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Manager ‘bootcamps’ helped eliminate two-year waiters

The chief executive of one of the first teaching trusts in the country to have eliminated two-year waiters for elective care has said there is ‘no magic to it’ and it can be replicated elsewhere.

Since the beginning of April, University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire Trust has reported zero patients waiting over two years for their elective treatment – ahead of NHS England’s target of July 2022.

According to the latest data, there are now 42 trusts that have eliminated 104-week waits and UHCW is the largest trust to have done this. 

UHCW chief executive Andy Hardy said that in order to achieve this the trust had been “relentless” in its focus on waiting times and had set up “bootcamps” to help managers understand how referral to treatment works.

Mr Hardy said in an interview with HSJ: “It really does come down to a laser-like focus on waiting times, both at an executive level, down to a group level, and down to speciality level. It can be replicated. There’s no magic to it.”

He said: “We use data to drive our organisations away from bad decisions and I have a weekly access meeting with the chief operating officer to look at where we are against all access targets, but obviously we focus on waiting times."

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Source: HSJ, 15 June 2022

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Parents fear spread of ‘associate’ doctors at NHS will end in more tragedies

A 30-year-old actress whose symptoms were dismissed as anxiety died of a blood clot.

Emily Chesterton believed she had seen a GP, but had in fact been seen twice by a physician associate (PA), a newer type of medical role that involves significantly less training.

Her parents, Brendan and Marion Chesterton, both 64 and retired teachers, said they have serious concerns about plans for thousands more PAs to be employed to combat staff shortages as part of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.

Chesterton’s calf pain and shortness of breath should have suggested a pulmonary embolism and meant she was sent to A&E. A coroner concluded this would probably have saved her life. Instead she was told to take anxiety pills. She collapsed that evening. She was taken to hospital but her heart stopped and she could not be revived.

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Source: The Times, 10 July 2023

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'Exhausted and broken' midwives at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds speak out about 'substandard care' in whistleblowing letter

Midwives at Suffolk Hospital have spoken out in a whistleblowing letter describing problems in their department as ‘demoralising and heartbreaking’.

In the letter, written by midwives who declined to give their names "for fear of retribution", describe constant staff shortages, a culture of blame and fear, a high pressure environment and substandard care, saying " We entered midwifery to be able to give women centred, holistic care. Instead it feels like we are being overwhelmed by the unmanageable and relentless workload, and as a result are giving substandard care which is demoralising and heartbreaking. We are all feeling like we are now desperate for change. This change is beyond what we can achieve ourselves so we urge you to please help us to generate it. It should not be accepted or tolerated for us to be forced into giving unsafe care entirely due to unsafe staffing". 

In response, Karen Newbury, head of midwifery at the trust, said: “We are working exceptionally hard to recruit additional midwives and we are very grateful for the flexibility and dedication of our staff in ensuring that we provide a safe and caring service – this was recognised by our Care Quality Commission inspection in April which found we managed safety well. We have recently completed recruitment so there will be at least two senior midwives on every shift to provide flexible and experienced support to our maternity teams, and we are working with colleagues regionally to recruit staff both locally and internationally as well as running a full student training programme.”

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Source: Suffolk News, 20 August 2021

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Stillbirth rate high for black and Asian babies in UK

Stillbirth rates remain "exceptionally high" for black and Asian babies in the UK, a report examining baby loss in 2019 has found.

The figures come despite improving numbers overall, with some 610 fewer stillbirths in 2019 than in 2013.

The MBRRACE-UK report found babies of mothers living in deprived areas are at higher risk of stillbirths and neonatal deaths than those in other places.

Charities say there is an urgent need to tackle inequalities around birth.

There were some 2,399 stillbirths (a death occurring before or during birth once a pregnancy has reached 24 weeks) and 1,158 neonatal deaths (babies who die in the first 28 days of life) in the UK in 2019.

The report, by the Universities of Leicester and Oxford, found:

  • Overall stillbirth rates fell from 4.2 per 1,000 births in 2013 to 3.35 per 1,000 births in 2019
  • For babies of black and black British ethnicity, stillbirth rates were 7.23 per 1,000 births
  • For babies of Asian and Asian British ethnicity, stillbirth rates were 5.05 per 1,000 births
  • For babies of white ethnicity, stillbirth rates were 3.22 per 1,000 births.

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Source: BBC News, 15 October 2021

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Tackling bullying in the NHS

The Social Partnership Forum (SPF)’s collective call to action tasks employers and trade unions in all NHS organisations to work in partnership to create positive workplace cultures and tackle bullying. To support this work, the SPF is publicising the views of NHS leaders and experts on this topic and signposting information, tools and resources and case studies which can help partnership initiatives.

Creating positive workplace cultures and tackling bullying in the NHS - a collective call to action

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Gap in care for chronically ill prisoners

Prisoners are at risk of being transferred without crucial medication, according to the latest Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) report.

The report reveals errors and delays in the prison healthcare system. The investigation looks into the case study of Martin, a 43-year old inmate, who suffered multiple seizures after his epilepsy medication wasn’t transferred with him to a new prison.

Each day around 120 prisoners with ongoing medication needs are moved between jails. Martin’s case is just one example of a serious outcome when medication was missed. Prisoners may also need to be treated in the community at local hospitals, with prison security staff being taken away from planned duties to accompany them.

Dr Lesley Kay, Deputy Medical Director at HSIB and a Consultant Rheumatologist, has experience of working with prisoners that have long-term conditions: “I have seen first-hand the impact that the lack of medication management can have on patients, particularly when they have long-term conditions. This also places additional pressure on an already stretched NHS and prison service.

“With over 2,400 transfers a month where medication is needed, we recognise how busy prison healthcare staff are and how challenging it is to get medication to the right place at the right time. We know that the system needs to be better and the recommendations we have made are aimed at making the whole process smoother and safer for everyone.”

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Source: HSIB, 10 October 2019

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National chiefs: Ventilators will follow ‘most immediate need’

National and regional NHS chiefs will seek to share out scarce ventilators to ”areas with the most immediate need, on a fair share basis relative to patient ventilation need," they have told hospital chiefs, who are increasingly concerned about what they will receive and when.

Many are expecting demand for ventilated beds to outstrip what they have as the number of patients seriously ill with covid-19 ramps up.

Trust leaders yesterday told HSJ they were growing increasingly worried about the lack of information over when the machines would be sent to their trusts. Some are worried London, and other regions which see their demand spike first, will get more supply.

A letter from NHS England and Improvement to trust chiefs late on Wednesday told them that as “extra ventilators become available we will coordinate distribution via regional teams who will work with local health systems”.

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Source: HSJ, 27 March 2020

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Major survey reveals ‘best and worst’ A&Es for patient satisfaction

A survey of almost 50,000 patients by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found people’s experiences of emergency departments improved in 2020, compared to the last time the poll was conducted in 2018.

On a scale of one to 10, the regulator found 33% of patients scored their overall experience as 10, compared to 29% in 2018. Eighty-eight per cent of patients scored their care at six or higher, compared to 85% three years ago.

However, overall satisfaction levels declined at around 20 providers. 

Ted Baker, CQC’s chief inspector of hospitals, said: “This year’s survey shows some encouraging improvements with trust and confidence in clinicians, perceptions of cleanliness and overall experience all performing better than in previous years…

“However, the scope for further improvement remains. Access to emotional support, help with pain relief and information provided at discharge were all areas where some people surveyed were less positive.”

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Source: HSJ, 16 September 2021

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NHS pressures having ‘devastating’ impact on dying patients

Patients are dying in hospital without their families because of pressure on NHS services, hospices have told The Independent.

A major care provider has warned that it has seen a “huge shift” in the number of patients referred too late to its services.

The warning comes as NHS England begins a new £32m contract with hospices to help hospitals discharge as many patients as possible this winter.

NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said the health service was preparing for an Omicron-driven Covid wave that could be as disruptive as, or even worse than, last winter’s crisis.

Hospices are already dealing with a “huge volume of death and patients needing support”, according to the head of policy at Hospice UK, Dominic Carter.

He told The Independent that hospices had seen a huge shift in the number of patients referred to their services too late, when they are in a “very serious” state of health.

He added: “We don’t really know what kind of support is actually out there for those people, while hospitals have difficulties and deal with challenges around backlogs and Covid. There are lots of people that have been in the community, where hospices are trying to reach them but aren’t always able to identify who needs that care and support.

“They’re really important, those five or six final days, for the individual and their families. Yet this is spent in crisis rather than being helped as much as possible in a comfortable environment by the hospice ... [instead] an ambulance is called, and they’re having to be cast into hospital.”

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Source: The Independent, 26 December 2021

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Electronic decision support ‘to be the norm for all clinicians’ under NHSE plan

Electronic systems and clinical decision support software must become “the norm” for all NHS clinicians, under plans being drawn up by NHS England’s new transformation directorate, HSJ has revealed.

The massive increase in clinicians’ use of technology forms a major part of the draft plans, seen by HSJ, with the new directorate set to launch ambitious targets for the health service.

Other targets include every integrated care system creating virtual wards which are the equivalent size of a district general hospital — around 500 beds each — and installing electronic patient records at every NHS trust.

The proposals are led by former US healthcare chief Tim Ferris, NHSE’s new transformation director, who was appointed last year.

According to the plans, NHSE’s ambition is to increase the “safe and effective use” of computer assisted processes and clinical decision support so it becomes the “expected norm for all clinicians”.

NHS leaders have welcomed the use of virtual wards to improve home care and reduce hospital occupancy, but clinicians have warned of safety issues within virtual wards, with some prominent doctors calling for a careful implementation of the policy.

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Source: HSJ, 2 February 2022

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Ombudsman’s COVID report highlights ‘tragic individual cases’

A Covid report by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has highlighted some ‘tragic individual cases’ over the past months.

The report analyses cases over the first 18 months of the pandemic which for the majority reveal that councils and care providers weathered the unprecedented pressures they were under fire.

However, the report also reveals the ‘serious impact on people’s lives’ when things go wrong.

Cases include a woman who died from COVID-19 at a care home with poor infection control procedures which was then compounded by staff trying to cover up the facts.

The Ombudsman’s report focuses on the lessons that can be learned from the complaints it has received about the pandemic and welcomes that, in many cases, councils and care providers are already using their experiences from the pandemic to consider how they can make improvements to services.

Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “We have investigated some tragic individual cases over the past months. Each represents poor personal experiences where councils and care providers did not get things right.

“Our investigations have shown that, while the system did not collapse under the extreme pressures placed on it, Covid-19 has magnified stresses and weaknesses present before the pandemic affecting some councils and providers.

“We have always advocated how crucial good complaint handling is in any setting, so I am particularly saddened that, in some authorities, dealing with public concerns and complaints itself became a casualty of the crisis. At a time when listening to public problems was more important than ever, we saw some overstretched and under-resourced complaints teams struggle to cope.

“If evidence was needed, this report proves that managing complaints should be considered a frontline service.”

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Source: Care Home Professional, 24 February 2022

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Number unable to get a hospital appointment after GP referral up 50% in two years

The number of patients unable to get a hospital appointment after being referred by their GP is up more than 50% in two years amid the record NHS backlog, official data show.

NHS Digital figures show no appointments were immediately available for 2.3 million referrals made in the first six months of this year – up 51% on the same period in 2020.

Appointment slot issues occur when a patient is referred by their GP through the NHS e-Referral Service but no appointment is available to book. 

The referral is then forwarded or deferred to a patient’s chosen provider, but if an appointment is not made within 180 days it will automatically be removed from the system, according to NHS Digital.

Patient safety campaigners have said the scale of the problem must be “urgently investigated” by NHS England to ensure the safety of patients is not being compromised while they wait for appointments.

Helen Hughes, the chief executive of the Patient Safety Learning charity, said: “We have significant concerns about the safety of patients who are facing increasingly long waits for treatment, particularly those on high priority cancer pathways and urgent referrals.”

She said patients needed to be assured that they will “not be lost in a failing, complex system”, adding: “We believe that NHS England needs to urgently investigate, quantify the scale of the problem and take action if we are to prevent these capacity and system issues resulting in avoidable harm for patients.”

Some GPs told Patient Safety Learning they had experienced difficulties getting referrals accepted. One GP, based in the North East, said: “There is an ever-creeping transfer of management of complex conditions from secondary to primary care, without adequate training or resources to manage this safely.”

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Source: The Telegraph, 7 August 2022

You may also be interested in Patient Safety Learning's blog:

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One of UK's best doctors died from a condition he was an expert in as he lay on understaffed hospital ward

One of the best doctors in the UK died on an understaffed Manchester hospital ward after falling sick with a condition he was an expert in treating, an inquest has heard.

Professor Amit Patel was among the ‘best doctors in the UK’, the first person in the country to be qualified in stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy, and intensive care medicine. He was also a beloved husband and father-of-two.

“He looked liked a corpse, 70 per cent of his blood was in his lungs, he was freezing cold and he looked like he was dead," his heartbroken wife told an inquest at Manchester Coroners Court. "I told my daughters, ‘daddy is dead’ – I didn’t have much hope he would be able to come out of that.”

Professor Patel's condition was being investigated by doctors at Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester Royal Infirmary, and across the country. But, he was in the unimaginable position of being a nationally recognised expert in the illness. During his career, he had formed ‘national guidance’ on the illness and sat on the national multi-disciplinary panel to which the most serious cases, including his own, were referred.

 The court heard how he was experiencing the symptoms of hemophagocytic lymph histiocytosis (HLH) – a rare and life-threatening immune disorder where the body reacts inappropriately to a 'trigger’, such as an infection or cancer, and leads to inflammation. Patients can be predisposed to HLH by Still’s disease, another rare autoimmune condition also causing inflammation, which Professor Patel was suspected to have had.

Full article here.

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Misery of the COVID-19 long-haulers: ‘We’re all guinea pigs, we don’t know what’s around the corner’

It has a plethora of symptoms, strikes the young and old, and lasts for months – maybe much longer. It’s also so new that scientists aren’t sure what they’re dealing with. For those whose lives have been deeply affected by long-term repercussions of Covid, the battle to be recognised is just the start.

There are thousands of people in the UK dealing with the long-term effects of COVID-19, experiencing debilitating symptoms that last for weeks and months beyond the initial infection.

One of the most commonly reported is fatigue, along with breathlessness, joint pain and muscle aches. Neurological issues are common, particularly brain ‘fog’ and a loss of memory and concentration. Some have chest pain or heart palpitations, skin rashes, diarrhoea, headaches, hearing or eyesight problems, or hair loss. Others have lost their senses of taste and smell. In online support groups, people are sharing stories of bone-crippling exhaustion, constant pain in their chest or heart, or the inability to remember a name or follow a conversation.

These people don’t fit the binary model of the virus we thought we knew – that if you’re in the small minority who are seriously affected you might be hospitalised, end up in ICU or worse; otherwise you’ll likely be better after two weeks. Many only had mild cases originally and were not deemed to be in vulnerable categories.

Widely varying symptoms have added to the confusion and fear surrounding the condition, which currently has no formal definition. For months, people with Long Covid had no one to turn to but each other. It’s only recently – through increasing research emerging, and sufferers publicly sharing their stories – that it has started to be taken more seriously. Earlier this month, NHS England announced a £10 million investment to set up one-stop services for physical and mental health issues caused by Covid alongside a Long Covid task force and, crucially, research on 10,000 patients.

Not much is known about what causes Long Covid and there is little firm consensus. There are theories it occurs when a patient’s immune system overreacts to the infection, which can lead to widespread inflammation that theoretically affects any organ. Last week, a study by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) suggested Long Covid symptoms could actually be caused by four separate syndromes: post-intensive-care syndrome, post-viral fatigue syndrome, permanent organ damage to the lungs and heart, or lingering COVID-19 symptoms.

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Source: The Telegraph, 24 October 2020

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As my daughter died of ME, the state met in secret to blame me

In the final weeks of Maeve Boothby O’Neill’s life, her mother tried frantically to get her the palliative care that might make her death more comfortable. Maeve was in pain, too weak to chew, and dying of malnutrition from severe myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).

Sarah Boothby had no idea that at the same time as she begged for help for her daughter, the people she was turning to were holding secret safeguarding meetings, discussing the possibility that Maeve’s condition was in fact caused or fabricated by her — and proposing Maeve’s forcible removal from her care.

Maeve was 27 when she died in October 2021 in the Exeter flat she shared with Boothby. She had discharged herself from hospital because, with no cure or viable treatment, she wanted to die at home.

Boothby and Maeve’s father, the Times journalist Sean O’Neill, knew from bitter experience that there was scant medical support available for ME. But they could not understand why it was so hard to get their daughter the help she needed for a more bearable death.

It was only when council documents were disclosed before Maeve’s inquest last year that they finally got answers.

Safeguarding records for the final year of Maeve’s life show social workers, nurses and a mental health assessor, instead of focusing on managing Maeve’s ME, were investigating concerns about Boothby. That year there were seven safeguarding meetings that neither Maeve, nor her parents, were invited to.

Boothby contacted The Sunday Times after an investigation last month found that hundreds of parents, mostly mothers, are being falsely accused of fabricating or inducing their child’s illness, and facing allegations of abuse when they seek medical care for them.

The ME Association says parents of children with ME or long Covid are “a sitting duck” for allegations of “fabricated or induced illness” (FII, of which FDIA is the most extreme example) because the condition is so poorly understood and it is challenging to get a diagnosis.

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Source: The Times, 10 August 2025

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Regulator sorry for manager’s ‘five years of hell’

Regulators have apologised to a health manager who went through “five years of hell” while being investigated for misconduct, before being told there was no case to answer.

Debbie Moore was a senior manager at the former Liverpool Community Health Trust, where there was a major care scandal in the early 2010s.

As head of healthcare at HMP Liverpool, where many of the most serious failings were identified, Ms Moore was suspended in 2014 and referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council. She was accused of multiple failures to take action or escalate concerns, of failing to investigate deaths, and discouraging staff from reporting incidents. 

However, in a first public interview about her experience, she told HSJ she was “scapegoated” for the problems at the prison, where she says she worked tirelessly to address the issues and had repeatedly flagged concerns to the LCH management team.

External inquiries have found the trust would routinely downgrade risks escalated by divisional managers, as it sought to make drastic cost savings in pursuit of foundation trust status.

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Source: HSJ, 30 November 2020

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Government writes off £8.7bn of pandemic PPE

The government has written off £8.7bn it spent on protective equipment bought during the pandemic, accounts show.

The Department for Health and Social Care documents show items costing £673m were unusable, while £750m of equipment was not used before its expiry date.

The largest write-off - £4.7bn - was because the government paid more for it than it is currently worth, now that global supplies have recovered.

No 10 said the purchases were justified - with 97% of items suitable for use.

A further £2.6bn of equipment was judged to be unsuitable for use in the NHS, the 2020/21 accounts show, but the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) believes it could still be sold or given to charities.

At the start of the pandemic, countries around the world were clamouring for personal protective equipment (PPE), sending prices soaring.

No 10 said "we stand by the decision to purchase the items that we did", saying the approach was "justified" to get PPE to the front line. And the government was now able to "mitigate" similar problems in the future by "massively increasing our onshore-based PPE production".

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Source: BBC News, 1 February 2022

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NHS England to replace cancer targets

The two-week wait cancer target should be scrapped and replaced with a different measure, as part of an overhaul of cancer standards, NHS England has said.

After piloting a new measure which aims to see 75% of patients given the all-clear or a diagnosis within 28 days of referral, NHS England has recommended .The new “faster diagnosis target” would replace the current ‘two-week wait’ target, which is for 93% to have seen a specialist within two weeks, but not necessarily had a diagnosis.

This proposal, and other changes to the way cancer waiting time targets are organised, will be consulted on until 6 April.

The nine current cancer targets were created in 2000. The current headline measure along with the two-week wait — a two-month wait from urgent GP referral to first treatment — has not been hit since December 2015.

The document containing the proposals said the current two-week standard saw some patients given an appointment at which no test was taken, purely to hit the target. For some suspected cancers, “many trusts… offer outpatient appointments to ensure they hit the target”, without improving diagnosis.

The move to scrap the two-week wait was welcomed – with significant caveats — by Cancer Research UK

Cancer Research UK chief executive Michelle Mitchell said: “The new Faster Diagnosis Standard is a more meaningful target than the current two-week wait that will hopefully improve early diagnosis. If all trusts met the 75 per cent target, it would be an improvement to where we are now. However, in the long-term to improve cancer survival, we’d like to see a 95 per cent target originally proposed in the 2015 cancer strategy in Sajid Javid’s upcoming 10-year plan for cancer.

“We recognise the target was set lower because of a shortage of cancer specialists, critical to diagnosing cancer across the NHS. The government must provide the extra investment they have promised to grow the NHS workforce. Every moment of delay risks more people waiting for diagnosis and treatment.”

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Source: HSJ, 10 March 2022

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NHS England ends covid ‘command and control’ measures

The NHS threat level in response to Covid-19 has been downgraded following drops in community cases and hospital inpatient numbers, NHS England chiefs have announced.

The threat level to the health service has been dropped from a “level four” incident, which requires NHSE to “command and control” NHS resources in response to the pandemic, to a “level three” incident, which requires a response by a number of trusts within an NHS region.

A letter from NHSE chief executive Amanda Pritchard and chief operating officer Sir David Sloman, published today, said local systems “need to ensure their resilience and capability to re-establish full incident responses” if needed. At NHSE’s board meeting she stressed that covid was still impacting the service.

Trusts have also been reminded to relax visiting restrictions. The letter said all healthcare settings “should now begin transitioning back towards their own pre-pandemic [or better] policies on inpatient visiting and patients being accompanied in outpatient and [urgent and emergency care] services”.

The default position for trusts should be “no patient having to be alone unless through their choice,” the letter said.

It comes as some trusts have resisted pressure from government and NHSE to relax visiting restrictions.

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Source: HSJ, 19 May 2022

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Shocking scenes uncovered inside Britain's mental health service crisis

A shocking undercover investigation has laid bare appalling failures in patient care on Britain’s mental health wards.

Reporters from Channel 4’s Dispatches programme spent three months secretly filming at one of the UK’s biggest mental health trusts – Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust. 

The footage reveals horrifying abuses of vulnerable residents on two acute mental health wards. It includes patients being dragged across the floor, pinned down by staff, mocked while they are in distress and humiliated.

On one occasion, a patient who is at high risk of suicide and supposed to be under constant supervision is left unattended and makes an attempt on their own life. Another chaotic scene involves staff trying to locate a crucial bag of specialist cutting devices to save the life of a female patient who got hold of a ligature, after a carer failed to keep watch.

In one distressing example, a young woman being treated for anorexia – who is heard hyperventilating with fear – is dragged across the floor by her arms. When she is later discovered making a suicide attempt, she is pinned down by five carers for 40 minutes. As the woman lies sobbing on the floor, one of the staff members discusses the success of his latest diet. Another carer laughs as she marks the rhythm of the woman’s laboured breathing with her hands.

The damning footage raises fresh concerns about the state of treatment for the most mentally unwell in this country.

While the Essex Trust is just one of 54 across England, mental health professionals and families warn that such failures are widespread.

Former mental health nurse Julie Repper, director of imROC, an organisation that helps improve patients’ experiences in mental health services, describes events in the film as ‘literally abusive’.

"I asked the peer support workers we train about their experiences of the system, and they described seeing repeated ligaturing, people being dragged by their feet and being restrained. It’s ubiquitous".

"These units are supposed to keep people safe, but this film shows they’re not. Everybody has a stake in seeing this improve, because every single one of us may become overwhelmed at some point and find we hit a crisis."

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Source: MailOnline, 10 October 2022

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Former NHSE chief: ‘Most hospital discharge data is useless’

A former chief executive of the NHS has said most data collected about hospital discharges by NHS England is ‘useless’ and biased against social care.

Sir David Nicholson, who was chief executive of the NHS from 2006 to 2013, and of NHS England until 2014, has said “almost all” of the data around delayed discharges “is designed to show how bad social care is”.

Sir David, who is now chair of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust and Sandwell and West Birmingham Trust, added that data on the number of patients with the “right to reside” in hospital is “wholly useless” when trying to improve discharge rates.

NHSE publishes figures on the numbers of patients who “no longer meet the criteria to reside” in hospital – and during the winter months will publish this every week. NHSE has said the data collected on discharges helps to improve patient care and flow.

In an interview with HSJ editor, Sir David said: “The problem we have with a lot of the data we collect [is that] it is designed for accountability reasons, not operational reasons.

“And if you want a good example of that, have a look at the debate around discharge at the moment. There is a myriad of data, almost all of it is useless […] and almost all of it is designed to show how bad social care is. It’s extraordinary".

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Source: HSJ, 30 November 2022

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More than 153,000 people harmed in Canada's hospitals last year, study finds

One in 17 hospitalizations in 2024-2025 — representing more than 153,000 people — resulted in someone experiencing a potentially preventable harm such as a drug error, hospital-acquired infection, a “patient accident” like a fall or radiation burn or some other incident serious enough to require treatment or a prolonged stay, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

In a quarter of those cases, people experienced two or more harmful “events” during their stay. The data are based on 2.6 million hospital stays. 

The overall rate of harm has remained at six per cent for the fifth year in a row, higher than pre-COVID years. 

Read full story.

Source: National Post, 9 October 2025

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Coronavirus: Half a million access suicide prevention course

More than half a million people have accessed online training that aims to prevent suicide in the last three weeks alone, a charity has said.

The Zero Suicide Alliance said 503,000 users completed its online course during lockdown. It aims to help spot the signs that a person may need help.

It comes as health leaders warned front-line workers tackling coronavirus could suffer from mental ill health.

NHS England launched a mental health hotline to support staff last month.

The alliance's Joe Rafferty said the true impact of the coronavirus on mental health will not be known until the pandemic ends, but he said "the stress and worry of the coronavirus is bound to have impacted people's mental health".

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Source: BBC News, 18 May 2020

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Top teaching trust blames surge in long A&E waits on covid measures

A top teaching hospital has blamed covid measures for a dramatic rise in the number of trolley waits in its accident and emergency department.

In October, 111 patients at Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) Foundation Trust, which runs Addenbrooke’s Hospital, waited more than 12 hours for admission, despite the region’s relatively low covid rates. 

CUH recorded just nine 12-hour waits in September and 27 in August. It had no 12-hour waits in either June or July this year, and in October 2019, it had only one. 

The trust also had 761 patients who waited more than four hours from the decision to admit to admission last month, out of a total of 2,998 emergency admissions. 

CUH director of operations Holly Sutherland said: “We have had to reorganise the hospital to meet infection control requirements and to reduce the risk of covid-19 transmission. With limited side room availability due to the age of our facilities, this has reduced the number of beds in the hospital by around 100 and has impacted on patient flow from the emergency department."

“We would like to apologise to anyone affected by this, and to reassure our patients that their safety is our utmost priority and we are doing everything we can to treat them as quickly as possible.”

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Source: HSJ, 18 November 2020

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Hospital prosecuted in first-ever case for 'lack of candour' after woman's death

An NHS trust is to appear in court today charged with breaking the law on being open and transparent after a woman’s death in the first ever court case of its kind.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has brought a criminal prosecution against University Hospitals Plymouth Trust which will appear at Plymouth Magistrates Court tomorrow morning.

The trust is charged with breaching the duty of candour regulations under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 which require hospitals to be honest with families and patients after a safety incident or error in their care. Hospitals are legally required to notify patients or families and investigate what has happened and communicate the findings to families and offer an apology.

The case relates to how the Plymouth trust communicated with a woman’s family after her death which happened after she underwent an endoscopy procedure at Derriford Hospital in December 2017.

The trust was required by law to communicate in an open and transparent way. The CQC has accused the trust of failing to do this.

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Source: The Independent, 22 September 2020

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