Jump to content
  • articles
    9,848
  • comments
    83
  • views
    12,487,907

Contributors to this article

About this News

Articles in the news

 

NHS gowns 'suspended' from use due to packaging concern

The use of ten million surgical gowns, bought by the UK government, has been suspended for frontline NHS staff because of how the items were packaged.

Sterile gowns were bought for £70m from a US firm last year, but safety concerns were raised when they arrived in one layer of protective packaging.

The contract had not requested double packaging, as used in sterile settings.

The government says all personal protective equipment (PPE) is quality assured, but Labour has called for an inquiry into the awarding of contracts.

The BBC has been investigating the purchase of PPE - or personal protective equipment - for NHS staff since the beginning of the pandemic. It has already been revealed how millions of face masks bought by the UK government cannot be used in the NHS as intended.

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 8 February 2021

Read more
 

Hancock will face difficult questions over his power grab to stop ‘NHSE games’

The NHS bill due to land in Parliament before the summer break will be the first for nearly 10 years, so will address various overdue changes and is certain to be significant.

The bill’s thrust has become clear from the draft of the government’s white paper leaked on Friday, though some important details might change before a final version is published in the next few weeks. Many of the white paper proposals are what NHS England has been asking for in formal proposals over the last 18 months, and reflect the direction the NHS has been moving slowly but inexorably towards for several years.

NHSE’s central aim of clearing up the NHS landscape by turning integrated care systems into statutory agencies, but without overdoing the central specification of how they will work, is largely intact. Clinical commissioning groups are reconstituted as ICSs, a move unpopular with some but accepted by most. There is a formal role for local authorities planned in the shape of “partnership councils”. This creates a little extra bureaucracy but does not give them real power in the NHS. NHSE and ICSs are given a bit more sway over foundation trusts, but probably not enough to set off a huge row with NHS Providers.

The leaked version of the white paper also includes proposals which NHSE will not be happy about, including giving the health secretary a sweeping “general power to direct NHS England on its functions”, another to transfer functions between all arm’s length bodies and even abolish them, and ability to intervene at any stage in NHS service reconfigurations.

If pursued, these risk bringing even more toxic politics back into the NHS, both in the process of putting through the legislation itself, and beyond that, in the day to day running of the service.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 6 February 2021

Read more

Today is International Epilepsy Day

Despite being one of the world's oldest known medical conditions, public fear and misunderstanding about epilepsy persists, making many people reluctant to talk about it. That reluctance leads to lives lived in the shadows, lack of understanding about individual risk, discrimination in workplaces and communities, and a lack of funding for new therapies research. People with epilepsy die prematurely at a higher rate compared to the general population. The most common cause of death from epilepsy is sudden unexpected death in epilepsy, known as SUDEP. For many people living with epilepsy, the misconceptions and discrimination can be more difficult to overcome than the seizures themselves.

International Epilepsy Day seeks to raise awareness and educate the general public on the true facts about epilepsy and the urgent need for improved treatment, better care, and greater investment in research.

hub resources

Read more

Concerns over ‘local leadership’ helped drive doubling of whistleblowing in December

The NHS’ response to the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic saw the number of whistleblowing concerns raised with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) almost double in December, with the strength of local leadership among the most frequent complaints.

Many parts of the NHS, particularly in the South East, were suffering major covid pressures in December, and the regulator received 204 whistleblowing concerns, compared to 105 in the same month in 2019.

The most common complaints were around staffing levels, infection control and leadership.

The rise in complaints was revealed by CQC chief inspector of hospitals Ted Baker in an interview with HSJ. Professor Baker also said the pandemic had proved that the NHS’ emergency care system lacked “resilience”.

Trusts which the regulator has received concerns about in recent months have included Liverpool University Hospitals Foundation Trust, over poor staffing levels and infection controls, University Hospitals Birmingham FT, around staffing levels and leadership concerns, and Mid and South Essex FT, over concerns around the provision of oxygen.

Professor Baker told HSJ: “One of the really positive things that has happened during the pandemic is an increase in the number of people raising concerns with us. It’s been really helpful for us in assessing the risk in the system."

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 8 February 2021

Read more
 

NHS patients 'asked to pay for private care'

Some NHS dental patients have been asked to pay for private care "if they want any treatment", according to a watchdog. Others are facing waits of up to two years for an NHS appointment, Healthwatch England has warned.

One patient was in so much pain he decided to extract his own teeth, said its chairman Sir Robert Francis QC.

The NHS said over 650 urgent dental hubs have been set up so patients can access a dentist.

Hundreds of people contacted Healthwatch England between October and December last year complaining about dentistry issues.

A briefing document from the watchdog said that "a lack of NHS dentist appointments" remains the most common issue - with people asked to wait for up to two years.

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 8 February 2021

Read more
 

Coronavirus: Hospitals defy authorities to protect staff as 35,000 patients are infected with Covid on wards

NHS hospitals are defying official rules to give nurses and doctors masks with greater protection amid fears over the spread of coronavirus within hospital wards.

An analysis of the latest NHS data by The Independent shows more than 35,000 patients were likely to have been infected with coronavirus while already in hospital between 1 August and 31 January.

NHS England has estimated as many as 20% of infections could be due to spread within hospitals. Outbreaks at some hospitals have seen whole teams of doctors or nurses affected, in some cases leading to wards having to be closed.

The Independent has learnt several hospitals are now supplying higher grade masks to staff working in general wards, despite Public Health England saying only surgical masks are needed. Research this week suggested staff exposed to coughing were at greatest risk of infection from the virus.

Read full story

Source: The Independent, 7 February 2021

Read more
 

More deaths, worse care: inquiry opens into NHS maternity ‘systemic racism’

An urgent inquiry to investigate how alleged systemic racism in the NHS manifests itself in maternity care will be launched on Tuesday with support from the UK charity Birthrights.

The inquiry will apply a human rights lens to examine how claimed racial injustice – from explicit racism to bias – is leading to poorer health outcomes in maternity care for ethnic minority groups.

Data published last month by MBRRACE-UK (Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the country) showed black women were four times more likely than white women to die in pregnancy or childbirth in the UK while women from Asian ethnic backgrounds face twice the risk.

Barrister Shaheen Rahman QC, who will lead the inquiry, said: “In addition to these stark statistics there are concerns about higher rates of maternal illness, worse experiences of maternity care and the fact black and Asian pregnant women are far more likely to be admitted to hospital with COVID-19.

“We want to understand the stories behind the statistics, to examine how people can be discriminated against due to their race and to identify ways this inequity can be redressed.”

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 7 February 2021

 

Read more

Mutated virus may reinfect people already stricken once with covid-19, sparking debate and concerns

A trial of an experimental coronavirus vaccine detected the most sobering signal yet that people who have recovered from infections are not completely protected against a variant that originated in South Africa and is spreading rapidly, preliminary data presented this week suggests.

The finding, though far from conclusive, has potential implications for how the pandemic will be brought under control, underscoring the critical role of vaccination, including for people who have already recovered from infections. Reaching herd immunity — the threshold when enough people achieve protection and the virus can’t seed new outbreaks — will depend on a mass vaccination campaign that has been constrained by limited supply.

Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, noted that it appears a vaccine is better than natural infection in protecting people, calling it “a big, strong plug to get vaccinated” and a reality check for people who may have assumed that because they have already been infected, they are immune.

Read full story

Source: The Washington Post, 6 February 2021

Read more
 

NHS: Government plans to reverse Cameron-era reforms

The government is planning to reverse reforms of the NHS in England introduced under David Cameron in 2012, a leaked document suggests. 

The changes would aim to tackle bureaucracy and encourage health services from hospitals to GP surgeries and social care to work more closely. The draft policy paper also says the health secretary would take more direct control over NHS England.

The reforms by Mr Cameron's government in 2012 saw the creation of NHS England - to run the health service - and the scrapping of primary care trusts in favour of GP-led clinical commissioning groups to organise local services.

Under the latest proposals, set out in a leaked document published by health news website Health Policy Insight, there will be "enhanced powers of direction for the government" to "ensure that decision makers overseeing the health system at a national level are effectively held to account".

Instead of a system that requires competitive tendering for contracts - sometimes involving private companies, the NHS and local authorities will be left to run services and told to collaborate with each other, says the draft White Paper, designed to set out proposed legislation.

There will also be more focus on GPs, hospitals and social care services working together to improve patient care.

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 6 February 2021

Read more

Majority of people with long Covid ‘struggle to return to work after six months’

The MP leading an investigation into coronavirus fears Long Covid will be one of the biggest issues facing the UK for the next decade, after emerging research revealed most sufferers are still unable to work six months in.

Layla Moran branded the scale of the problem ‘enormous’, as various experts warned that even healthy young adults have been left struggling to function for months on end.

With hundreds of thousands of Brits now believed to have Long Covid, medics fear its impact on the world of work could herald another ‘massive economic crisis’. Workers in their 20s and 30s have told of a host of debilitating symptoms keeping them out of the office for much of last year and making simple tasks like walking to the toilet seem ‘like climbing a mountain’.  

Speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk, Ms Moran – who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on coronavirus – said: "The scale of this, in terms of the future prosperity of our country, is enormous. It is going to be, I think, one of the main issues that we are going to deal with not just in ten years but beyond."

Read full story

Source: Metro, 4 February 2021

Read more
 

Civilians, not Toronto police, to take over mental health 911 calls in pilot programme in Canada

Toronto, Canada, will launch a pilot programme that will see civilians, not police officers, dispatched to 911 calls involving mental health crises — as long as violence is not being threatened.

Council also approved a motion by Mayor John Tory to fast-track parts of the plan and review 911 call services in 2021 to determine how best to dispatch help through the proposed new service.

The plan calls for four crisis support teams in different parts of the city, to respond to some of the roughly 30,000 calls for people in crisis that go through 911 each year. 

Pilot programmes are to be launched in early 2022, and were scheduled to be fully implemented in 2026 if proven successful. Tory’s motion called for full implementation by 2025.

“Putting something else in place is not a simple task. It is necessary that we do it properly,” said Tory, in bringing forward the motion. Nonetheless, the mayor said, he believes it can be done more quickly.

Asante Haughton, a mental health advocate and co-founder of the Reach Out Response Network, focused on transformational change in mental-health crisis response, said the move is another rung on the ladder to a more equitable society.

“I really see this as an opportunity to transform the way that we think about mental health and transform the way that we think about social service and community building in general,” he said.

Read full story

Source: Toronto Star, 2 February 2021

Read more
 

‘Medically fit’ patients caught covid while waiting for discharge, trust admits

A hospital trust has admitted that ‘medically fit’ patients caught covid on its wards while waiting to be discharged, with some of the cases under investigation.

Bedfordshire Hospitals FT board papers said that a “number” of medically fit patients “acquired [covid] infection while awaiting appropriate and safe discharge”.

Trusts nationwide have struggled to discharge patients as quickly as they wanted, the reasons including a Department of Health and Social Care mandate to only allow designated care homes to accept covid patients; the resumption of NHS Continuing Healthcare tests; shortages of community beds; and capacity in the care sector.

The trust, formed in April by the merger of Luton and Dunstable University Hospital FT and Bedford Hospital FT, said a “significant proportion of [its covid] cases [were] due to acquisition in the hospital”.

It continued: “A significant additional factor was the length of stay for many patients who were medically fit for discharge but were unable to return to their place of residence. Case reviews have shown that a number of these patients acquired infection while waiting appropriate and safe discharge.”

The board papers said its covid serious incident reviews covered “some deaths on both sites… and the majority [were] patients with very severe co-morbidity”. It said six out of 15 serious incidents being investigated at its Bedford hospital site were “of potentially avoidable nosocomial covid infection (hospital acquired)”.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 4 Februrary 2021

Read more
 

Gosport hospital deaths: Families 'need Hillsborough-style inquests'

Relatives of patients who died after receiving "dangerous" levels of painkillers at Gosport War Memorial Hospital have called for new inquests. 

An inquiry found 456 patients died after being given opiate drugs at the hospital between 1987 and 2001, but no charges have ever been brought.

Four families told the BBC they have requested judge-led "Hillsborough-style" hearings with a jury. The Attorney General's Office said it was reviewing the application.

Police began a fresh inquiry in 2019 into 700 deaths after the Gosport Independent Review Panel found there was a "disregard for human life" at the hospital in Hampshire.

Coroner-led inquests in 2009 found drugs administered at the hospital contributed to five deaths.

However, lawyers representing some of the families told the BBC more wide-ranging inquests similar to those that examined the events of the Hillsborough disaster should be undertaken.

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 5 February 2021

Read more

Hospitals prepare for increase in children suffering rare disease triggered by Covid

Hospitals across the country are preparing for a significant increase in children needing treatment for a rare disease triggered by coronavirus.

Paediatric departments across the NHS are recalling children’s nurses who have been redeployed to help care for adult patients as well as freeing up specialist intensive care beds to be ready for more cases of the rare condition first identified after the first wave last year.

Because of how widespread COVID-19 infections have become in the last month, with the numbers of patients in hospital peaking at almost 40,000, experts believe they will see a larger number of children affected by the disease called Paediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (PIMS).

Modelling by London’s Evelina Children’s Hospital, which treated around 110 children with PIMS during the first wave of the virus, suggested for every 200 adults admitted to hospital across London, there was one child admitted with PIMS at the Evelina.

This modelling cannot be used to predict admissions across the country, but paediatric experts believe they will begin to see a larger number of children with the condition with a peak expected in the next three weeks.

It is thought COVID-19 triggers an inflammatory response among a very small minority of children – of all children infected with COVID-19, less than half of one per cent went on to develop PIMS.

Those that do suffer severe inflammation in their blood vessels and can have damage to their heart. Symptoms of PIMS include a rash, fever and abdominal pain.

Read full story

Source: The Independent, 4 February 2021

Read more

Study reveals extent of Covid vaccine side effects

About one in three people recently given a Covid vaccine by the NHS report some side-effects.

None was serious - a common one was some soreness around the injection site, the UK researchers who gathered the feedback found.

Experts say the findings, from about 40,000 people - mostly healthcare workers - are reassuring for the millions having the vaccines now.

The Zoe app team from King's College London found:

  • 37% experienced some local "after-effects", such as pain or swelling near the site of the injection, after their first dose, rising to about 45% of the 10,000 who had received two doses
  • 14% had at least one whole-body (systemic) after-effect - such as fever, aches or chills - within seven days of the first dose, rising to about 22% after the second dose

These after-effects get better within a few days. All of the medical trials and real-world experiences so far suggest the vaccines are safe and effective.

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 4 February 2021

Read more
 

Report reveals digital health technology must be accessible for all

To be successful digital health technology must be accessible to all while still maintaining the human aspects of healthcare, a new report has said.

‘Digital Health during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Learning Lessons to Maintain Momentum’ draws on research and case studies of good practice in digital health during the pandemic.

The aim of the report is to offer policy recommendations to help ensure the UK capitalises on the potential of digital health to the benefit of patients, the NHS and the UK, after the crisis subsides.

The report, launched by the Patient Coalition for AI, Data and Digital Tech in Health, with support from patient organisations and the Royal Colleges of Nursing and Radiologists, highlights that uptake of digital health technologies has been limited, while patient experience of technologies including video conferencing and mobile apps has been mixed.

While patients strongly believe in the value of digital health, there are still significant concerns about using it, particularly around data collection and sharing.

A number of key organisations gave their support to the report. This included the likes of the British Heart Foundation, Patient Safety Learning and the Royal College of Nursing.

Read full story

Source: Digital Health, 3 February 2021

Read more
 

Can digital technology help embed a strong patient safety culture?

Within a few months of joining Great Ormond Street Hospital Foundation Trust as medical director, Mat Shaw became its chief executive. Heading up the organisation clearly brought with it new responsibilities and challenges, yet he says on one important issue there was little difference between the two roles – namely, the focus on patient safety and enabling clinicians to offer the best possible care for patients.

“I lived through the time when all notes were on paper, when you had five, six volumes of thousands of pages. I lived through that time when it was very difficult to actually know what information to collect, and from where you should collect it, to make decisions around patients. And I recognise we don’t always do the right thing based on those systems.

“So for me it’s been tremendously important to try and bring a system in, and the digital tools which are needed, to make care kinder and also safer, with better outcomes for patients. In our new strategy, digital is front and centre in a way that it’s never been before, because I consider this agenda so important to how we treat patients.”

Read full story

Source: HSJ (paywalled), 3 February 2021

 

Read more

Care homes still breaking Covid rules despite fatal outbreaks, inspectors say

Care homes in England operated by profitable chains have been branded unsafe by inspectors, who found serious failures in efforts to control the spread of coronavirus in its latest wave.

In the last month 40% of care homes inspected by the Care Quality Commission in England were judged to be inadequate or in need of improvement. Several handling fatal coronavirus outbreaks were revealed to have broken laws meant to keep residents safe.

Some of the worst failings uncovered in reports filed in the last month include CCTV showing PPE being used wrongly on 63 occasions in one home, infected residents mixing in communal areas with Covid-free residents, chronic staff shortages, and a care home manager continuing to work after showing Covid symptoms.

The spate of problems relates to a small minority of care homes but coincides with a tripling of fatalities linked to the virus among care residents in England and Wales.

Read full story

Source: 4 February 2021

Read more

Covid coughing study suggests NHS staff at far greater risk than thought

The NHS has been urged to rethink safety for thousands of frontline staff after new research suggested that Covid patients’ coughing is putting them at far greater risk of catching the virus than previously thought.

The study found that coughing generated at least 10 times more infectious “aerosol” particles than speaking or breathing – which could explain why so many NHS staff have fallen ill during the pandemic.

The research has led to fresh demands that anyone caring for someone with Covid-19, or suspected Covid-19, should be provided with the most protective equipment – including FFP3 respirator masks – and that hospital ventilation should be improved.

Health workers are up to four times more likely to contract coronavirus than the general population, with infection rates among those on general hospital wards approximately double those of intensive care unit (ICU) staff – who do have access to the most protective PPE.

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 3 January 2021

Read more

Long Covid Minister needed to respond to growing crisis

Press release 3 February 2021

The charity Patient Safety Learning and patient group Long Covid Support are calling for the creation of a dedicated Minister for Long Covid to take a coordinated, multi-stakeholder approach to this issue.[1]

Long Covid patients are people with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 who continue to struggle with prolonged, debilitating and sometimes severe symptoms months later.[2] Statistics indicate that there are currently hundreds of thousands of people living with Long Covid in the UK, with at least one in 10 people still experiencing symptoms 12 weeks after initial infection.[3]

While there has been some progress to put in place support for people with Long Covid, there remains a complex spectrum of issues that need to be addressed. These are summarised in a blog, published by Patient Safety Learning and Long Covid Support today, calling for the UK Government to make urgent and significant improvements in their response to Long Covid.[4]

Claire Hastie of the Long Covid Support, said:

“Almost one year on from when many first fell ill, people with Long Covid are simply not getting the help they need. There is an urgent need to increase the pace and scale of the response to help the hundreds of thousands of people affected (including children). This needs to be driven by a dedicated minister with the power to affect change.”

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

“People living with Long Covid have too often been left ‘joining the dots’ trying to understand how they can access safe, quality treatment and support and what they can do to improve their health. Clinical advice and access to further investigations has been inconsistent, leaving many feeling abandoned, confused and understandably concerned for their future health outcomes.

Long Covid not only impacts people’s physical and mental health, but also their ability to work and their economic circumstances. We believe the appointment of a Minister for Long Covid would help to provide leadership, accountability and a coordinated response to these challenges.”

Notes to editors:

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

[2] The symptoms for those with Long Covid vary greatly but many are experiencing rashes, shortness of breath, neurological and gastrointestinal problems, abnormal temperatures, cardiac symptoms and extreme fatigue.

[3] Office for National Statistics, The prevalence of Long Covid symptoms and Covid-19 complications, 16 December 2020. https://www.ons.gov.uk/news/statementsandletters/theprevalenceoflongcovidsymptomsandcovid19complications

[4] Patient Safety Learning and Long Covid Support, Long Covid Minister needed to respond to the growing crisis, 3 February 2020. https://www.patientsafetylearning.org/blog/long-covid-minister-needed-to-respond-to-growing-crisis

Read more
 

People with learning disabilities dying at a greater rate from coronavirus

People with a learning disability must be urgently prioritised for the coronavirus vaccine, charities have warned as new data shows they are almost twice as likely to die from the virus than the general population.

The latest data for learning disability deaths shows 80% of deaths in the week to 22 January were linked to COVID-19. This compares to just 45% in the general population.

The charity Mencap said everyone with a learning disability should be prioritised for the vaccine.

According to its analysis of deaths reported to the Office for National Statistics and the national Learning Disabilities Mortality Review programme, the proportion of deaths among the learning disabled has been increasing every week since November when it was just above 35%.

Harry Roche, an ambassador at Mencap who has a learning disability, said: “The death rate for 18- to 34-year-olds with a learning disability is 30 times higher than the rest of the population. I’m 32 years old and have a learning disability – this statistic scares me. I’m calling on Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock to rethink and prioritise everyone with a learning disability. We are too often forgotten, don’t ignore us now.”

Read full story

Source: The Independent, 3 February 2021

Read more

Some of those most at risk are still not on the Covid vaccine priority list

With the first phase of the UK’s vaccination programme now fully under way, the government’s self-congratulatory tone suggests all clinically vulnerable groups are soon in line for protection. There’s certainly reason to be positive: millions of people are on their way to safety. But look a little closer and many high-risk people are struggling to access the vaccine.

When the vaccine was first introduced last year, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) put shielders – or the “clinically extremely vulnerable” (CEV) – as low as sixth on the priority list, behind older people with no underlying health conditions. It resulted in the baffling situation where a marathon-running 65-year-old was given priority for the vaccine over a 20-year-old with lung disease who needs oxygen support. The government U-turned after pressure, moving CEV people up to fourth spot behind healthy over-75s.

These are complex calculations, but there are still fears some will miss out. Some young disabled people who don’t meet the government’s narrow criteria of CEV and are worried they won’t be prioritised at all.

Shielders – many of whom are of working age and live with children – also have extra risk factors compared with older people. As the British Medical Association said this month, we need a more sophisticated vaccine delivery that takes into account circumstantial factors such as race, health inequality and employment. I’ve received many messages from shielders who are terrified of being forced out to work, or of schools reopening before they get their vaccine.

There are also those with learning disabilities to consider. Currently, only older people with a learning disability, those who have Down’s syndrome or people who are judged as having a severe learning disability are on the priority list. This means that people with a mild or moderate learning disability aren’t prioritised at all. This is despite the fact all people with learning disabilities have a death rate six times higher than the general population. Young adults with a learning disability are 30 times more likely to die of Covid than young adults in the general population.

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 3 February 2021

Read more
 

Multiple whistleblowers flag ‘heartbreaking’ incidents at major trust

Clinicians within a major teaching hospital’s cancer services have raised multiple concerns over patient safety, which they believe have resulted from badly planned service changes in response to the covid crisis.

HSJ has spoken to several staff members who have worked in the haematology speciality at University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust since last June, when the services underwent significant changes to free up capacity for coronavirus patients.

This involved most haematology services at Heartlands Hospital in east Birmingham moving to the trust’s main Queen Elizabeth Hospital site in Edgbaston.

The staff, who all wished to remain anonymous, told HSJ the transfer happened at just one week’s notice and was poorly planned. Once implemented, they said QEH’s newly enlarged service suffered from extreme staffing shortages, leading to several “never events”, such as patients being given the wrong blood type.

In one resignation letter, a nurse who had transferred to QEH told managers patients’ “basic care needs are not being met”.

The nurse said most shifts were understaffed, with examples of three nurses looking after 30 patients and added in the resignation letter: “I am witnessing strong and knowledgeable colleagues breaking down on each shift.

“Furthermore, never events are happening at an alarming rate, necessary resources are commonly unavailable and communication between all levels of seniority is poor…"

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 2 February 2021

Read more
 

Covid patients given early warning home oxygen monitors by paramedics

Coronavirus patients who call an ambulance but are not yet sick enough to go to hospital are being given new home oxygen monitoring kits to help spot those who may deteriorate earlier.

Across the Thames Valley region, thousands of patients will be given the kits which include a pulse oximeter device to monitor blood oxygen levels, a diary to track their symptoms and advice on what to do if they become sicker.

South Central Ambulance Service Trust (SCAS) has become the first ambulance service in the country to launch the scheme after research showed a small drop in oxygen levels among some patients could be an early warning sign of serious complications.

Patients with pneumonia and non-Covid lung conditions often experience shortness of breath before a drop in oxygen levels. But with coronavirus, patients can suffer what has been called ‘silent hypoxia’ where their oxygen levels can fall before the patient becomes breathless and calls for help.

Read full story

Source: The Independent, 2 February 2021

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.