Jump to content
  • articles
    9,839
  • comments
    83
  • views
    12,459,438

Contributors to this article

About this News

Articles in the news

US cancer death rate drops by 30% since 1991

Death rates from cancer in the US have fallen by 32% over the three decades from 1991 to 2019, according to the American Cancer Society.

The decline is thanks to prevention, screening, early diagnosis and treatment of common cancers, including lung and breast cancer.

The drop has meant 3.5m fewer deaths. However, cancers are still the second leading cause of death in the US, after heart disease.

In 1991, the cancer death rate was 215 per 100,000 people and in 2019 it dropped to 146 per 100,000 people.

Lung cancer, of which there are 230,000more cases each year, kills the most patients, 350 per day.

But people are being diagnosed sooner, and technological advancements have increased the survival rate by three years.

The report also examined racial and economic disparities in cancer outcomes.

The Covid-19 pandemic added to already existing difficulties for marginalised groups to get cancer screenings and treatment.

For nearly every type of cancer, white people have a higher survival rate than black people. Black women with breast cancer face a 41% higher death rate than white women.

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 12 January 2023

Read more
 

Government commits to public repository of consultant details “in principle”

The government has committed “in principle” to creating a public repository of consultants’ practice details that sets out their practising privileges and key performance data, including how many times they have performed a particular procedure and how recently.

The commitment was part of the response to an independent national inquiry, launched in 2017, following the malpractice of rogue surgeon Ian Paterson. Now serving a 20 year prison sentence, Paterson had undertaken numerous unnecessary breast operations in both private and NHS practice, causing harm to hundreds of patients.

The inquiry, published February 2020, found that Paterson was able to harm patients over more than decade because of the “dysfunctional” healthcare system. It outlined 17 recommendations for the government to respond to, mainly focusing on improving oversight and governance, as well as ensuring greater scrutiny of private providers.

At the time, some saw the report as a missed opportunity to tackle the systemic patient safety risks of the private hospital business model, such as financial incentives which can lead to overtreatment.

Read full story

Source: BMJ, 17 December 2021

 

Read more
 

Report highlights common ‘never event’ that leaves women at risk of harm after childbirth

Women can be left in severe pain and at risk of infection if swabs and tampons used after childbirth are accidentally left in the vagina. That’s the safety risk the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch highlight in their new report published yesterday.

Vaginal swabs and surgical tampons (larger than tampons used by women during their menstrual cycle) are used to absorb bodily fluids in a number of procedures both in delivery suites and surgical theatres on maternity wards. They are intended to be removed once a procedure is complete.

The report sets out the case of Christine, a 30-year-old woman who had a surgical tampon inserted after the birth of her first child. It was left in and not discovered until five days after leaving hospital. Whilst being in immense pain throughout, Christine saw the community midwife and GP twice before going back to hospital where the swab was found.

Sandy Lewis, HSIB’s Maternity Investigation Programme Director, said: “Although measures have been put in place to reduce the chance of swabs and tampons being left in, it continues to happen, leaving women in pain and distress when they may have already gone through a traumatic labour.

“There are numerous physical effects; pain, bleeding and possible infection, but we can’t forget about the psychological impact as there was in Christine’s case – she had to seek private counselling and felt that what happened affected her ability to bond with her baby."

Read full story

Source: Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch, 18 December 2019

Read more
 

Johnson and Johnson pays hundreds of women in Scotland harmed by mesh implants

The pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson has agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to settle a legal action by hundreds of Scottish women who claimed they suffered serious injuries from the company’s pelvic mesh implants.

The settlement came as four lead cases brought by women who suffered pain and other serious side effects from the implants, made by Johnson and Johnson subsidiary Ethicon, were about to reach court in Edinburgh.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: BMJ, 2 June 2020

Read more
 

We need a Nightingale model for rehab after COVID-19

A major new model of post-acute care is needed for the discharge and rehabilitation of patients following COVID-19 infection, say Alice Murray, Clare Gerada, and Jackie Morris.

A comprehensive plan must be made for the 50% of COVID-19 patients who will require some form of ongoing care following admission to intensive care, with the goal of improving their long-term outcomes and freeing-up much-needed acute hospital capacity.

While the current focus is quite rightly on emergent cases, planning should be set in place to create post-acute care resources and facilities for the surge in numbers of people with the physical, psychological and functional consequences of prolonged ITU stays and or hospital admission following COVID-19 infection.

One potential solution is to provide mass facilities, on a scale to match the Nightingale Hospitals in so-called “Centres of Excellence”, requisitioned for those who survive but need care and cannot return to their own homes, with both residential and day care units available.

Read full story

Source: HSJ, 9 April 2020

Read more
 

‘Rapid’ assessment launched to help NHS organisations pick new tech

NHSX has launched a ‘simpler and faster’ technology assessment process to help healthcare providers pick digital tools that meet NHS standards.

The new digital technology assessment criteria provides NHS and social care teams with guidance to decide which tools to use or to recommend to patients. NHS organisations, national bodies and social care will be encouraged to apply the DTAC when considering any form of digital health technology procurement.

NHSX described DTAC as “a new simpler and faster assessment process to help give staff, patients and the public confidence that the digital health tools they use meet NHS standards”, adding it “is a rapid process that can be completed in days”.

It has previously taken as long as two months for tools to go through assessment processes. 

The guidance brings together legislation and best practice across five areas. Tools will receive a pass or fail score in the first four categories — clinical safety, data protection, technical security and interoperability — and an additional percentage score for usability and accessibility. 

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 23 February 2021

Read more

Staff mental health support faces axe after national funding cut

Mental health and wellbeing hubs for NHS and social care staff could be axed within months, as national funding for them is likely to be cut, HSJ has learned.

NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care are understood to be close to ending ring-fenced national funding for the 41 hubs, which were set up in February 2021, at the peak of acute covid pressures and concern about the impact on staff.

Sources told HSJ discussions were ongoing, but that it is likely integrated care systems would need to find funding themselves if they are to continue. Amid tight local finances, it is expected many will be wound down or closed.

This is despite problems with low staff morale, high absence rates and with large numbers of experienced staff thought to be leaving the service.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 4 January 2022

Read more

Hospital boss claims unfair dismissal after chairman 'bullied' her

A former NHS chief executive is suing her employer, saying she was "bullied, harassed, intimidated and undermined" by the hospital trust's chairman.

In legal papers, seen by BBC News, Dr Susan Gilby alleges she was effectively unfairly dismissed by the Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust, after she made a formal complaint.

Dr Gilby claims the chairman was "highly aggressive and intimidatory" in meetings, that he banged his hand on a desk to emphasise his point, and oversaw a climate where "offensively sexist comments and ferocious and repetitive criticisms" were made by either him or his associates.

Dr Gilby's complaint accuses the chairman of putting finance above patient safety at the hospital trust

She made a formal whistle-blowing complaint against the chairman in July 2022, raising her concerns about his behaviour to both the trust and NHS England.

The trust responded to her concerns, Dr Gilby claims, by proposing that she be seconded to a senior advisory role within NHS England on the condition she withdrew her allegations.

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 12 May 2023

Read more
 

‘Shameful’ data reveals NHS treatment of minority ethnic staff

Five years after launching a plan to improve treatment of black and minority ethnic staff, NHS England data shows their experiences have got worse.

Almost a third of black and minority ethnic staff in the health service have been bullied, harassed or abused by their own colleagues in the past year, according to “shameful” new data.

Minority ethnic staff in the NHS have reported a worsening experience as employees across four key areas, in a blow to bosses at NHS England, five years after they launched a drive to improve race equality.

Critics warned the experiences reported by BME staff raised questions over whether the health service was “institutionally racist” as experts criticised the NHS “tick box” approach and “showy but pointless interventions”.

Read full story

Source: The Independent, 18 February 2020

Read more
 

Fall in school nurses prompts fears that children’s lives are ‘at risk’

The number of nurses in schools has fallen in recent years, prompting fears that pupils’ lives are being put “at risk”. 

Teaching assistants are being asked to carry out medical interventions, such as injections, without adequate training or support, the GMB union, which represents school staff, has said. 

Data, obtained by the GMB union through a Freedom of Information request, shows the number of school nurses has fallen by 11 per cent in four years – from 472 in 2015 to 420 in 2018.

Karen Leonard, National Schools Officer at the GMB union, said: “The uncomfortable truth is that in too many schools children are not getting the medical support they need.”

Ms Leonard added: “School staff should not administer medicine unless they feel fully confident in their training and lines of accountability, but often they are placed in uncomfortable situations."

“This is a highly stressful state of affairs for children, parents, and staff, who fear they will be blamed if something goes wrong. It is not alarmist to say that lives are at risk.”

Read full story

Source: The Independent, 23 February 2020

Read more
 

Key NHS long-term plan target to be missed ‘due to covid’

The NHS is set to miss a major national target to eliminate inappropriate out of area placements within mental health by the end of March, HSJ can reveal.

At least eight of the 52 English NHS mental health trusts surveyed by HSJ are predicting they will miss the national deadline of getting rid of their inappropriate OAPs by the end of next month.

The national target was one of the headline mental health pledges set out in  2014’s Five Year Forward View. The pledge was also in 2019’s long-term plan.

Inappropriate OAPs refer to people being sent out of their region to an inpatient mental health bed if no beds are available within their area. Patients are regularly sent hundreds of miles away from their homes.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 23 February 2021

Read more
 

Trust launches investigation after staff member’s death

East of England Ambulance Service Trust has launched an ‘independent investigation into the circumstances’ surrounding the death of a staff member, its chief executive told a board meeting today.

Nick Lee, 46, from Ovington in west Norfolk, died on 3 December. The cause of death is yet to be officially established. He was a leading operations manager for west Norfolk, and hospital ambulance liaison officer at Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn Foundation Trust and had worked for the ambulance trust for nearly 20 years.

This is not the first time the trust, which has faced significant cultural problems in recent years, has been required to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths of members of their workforce.

The trust launched an investigation into the “underlying factors associated with” the sudden deaths of three of its employees in November 2019, HSJ exclusively revealed in January 2020.

A whistleblower alleged in 2019 that staff at the ambulance provider were at risk of suicide because of its “completely toxic culture”. A month after the allegations were reported in October, three young staff members died suddenly in 11 days.

The deaths happened while the trust was transitioning to a new staff welfare provider. The staff who died were ambulance dispatcher Luke Wright, aged 24, and paramedics Christopher Gill, from Welwyn Garden City, and Richard Grimes, from Luton.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 13 January 2022

Read more
 

I travelled to the US and paid £19,000 to have mesh implant removed

Anne Monie is one of hundreds of Scottish women to have suffered painful, life-changing side effects from mesh implants.

She was fit and healthy when she went to her doctor with anterior prolapse and mild stress incontinence in 2010. But an operation to fit transvaginal mesh left her in agony.

With nowhere to turn for help in Scotland, the 69-year-old spent £19,000 travelling to the US to get her implant removed.

Anne spoke to BBC Scotland as the Scottish Parliament looks set to pass a bill which would see her and others reimbursed for the cost of private surgery.

That may bring financial concerns to an end - but she is by no means cured. And she worries about other women still trying to go through the mesh-removal process.

Anne was offered a simple "gold standard" transvaginal mesh procedure when she first sought medical help 12 years ago.

But after the operation to fit it, she began to suffer from a range of problems and was left in chronic pain.

After years of frustration, she paid to go to Missouri to have mesh removal surgery with world-renowned expert Dr Dionysios Veronikis.

"It's a massive amount of money to be paying out, especially when you're retired. But then, what price do you put on health?"

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 25 January 2022

Read more

Systems and processes failed neurologist’s patients, inquiry finds

Systems and processes in place around patient safety failed in terms of the work of a Belfast-based neurologist, an inquiry has found.

Dr Michael Watt was at the centre of Northern Ireland’s largest ever recall of patients, which began in 2018, after concerns were raised about his clinical work.

More than 4,000 of his former patients attended recall appointments.

Almost a fifth of patients who attended recall appointments were found to have received an “insecure diagnosis”.

The final report following the Independent Neurology Inquiry found that problems with Dr Watt’s practice were missed for years and opportunities to intervene were lost.

It makes 76 recommendations to the Department of Health, healthcare organisations, General Medical Council and the independent sector.

“While one process or system failure may not be critical, the synergistic effect of numerous failures ensured that a problem with an individual doctor’s practice was missed for many years and, as this inquiry finds, opportunities to intervene, particularly in 2006/2007, 2012/2013, and earlier in 2016 were lost,” the inquiry found.

Read full story

Source: The Independent, 21 June 2022

Read more

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.”

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 31 March 2024

Read more
 

London begins major COVID-19 reconfiguration

St Bartholomew’s Hospital is to be the emergency electives centre for the London region as part of a major reorganisation to cope with the coronavirus outbreak.

Senior sources told HSJ the London tertiary hospital, which is run by Barts Health Trust, will be a “clean” site providing emergency elective care as part of the capital’s covid-19 plan.

It is understood the specialist Royal Brompton and Harefield Foundation Trust will also be taking some emergency cardiac patients.

The news follows NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens telling MPs on Tuesday that all systems were working out how best to optimise resources and some hospitals could be used to exclusively treat coronavirus patients in the coming months.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 18 March 2020

Read more
 

CQC to prosecute acute trust in groundbreaking case

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has launched the first prosecution of an acute trust for failing to meet fundamental standards of care.

East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust faces two charges relating to the death of Harry Richford and the risks posed to his mother during his birth. Both charges are under regulation 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The trust is accused of failing to discharge its duty under regulation 12 in that it failed to provide safe care and treatment exposing Harry and his mother Sarah to a significant risk of avoidable harm.

It is only the fourth prosecution of a trust over the “fundamental standards” which were brought in following the Mid Staffordshire care scandal and are meant to be enforced by the CQC. It is also thought to be the first related to the safety of clinical care.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 9 October 2020

Read more
 

Hospital may have broken law by failing to reveal errors led to boy’s death

Great Ormond Street Hospital may have broken the law by failing to share information with parents that showed its errors had contributed to their son’s death, The Independent understands.

The care watchdog is speaking to Great Ormond Street about its handling of an expert report into five-year-old Walif Yafi in 2017.

It showed that the hospital’s failure to share results that showed a deadly infection had played a role in Walif’s death. But the boy’s parents were only told about the findings after inquiries by The Independent – months after settling a lawsuit with Great Ormond Street in which the trust denied responsibility.

The Care Quality Commission is looking at concerns relating to duty of candour regulations, which require hospitals to be open and honest with families about mistakes made that result in serious harm to patients. Breaching the regulations is a criminal offence and can lead to prosecution.

Read full story

Source: The Independent, 7 December 2020

Read more

MPs to question government on failures over use of epilepsy drug in pregnancy

Senior health officials are to face questioning over why pregnant women are still being prescribed sodium valproate despite its known risks as a cause of birth defects or developmental delays.

Campaigners for families affected by the drug will also give evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee in a one-off session later this month. Alongside campaigners on sodium valproate, the Committee will also hear from campaigners from Association for Children Damaged by Hormone Pregnancy Tests and on behalf of “Sling the Mesh” campaign.

MPs will examine government progress on recommendations made in the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety (IMMDS) Review, which specifically looked into sodium valproate, hormone pregnancy tests and vaginal mesh. An update by Ministers on progress to implement the government’s response was due this summer.  A Minister from the Department of Health and Social Care has been invited to appear before the Committee.

The IMMDS Review’s report called for better communication to inform women of the risks of sodium valproate in pregnancy. Despite an NHS ‘valproate pregnancy prevention programme’, 247 women since April 2018 were found to have been prescribed the drug in a month in which they were pregnant, 25 as recently as April to September last year.

Health and Social Care Committee Chair Jeremy Hunt MP said:

“It is incredibly concerning to know that women of child-bearing age can still be prescribed the epilepsy drug sodium valproate despite its known risks as a cause of birth defects or developmental delays.

It has been two years since Baroness Cumberlege called for urgent action to prevent this happening. However, dozens of pregnant women were prescribed the drug last year while data published last month has shown that safety requirements were not being fully met.

We’re calling in a Minister and senior health officials as well as campaigners to address our concerns.”

Read full story

Source: UK Parliament, 2 September 2022

 

Read more
 

Hospital ‘bed blocking’ numbers hit highest level since 2017

The number of patients stuck in hospitals because they could not be transferred is at its highest quarterly level since 2017, reversing years of progress amid ongoing crises in health and care services.

“Delayed transfers of care” – often known as “bed blocking” – rose in the mid-2010s as austerity hit council-run adult-care services, meaning hospitals were unable to discharge patients into the community.

The number of “delayed days” in the NHS increased from an average of 114,000 a month in 2012 to more than 200,000 in October 2016, before extra funding and higher council taxes brought the numbers back down.

But the latest NHS figures show the problem is returning. December 2019 saw 148,000 delayed days across England, 15% higher than the same month a year earlier. The combined figures for the last quarter of 2019 were the highest in two years.

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 23 February 2020

Read more
 

Senior doctors warned of service failings before 12 deaths

Senior doctors repeatedly raised concerns over safety and staffing problems at a mental health trust before a cluster of 12 deaths, an HSJ investigation has found.

The deaths all happened over the course of a year, starting in June 2018, involving patients under the care of the crisis home treatment services at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust. The causes of the deaths included suicides, drug overdoses, and hanging.

Coroners found several common failings surrounding the deaths and have previously warned of a lack of resources for mental health services in the city.

HSJ has now seen internal documents which reveal senior clinicians had raised repeated internal concerns about the trust’s crisis home treatment teams during 2017 and early 2018. The clinicians warned of inadequate staffing levels, long waiting lists, and a lack of inpatient bed capacity.

In the minutes of one meeting in February 2018, just two months before the first of the 12 deaths, a consultant is recorded as saying he had “grave concerns over safety in [the home treatment teams]”.

Read full story

Source: HSJ, 9 June 2020

Read more

Social care at breaking point in England after 'lost decade'

Policymakers’ failure to tackle chronically underfunded social care has resulted in a “lost decade” and a system now at breaking point, according to a new report.

A team led by Jon Glasby, a professor of health and social care at the University of Birmingham, says that without swift government intervention including urgent funding changes England’s adult social care system could quickly become unsustainable.

Adult social care includes residential care homes and help with eating, washing, dressing and shopping. The paper says the impact has been particularly felt in services for older people. Those for working-age people have been less affected.

It suggests that despite the legitimate needs of other groups “it is hard to interpret this other than as the product of ageist attitudes and assumptions about the role and needs of older people”.

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 9 August 2020

Read more
 

‘Unrelenting’ pressure forces hospital to turn away non-emergency patients from A&E

According to reports, a hospital in the northeast of England is having to turn away non-emergency patients from A&E due to "unrelenting" pressures on the service. This new policy was announced on Tuesday by Hull Teaching Hospitals Trust, warning patients they may need to travel up to 30 miles in order to receive care. 

Dr Makani Purva, chief medical officer said in a statement on the trust website on Tuesday: “Staff are working incredibly hard to provide care for patients in challenging circumstances but we need people to use the full range of services available. One in four patients who attend A&E in Hull could have been treated more appropriately elsewhere, that’s around 100 patients every day. So from today, after an initial screening process, those arriving at A&E who could safely be cared for elsewhere will be referred on to one of several alternative care centres and providers. Doing so will help us to reduce waiting times for more seriously ill patients and ensure they receive the priority care they need in hospital, while enabling those patients with non-urgent needs to receive care more quickly from a suitably skilled health professional elsewhere.”

Read full story.

Source: The Independent, 24 August 2021

Read more

What are the new Covid rules for English care homes and are they safe?

The self-isolation period for positive cases is being cut and the limit on visitors lifted from next week. 

Residents who test positive will have to self-isolate for up to 10 days, with a minimum isolation period of five full days followed by two sequential negative lateral flow tests – as is already the case for the rest of the population.

Isolation periods for those having care after an emergency hospital visit will also be reduced to a maximum of 10 days, while a requirement for residents to test or self-isolate after normal visits out will be removed.

Care homes will have to follow outbreak management rules for 14 rather than 28 days, and by 16 February care workers will need to use lateral flow tests before work rather than taking a weekly PCR test.

The limit on visitors to care homes will be lifted. Visitors should still obtain a negative lateral flow test result earlier in the day of their visit, and guidance on the use by visitors of PPE such as face masks remains unchanged.

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 27 January 2022

Read more

© 2026 Patient Safety Learning. All rights reserved.

Patient Safety Learning is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission Registration number 1180689.

×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.