowering health professionals to tackle climate change

Climate change presents one of the most significant global health challenges and is already negatively affecting communities worldwide. Communicating the health risks of climate change and the health benefits of climate solutions is both necessary and helpful. To support this, the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with partners has developed a new toolkit designed to equip health and care workers with the knowledge and confidence to effectively communicate about climate change and health.

The toolkit aims to fill the gaps in knowledge and action among health and care workers – all those who are engaged in actions with the primary intent of enhancing health, as well as those occupations in academic, management and scientific roles. Despite their recognized trustworthiness and efficacy as health communicators, many health and care workers might not be fully equipped to discuss climate change and its health implications. This toolkit seeks to change that narrative.

“Health and care workers play a key role in addressing climate change as a health crisis. Their unique position enables them to raise awareness, advocate for policy changes, and empower communities to mitigate and adapt to climate change,” said  Dr Maria Neira, Director, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health. “By engaging in dialogue and action, health and care workers can catalyse efforts to safeguard human health as well as ensuring a resilient and sustainable future for all.”

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Source: WHO, 22 March 2024

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NHS AI expansion to help tackle missed appointments and improve waiting times

The NHS is set to roll out artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce the number of missed appointments and free up staff time to help bring down the waiting list for elective care.

The expansion to ten more NHS Trusts follows a successful pilot in Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which has seen the number of did not attends (DNAs) slashed by almost a third in six months.

Created by Deep Medical and co-designed by a frontline worker and NHS clinical fellow, the software predicts likely missed appointments through algorithms and anonymised data, breaking down the reasons why someone may not attend an appointment using a range of external insights including the weather, traffic, and jobs, and offers back-up bookings.

The appointments are then arranged for the most convenient time for patients – for example, it will give evening and weekend slots to those less able to take time off during the day.

The system also implements intelligent back-up bookings to ensure no clinical time is lost while maximising efficiency.

It has been piloted for six months at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, leading to a 30% fall in non-attendances. A total of 377 DNAs were prevented during the pilot period and an additional 1,910 patients were seen. It is estimated the trust, which supports a population of 1.2 million people, could save £27.5 million a year by continuing with the programme.

The AI software is now being rolled out to ten more trusts across England in the coming months.

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Source: NHS England, 14 March 2024

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Long A&E wait times lead to more than 250 needless deaths a week

More than 250 patients a week could be dying unnecessarily, due to long waits in A&E in England, according to analysis of NHS data.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine analysed the 1.5 million who waited 12 hours or more to be admitted in 2023.

A previous data study had calculated the level of risk of people dying after long waits to start treatment and found it got worse after five hours.

The government says the number seen within a four-hour target is improving. This is despite February seeing the highest number of attendances to A&E on record, it adds.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) carried out a similar analysis in 2022, which at that time resulted in an estimate of 300-500 excess deaths - more deaths than would be expected - each week.

The analysis uses a statistical model based on a large study of more than five million NHS patients that was published in 2021.

RCEM president Dr Adrian Boyle said long waits were continuing to put patients at risk of serious harm.

"In 2023, more than 1.5 million patients waited 12 hours or more in major emergency departments, with 65% of those awaiting admission," he said.

"Lack of hospital capacity means that patients are staying in longer than necessary and continue to be cared for by emergency department staff, often in clinically inappropriate areas such as corridors or ambulances.

"The direct correlation between delays and mortality rates is clear. Patients are being subjected to avoidable harm."

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Source: BBC News, 1 April 2024

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Diabetes patients to be offered artificial-pancreas technology

Tens of thousands of people with type 1 diabetes in England are to be offered a new technology, dubbed an artificial pancreas, to help manage the condition.

The system uses a glucose sensor under the skin to automatically calculate how much insulin is delivered via a pump.

Later this month, the NHS will start contacting adults and children who could benefit from the system.

But NHS bosses warned it could take five years before everyone eligible had the opportunity to have one.

This is because of challenges sourcing enough of the devices, plus the need to train more staff in how to use them.

In trials, the technology - known as a hybrid closed loop system - improved quality of life and reduced the risk of long-term health complications.

And at the end of last year, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said the NHS should start using it.

Prof Partha Kar, NHS national speciality advisor for diabetes, said the move was "great news for everyone with type 1 diabetes".

"This futuristic technology not only improves medical care but also enhances the quality of life for those affected," he added.

Source: BBC News, 2 April 2024

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Links between primary and secondary care must be ‘streamlined’ says NHSE

All trusts should pick a “designated lead” for improving how they work with primary care, according to new NHS planning guidance. 

The guidance for 2024-25 published by NHS England today states: “Every trust should have a designated lead for the primary–secondary care interface.”

It also asks integrated care boards to “regularly review progress” on how secondary care services are working with primary care.

NHSE recovery plans include trying to cut the number of patients effectively referred back to GP practices by other services, in order to reduce GP workload.

The guidance states: “Streamlining the patient pathway by improving the interface between primary and secondary care is an important part of recovery and efficiency across healthcare systems”.

The planning guidance — published on Wednesday night after months of delays — also said systems should continue to develop integrated neighbourhood teams, including by trying to “improve the alignment of relevant community services” to primary care network footprints. 

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Source: HSJ, 27 March 2024

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Maternity delays spark thousands of safety alerts each year

Maternity departments are raising thousands of safety reports every year about delayed inductions of labour, HSJ can reveal.

Induction of labour may be used when women are overdue, because their waters have broken, or for other medical reasons to speed up the birth, such as poor growth of the baby.

Delaying induction therefore may increase risks for both mothers and babies and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says trusts should raise a “red flag event” if it is delayed for more than two hours after admission.

Information collected by HSJ from 50 trusts show 4,945 red flags related to delays in induction of labour in 2022-23. HSJ also found 3,109 reports in 2021-22 and 1,807 in 2020-21 across 47 trusts. 

Meanwhile, there were 1,997 Datix reports mentioning induction of labour in 2022-23 across 59 trusts able to give HSJ figures, in response to Freedom of Information Act requests, compared with 1,690 in 2021-22 and 1,368 in 2020-21. 

The Care Quality Commission has also raised concerns in inspections that incidents which should have been treated as “red flags” have not always been reported as such. The watchdog has also raised concerns about a lack of board-level oversight of maternity safety incidents and a need for clearer guidance for staff on reporting processes. 

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Source: HSJ, 2 April 2024

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Vulnerable Britons dying as not being given antibiotics at dentist, doctors say

Patients are dying needlessly every year due to vulnerable Britons with heart problems not being given antibiotics when they visit the dentist, doctors have said.

Almost 400,000 people in the UK are at high risk of developing life-threatening infective endocarditis any time they have dental treatment, the medics say. The condition kills 30% of sufferers within a year.

A refusal to approve antibiotic prophylaxis (AP) in such cases means that up to 261 people a year are getting the disease and up to 78 dying from it, they add. That policy may have caused up to 2,010 deaths over the last 16 years, it is claimed.

That danger has arisen because the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) does not follow international good medical practice and tell dentists to give at-risk patients antibiotics before they have a tooth extracted, root canal treatment or even have scale removed, the experts claim.

The doctors – who include a professor of dentistry, two leading cardiologists and a professor of infectious diseases – have outlined their concerns in The Lancet medical journal. In it, they urge NICE to rethink its approach in order to save lives, citing pivotal evidence that has emerged since the regulator last examined the issue in 2015, which shows that antibiotics are “safe, cost-effective and efficacious”.

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Source: The Guardian, 2 April 2024

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The NHS is failing our children, says top children’s doctor

Children are being forgotten by the government as they face “disgraceful” waiting times for NHS treatment, Britain’s top paediatric doctor has warned.

Dr Camilla Kingdon said children are being failed because their care is not being treated as a priority, despite considerable progress having been made in reducing waiting times for adults.

In her final interview as president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, she also issued a stark warning over the impact of poverty on young people’s health, lamenting the rise in the number of children being treated for severe lung disease due to damp and poor ventilation in inadequate housing.

Many parents cannot afford to be at their dying or sick child’s bedside because of financial pressures – an issue that has grown significantly worse in the past five years, she said.

She told The Independent: “Children simply need to be made a priority. We cannot afford to be ignoring this problem.”

The latest NHS figures show that the backlog for children’s hospital care has risen again, increasing from 387,000 in August to 412,000 in January, despite the adult waiting list having fallen since October.

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Source: The Independent, 31 March 2024

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NHS told to cut spending on doctors and nurses to save £4.5bn

Hospitals are preparing to cut spending on doctors and nurses by hundreds of millions of pounds after being ordered to plug a £4.5 billion hole in the NHS budget.

Chief executives at hospitals, mental health trusts and community services in England have been ordered to review staffing levels and draw up plans to close some services and merge others. They are also looking at banning or restricting the use of some agency workers.

NHS bosses have been alerted in recent days to the scale of the cuts needed after negotiating financial plans for next year. The health service in England has a budget of £165 billion for the 2024-25 financial year, which starts next week. The budget rose by 3.2% in real terms between 2018-19 and 2023-24.

Spending has been put under additional pressure by the cost of covering strikes by junior doctors which NHS England has said has cost more than £1.5 billion and affected more than 430,000 patients’ appointments.

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, said services had been stretched by the need to pick up the pieces from a shortage of social care and other community services. She said an ageing population and poor public health meant patients in hospital were sicker and staying longer, needing more care.

She said: “Trust leaders are being pushed to the very limits of what is possible, and there will be a situation where they have to make difficult choices about keeping basic services going versus investing in quality and improvement for the future. We are in a situation where we will be patching something that’s already a bit patched-together.”

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Source: Times, 31 March 2024

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Cost of private Covid jabs risks widening health inequalities, experts warn

Experts and patient groups have warned that the high cost of private Covid vaccinations could exacerbate health inequalities and leave those more at risk from the virus without a vital line of defence.

Both high street chain Boots and pharmacies that partner with the company Pharmadoctor are now offering Covid jabs to those not eligible for a free vaccination through the NHS, with the former charging almost £100 for the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.

While Pharmadoctor says each pharmacy sets its own prices, it suggests the Pfizer/BioNTech jab will set customers back £75-£85, while the latest Novavax jab will cost about £45-£55.

However experts have raised concerns that the high cost of the private jabs will widen inequalities, with the vaccinations unaffordable for many.

“The most disadvantaged in society are most likely to be exposed to respiratory viruses due to things like poverty, intergenerational households and crowded workplaces. While they might be most in need of a seasonal vaccine, they will also be the least likely to afford £100 in the midst of a cost of living crisis,” said Dr Marija Pantelic, of the University of Sussex.

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Source: The Guardian, 28 March 2024

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NHS gender identity clinics for children are ‘nowhere near ready’

The new NHS gender identity clinics for young people are “understaffed” and “nowhere near ready”, it was claimed on Monday as they officially started taking on patients.

A London hub, alongside a second in the northwest, will begin to see patients this week as they replace the Gender Identity Development Service (Gids) at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

The Gids clinic was ordered to close after a review by Dr Hilary Cass found it was “not a safe or viable long-term option”.

However, whistleblowers described as senior staff at Gids have expressed concerns about the preparedness and expertise of the new hubs, just as they open.

One, who spoke to the i newspaper under the condition of anonymity, said: “It’s been shoddy, disorganised, messy and unclear. And at times, it’s felt unsafe.”

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Source: The Times, 1 April 2024

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DrugGPT: new AI tool could help doctors prescribe medicine in England

Drugs are a cornerstone of medicine, but sometimes doctors make mistakes when prescribing them and patients don’t take them properly.

A new AI tool developed at Oxford University aims to tackle both those problems. DrugGPT offers a safety net for clinicians when they prescribe medicines and gives them information that may help their patients better understand why and how to take them.

Doctors and other healthcare professionals who prescribe medicines will be able to get an instant second opinion by entering a patient’s conditions into the chatbot. Prototype versions respond with a list of recommended drugs and flag up possible adverse effects and drug-drug interactions.

“One of the great things is that it then explains why,” said Prof David Clifton, whose team at Oxford’s AI for Healthcare lab led the project.

“It will show you the guidance – the research, flowcharts and references – and why it recommends this particular drug.”

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Source: The Guardian, 31 March 2024

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Four-year-old girl left with hearing loss for over a year after being left untreated

Kara Dilliway was just three years old when she came down with a common ear infection in October 2022.

She recovered quickly, as was expected, but just days after the infection cleared her parents found she was struggling to hear and talk.

“We’d noticed she’d just started to say yes and no to things, that’s when we thought something is going on,” says her mother Sam Dilliway, a 41-year-old community care worker from Basildon, Essex. Doctors said she could have glue ear, a common condition in children – fluid build-up had started to cause problems with her hearing, and would need draining.

But what should have been a minor ailment has turned into a never-ending ordeal for the family. What was a simple case of glue ear could now leave her with hearing loss for up to two years as she awaits routine treatment.

It comes after data released in January found that over 10 million people have been left on NHS waiting lists for basic ear care services.

Dr Aymat says that the long-term effects of such conditions being left untreated in children can be severe. While glue ear is unlikely to leave permanent damage, there is always a small risk of permanent hearing loss. However, the developmental effects are far more likely and potentially long-lasting.

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Source: The Independent, 1 April 2024

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Trusts face threat of legal action due to new quality standards

Trusts could be exposed to increased negligence claims as a result of new NHS England guidance for a rare spinal condition, a royal college has claimed.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has said updated national guidance on treating cauda equina syndrome could also lead to greater “inequity of access” due to issues accessing timely MRI scans at many accident and emergency departments.

An NHS Resolution report in 2022 found delayed MRI scans were a significant factor in high-value clinical negligence claims, particularly those relating to management of spinal conditions. 

The guidance issued by NHSE’s Getting It Right First Time programme national pathway guidance says emergency MRIs for suspected CES should be taken within four hours of requests to radiology, and where this is not possible, “standard operating procedures” involving local spinal and radiology services should be in place for urgent out-of-hours scanning. Local provision for this “must be in place by June 2024,” the guidance says.

NHSE said the GIRFT guidance has been endorsed by 11 clinical and patient bodies, including the Royal College of Radiologists and the Spinal Injuries Association.

But RCEM, understood to be the only clinical body not to endorse the guidance, has issued a position statement last month stating that “few EDs, outside of tertiary centres, have access to 24/7 MRI scanning”.

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Source: HSJ, 3 April 2024

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Families must prove trust caused death of babies, despite inquiry’s damning conclusions

Families have been told they will have to prove liability for the harm caused to mothers and children at East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust before getting compensation.

This is despite the inquiry having examined each case in detail and concluding 45 babies could have survived, while 12 who sustained brain damage could have had a different outcome. It also determined 23 women who either died or suffered injuries might have had better outcomes had care been given to “nationally recognised” standards. 

However, NHS Resolution – which handles claims for clinical negligence – now says families must prove causation and a breach of duty of care before any compensation can be made. This stipulation has been made even in cases where the inquiry found different treatment would have been reasonably expected to make a difference to the outcome.

The investigation into the trust’s maternity care led by Bill Kirkup reported 18 months ago. Speaking to HSJ, its author said: “I am disappointed that East Kent families are facing these problems after everything that has happened to them. Of course, it is true that the independent investigation panel was not in a position to rule on negligence, but we did provide a robust clinical assessment of each case.

“I would have hoped that this could be taken into account in deciding to offer early settlement instead of a protracted dispute. It seems sad that a more compassionate approach has not been adopted.”

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Source: HSJ, 2 April 2024

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Catherine died on the operating table. Now police are investigating

Catherine O’Connor was 17 when she died, having lost 14 litres of blood during high-risk surgery on her back.

At her inquest, the surgeon who operated on her, John Bradley Williamson, told the coroner the procedure at Salford Royal Hospital in Greater Manchester had “progressed uneventfully” and “the blood loss was perhaps a little higher than one would usually anticipate but was certainly not extreme”. The coroner recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.

Now Greater Manchester police are examining O’Connor’s death, in February 2007, and whether Williamson misled the coroner during the inquest in September that year.

Catherine's family are now demanding a new inquest into her death in 2007.

This is because in the days after O’Connor’s death, Williamson sent an internal letter to the head of the hospital’s haematology department, Simon Jowitt, describing the surgery as “difficult” and having involved “a catastrophic haemorrhage”. Williamson had also ignored advice to have a second surgeon present during the operation.

Officers led by Detective Inspector Michael Sharples have commissioned two expert reports and sought advice from the Crown Prosecution Service ahead of a meeting with the coroner, who has been asked to consider reopening O’Connor’s inquest.

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Source: The Times, 31 March 2024

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NHS faces ‘avalanche’ of demand for autism and ADHD services, thinktank warns

The NHS is experiencing an “avalanche of need” over autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but the system in place to cope with surging demand for assessments and treatments is “obsolete”, a health thinktank has warned.

There must be a “radical rethink” of how people with the conditions are cared for in England if the health service is to meet the rapidly expanding need for services, according to the Nuffield Trust.

The thinktank is calling for a “whole-system approach” across education, society and the NHS, amid changing social attitudes and better awareness of the conditions. It comes days after the NHS announced a major review of ADHD services.

Thea Stein, the chief executive of the Nuffield Trust, said: “The extraordinary, unpredicted and unprecedented rise in demand for autism assessments and ADHD treatments have completely overtaken the NHS’s capacity to meet them. It is frankly impossible to imagine how the system can grow fast enough to fulfil this demand.

“We shouldn’t underestimate what this means for children in particular: many schools expect an assessment and formal diagnosis to access support – and children and their families suffer while they wait.”

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Source: The Guardian, 4 April 2024

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