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Coronavirus: Ministers have ‘lost control of the virus’, says health expert following spike in cases

A leading health expert has suggested ministers have “lost control of the virus”, after the UK recorded it’s largest 24-hour spike in COVID-19 cases since 23 May.

Government figures showed there have been a further 2,988 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK as of 9am on Sunday. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in the UK to 347,152.

Sunday's figure is the highest since May 22 when 3,287 cases were recorded, and is also the first 24-hour period when cases passed 2,000 since the end of May. The tally was an increase on Saturday's figures of 1,813 new cases.

Prof Gabriel Scally, a member of the Independent Sage group and a former NHS regional director of public health for the south-west, warned that government ministers had “lost control of the virus”.

“It’s no longer small outbreaks they can stamp on,” he told The Guardian. “It’s become endemic in our poorest communities and this is the result.

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth called upon the government to respond to the sharp spike.

He added that it was “a stark reminder that there is no room for complacency in tackling the spread of the virus”.

“This increase, combined with the ongoing testing fiasco where ill people are told to drive for miles for tests, and the poor performance of the contact tracing system, needs an explanation from ministers,” he said on Sunday.

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Source: The Independent, 7 September 2020

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Transgender teenager's death preventable, coroner says

The death of a "vulnerable" transgender teenager who struggled to get help was preventable, a coroner has said.

Daniel France, 17, was known to Cambridgeshire County Council and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation Trust (CPFT) when he took his own life on 3 April 2020.

The coroner said his death showed a "dangerous gap" between services.

When he died, Mr France was in the process of being transferred from children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in Suffolk to adult services in Cambridgeshire.

The First Response Service, which provides help for people experiencing a mental health crisis, also assessed Mr France but he had been considered not in need of urgent intervention, the coroner's report said.

Cambridgeshire County Council had received two safeguarding referrals for Daniel, in October 2019 and January 2020, but had closed both.

"It was accepted that the decision to close both referrals was incorrect", Mr Barlow said in his report.

Mr Barlow wrote in his report, sent to both the council and CPFT: "My concern in this case is that a vulnerable young person can be known to the county council and [the] mental health trust and yet not receive the support they need pending substantive treatment."

He highlighted Daniel was "repeatedly assessed as not meeting the criteria for urgent intervention" but that waiting lists for phycological therapy could mean more than a year between asking for help and being given it.

"That gap between urgent and non-urgent services is potentially dangerous for a vulnerable young person, where there is a chronic risk of an impulsive act," Mr Barlow said.

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Source: BBC News, 25 February 2022

 

 
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Swamped NHS mental health services turning away children, say GPs

Children and young people who are anxious, depressed or are self-harming are being denied help from swamped NHS child and adolescent mental health services, GPs have revealed.

Even under-18s with an eating disorder or psychosis are being refused care by overstretched CAMHS services, which insist that they are not sick enough to warrant treatment.

In one case, a crisis CAMHS team in Wales would not immediately assess the mental health of an actively suicidal child who had been stopped from jumping off a building earlier the same day unless the GP made a written referral. In another, a CAMHS service in eastern England declined to take on a 12-year-old boy found with a ligature in his room because the lack of any marks on his neck meant its referral criteria had not been met.

The shocking state of CAMHS care is laid bare in a survey for the youth mental health charity stem4 of 1,001 GPs across the UK who have sought urgent help for under-18s who are struggling mentally. CAMHS teams, already unable to cope with the rising need for treatment before Covid struck, have become even more overloaded because of the pandemic’s impact on youth mental health.

Mental health experts say young people’s widespread inability to access CAMHS care is leading to their already fragile mental health deteriorating even further and then self-harming, dropping out of school, feeling uncared for and having to seek help at A&E.

“As a clinician it is particularly worrying that children and young people with psychosis, eating disorders and even those who have just tried to take their own life are condemned to such long waits”, said Dr Nihara Krause, a consultant clinical psychologist who specialises in treating children and young people and who is the founder of stem4.

“It is truly shocking to learn from this survey of GPs’ experiences of dealing with CAMHS services that so many vulnerable young people in desperate need of urgent help with their mental health are being forced to wait for so long – up to two years – for care they need immediately.

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Source: The Guardian, 3 April 2022

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Healthcare services in Northern Ireland 'on its knees'

Waiting times for outpatient appointments, hospital procedures, emergency care, GPs and community health services have all hit record levels in Northern Ireland, with health care staff and patients declaring it the "worst ever" crisis to hit health services in the region.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, ever-growing patient demand, staff shortages, and the failure to put together a new Executive government following the recent Northern Ireland elections are being cited as the key drivers of the crisis, with health care staff now at breaking point.

Speaking to Medscape UK, British Medical Association Northern Ireland (BMA NI) council chair Dr Tom Black said the current crisis in Northern Ireland's health services essentially boils down to "workload and workforce" issues.

Waiting lists to access hospital appointments in Northern Ireland were already long before COVID-19, but the pandemic has significantly exacerbated the situation, he noted. Northern Ireland has the worst waiting lists in the UK, with more than 350,000 people currently waiting for a consultant-led appointment – more than half of them waiting over a year, with many waiting two, three, and even more years for an appointment.

"We're now heading towards nearly 400,000 on hospital waiting lists, which is a huge number when you consider that is one-in-five of the total population," Dr Black commented.

This week a judicial review is due to get underway at the High Court in Belfast after two patients initiated a legal case against the health services over excessive waiting times for access to care. One of the women has been waiting over five years to see a neurologist after being referred by her GP for suspected multiple sclerosis. The case is seeking a judicial declaration that the length of the waiting lists are unlawful and breached their human rights.

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Source: Medscape UK, 24 May 2022

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Staff 'missed opportunities' to save patient

Staff at a mental health unit missed "multiple opportunities" to realise a woman had become unwell before she died, a coroner has said.

Sian Hewitt, 25, died at Milton Keynes Hospital last year after collapsing at the nearby Campbell Centre. Coroner Tom Osborne said there was "a failure to start effective CPR".

A spokesman for the centre said changes have been made to how care is delivered.

Ms Hewitt, who had Asperger's syndrome and bipolar disorder, was admitted to the inpatient unit on 13 March 2019.

She died less than a month later on 6 April 2019 at Milton Keynes Hospital, where she was taken after collapsing on Willow Ward at the centre.

An inquest concluded she died of a pulmonary embolism, caused when a blood clot travels to the lungs.

In a Prevention of Future Deaths Report, Mr Osborne said the centre failed to carry out a risk assessment and there was a delay in administering a drug resulting in "her mania not being brought under control".

His report said the "failure to recognise how seriously ill she had become" had "resulted in lost opportunities to treat her appropriately that may have prevented her death".

He said her death suggested the NHS was "unable to provide a place of safety for those who are suffering from Asperger's syndrome" or other forms of autism "when they are also suffering additional mental health problems such as bipolar".

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Source: BBC News, 4 December 2020

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‘Advice to GPs’ will count towards elective care target

Avoiding GP referrals by providing ‘advice and guidance’ will contribute significantly towards NHS performance on the government’s elective care targets, according to draft NHS plans seen by HSJ.

Under the elective recovery plan, hospital specialists are being asked to offer more advice when GPs are deciding whether to refer a patient for an outpatient appointment, which would avoid some patients being added to waiting lists.

This is aimed at reducing instances where GPs may want to be risk averse and refer a patient when they might be unsure whether a secondary referral is needed.

New documents seen by HSJ, shared in draft by NHSE last week, reveal this avoided activity will be counted in assessing if the service or individual trusts have hit key government targets to increase activity.

NHS England has agreed with government to carry out 10% more ‘clock-stop’ activity in 2022-23 than was taking place pre-covid, but this is “after accounting for the impact of an improved care offer through system transformation, and advice and guidance”.

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Source: HSJ, 28 February 2022

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GPs to face six-month complaint response targets under ombudsman proposals

GP practices are set to face new targets for responding to patient complaints under standards being piloted by the health ombudsman.

All ‘straightforward’ complaints should be dealt with within six months and 95% within three, while 80% of ‘complex’ complaints should be completed within six months and half within three, under the proposals.

The new Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) complaint standards are currently being piloted in every sector of the NHS – including one GP practice – and were due to be implemented across the NHS this year. 

However, a PHSO spokesperson told Pulse that due to delays caused by the pandemic, the full rollout is now planned for the beginning of next year, with the ombudsman to implement the standards from April 2023.

The proposed complaints standards said staff should ensure they ‘consistently meet expected timescales for acknowledging a complaint’ and ‘respond to complaints at the earliest opportunity’, providing ‘regular updates throughout’.

They should also give ‘clear timeframes’ for how long investigating the complaint will take and ‘agree timescales with everyone involved’, including the complainant.

An accompanying draft model complaint handling procedure said that complaints will be acknowledged within three working days either verbally or in writing.

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Source: Pulse, 24 March 2022

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Lip fillers: Call for tighter regulation after botched treatments

Lip fillers have grown increasingly popular but the industry is "like the wild west", experts warn, with many patients left in pain and embarrassed by their appearance.

As Harriet Green left a salon after getting an injection to add volume to her lips, she was reassured the excess swelling would go down. But three months later her lips were still so bloated she could not close her mouth properly.

The 22-year-old from Acle in Norfolk needed three corrective procedures - costing a total of more than £700 - to get them back to normal.

Dr Saba Raja, a GP who runs her own aesthetics clinic in Norwich, says she is increasingly having to correct treatments which have gone wrong, describing the experience as "really distressing".

"Every month I'm getting enquires from young girls who have gone to a non-medical practitioner for lip or tear trough fillers under the eye and had complications.

"They often try to contact the practitioner but due to lack of training they are unable to deal with the complications. It is becoming more and more of a problem."

Dr Raja describes the industry as "like the wild west", with people injecting patients "out of the back of their cars" and in kitchens.

"Anti-wrinkle injections (Botox) are prescription-only but the injector can be anybody who has been on a day course. Dermal filler (for the lips and face) is not even a prescription-only medication, you can buy it off any website," she says.

"A lot of non-medical practitioners are buying cheap filler online, with no idea where it has come from. We really need strict regulations and minimum training standards."

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Source: BBC News, 9 May 2023

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‘Legally wrong’ to make pregnant women with Covid give birth alone

NHS guidance which often forces pregnant women who test positive with coronavirus to give birth alone is legally wrong, lawyers warned.

Official guidance drawn up by NHS England states that if a woman tests positive for Covid, their husband or partner must self-isolate at home and is not allowed to support them during childbirth.

But campaigners and lawyers told The Independent their guidance for visitor restrictions in maternity services during the pandemic is legally inaccurate as people have the “right to private and family life” under Article Eight of the Human Rights Act.

Maria Booker, of Birthrights, a leading maternity care charity, said: “The NHS oversimplifies the government’s self-isolating Covid regulations and tells partners they have to stay at home. But this hasn’t taken into account the legal nuance that government rules state people can leave home if they have a reasonable excuse."

“A woman being anxious about giving birth alone, which most people will be, is likely to legally constitute as a reasonable excuse."

“It is completely inhumane for a woman to give birth without a partner or supporter. It is even scarier giving birth alone you are Covid positive. It is terrifying. Nobody should give birth alone and that includes Covid positive women.”

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Source: The Independent, 13 February 2021

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Research confirms impact of COVID-19 on doctors’ mental health

The COVID-19 crisis triggered high levels of anxiety and depression among doctors in the UK, Italy and Spain, a new study has found

The research of 5,000 survey responses, across the three countries, found Italian doctors were most likely to have suffered during the crisis last year.

The study, published in PLOS ONE, measured the mental wellbeing of doctors in Catalonia (Spain), Italy and the UK during June, November and December 2020.

It found that around one in four medical doctors in Italy had experienced symptoms of anxiety in June and December 2020, with around one in five reporting symptoms of depression over the same period.

In Catalonia around 16% of doctors reported anxiety and around 17% experienced depression. In the UK around 12% of doctors reported anxiety and around 14% had symptoms of depression.

The study is among the first cross-country analysis of mental wellbeing among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and the first to focus on medical doctors.

Across all countries, female doctors and doctors under 60 were more likely to have anxiety or depression.

Professor Quintana-Domeque, professor of economics at the University of Exeter Business School, who carried out the study said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has been classified as a traumatic event, with healthcare workers arguably having the most direct and longest exposure to this disease."

“The results of this study suggest that institutional support for healthcare workers, and in particular doctors, is important in protecting and promoting their mental health in the current and in future pandemics.”

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Source: The Independent, 3 November 2021

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Bradford Teaching Hospitals Command Centre officially opens

At a launch event last week, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has officially opened its new Command Centre.

The Command Centre, using technology from GE Healthcare Partners, went live earlier this year and was recently awarded Tech Project of the Year in the innovative Health Tech Awards 2019.

The Trust said it helps staff to optimise patient flow and allow real-time co-ordination of care for each and every patient. Using advanced analytics and machine learning, the new system provides staff with real-time information to help them make speedy and informed decisions on managing patient flow across the Trust’s hospitals.

Sandra Shannon, Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive at the Trust “Demand for services is growing at Bradford Teaching Hospitals every year, with up to 400 patients coming through our A&E every day, and we have to get smarter at how we manage the needs of patients with the resources we have.”

“The Command Centre is a major investment in how we, as a very busy acute Trust, can improve our performance, maintain and improve patients’ experience of coming into hospital and support our staff to do their jobs more efficiently, so they can concentrate on delivering excellent patient care.”

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Source: Health Tech Newspaper, 12 November 2019

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‘Independent review of NHS’ ahead of second wave

There should be independent reviews of the NHS’ readiness for a potential second major outbreak of coronavirus in the UK, senior doctors are arguing.

The Royal College of Anaesthetists said a series of reviews should be carried out, overseen by an independent group formed from clinical royal college representatives, independent scientists and academics.

It would encompass investigation of what happened to care quality during the peak of infection and demand through March, April and May — there are major concerns that harm and death was caused by knock of effects, with some health services closed and people being afraid to use others.

Hospitals were unable to provide many other services as staff, including most anaesthetists, were redeployed to help with critical care.

Ravi Mahajan, president of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, told HSJ areas such as capacity, workforce and protective equipment were key issues to be reviewed. He said: “We can’t wait for [the pandemic] to finish and then review. [The reviews] have to be dynamic, ongoing, and the sooner they start the better.

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Source: HSJ, 17 June 2020

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‘Babies are still being damaged’ Tory peer warns ‘evasive’ ministers

The government has been told it is ‘not sustainable’ to continue to delay its response to a major review on patient safety as ‘babies are still being damaged’.

The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review spoke to more than 700 people, mostly women who suffered avoidable harm from surgical mesh implants, pregnancy tests and an anti-epileptic drug, and criticised “a culture of dismissive and arrogant attitudes” including the “unacceptable labelling of many symptoms as “attributable to ‘women’s problems’”.

The review’s author Baroness Julia Cumberlege told HSJ that “time is marching on” for the Department of Health and Social Care to implement the recommendations of her July report, which include setting up a new independent patient safety commissioner.

The Conservative peer said pressure was building on government to adopt the findings of the review, since it had been endorsed by Royal Colleges and has already been adopted by the Scottish government. She said the government had given “evasive” answers in parliament on the issue.

In an exclusive interview with HSJ, Baroness Cumberlege said:

  • There is a crowded field of regulators but “there’s a void” for a service that listens and responds to patients’ safety concerns.
  • She feels “diminished” that women’s concerns are still being dismissed by clinicians, but said young doctors are a cause for hope.
  • She is “very optimistic” report will be implemented – but the NHS has to have the will to make changes.

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Source: HSJ, 13 October 2020

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England's 'fragile' care sector needs immediate reform, says regulator

The government must immediately deliver a new deal for social care with major investment and better terms for workers, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has said, as it warned that the sector is “fragile” heading into a second wave of coronavirus infections.

In a challenge to ministers, the regulator’s chief executive, Ian Trenholm, said overdue reform of the care sector “needs to happen now – not at some point in the future”.

Boris Johnson said in his first speech as prime minister, in July 2019: “We will fix the crisis in social care once and for all.” But no reform has yet been proposed, and more than 15,000 people have died from COVID-19 in England’s care homes.

Trenholm said Covid risked turning inequalities in England’s health services from “faultlines into chasms” as the CQC published its annual State of Care report on hospitals, GPs and care services.

The report reveals serious problems with mental health, maternity services and emergency care before the pandemic, and says these areas must not be allowed to fall further behind.

The regulator argued that the health system’s response to the pandemic needs to change. After focusing on protecting NHS services from being overwhelmed, health leaders must now adapt to prevent people who need help for non-Covid reasons from being left behind, it said.

These include people whose operations were cancelled and people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, people with disabilities, and people living in deprived areas who have suffered more severely from the impact of Covid.

“Covid is magnifying inequalities across the health and care system – a seismic upheaval which has disproportionately affected some more than others,” said Trenholm.

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Source: The Guardian, 16 October 2020

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Ministers pledge to ‘reset the dial’ on women’s health in England

Ministers have pledged to “reset the dial” on women’s health to tackle decades of gender inequality in England, with plans to appoint a women’s health tsar, eradicate medical taboos, boost menopause support and ban harmful “virginity repair” operations.

The Department of Health and Social Care has published its Vision for Women’s Health strategy after 100,000 women came forward to share their healthcare concerns. Maria Caulfield, the minister for women’s health, described some of their experiences as “shocking”.

The vision document sets out initial government commitments on women’s health, recognising that “systemwide changes” are needed to tackle “decades of gender health inequality”. The final plan – the Women’s Health Strategy – will be published in spring 2022.

On Wednesday night, ministers pledged to introduce legislation criminalising hymenoplasty or any procedure to rebuild or repair the hymen. Such surgery creates scar tissue so that a woman will bleed the next time she has intercourse, making it appear she has never had sex. Young women can be forced to prove they are “pure” on their wedding night. Doctors have called for a ban on the surgery for years, saying it can never be justified on health grounds and is harmful.

Separately, the government will appoint a women’s health ambassador to raise the profile of key issues and boost awareness of taboo topics. Ministers will also establish a UK-wide menopause taskforce to investigate how women going through the menopause can be better supported. The cost of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prescriptions will also be cut by implementing longer prescribing cycles so women will need fewer prescriptions and therefore pay less.

The consultation provided “stark and sobering insights” into women’s experiences of health and care and highlighted entrenched problems within the NHS, officials said.

Ministers are also considering compulsory training for GPs on women’s health after the idea was raised by women who came forward. The vision document said: “We also heard about a lack of awareness amongst some GPs of the causes of infertility, miscarriages and their relationship with infertility, and the reasons for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) failure.”

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Source: The Guardian, 22 December 2021

Related reading

Gender bias: A threat to women’s health (August 2020)

Dangerous exclusions: The risk to patient safety of sex and gender bias

Patient Safety Learning: Women’s Health Strategy Consultation Response

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Leaked emails raise flag on ‘extremely concerning’ bed shortage

‘Systemic’ problems within mental health services in Birmingham have caused the number of people waiting for an inpatient bed to reach ‘extremely concerning’ levels, according to documents leaked to HSJ.

There are currently 41 people waiting to be admitted to a bed by Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust (BSMHFT) , according to internal documents, while 36 people have already had to be sent to private sector facilities up to 150 miles away.

The NHS in the area has indicated to HSJ  that it is due to need for “intensive levels of care” now growing because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an email thread, sent to 60 people in the trust including senior executives, one senior clinician wrote in response to the bed figures: “The number of patients with Mental Health Act assessments completed is extremely concerning. This needs to be escalated to commissioners. The problem is systemic.”

It comes after an HSJ investigation earlier this year into the deaths of 12 patients under BSMHFT’s services. It revealed senior medics had repeatedly warned the trust about severe bed shortages and a lack of capacity within home treatment services.

The trust said it was addressing the issues raised, but senior clinicians told HSJ this week the trust is still short of at least 80 adult mental health beds.

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Source: HSJ, 15 October 2020

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COVID-19: We can't bounce back with only physicians

For the last 10 months, everyone in healthcare has lived their lives as if they were trapped in a burning building without a fire escape. 

No matter how much water we throw on the fire or how many firefighters (healthcare providers in this instance) we send in, we cannot gain control of the flames. The catastrophic loss of life has been insurmountable, and we often haven’t had enough physicians to take care of everyone. 

This is not new for a healthcare system. For years prior to this pandemic, there has been a physician shortage in the United States that is expected to worsen over the coming years. The Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) predicts that the US could see a shortage between 54,000 and 139,000 physicians in both primary and specialty care by 2033. Although the total physician supply is expected to grow, it won’t be at a fast enough rate to outpace demand. 

This is where physician assistants (PAs) and advanced practice nurses (APRNs) come in. Many people don’t realise that PAs and APRNs have been around for over 50 years. 

For 50 years, a plethora of research has shown that PAs and APRNs are safe, reliable, high quality healthcare providers and essential members of the healthcare team. But too often critics claim that because they have not gone through physician training, they cannot provide exceptional medical and surgical care. In fact, they already do. A recent comprehensive review of PA and APRN outcomes from 2008 to 2018 found that PAs and APRNs had similar outcomes compared to physicians including hospital length of stay, readmission rates, quality and safety and patient and staff satisfaction. 

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Source: The Hill, 16 January 2021

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New MHRA rules for treatment with isotretinoin

Treatment with isotretinoin for UK patients under 18 years of age must be approved by two prescribers in a series of regulatory changes announced by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to strengthen the safe use of this drug.

Isotretinoin, also known by the brand names Roaccutane and Reticutan, is an effective treatment for severe acne or when there is a risk of permanent scarring. While the drug has helped many patients with severe acne, concerns have arisen among patients and members of the public regarding suspected mental health side effects, including depression, anxiety, psychotic symptoms, and suicide, as well as sexual side effects.

Following an expert safety review, the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) agreed in April of this year to a number of recommendations to strengthen the safe use of the treatment.

The safety review concluded that because of gaps in the available evidence, it was not possible to say that isotretinoin definitely caused many of the short-term or long-term mental health and sexual side effects. However, since the individual experiences of patients and families continued to cause concern, the experts recommended that action be taken to ensure patients were made aware of these potential risks and that they were carefully monitored during treatment.

"The overall balance of risks and benefits for isotretinoin remains favourable," the authors of the report concluded, but further action should be taken to ensure patients were fully informed about isotretinoin and were effectively monitored during and after treatment, they recommended.

Anna Rossiter, programme manager for Medicines for Children at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said the information for young people and their families "needs to be written in a format that is easy to understand and must set out the possible side effects that might be experienced".

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Source: Medscape, 1 November 2023

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NICE expands HealthTech evaluations for NHS patients

NICE will apply the same rigorous standards to evaluate medical devices, diagnostics and digital tools that currently assess new medicines.

The new approach puts health technologies on equal footing with medicines, ensuring innovations like wearable diabetes monitors and AI diagnostics reach patients faster and more consistently across the NHS.

The expanded programme addresses longstanding inequalities in technology adoption across different NHS regions. Technologies meeting NICE's standards will receive strong recommendations for NHS-wide implementation, supported by clear guidance on value and effectiveness.

The initiative forms part of the government's broader Life Sciences Sector Plan, positioning the NHS as a major customer for one of Britain's fastest-growing industries. It supports the NHS 10 Year Health Plan's vision for using innovation to drive healthcare reform and delivers the expansion of NICE’s technology appraisal process to cover devices, diagnostics and digital products.

Health technologies are reshaping healthcare, opening up new ways to care for patients, diagnose conditions earlier, and help people stay healthier for longer. These changes mean that more devices, diagnostics and digital tools will be used to address pressing issues across the NHS, such as long waiting lists.

Dr Sarah Byron, deputy director for HealthTech at NICE, said: "NICE is currently consulting on updated evaluation methods through October 2025, working with industry and healthcare partners to refine the assessment framework. The programme will initially focus on high-impact technologies before expanding coverage in subsequent years".

"This systematic change builds on NICE's founding mission to end postcode lottery access to treatments, extending that principle to the rapidly evolving healthtech sector including AI and digital health."

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Source: WiredGov, 2 October 2025

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Chief Medical Officer to lead the fight against AMR

Public Health Minister, Seema Kennedy, has confirmed that Professor Dame Sally Davies will take on the role of UK Special Envoy on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) later this year. Dame Sally will be working across all sectors to deliver a ‘One Health’ response to AMR, which includes health, agriculture and the environment.

The appointment of Dame Sally follows the government’s 20-year vision and 5-year national action plan published earlier this year, setting out how the UK will contribute to containing and controlling AMR by 2040.

Professor Dame Sally Davies said: “AMR is a complex challenge which needs local, national and global action. The UK should be proud of its world-leading work on AMR. We have made tangible progress but it is essential we maintain momentum. I am honoured to have been asked to continue this vital work on behalf of the UK government.”

Last year the government committed £32 million funding to accelerate the UK’s work in the global fight against AMR. The awarded funding will support the development of a state-of-the-art, virtual ‘open access’ centre that will link health outcomes and prescribing data. This technology, led by Public Health England (PHE), will gather real-time patient data on resistant infections, helping clinicians to make more targeted choices about when to use antibiotics and cutting unnecessary prescriptions.

PHE will use £5 million in funding to develop a fully functional model ward, the first of its kind in the UK, to better understand how hospital facilities can be designed to improve infection control and reduce the transmission of antibiotic-resistant infections.

Other successful funds include £4.4 million to Manchester University to test ‘individualised’ approaches to antibiotic prescribing by bringing together patient care and clinical research, and £3.5 million to the University of Liverpool to apply innovative genome sequencing to enable more personalised antibiotic prescribing.

Public Health Minister Seema Kennedy said: “Antibiotic resistance poses an enormous risk to our NHS – we are already seeing the harmful effect resistant bugs can have on patient safety in our hospitals. It is vital that we retain the irreplaceable expertise of Professor Dame Sally Davies – an international expert in AMR – and continue to invest in research.”

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1,000-year-old eye infection potion found to tackle antibiotic-resistant infections

Antibiotic resistance is an increasing challenge for modern medicine as more naturally occurring antimicrobials are needed to tackle infections capable of resisting treatments currently in use.

New research from the University of Warwick has investigated natural remedies to fill the gap in the antibiotic market, taking their cue from a 1,000-year-old text known as Bald's Leechbook.

Read the full article here.

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Support for Long COVID patients visiting their GP

PRESS RELEASE

 (London, UK, 19 November 2020) – The charity Patient Safety Learning and the Royal College of GPs have published new guidance to help patients with post COVID-19 syndrome (also known as Long COVID) understand the support they can expect from their GP.

 This guidance draws on the RCGP's recent summary and top tips for GPs caring for patients with post COVID-19 syndrome. Both these documents have been produced in advance of more detailed national guidance being developed by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the Royal College of GPs, due to be published in December 2020.

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

 “We have used the RCGP’s guidance to produce a simple patient-friendly guide to help support people living with Long COVID in the interim period before more detailed guidance is produced by NICE.

 We hope that this guidance will empower and inform patients, providing them with an evidence-based document that can be shared with those around them. We believe that this will also help raise awareness of the health challenges these patients are facing so that their health and recovery needs can be better met.”

 Professor Martin Marshall, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said:

 “It’s important that patients experiencing debilitating prolonged effects of Covid-19, which we know affect a small but significant number of people who have had the virus, feel that they have the understanding and support of the GPs and other healthcare professionals delivering their care. To this end we hope this guidance is helpful for them. The RCGP is working  hard to ensure that the long term effects of Covid-19 are recognised, especially in those who were never admitted to hospital, and that our GP members have interim guidance whilst waiting for formal national guidance, currently being developed by NICE, SIGN and the College, to be published.”

 Notes to editors:

 1.     The new Patient Safety Learning and RCGP guidance can be found here: Post COVID-19 syndrome: What support can patients expect from their GP?

 2.     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. We believe patient safety is not just another priority; it is a core purpose of health and social care. Patient safety should not be negotiable.

 3.     The RCGP guidance for GPs can be found here: RCGP, Management of the long term effects of COVID-19. The RCGP response and top tips for caring for our patients, V1 30 October 2020.

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Layla Moran secures first Commons debate on Long Covid

Layla Moran, Lib Dem MP for Oxford West and Abingdon and Chair of the APPG on Coronavirus, has secured the first Commons debate on Long Covid on Thursday 7 January following cross-party support.

The Backbench Business Committee granted the application by Layla Moran, co-sponsored by Dr Dan Poulter MP (Con) and Andrew Gwynne MP (Lab) and supported by many others.  Layla said that the debate “is long overdue” and called on “those with lived experience and clinical experience to tell us your stories” in advance of the debate.

Layla Moran said: “I’m pleased that we’ve been able to secure this important debate on Long Covid, which is long overdue. The APPG on Coronavirus, which I chair, has submitted recommendations to the Government on this, and the debate will give us the opportunity to hold them to account and represent our constituents suffering from it."

“What’s really important now is that as many MPs as possible take part in the debate, so we can give this the profile it deserves and give the Government the opportunity to listen and respond to our concerns. Thank you to my cross-party colleagues for supporting this. I’m calling on those with lived experience and clinical experience to tell us your stories between now and the 7 January. This is a crucial opportunity.”

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Source: Liberal Democrats, 19 December 2020

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‘Computer error’ removed 1,800 patients from trust’s elective waiting list

A trust has discovered 1,800 patients who were removed by mistake from its elective waiting list.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust chief executive Matthew Trainer wrote to colleagues in the east London health system today to “apologise for the stress this will have caused those experiencing a delay”.

Of the 1,800 patients involved, 600 have been waiting more than a year and roughly 200 have been waiting for more than two years.

Mr Trainer’s note explained: “The patients have been waiting to see our specialists in routine clinics in gynaecology, neurology, neurosurgery and ophthalmology.”

It continued: “As we have been working through our waiting lists, we have discovered a problem with one of them that was used to deal with the backlog created by the pandemic.

“It contained routine referrals that were submitted by GPs who wanted their patients to be seen by a specialist, but for whom there were no appointments available due to covid-19. Unfortunately, these patients were removed automatically from this list before they had been seen.”

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Source: HSJ, 26 April 2022

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New GP crisis as struggling hospital trusts reject specialist referrals for hundreds of thousands of patients

Hundreds of thousands of patients referred to specialists by their GPs are being rejected by hospitals and left to deteriorate because there are no appointments available.

NHS waiting lists are already buckling under record-high backlogs and now delays are being compounded as local doctors struggle to even get their patients to outpatient services.

Patients’ referrals are rejected by hospital trusts if there are no appointment slots available, meaning they get bounced back to the GP who is unable to help with their complex needs, leaving them without the care they desperately need.

Clare Rayner, 54, from Manchester, has been left distraught by delays which have hampered the treatment she needs for complex spinal problems. She is still waiting to find out if an upcoming appointment with a neurologist is going ahead after a request for an urgent review from her GP was ignored five times.

Outpatient referrals are typically classed as having an “appointment slot issue” (ASI) when no booking slot is available within a specific time frame, under the NHS e-Referral system.

According to experts, the situation varies between specialities, but is reportedly particularly bad in areas such as mental health and neurology.

Ms Rayner, a former medical teacher who had to retire because of ill health, said: “I’ve been sent all around the country for neurosurgery over the last few years so have been directly affected by being bounced back to my GP."

“A unit in London rejected me because they said I lived too far away, which was ridiculous as they take people from all over the UK, and a local consultant just never replied to my GP’s email.

Ms Rayner said she has endured “massive delays” to her care which had left her intensely frustrated. “It’s left me with significant deterioration with my spinal problems and that’s been very distressing,” she said.

Helen Hughes, chief executive of charity and campaign group Patient Safety Learning, said: “NHS England needs to urgently investigate, quantify the scale of the problem and take action if we are to prevent these capacity problems resulting in avoidable harm for patients.”

A target for providers to reduce ASIs to a rate of 4% or less of their total outpatient activity was set by NHS England in 2019. Guidance in subsequent years has seen a move towards the requirement for providers to implement “innovative pathways” to support prevention of ill health.

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Source: iNews, 22 May 2022

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