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Glan Clwyd: Vascular overhaul 'must be undone' over safety risks

Changes to vascular services in north Wales must be reversed urgently after a report highlighted safety risks, campaigners warned.

Services were centralised from Ysbyty Gwynedd to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd - about 30 miles away - in April 2019.

An independent report, by the Royal College of Surgeons, highlights bed shortages and confusion over staffing levels.

Betsi Cadwaladr health board said it was making urgent changes to services.

In the report, commissioned by BCUHB after patients and staff raised fears about the new service, the Royal College of Surgeons makes nine "urgent recommendations to address patient safety risks".

The report sets out issues, including too many patients being transferred to the hub hospital at Glan Clwyd, and a lack of vascular beds leading to frequent delays in transfers. The report also refers to a lack of clarity regarding the availability of consultant vascular surgeons.

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Source: BBC News, 20 May 2021

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Almost a fifth of nurses say a negative workplace culture forced them to leave profession

Almost a fifth of nurses who left the profession cited a negative workplace culture as a reason for leaving along with almost a quarter saying they were under too much pressure.

The nursing regulator, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) warned there could be an exodus of registered nurses after the coronavirus pandemic in its latest annual report.

Despite a record number of nurses and midwives joining the profession across the UK, the NMC said pressure on frontline nurses could drive many away.

In a survey of 5,639 nurses who left the register between July 2019 and June 2020, the NMC found that after retirement as the most common reason for leaving, almost a quarter of nurses (23%) said they left their jobs because of "too much pressure", leading to stress and poor mental health.

A total of 18% blamed a negative workplace culture as the reason to leave.

The NMC report warned: “These issues existed before the pandemic, and may well outlast it, further disrupting an already fatigued nursing and midwifery workforce. If not addressed, this could have a significant impact on the number of people we report leaving our register over the next year and beyond.”

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Source: The Independent, 20 May 2021

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Breast implant victims to receive compensation

More than 2,500 women who were victims of the PIP breast implant scandal should receive compensation, a French appeal court has decided.

It also upheld an earlier judgement finding German company TUV Rheinland, which awarded safety certificates for the faulty implants, negligent.

The case in Paris involved 540 British women, who said they suffered long-term health effects.

The results could have far-reaching implications for other victims.

Jan Spivey is one of the women in the case. She was given PIP implants after she had a mastectomy due to breast cancer.

She developed sore and aching joints, chest and back pain, fatigue, severe headaches and anxiety. Once removed it was clear her implants had been leaking silicone into her body.

She says the implants have had a massive impact on her mental health.

"My PIP implants from 20 years ago are still impacting on my life and my health and my wellbeing, even today."

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Source: BBC News, 19 May 2021

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Baby death raises questions over maternity care

Beth and Dan Wankiewicz want answers about why their baby son Clay died last year, shortly after his birth at Doncaster Royal Infirmary. Despite a low-risk pregnancy, the family say Clay died from multiple skull fractures.

Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Foundation Trust said "the provision and delivery of high-quality" care is a priority.

The BBC has found a 2016 review flagging concerns about the hospital's maternity care was never published. The report - one of scores of unpublished reports discovered by a Freedom of Information request by BBC's Panorama programme - highlighted significant patient safety concerns.

Beth Wankiewicz was admitted to hospital last July, but after a day of labour her baby had still not been born. With no consultant doctor on site, a junior doctor made two attempts to deliver the baby with forceps, after getting advice on the phone.

Father, Dan, remembers the second attempt with forceps being much more vigorous "which was a bit of a shock".

The family say there was a further delay before they had a Caesarean section. Their baby had to be pushed back up the birth canal into the womb for the C-section to be performed.

"I think after about 10 minutes, we both looked at the clock, and we said it's not looking good," said Dan.

Around 20 minutes after their son was born, despite attempts to resuscitate him, they were told he had died.

The following day they say a midwife told them she was being pressurised by other staff to say Clay had been stillborn, but she was sure he had been born alive, and she had heard a heartbeat.

The family now believe this was to avoid scrutiny and the need for a coroner's inquest, which doesn't happen with still births.

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Source: BBC News, 19 May 2021

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US physician gets 59-year sentence for unneeded patient surgeries, $20M fraud

A Virginia gynaecologist has been sentenced to 59 years in prison for a fraud scheme that caused insurance programmes to lose more than $20 million, according to the U.S. Justice Department. 

Javaid Perwaiz was sentenced after being convicted last November of 52 counts of healthcare fraud and false statements related to a scheme in which he performed medically unnecessary surgeries, including hysterectomies and improper sterilisations, on his patients. 

From about 2010 to 2019, Dr. Perwaiz often falsely told his patients that they needed the surgeries because they had cancer or could avoid cancer, prosecutors said. Additionally, evidence showed Dr. Perwaiz falsified records for his obstetric patients to induce labor early to ensure he was reimbursed for the deliveries and violated Medicaid's required 30-day waiting period for elective sterilisation procedures by backdating records to make it appear that he had complied with the waiting period. Dr. Perwaiz also billed insurance companies for diagnostic procedures that he only pretended to perform at his office, prosecutors said. 

"Motivated by his insatiable and reprehensible greed, Perwaiz used an arsenal of horrifying tactics to manipulate and deceive patients into undergoing invasive, unnecessary and devastating medical procedures," Raj Parekh, acting U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, stated. "In many instances, the defendant shattered their ability to have children by using fear to remove organs from their bodies that he had no right to take."

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Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 18 May 2021

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NHS was ‘overwhelmed’ in January surge, study finds

The NHS “was largely overwhelmed” at the height of the UK’s Covid second wave in January, according to a study.

New research published in Anaesthesia, a journal of the Association of Anaesthetists, revealed the scale of the pressure on hospitals during the pandemic and how stretched some units were.

Based on surveys of all NHS hospitals, with more than half responding, the study found almost a third of anaesthetists were redeployed to look after critically ill patients, leaving 42% of operating theatres closed.

This meant operations, including for cancer and emergency surgery patients, had to be cancelled.

The research, by Professor Tim Cook, a consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care at the Royal United Hospitals Bath Foundation Trust, said: “Three-quarters of critical care units were so expanded that planned surgery could not be safely resumed. At all times, the greatest resource limitation was staff.”

It is thought the findings are an underestimate of how bad the situation really was in some hospitals because the busiest units were less able to respond to the survey.

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Source: The Independent, 19 May 2021

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Alarm raised years before hospital’s ‘inadequate’ rating

Multiple concerns were being raised about an inpatient hospital for several years before it was rated ‘inadequate’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), HSJ has learned.

Huntercombe Hospital in Maidenhead, which provides NHS-funded mental healthcare for children, was put into special measures in February after an inspection raised serious concerns over the apparent over-use of medication to sedate patients, among other issues. It has since received a further warning notice.

The unit, which predominantly treats female patients, had previously been rated “good” by the CQC in 2016 and 2019.

Five former patients and four parents have now told HSJ of poor care and practices at the unit between 2016 and 2020. Two of the families raised concerns directly to Huntercombe, as well as NHS England, local authorities and the local community provider, Berkshire Healthcare FT.

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Source: HSJ, 18 May 2021

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Google AI tool can help patients identify skin conditions

Google has unveiled a tool that uses artificial intelligence to help spot skin, hair and nail conditions, based on images uploaded by patients.

A trial of the "dermatology assist tool", unveiled at the tech giant's annual developer conference, Google IO, should launch later this year, it said.

The app has been awarded a CE mark for use as a medical tool in Europe.

A cancer expert said AI advances could enable doctors to provide more tailored treatment to patients.

The AI can recognise 288 skin conditions but is not designed to be a substitute for medical diagnosis and treatment, the firm said.

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Source: BBC News, 18 May 2021

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Unpublished hospital patient safety reports exposed

Serious patient safety issues are being buried in confidential hospital reports, BBC Panorama has found.

Freedom of Information requests revealed 111 reports, written by medical royal colleges, which NHS trusts have a duty to share. Eighty reports were given to the BBC but only 26 had been shared in full with regulators, and 16 published.

The Department of Health would not comment on whether it might change the law to ensure publication.

Since the 2015 Morecambe Bay maternity scandal in which 11 babies and a mother died, NHS Trusts are supposed to publish summaries of external reviews, and share them with the regulator.

An earlier review into the hospital had previously identified concerns but had not been made public.

Dr Bill Kirkup, who led a 2015 investigation into the Morecambe Bay scandal, said Panorama's findings were a "great disappointment".

"People should know that there is something that is important enough to be looked at and they should know what the results of that scrutiny are. I can't understand what the rationale would be for withholding the existence of a report or the findings of the report. These are important matters of accountability in the public service."

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Source: BBC News, 19 May 2021

 
 
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Social care cuts mean thousands with dementia taken to A&E, charity says

Tens of thousands of people with dementia are taken to hospital each year for emergency admission because inadequate social care has left them unprotected from infections, falls and dehydration, an investigation has found.

There has been a 27% increase over a four-year period in avoidable illnesses and injuries caused by failures in care for those living with dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Society.

“This news comes just under a week after the Queen’s speech frustratingly made only a brief mention of the prime minister’s promise nearly two years ago to deliver a clear plan for social care reform, a devastating blow for the 850,000 people living with dementia, worst hit by coronavirus,” said Kate Lee, chief executive officer at Alzheimer’s Society.

The charity found that nearly two-thirds of dementia emergency admissions could have been avoided. It blames cuts in social care budgets and warned that worse is to come.

Launched to mark Dementia Action Week, the charity’s investigation also found that nearly three-quarters of family carers said loved ones with dementia had experienced preventable medical issues because of lack of support. One in nine had been taken to hospital.

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Source: The Guardian, 17 May 2021

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Ambulance crews in England to use iPads to assess accident and stroke victims

Ambulance crews will start using iPads to send photographs of accident and stroke victims to specialist hospital doctors so that they can make rapid diagnoses and save some patients a trip to A&E.

NHS England is giving 30,000 iPads to regional ambulance services to help paramedics decide what care to give and whether to take someone to hospital or treat them at the scene.

The tablet computers will be a vital link between ambulance crews and hospital consultants, whose digital interaction will make treatment faster and better, NHS England said.

For example, the devices will let paramedics show an A&E department how badly injured patients have been in a road traffic crash, so that they can prepare for their arrival. They will also allow crews access to patients’ medical records to help them build a better picture of their health.

“Ambulance crews have been at the forefront of the pandemic, routinely dealing with life-and-death situations and often first on scene to treat and diagnose critically ill patients,” said Sir Simon Stevens, NHS England’s chief executive. “These devices are another tool for our highly skilled paramedics and ambulance technicians as they continue to respond to the country’s most critically ill and injured patients.”

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Source: The Guardian, 18 May 2021

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‘GP said I might be blocked up. At hospital they told me I was heading towards sepsis’

Monica Evans's initial misdiagnosis could have proved life-threatening – and she is just one of many to have suffered during pandemic.

Since The Telegraph began reporting on the struggles of patients around the country to access GP services during the pandemic, they have been inundated with messages and letters.

There have been multiple stories of serious misdiagnoses made after telephone consultations with doctors that took place in lieu of face-to-face assessments; of interminable waits to get through to practices on jammed phone lines; and of lengthy delays while worried patients have waited for referrals to be made.

Those who shared their experiences have also shared their fury, frustration, fear and dismay. Some who could afford to have felt they had no option but to turn to private healthcare, unable to obtain the help they needed from an NHS struggling with Covid and all its knock-on effects. Others have been left with nowhere to turn. 

GPs have spoken, too, about their dissatisfaction with a system that has discouraged face-to-face consultations. 

Amid an outpouring of anger from both patients and doctors, NHS England yesterday rowed back on plans for "total triage" of patients to keep them out of surgeries whenever possible. But for many the damage has already been done.

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Source: The Telegraph, 13 May 2021

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More than 60 care homes investigated for banning family visits during lockdown

More than 60 care homes have been investigated by the care regulator for preventing families from visiting their vulnerable elderly relatives.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said it had conducted 1,282 inspections since 8 March and had taken action against 5% of care providers about which it had “outstanding concerns” relating to visiting, and had taken further steps against 37 cases of blanket bans on visiting.

The CQC was responding to criticism from the Relatives and Residents Association (R&RA) which said the regulator had failed to act to ensure that families can check whether their parents, grandparents or spouses are receiving appropriate care.

The R&RA has campaigned throughout the pandemic to allow families to see their relatives, amid concerns that depriving older people of contact with loved ones led to cognitive and physical decline.

Families have also been concerned that their older relatives are more likely to suffer abuse or neglect without oversight, and even in high-quality care settings relatives can be more likely to spot signs of distress or ill-health.

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Source: The Guardian, 16 May 2021

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NHS trust investigates cluster of ‘unusual infections’ in children’s hospital

A number of “unusual infections” have been discovered among patients at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital (RACH), prompting investigation by an NHS trust.

NHS Grampian said they were taking a “very precautionary approach” and looking for any potential links that these infections could have to the hospital environment.

These precautions include relocating some procedures, with the trust also warning that there may be delays in treatment for a small number of patients.

They were keen to point out that the hospital will continue to admit and treat patients as normal whilst the investigation is ongoing.

An NHS Grampian spokesman explained: “While we investigate the causes of this – and whether or not there is a link to the hospital environment – we are taking a very precautionary approach.

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Source: The Independent, 16 May 2021

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Covid: Wales' NHS doctors 'bullied for raising safety fears'

Doctors in Wales have faced bullying and disciplinary action for raising concerns over working conditions and safety, a union leader has said.

Dr Phil Banfield, of BMA Wales, said doctors who complained about work, both before and during the Covid pandemic, were seen as "troublemakers".

He said there are worries bullying among staff will get worse as longer post-Covid waiting lists are tackled.

The Welsh government said bullying of NHS staff was "entirely unacceptable".

Dr Banfield, who is chairman of the BMA Welsh consultants' committee, said staff have faced the prospect of being victimised by colleagues, or even being forced to leave the Welsh NHS, for raising concerns over bullying or health and safety.

He said: "Staff are quite good at raising concerns, but they don't raise concerns if they're going get in trouble for it, or they sense nothing is going to happen. What happens is you think 'I can't be bothered'.

"Decent people develop a kind of learned helplessness and it means that people who keep raising concerns stand out."

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Source: BBC News, 15 May 2021

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'My exhausting smear test battle'

Many dread being invited for their cervical smear test - but Laurie Hodierne found it exhausting to have to keep asking for appointments, and trying to chase up the result.

He is one of a number of transgender men who still have a cervix but are no longer registered as female at their GP surgery. Laurie was re-registered as male without requesting it, he says. And this means he could miss out on potentially life-saving cervical smear tests because he is not automatically called up for screenings.

As a doctor, Laurie worries others who might be less able to navigate the health system will simply give up trying to get their smear test.

"I understand how the systems work and the language - and despite all of that I find it exhausting," he says. "You keep coming up against a brick wall. It's a healthcare inequality in the sense that you aren't able to get access to the screening programme in the same way."

NHS patients registered as female are invited to a cervical-cancer screening every three years between the ages of 25 and 50, and then every five years until they are 65.

But anyone who has a cervix can develop cervical cancer. The disease often has no symptoms in its early stages and can be fatal.

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Source: BBC News, 17 May 2021

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GPs told to resume booking face-to-face appointments following row over access

NHS England has said GP practices must start opening their receptions and allow people to book initial face-to-face appointments — scrapping the controversial ‘total triage’ rule — for the first time since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Since last spring, NHSE guidance, supported by the profession, has said that face-to-face appointments must generally only take place after a phone, video or digital consultation. Many GP practice receptions have been closed to people wanting to make routine appointments.

This rule was kept in place throughout last summer, despite covid circulation being low, and some health systems made the approach one of the pillars of planned post pandemic transformation.

“Embedding total triage” was encouraged in 2021-22 operational rules for the NHS.

The shift was seen by some as part of a move to a potentially more effective and efficient way of working. But there have been concerns about access and complaints in the media.

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Source: HSJ, 14 May 2021

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UK women forced to wear face masks during labour, charity finds

Nearly one in five pregnant women in the UK were forced to wear a face covering during labour, according to research by a charity, despite official health guidance saying they should not be asked to do so.

Women described feeling unable to breathe, having panic attacks or even being sick during labour because they were made to wear a face covering.

The research was carried out by the charity Pregnant Then Screwed, who surveyed 936 women who gave birth during December. It found that 160 of those who went into labour were made to wear a face covering. This goes against current joint UK guidance, published in July 2020 by the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

The guidance says that women should not be asked to wear a face covering of any kind during natural labour or during caesarean births because of the risk of harm and complications.

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Source: The Guardian, 14 May 2021

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Patients harmed after roll-out of new IT system

Patients have come to avoidable harm after a large private provider failed to deliver thousands of medicine prescriptions, according to a report from the Care Quality Commission.

Healthcare at Home, which is based in Staffordshire but provides NHS-funded care and medicine supplies to patients’ homes across the country, has been rated “inadequate” and placed in special measures.

A report published today said inspectors found more than 10,000 patients missed a dose of their medicine between October and December 2020 due to problems caused by the introduction of a new information system. Reviews have found some suffered avoidable harm as a result.

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Source: HSJ, 13 May 2021

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Government alert over surge in respiratory virus affecting babies and toddlers

The chief medical officers of the four UK nations are set to warn about a surge in admissions of severely ill, very young children later this year, due to the resurgence of a respiratory virus which has been suppressed by anti-covid measures, HSJ can reveal.

Public Health England modelling shows a possible sharp rise in cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which can cause bronchiolitis, this autumn and winter, several senior sources said. The modelling shows between 20 and 50% more cases needing hospitalisation than normal, HSJ understands.

Official projections conclude that such a surge would require, at least, a doubling of paediatric intenstive care beds and a significant increase in other critlcal care resources for sick children. 

Most of those expected to be affected by the rise in RSV are forecast to be three years old or younger.

The UK’s four chief medical officers are considering the issue and planning to write to ministers to highlight it, the sources said, while NHS England is working on a response plan, and is expected to alert local NHS leaders. 

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Source: HSJ, 14 May 2021

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Parents seek second inquest into baby's hospital death

The parents of a baby who died after medical errors are to push for a new inquest into his death, after they say a "cruel" inquest denied them justice.

Hayden Nguyen died in 2016 after medics failed to treat an infection properly. However, despite the NHS trust admitting mistakes, coroner Shirley Radcliffe concluded the infant died of natural causes, after raising concerns about the hospital's initial investigation.

Hayden was six days old when his parents took him to the Chelsea and Westminster hospital in west London in August 2016. He initially had a fever but rapidly deteriorated; he had a cardiac arrest and died within 12 hours of arriving there.

An internal NHS investigation concluded eight errors were made in Hayden's care, and the root causes of his death were failure to identify the signs of shock and failure to act on abnormal test results.

"When they had completed the investigation, they sat us down and took us through it line by line," says Alex Nguyen, Hayden's mother. "Although the content was incredibly disturbing, it was in a way healing and it helped a little bit with the grieving process."

An inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court, conducted by Dr Radcliffe, followed. However, the coroner was not happy with the hospital's investigation.

The hospital to issue a second report into Hayden's care, which halved the number of errors, and said the root cause of his death was the infection "which is known to have a high mortality".

Armed with this second report, the coroner concluded that Hayden had died of natural causes.

"What the coroner did was kill Hayden a second time," Hayden's father, Tum, told the BBC.

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Source: BBC News, 14 May 2021

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Patients needing scans to be ranked on risk of becoming disabled

Patients awaiting a diagnostic test are to be assessed according to risk of becoming disabled as the service tries to prioritise in the face of huge backlogs.

NHS England guidance released yesterday said local teams should categorise diagnostic waits on a four-point scale so those in most urgent need are seen first. It said this would mean, “recognising that for less urgent or routine diagnostics, some patients may experience a delay”.

The diagnostics data for February showed 1.15 million people waiting for a test, compared to 1.08m in February 2020 – however, the proportion of people waiting more than 13 weeks rose from 0.6% in 2020 to 28.5% this year. The number of people on the list waiting more than six weeks also increased five-fold over the year.

No more than 1% of patients are supposed to wait longer than six weeks for a diagnostic test, under government waiting time standards.

The NHS England guidance puts diagnostics on the same footing as elective treatment, which has been organised according to clinical priority – P1 being the most urgent P4 being the least — since shortly after the pandemic hit last year.

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Source: HSJ, 13 May 2021

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Lessons to be learned from covid public inquiry, says PM

The government is "fully committed to learning the lessons at every stage" of the pandemic, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said.

He told MPs an independent public inquiry into the handling of the pandemic would be held in spring 2022. The inquiry would place "the state's actions under the microscope", he added, and take evidence under oath.

The inquiry's terms of reference have not yet been defined but would be published in "due course", he said, adding that the devolved administrations would be consulted.

Mr Johnson acknowledged many bereaved families would want the inquiry to begin sooner, but said because of the threat of new variants and a possible winter surge in infections, spring next year would be the "right moment".

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Source: BBC News, 12 May 2021

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The NHS Covid legacy - long waits and lives at risk

Covid has left a toxic legacy for the NHS, with hospitals facing a huge backlog, putting lives at risk, patient groups and staff are warning.

And in-depth analysis by BBC News has found:

  • waiting lists have ballooned at some hospitals in England, with more than one out of every 10 of patients in a quarter of trusts left at least a year without treatment
  • major disruption to cancer services, with some hospitals struggling to treat half of their patients within the target time of two months
  • concern growing for 45,000 "missing cancer patients", after drops in GP referrals and screening services across the UK.

Elaine Walsh was diagnosed with womb cancer in January. She should have been operated on within weeks, but her operation was cancelled because of the pandemic and the backlog it had caused.

Elaine's story is not unique. Analysis by BBC News shows the numbers starting treatment within the target time have fallen during the pandemic.

And some trusts are struggling to start treatment for even half of patients in the recommended timeframe - two months following an urgent referral from their GP.

About one in every four of the patients waiting the longest has postponed treatment themselves - and nurses at the trust have been phoning and pleading with them to have treatment.

This reluctance to come forward coupled with problems accessing GP and screening services at points in the pandemic is the reason why the number of patients coming forward for checks and being diagnosed has dropped.

Analysis by Macmillan Cancer Support suggests across the UK there are 45,000 "missing" cancer patients.

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Source: BBC News, 13 May 2021

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Ovarian cancer: Setback as major screening trial fails to save lives

A major trial to detect one of the most elusive and deadly cancers - ovarian - has failed to save lives, after two decades of work.

The researchers, at University College London, said the results were a disappointment - and thanked the 200,000 people who participated.

The trial had looked promising, with annual blood tests detecting cases of ovarian cancer earlier. But routine screening for the cancer is now a distant prospect.

Ovarian cancer is tricky to diagnose because the symptoms are easily mistaken for less serious health problems.

"Some women are diagnosed so late they are too sick to start treatment," the trial's lead investigator, Prof Usha Menon, said.

The UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening - the largest in the world - tracked levels of CA125, a chemical released by ovarian tumours, in the blood and sent participants in whom they were rising for an ultrasound scan.

Unfortunately the final results, published in the Lancet medical journal, showed the screening had failed to save lives.

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Source: BBC News, 12 May 2021

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