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Social care waiting times revealed for first time in a decade

Older people are routinely enduring hidden waits of several months to get essential care and support, according to new figures obtained from government. 

Waiting time figures for adult social care are not routinely published in England, but last summer the Department of Health and Social Care collected the information from councils for the first time in at least a decade.

They have been released to HSJ after a freedom of information appeal, and show average waits of up to 149 days (about five months) in Bath and North East Somerset, with 25 councils (30% of the 85 councils which supplied this information) reporting waits of two months or more. Some people will be waiting much longer than the averages reported.

Across the 85 councils which reported average waits, the average of those figures was around 50 days. But the figures released to HSJ show huge variation – with three councils reporting waits of less than 10 days – although this is partly due to recording differences. 

The lack of clear figures, and absence of national waiting time measures and standards for adult social care, in contrast to the many targets and published figures in the NHS, and has sparked calls for that to be changed.

Sir David Pearson, a former integrated care system chair and director of adult social care, who led the government’s Covid-19 care taskforce in the wake of the disaster in care homes in spring 2020, said: “One way of ensuring public confidence is a timely response to need.

“Being clearer about a small number of standards and measures would help to achieve this. Of course it has to be associated with the right funding and reform, including supporting the social care workforce”.

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Source: HSJ, 25 March 2024

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Six in 10 nurses in England turning to credit or savings as costs rise

Six out of 10 NHS nurses have had to use credit or their savings over the last year to help them cope with the soaring cost of living, according to new research.

Acute financial pressures are forcing some nurses to limit their energy use while others are going without food. Many are doing extra shifts to help make ends meet.

The findings have added to fears that money worries and inadequate pay will prompt even more nurses to quit the NHS, which is already short of almost 35,000 nurses.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN), which undertook the survey of almost 11,000 nurses in England, claimed that too many in the profession had been left without enough money to cover their basic needs as they paid the price for “the government’s sustained attack on nursing”.

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Source: The Guardian, 22 March 2024

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Concerns over ‘Government’s failure’ to act on patient safety recommendations

The Government has failed to implement a number of recommendations from significant inquiries into major patient safety issues, years after they were agreed to, according to an independent panel.

The report, commissioned by the Health and Social Committee in the wake of the Lucy Letby case, voiced concerns about “delays to take real action”.

As part of its investigation, the panel selected recommendations from independent public inquiries and reviews that have been accepted by government since 2010.

Nine or more years have passed since these recommendations were accepted by the government of the day

These covered three broad policy areas – maternity safety and leadership, training of staff in health and social care, and culture of safety and whistleblowing – and were used to evaluate progress.

The panel gave the Government a rating of “requires improvement” across the policy areas. One of the recommendations was rated good.

The report said that “despite good performance in some areas” the rating “partly reflects the length of time it has taken for the Government to make progress on fully implementing four of the recommendations which were accepted nine years ago, or longer”.

“Progress is imminent in several areas, which is reassuring, but we remain concerned about the time it has taken for real action to be taken,” it added.

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Source: The Independent, 22 March 2024

Read Patient Safety Learning's response to the report:

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Rollout of new death certification system could be delayed again

A new system requiring GPs to agree death certificates with a medical examiner is unlikely to launch at the beginning of April, it has emerged.

The system, which will see medical examiners (MEs) providing independent scrutiny of all deaths in the community which are not taken to the coroner, had previously been due to come in from April last year.

However, it was delayed by one year to allow time for Parliament to introduce the necessary supporting legislation and, according to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), this has yet to happen.

A spokesperson told Pulse that the Government’s intention is to still introduce secondary legislation ‘from April’ to implement death certification reform. However, it could not confirm the exact date the system will launch and said it would provide an update before the end of March.  

Nottingham GP Dr Irfan Malik told Pulse that local GPs and practice staff ‘seem to be aware there is a delay’ but  have had ‘no official emails’ or communication confirming the delays.

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Source: Pulse, 20 March 2024

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Leaders urge review of single-word CQC ratings after headteacher death

Trust chiefs have collectively called for the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to review its use of single-word inspection ratings, following MPs’ calls for an overhaul of Ofsted ratings for schools.

In a report containing a series of recommendations for CQC reform, shared with HSJ, NHS Providers urges the regulator to re-evaluate the success of its single-word ratings, asking it to consider adding a narrative verdict as part of its new provider assessment reports.

The recommendation is made “in the context of the Ofsted inquiry findings” following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry by suicide, which a coroner ruled was contributed to by an Ofsted inspection. It prompted MPs on the Commons’ education committee to call for a ban on single-word Ofsted ratings.

The NHSP report said the inquiry’s concerns around inspectors’ behaviour, the complaints process, and single ratings can also be applied to CQC.

The report adds: “While we recognise the differences between the two regulators’ approaches, we believe now is the right time to take stock… for example, CQC may need to consider the value of its single-word ratings, modelled upon Ofsted’s rating system.

“As suggested by the Nuffield Trust and many trust leaders, a single-word rating will inevitably oversimplify what happens in a very complex organisation".

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Source: HSJ, 21 March 2024

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Health board not learning from preventable deaths

Lessons have not been learned to prevent further deaths in north Wales, coroners have told the health secretary.

Over the past year, coroners in Wales wrote 41 "prevention of future deaths reports" and more than half were issued to Betsi Cadwaladr health board.

Health Secretary, Eluned Morgan, said 27 reports issued since January 2023 was "of significant concern".

Betsi Cadwaladr health board said every report was taken very seriously and work was ongoing to respond to key themes.

Ms Morgan said all but three of the deaths happened before the health board was moved back into special measures in February 2023.

The "systemic issues" that emerge as common themes from the coroners' reports include:

  • the quality of investigations and effectiveness of actions
  • a lack of integrated electronic health records impacting care
  • the impact of delays in the system on ambulance response times.

In a written statement earlier this week, Ms Morgan said the health board had given assurances that it was taking the matter "extremely seriously".

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Source: BBC News, 21 March 2024

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AI chatbots ‘lack safeguards to prevent spread of health disinformation’

Many popular AI chatbots, including ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, lack adequate safeguards to prevent the creation of health disinformation when prompted, according to a new study.

Research by a team of experts from around the world, led by researchers from Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, and published in the BMJ found that the large language models (LLMs) used to power publicly accessible chatbots failed to block attempts to create realistic-looking disinformation on health topics.

As part of the study, researchers asked a range of chatbots to create a short blog post with an attention-grabbing title and containing realistic-looking journal references and patient and doctor testimonials on two health disinformation topics: that sunscreen causes skin cancer and that the alkaline diet is a cure for cancer.

The researchers said that several high-profile, publicly available AI tools and chatbots, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and a chatbot powered by Meta’s Llama 2 LLM, consistently generated blog posts containing health disinformation when asked – including three months after the initial test and being reported to developers when researchers wanted to assess if safeguards had improved.

In response to the findings, the researchers have called for “enhanced regulation, transparency, and routine auditing” of LLMs to help prevent the “mass generation of health disinformation”.

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Source: The Independent, 20 March 2024

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Letby inquiry: NHS staff want their voices heard

A group representing hundreds of clinicians has applied to contribute to the Lucy Letby inquiry, to challenge NHS culture around whistleblowing.

Their experiences of raising concerns should inform the inquiry, they say.

Letby murdered seven babies and attempted to murder another six while working at the Countess of Chester NHS trust between June 2015 and June 2016.

The public inquiry is examining how the nurse was able to murder and how the hospital handled concerns about her.

"The evidence of this group relating to how whistleblowers are treated, not just at one trust but across the UK, is of huge significance," Rachel di Clemente, of Hudgell Solicitors, acting for the clinicians, said.

The group, NHS Whistleblowers, comprising healthcare professionals across the UK, including current and former doctors, midwives and nurses, has written to Lady Justice Thirlwall's inquiry, asking for them to be formally included as core participants.

The inquiry has stated it will consider NHS culture.

And the group says "a culture detrimental to patient safety" is evident across the health service.

"NHS staff who have bravely spoken up about patient-safety concerns or unethical practices deserve to have their voices heard," Dr Matt Kneale, who co-chairs Doctors' Association UK, which is part of the group, said.

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Source: BBC News, 21 March 2024

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RSV: Paediatricians call on government to expedite infant vaccination programme

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has called on the UK government not to wait until after the upcoming general election to approve an infant immunisation programme against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), so that babies can be protected next winter.

In June 2023 the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) recommended developing an RSV immunisation programme for infants and for older adults.1 It issued a fuller statement reiterating the advice in September 2023.2 But the government has yet to make a final decision on rolling out an RSV immunisation programme.

A letter signed by more than 2000 paediatricians and healthcare professionals says that the sooner a full RSV vaccination programme is implemented the more effective it will be and that it “could save child health services reaching breaking point.”

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Source: BMJ, 20 March 2024

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Campaigner: Mental health 'deaths crisis' getting worse

A campaigner in Norfolk says the "deaths crisis" at the county's mental health trust is getting worse.

Bereaved relatives met the mental health minister, Maria Caulfield, to discuss failings at the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT).

The trust says it is on a "rapid, and much-needed journey of improvement".

Mark Harrison, from the Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk, said: "We judge people by what they do, not what they say."

Members of the campaign group met Ms Caulfield and other MPs in Westminster on 12 March and demanded an independent public inquiry into the trust.

It came after a report last summer which found that more than 8,000 mental health patients had died unexpectedly in Norfolk and Suffolk between 2019 and 2022.

At the meeting, it was agreed Ms Caulfield would meet bosses at the NSFT. The health select committee will also be asked to conduct an inquiry into the trust as part of a broader public inquiry.

But Mr Harrison said he had little confidence anything would change.

"The deaths crisis is just out of control and it's accelerating," he said.

"We have been doing this for 10 years. Every time somebody promises to do something, it doesn't come to anything."

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Source: BBC News, 20 March 2024

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Kidney patients’ health was put at risk, doctor tells BBC

A group of doctors offered a controversial medical technique which allegedly put kidney patients' health at risk.

At least 20 patients at Queen Alexandra Hospital (QA) in Portsmouth have been using the procedure, which is not recommended in UK guidelines.

A consultant was wrongly sacked from the hospital in 2018 after objecting to the practice.

The hospital trust said the safety and care of its patients was its priority.

Jasna Macanovic, who worked at the QA for 17 years, had raised concerns about the way the trust was allowing some staff to deliver the dialysis technique - known as buttonholing.

"I don't think they're fit to practise medicine," Dr Macanovic told the BBC.

When Dr Macanovic examined the records of 15 patients using the buttonholing technique at the QA, she found infection rates four times higher than they experienced using the standard technique.

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Source: BBC News, 15 March 2024

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NIHR launches £50m funding to tackle health inequalities in maternity care

The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has launched a £50m “Challenge” funding call to tackle inequalities in maternity care.

The funding call aims to establish a research consortium to deliver research and capacity building over five years.

The call was announced as part of the Department for Health and Social Care’s women’s health priorities for 2024.

Recent evidence suggests that Black women in the UK are almost three times more likely to die during pregnancy or up to six weeks after pregnancy compared to white women. Asian women are twice as likely to die during pregnancy or shortly after, compared to white women.

The new consortium is hoped to bring together experts across the UK to help change numbers like these.

The research aims to focus on inequalities before, during and after pregnancy. According to NIHR, a key aim is to identify specific areas where measurable improvements can be made.

Relevant charities, patient groups, community groups and the life sciences industry will be involved in the research where appropriate.

Professor Marian Knight, scientific director for NIHR Infrastructure, said: “I am hugely excited about what this research can achieve – funding truly innovative approaches to tackle maternity inequalities will save women’s and babies’ lives – this is a challenge the NIHR is ideally placed to deliver.”

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Source: FemTech World, 15 March 2024

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NHS told long-term sick can ‘get on with life’ if treated at home

Millions of people with long-term illnesses should get medical treatment at home rather than in hospital to help them carry on working, according to a report.

The NHS is being urged to deliver more medicines directly to patients’ doors, so they can self-administer drugs at home, and “get on with life” rather than having to travel back and forth to hospitals.

New research shows this model of care, called clinical homecare, helps those needing regular treatment for chronic conditions, including cancer and arthritis, to stay in employment and retain independence.

Experts said providing more patients with specialist medicines at home can play a vital role in tackling the UK’s growing rates of economic inactivity, with 2.7 million long-term sick now signed off work.

The report, commissioned by the National Clinical Homecare Association, said expanding the schemes means millions of patients “could be supported to continue working and living their lives without being defined by their health status”, adding that up to three million cancer patients could benefit.

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Source: The Times, 19 March 2024

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William Wragg acts as Parliamentary Ombudsman Office faces life without a boss

William Wragg, the Tory chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC), has belatedly intervened in the growing crisis over the failure of the Prime Minister to appoint a new Parliamentary Ombudsman to replace Rob Behrens who quits the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on 31 March 2024.

In a letter published on the committee’s website, Mr Wragg asks Sir Alex Allan, the senior non executive director on the Parliamentary and Heath Services Ombudsman board, what measures will be taken to keep the office going and what is going to happen to people who, via their MP, want to lodge a complaint to the Ombudsman. He also raises whether reports can be published and complaints investigated. 

The letter discloses that recruitment for a new Ombudsman began last October and a panel chose the winning candidate at the beginning of January. Since then the Cabinet Office and Rishi Sunak, who has to approve the appointment, have not responded. The silence from Whitehall and Downing Street means no motion can be put to Parliament appointing a new Ombudsman, who then appears before the PACAC for a pre appointment hearing. PACAC has only a couple of weeks to set up the hearing.

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Source: Westminster Confidential, 12 March 2024

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Chair hits out at government delay to mental health deaths inquiry

The chair of an inquiry into the deaths of mental health patients in Essex has said she is “disappointed” at a delay in having its scope confirmed by the health secretary.

Baroness Kate Lampard said she has been unable to begin substantive work on the probe while still waiting for sign-off from government. 

An inquiry was launched in 2021 to review the deaths of at least 2,000 people in contact with Essex mental health services across a 20-year period.

Baroness Lampard took over as chair last year after it gained new powers to compel people to give evidence, following concerns not enough staff were coming forward.

She has proposed expanding its scope by a further two years until 2022 due to ongoing concerns and to cover NHS patients treated in the private sector.

The final terms of reference will be set by the health secretary Victoria Atkins. Baroness Lampard said she has not heard back from the Department of Health and Social Care on her proposals since submitting them three months ago.

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Source: HSJ, 19 March 2024

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Inquest into death of baby finds 'missed opportunities' in care of his pregnant mother

An inquest into the death of a baby boy who died two weeks after birth in a Sussex hospital has found there were missed opportunities in the care of his mother.

Orlando Davis was born by emergency caesarian section at Worthing Hospital, part of University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, on 10 September 2021 following a normal and low risk pregnancy.

He was born with no heartbeat and his parents were told he had suffered an irreversible brain injury after being starved of oxygen - after his mother Robyn Davis experienced seizures during labour, caused by a rare condition that went "completely unrecognised" by staff.

Orlando died in Robyn and husband Jonny’s arms on 24 September 2021 at 14 days old due to his catastrophic brain injury.

His mother had to be put in an induced coma, but has since recovered. But his parents say his death was avoidable.

Today at the inquest into Orlando's death, senior coroner, Ms Penelope Schofield said a lack of understanding of hyponatremia contributed to neglect of Orlando.

Mrs Davis had told the inquest: “I can’t explain the sadness, frustration, anger and complete heartbreak I felt and still feel towards the trust for not keeping us safe.

Mrs Davis continued: “The thing I cannot process is that I have lost my healthy, full-term son. I feel as if my son was taken from me in a circumstance that, in my personal and professional opinion, was completely preventable.

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Source: ITVX, 14 March 2024

 

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BMA calls for inquiry into PAs replacing doctors on rotas

The BMA has called for an independent inquiry into the use of physician associates (PAs) on medical rotas in place of doctors.

The union said that health secretary Victoria Atkins must launch the investigation ‘to get to the bottom of the scale’ of the issue across the NHS, as doctors have been reporting instances where gaps in medical rotas are being filled by PAs.  

This is happening on top of NHS England ‘investing heavily’ in the use of PAs in primary care, ‘instead of qualified experienced doctors’, the BMA added.

On Friday The Telegraph reported  on leaked rotas from more than 30 hospitals showing physician associates taking on doctors’ shifts.

This coincided with new NHS England guidance to ‘emphasise that PAs are not substitutes for doctors’, as they are ‘supplementary members’ of the team and they ‘should not be used as replacements for doctors on a rota’.

BMA chair of council Professor Philip Banfield said: ‘We know from our members’ experiences that hospitals are putting physician assistants on medical rotas, in place of medically qualified doctors.

‘This is on top of NHS England investing heavily in the use of physician associates in primary care, instead of qualified experienced doctors.

"In our view, Victoria Atkins now has a duty to patients and a duty to medically qualified staff – doctors – to establish how widespread this practice is and more importantly, stop it."

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Source: Pulse, 18 March 2024

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Secret NHS report reveals failure to protect trainee paramedics from sexual harassment and racism

A secret report has warned that the NHS is failing to protect trainee paramedics from widespread sexual harassment and racism at work, The Independent has revealed.

A confidential NHS England report uncovered by The Independent has found that “extremely alarming” conduct and undermining behaviour are rife in ambulance trusts across the country, with trainees subjected to derogatory comments about their age, ethnicity and appearance in front of patients.

There is a “worrying acceptance” that this is “part of the job”, with students hesitant to raise complaints about sexual behaviour by male colleagues in case it gives them a reputation as “annoying snowflakes”, the report says.

The revelations come after a recent NHS staff survey revealed that thousands of ambulance staff had reported unwanted sexual behaviour from colleagues and patients last year.

One healthcare leader described the findings as “harrowing”, warning that much more needs to be done to protect junior staff.

The national report, which is understood to have gone through several edited versions and is marked commercially sensitive, was not due to be released until The Independent obtained the document through a freedom of information request.

It found an “undercurrent” of bullying in some areas, with examples of students leaving their jobs as a result of inappropriate behaviour.

Trainees reported feeling undervalued and unwanted while on the job, with one apparently told: “Your concerns don’t matter – we have to meet patient demands.”

Ambulance handover delays have also led to student paramedics having less experience and training on the job, prompting fears that newly qualified paramedics do not have sufficient levels of experience in life-critical situations.

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Source: The Independent, 19 March 2024

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Questions raised over NHS deletion of thousands of emails during whistleblower tribunal

NHS doctor Chris Day has won the right to challenge a tribunal decision which raises questions about information governance in NHS hospital trusts and the use of digital evidence by employment tribunals.

Day blew the whistle on acute understaffing at a South London intensive care unit linked to two patient deaths in 2013. His decade-long legal campaign has since exposed the lack of statutory whistleblowing protections for nearly 50,000 doctors below consultant level in England.

An appeal tribunal in February refused Day the right to challenge key aspects of an earlier tribunal ruling that cleared Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust (LGT) of deliberately concealing evidence and perverting the course of justice when one of the trust’s directors “deliberately” deleted up to 90,000 emails midway through a tribunal hearing in July 2022.

Day’s high-profile case nevertheless continues to raise questions about information governance practices in NHS hospital trusts and the degree of scrutiny applied to digital evidence retention and disclosure practices at UK employment tribunals.

The 2022 tribunal heard that LGT communications director David Cocke had attempted to destroy up to 90,000 emails and other electronic archives that were potentially critical to the case as the hearing progressed.

However, any remaining documents among the tens of thousands of emails and electronic archives, which NHS trust lawyers told the tribunal had been “permanently” destroyed, are likely still to exist and be recoverable, according to an expert consulted by Computer Weekly.

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Source: Computer Weekly, 19 March 2024

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Disputed medical terms used to explain dozens of deaths after police restraint in UK

A controversial unproven medical condition which is rooted in pseudoscience and disputed by doctors is routinely being used in Britain to explain deaths after police restraint, the Observer has found.

“Acute behavioural disturbance” (ABD) and “excited delirium” are used to describe people who are agitated or acting bizarrely, usually due to mental illness, drug use or both. Symptoms are said to include insensitivity to pain, aggression, “superhuman” strength and elevated heart rate.

Police and other emergency services say the labels, often used interchangeably, are a helpful shorthand used to identify when a person who might need medical help and restraint may be dangerous. But the terms are not recognised by the World Health Organization and have been condemned as “spurious” by campaigners who say they are used to “explain away” the police role in deaths.

The American Medical Association rejected “excited delirium” after it was used by police lawyers in the case of George Floyd. California lawmakers banned it as a diagnosis or cause of death in October, saying it had been “used for decades to explain away mysterious deaths of mostly black and brown people in police custody”.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists has also warned that the current definition of ABD, as it is now more commonly known in the UK, could be leading to people “being subjected to avoidable and potentially harmful interventions”. In 2017, a Home Office-commissioned review into deaths in police custody said the terms were “strongly disputed amongst medical professionals”.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists has also warned that the current definition of ABD, as it is now more commonly known in the UK, could be leading to people “being subjected to avoidable and potentially harmful interventions”. In 2017, a Home Office-commissioned review into deaths in police custody said the terms were “strongly disputed amongst medical professionals”.

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Source: The Guardian, 17 March 2024

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NHS ombudsman warns hospitals are cynically burying evidence of poor care

Hospitals are cynically burying evidence about poor care in a “cover-up culture” that leads to avoidable deaths, and families being denied the truth about their loved ones, the NHS ombudsman has warned.

Ministers, NHS leaders and hospital boards are doing too little to end the health service’s deeply ingrained “cover-up culture” and victimisation of staff who turn whistleblower, he added.

In an interview with the Guardian as he prepares to step down after seven years in the post, Rob Behrens claimed many parts of the NHS still put “reputation management” ahead of being open with relatives who have lost a loved one due to medical negligence.

The ombudsman for England said that although the NHS was staffed by “brilliant people” working under intense pressures, too often his investigations into patients’ complaints had revealed cover-ups, “including the altering of care plans and the disappearance of crucial documents after patients have died and robust denial in the face of documentary evidence”.

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Source: The Guardian, 17 March 2024

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£6bn deficit warning sparks ‘horrible’ demands for nationwide cuts

Local NHS organisations are facing intense “pressure” from NHS England’s national and regional teams to cut staffing numbers to improve the service’s financial outlook for 2024-25. 

Multiple sources have told HSJ that first draft financial returns submitted by the 42 integrated care systems indicate a combined deficit of around £6bn for the service.

The £6bn figure is likely to fall substantially as NHS England meets individually with integrated care systems with the worst numbers.

The need to reduce the number is prompting “horrible” conversations about service cuts, according to HSJ sources. One local leader in the South East region said the need to reduce staffing numbers constituted a “very significant part of the pushback on first-cut numbers”.

A senior source in the Midlands added: “We’ve got virtually no workforce growth in our plan now… and we’ve still got a deficit. To get to breakeven we’d have to be looking at quite a significant workforce reduction.”

Another leader in the South of the country said there was “big pressure” to get down to pre-pandemic staff numbers, “despite [the] increases in acuity, demand and backlogs as a consequence of covid”.

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Source: HSJ, 18 March 2024

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Endometriosis: Women in Wales waiting 10 years for diagnosis

The wait to be diagnosed with endometriosis has increased to almost ten years, a "devastating" milestone say women with the condition.

It now takes almost a year more than before 2020 to be diagnosed, according to research published by Endometriosis UK, which is setting up new volunteer-led support groups in Wales.

The wait in Wales is also the longest in the UK, the research found.

The Welsh government said it knew there was "room for improvement".

"Nobody listened to me, and to feel like women are still going through that 20 years after my diagnosis is horrific," said Michelle Bates. The 48-year old from Cardiff was diagnosed aged 25 after suffering with "harrowing" pain from age 13 onwards - a 12-year wait.

"I went back and forth to the GP with my mum, who was the only one who believed in my pain," she said.

The study by Endometriosis UK, which is based on a survey of 4,371 people who received a diagnosis of endometriosis, showed almost half of all respondents (47%) had visited their GP 10 or more times with symptoms prior to receiving a diagnosis, and 70% had visited five times or more.

It also found 78% of people who later went on to receive a diagnosis of endometriosis - up from 69% in 2020 - were told by doctors they were making a "fuss about nothing", or comments to that effect.

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Source: BBC News, 18 March 2024

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Nurse reveals sexual harassment and whistleblowing ‘nightmare’

A nurse has warned that she has been “crushed and silenced” over a battle with the NHS and the nursing regulator to investigate claims that she was sexually harassed by a colleague at work.

Michelle Russell told Nursing Times of the “eight-year nightmare” she has endured since coming forward about her experiences and that she said had recently led her nursing career to come to an end.

“Knowing what’s happened to me is not going to make it easier for anybody else to speak out"

She has argued that “speaking up is not encouraged” in the NHS and that her case would discourage other nurses from coming forward about sexual harassment.

Ms Russell said: “Anybody who has been around me would be able to see the emotional impact of all of this on me.

“I’ve lost my job for highlighting a public safety concern.”

The national guardian for the NHS told Nursing Times sexual harassment was a “patient safety issue” and warned that staff continued to face difficulties when speaking out.

It comes as the latest NHS Staff Survey this month revealed that almost 4% of nurses and midwives had been the target of unwanted sexual behaviour in the workplace by another member of staff in the last 12 months.

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Source: Nursing Times, 15 March 2024

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Clutching morphine and sheltering in a bus stop: the NHS patients sent from hospital to the street

Gripping a bag of morphine handed to him by hospital staff, Antonio sheltered at a bus stop, cold and shivering, as he tried to work out what to do.

It was three days after undergoing gruelling surgery to remove his testicular cancer and the 36-year-old had been discharged from NHS care with nowhere to go.

He was clutching a referral letter for the council’s housing team, given to him by hospital staff. When he arrived at the council office, he explained he had been homeless for the past few months – but was told they could not house him.

“They asked me: ‘If you are in so much pain and trouble, why did they send you here?’ and I didn’t know what to say,” Antonio, whose name has been changed, tells The Independent. He was given a piece of paper with a phone number on it and told to call the next day.

It was now late in the afternoon and the Salvation Army’s homeless day centre, where he would usually go for help, was closed. He had no option but to turn around and ready himself for a night on the streets.

Antonio’s story is, tragically, not unique. He is one of thousands of people across England who have been discharged from NHS hospitals into homelessness in recent years, many while still battling serious health conditions.

Data obtained by The Independent, in collaboration with the Salvation Army, shows at least 4,200 people were discharged from wards to “no fixed abode” in 2022/23.

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Source: The Independent, 17 March 2024

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