Jump to content
  • articles
    6,946
  • comments
    73
  • views
    5,188,450

Contributors to this article

About this News

Articles in the news

Big rise in long-term sick hitting UK workforce

The UK risks a shrinking workforce caused by long-term sickness, a new report warns.

Pensions and health consultants Lane, Clark and Peacock (LCP) says there has been a sharp increase in "economic inactivity" - working-age adults who are not in work or looking for jobs.

The figure has risen by 516,000 since Covid hit, and early retirement does not appear to explain it.

The total of long-term sick, meanwhile, has gone up by 353,000, says LCP. It means there are now nearly 2.5 million adults of working age who are long-term sick, official data from the Labour Force survey reveals.

The LCP says pressure on the NHS can account for some of the increase in long-term sickness. Delays getting non-urgent operations and mental health treatment are possible explanations. Others who would otherwise have had a chronic condition better managed may be in poorer health.

One of the report authors, Dr Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard, said: "The pandemic made clear the links between health and economic prosperity, yet policy does not yet invest in health, to keeping living in better health for longer. NHS pressures have led to disruption of patient care which is likely to be impacting on people's ability to work now and in the future."

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 20 February 2023

Read more

Junior doctors in England to strike for 72 hours in March

Hundreds of thousands of operations and medical appointments will be cancelled in England next month and progress in tackling the huge care backlog will be derailed as the NHS prepares to face the most widespread industrial action in its history.

Junior doctors are poised to join nurses and ambulance workers in mass continuous walkouts in March after members of the British Medical Association (BMA) voted overwhelmingly to take industrial action.

In only the second such action in the 74-year-history of the NHS, junior doctors will walk out for 72 hours – continuously across three days, on dates yet to be confirmed – after 98% of those who voted favoured strike action.

Amid an increasingly bitter row between health unions and the government, NHS leaders expressed alarm at the enormous disruption now expected next month.

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 20 February 2023

Read more

Kettering Hospital ward accused of traumatising children may close

Children's services could be forced to close at a hospital that is accused of leaving young patients traumatised and sick through poor care.

The care regulator said it had taken action to "ensure people are safe" on Skylark ward at Kettering General Hospital (KGH) in Northamptonshire.

Thirteen parents with serious concerns after their children died or became seriously ill have spoken to the BBC.

A BBC Look East investigation has heard allegations spanning more than 20 years about the treatment of patients on Skylark ward, a 26-bed children's unit.

The BBC discovered:

  • An independent report found staff left a 12-year-old boy - who died at KGH in December 2019 - for four hours suffering seizures, and suggests little effort was made to obtain critical care support.
  • In April 2019, nurses allegedly dragged a "traumatised" four-year-old girl down a corridor in agony, insisting that she could walk. Medics are accused of refusing to carry out an MRI scan, which would have detected a dangerous cyst on her spine.
  • Mothers claim to have been threatened with safeguarding referrals, with one stating a referral was made against her after she complained her son was struggling to breathe, while another likened it to blackmail.

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 20 February 2023

Read more

Striking staff drop cover for strokes and suspected heart attacks

Striking ambulance workers in two regions have said for the first time that they will only answer immediately life-threatening calls — abandoning previous agreements to cover some Category 2 incidents.

Agreed exemptions (derogations) from ambulance strike action so far this winter have varied regionally and across different unions; but all have so far included some Category 2 cover.

However, GMB told HSJ its members in the North East and North West today would cover only Category 1 calls – defined as “immediately life threatening” – during their action today.

Category 2 includes more than any other category, and covers a wide range of incidents including suspected heart attacks and strokes.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 20 February 2023

Read more
 

Black people have highest rate of STIs in Britain. Is enough being done to change that?

Black people have the highest rate of sexually transmitted infections in Britain and officials are not doing enough to address the issue, sexual health experts have warned.

Black Britons have “disproportionally high rates” of various STI diagnoses compared to white Britons, with those of Black Caribbean heritage specifically having the highest rates for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, herpes and trichomoniasis.

Experts have told The Independent that healthcare providers are failing to address these disparities in STIs. They have called for more research to fully understand the complicated reasons why STIs are higher among people of Black ethnicity.

Research conducted through the Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) found that there were no clinical or behavioural factors explaining the disproportionately high rates of STI diagnoses among Black people.

But higher rates of poverty and poor health literacy among marginalised communities are all linked with higher STI rates, according to a 2016 study, which found that behavioural and contextual factors are likely to be contributing.

Moreover, experiences of racism among Black people can fuel a reluctance to engage with sexual health services and test frequently, according to HIV activist Susan Cole-Haley.

She told The Independent: “I very much believe that it is linked to socioeconomic disadvantage and racism, often in healthcare settings, which can be a significant barrier for people accessing testing, for instance, and feeling comfortable engaging with care.”

Read full story

Source: The Independent, 19 February 2023

Read more

Health workers ‘shattered’, says Jeremy Farrar as more NHS strikes loom

Healthcare workers are “absolutely shattered” and unless something is done to address the crisis in morale, staffing and training then “they won’t be there when you need them”, one of the world’s leading scientists has warned.

Speaking to the Guardian, Prof Jeremy Farrar, the director of Wellcome and soon to be chief scientist of the World Health Organization, warned that healthcare workers would not be ready should another crisis hit.

“This is a global issue, which I think is hugely concerning. It’s certainly true in this country,” he said. “The resilience of healthcare workers, broadly defined from ambulance drivers to nurses to doctors, to care workers in social care, etc. They’re shattered. They are absolutely shattered."

Farrar said: “I think we have to address the morale, staffing, the training, everything from public health physicians to care workers, to doctors and nurses and physios and everybody in between because there’s very little spare capacity in any system globally. It’s particularly true in the UK. As you can see from the strikes, morale and resilience is very thin.”

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 20 February 2023

Read more

Urgent action ordered at maternity scandal trust

The trust at the centre of a maternity scandal has been ordered to report on urgent improvements in services for women and babies, amid ‘significant concerns’ about the risk of harm.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) used its enforcement powers to issue the conditions on East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust, after it carried out an unannounced inspection last month.

However, the “section 31” warning letter has just been made public, and the first deadline for the trust to report back to the CQC is Monday (20 February).

The CQC said some of the problems it found were due to the labour ward environment – but others involved monitoring of women and babies whose conditions deteriorate and the risk of cross-infection due to poor cleanliness standards.

“We have significant concerns about the ongoing wider risk of harm to patients and a need for greater recognition by the trust of the steps that can be taken in the interim to ensure safety and an improved quality of care,” Carolyn Jenkinson, CQC’s deputy director of secondary and specialist healthcare, said in a statement today.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 17 February 2023

Read more

British Medical Association calls government reckless over pay talks

The British Medical Association has accused the government of "reckless" behaviour ahead of the results of a strike ballot by junior doctors.

The BMA's Professor Philip Banfield said the prime minister and health secretary were refusing to enter meaningful negotiations with unions.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it had met with the BMA and other unions to discuss pay.

Professor Banfield, the BMA's chair of council, said that Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Steve Barclay were "standing on the precipice of an historic mistake".

He accused the government of "guaranteeing escalation", adding that officials were "reckless" for thinking they could stay silent and wait it out.

Professor Banfield also accused the government of "letting patients down", adding: "All NHS staff are standing up for our patients in a system that seems to have forgotten that valuing staff and their well-being is directly linked to patient safety and better outcomes of care."

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 19 February 2023

Read more
 

High court judge ‘deeply frustrated’ by NHS delays in suicidal girl’s care

A high court judge has expressed her “deep frustration” at NHS delays and bureaucracy that mean a suicidal 12-year-old girl has been held on her own, in a locked, windowless room with no access to the outdoors for three weeks.

In a hearing on Thursday, Mrs Justice Lieven told North Staffordshire combined healthcare NHS trust “you are testing my patience”, after she heard that a proposal to move Becky (not her real name), could not progress until a planning meeting that would not be held until next week, and that a move was not anticipated until 2 March.

Three sets of doctors at the hospital trust have disagreed as to Becky’s diagnosis; at her most recent assessment doctors said she was not eligible to be sectioned, which would trigger the protections provided by the Mental Health Act, because her mental disorder was not of the “nature and degree” as to warrant her detention.

In a robust exchange, the judge demanded: “Where’s the urgency in this … I cannot believe that the life and health of a 12-year-old girl is hanging on an issue of NHS procurement, when you cannot tell me what it is you’re trying to procure.

“If the delay is procurement, I’m not having it,” Lieven continued. “I will use the inherent jurisdiction to make an order. We have a 12-year-old child in a completely inappropriate NHS unit for about three weeks, and it’s suddenly dawned on your client that ‘actually we’ll put her in a Tier 4 unit and we might have to do some [building] work.’”

Sometimes, the judge said, “public bodies have to move faster”.

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 17 February 2023

Read more

Higher bills are leading Americans to delay medical care

While some people avoided seeking medical care during the worst of the pandemic, worried about the risk of infection or unable to get an appointment because hospitals and doctors were overwhelmed, now many in the USA are finding that inflation and the uncertain economy have thrown up another barrier.

“We are starting to see some individuals who are putting off some care, especially preventive care, due to the costs,” said Dr. Tochi Iroku-Malize, the president of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the chair of family medicine for Northwell Health in New York. Choosing between going to the doctor or paying for rent and food, “the health issue is no longer the priority,” she said.

With the prices of prescription drugs, hospital stays and other treatments expected to increase significantly this year and next, some doctors expect families to have an even harder time affording medical care. 

When Margaret Bell, 71, found that her cancer had returned four years ago, she hesitated to resume her chemotherapy because she could not afford it, and higher prices have made it even harder. She would regularly skip appointments.

About one-fourth of respondents in a recent Gallup poll said they put off care last year for what they considered a “serious” condition.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: New York Times, 16 February 2023

Read more

Covid-19: Evusheld is unlikely to prevent infection with current or future variants, NICE concludes

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has decided not to recommend Evusheld for adults who are unlikely to have an adequate immune response or cannot have the vaccine against Covid-19, citing a lack of evidence that it is effective against circulating variants.

However, it is still reviewing whether the antibody drug could be used to prevent covid-19 infection in adults at the highest risk of severe illness, including people with immunodeficiency, people who have had a solid organ transplant, and people with cancer.

NICE’s director of medicines evaluation, Helen Knight, acknowledged that the decision would be “disappointing for the many thousands” of vulnerable people who “continue to significantly modify their behaviour to avoid infection.

Commenting on NICE’s decision, Lennard Lee, senior clinical research fellow at the University of Birmingham, said, “While it’s right for NICE to ensure that treatment options are based on the best possible evidence for their safety, efficacy, and cost effectiveness, it must be recognised that those who remain extremely vulnerable to covid need to be prioritised in trials akin to those early days of the pandemic to find treatments fit for them.

“Otherwise, we run the risk of consigning half a million people to continue to live in 2020, stuck in their homes, not able to see their families and friends for fear of infection with no protection.”

Read full story

Source: The BMJ, 16 February 2023

Read more
 

WHO reveals one-third of prisoners in Europe suffer mental health disorders

One in three prisoners in Europe suffer from mental health disorders, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said in a new report.

While European prisons managed adequate COVID-19 pandemic responses for inmates, concerns remain about poor mental health services, overcrowding and suicide rates, the report stated.

“Prisons are embedded in communities and investments made in the health of people in prison becomes a community dividend,” said Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, regional director of the WHO regional office for Europe. “Incarceration should never become a sentence to poorer health. All citizens are entitled to good-quality health care regardless of their legal status.”

The second status report on prison health in the WHO European region provides an overview of the performance of prisons in the region based on survey data from 36 countries, where more than 600,000 people are incarcerated. Findings showed that the most prevalent condition among people in prison was mental health disorders, affecting 32.8% of the prison population.

The report drew attention to several areas of concern, including overcrowding and a lack of services for mental health, which represents the greatest health need among people in prison across the region.

The most common cause of death in prisons was suicide, with a much higher rate than in the wider community, the report found.

Read full story

Source: United Nations, 14 February 2023

Read more

Is Heatherwood Hospital a model for the future of the NHS?

Pradeep Gill can see very little of the intense activity around him. He is leaning back in a reclining chair inside one of Heatherwood Hospital's operating theatres.

Buzzing around him is the operating team, led by consultant orthopaedic surgeon Jeremy Granville-Chapman.

For the surgeon and his team, this procedure is the very definition of routine. They have carried out more than 1,000 joint operations in the past 10 months.

Heatherwood Hospital, part of the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, is a specialist elective hub where patients can come in for routine but life-changing surgery at a super-charged pace with theatres working at full tilt, six days a week.

It is busy. But it is a good-busy, not the bad-busy we have come to associate with the NHS during this winter crisis.

The site opened in March last year and Frimley's hospital executives are keen to stress the impact it has made.

"As a specialist planned care facility, Heatherwood has been able to perform surgery six days a week with four out of its six state-of-the-art theatres dedicated to orthopaedic procedures," it said in a press release.

"The hospital has also successfully reduced the length of time patients stay in hospital, with 40% of patients safely discharged within 24 hours."

This is the practice the NHS wants to adopt as it battles a record seven-million-strong waiting list.

Heatherwood can do that because the hospital is ring-fenced from acute pressures that affect other hospitals, as one its most senior orthopaedic surgeons, Mr Rakesh Kucheira, explained.

"We have now realised that winter pressures are 12 months not just three months, which means the acute sites are not going to be able to do planned activity that they planned for, so we've got to create more space," he said.

Read full story

Source: Sky News, 9 March 2023

Read more
 

Pharma boss apologises for not disclosing sponsorship of anti-obesity training

The chief executive of pharma group Novo Nordisk has apologised for breaking the UK industry code by failing to disclose its sponsorship of obesity and weight management training courses for healthcare professionals that also promoted its weight loss drug.

The webinars, which were viewed by thousands of healthcare professionals, preferentially included positive information about Novo’s weight loss drug Saxenda, which the self-regulatory watchdog deemed a “disguised” large-scale promotional campaign. 

The industry self-regulatory body published a strongly worded reprimand last year, saying it was “concerned about the company’s compliance culture . . . internal governance systems and processes, and a perceived naivety and lack of accountability from Novo Nordisk”.

It also said it was concerned about “the potential impact on patient safety” because the webinars, which were run by a third-party provider but sponsored by Novo, showed a “lack of balance” in how they compared the side effects of Saxenda and its competitors.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: The Financial Times, 12 February 2023

Read more

England’s worsening care shortages leave older people struggling

Hundreds of thousands of older people in England are having to endure chronic pain, anxiety and unmet support needs owing to the worsening shortage of social care staff and care home beds.

Age UK has said older people with chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart failure are increasingly struggling with living in their own homes because of a lack of help with everyday tasks such as getting out of bed, dressing and eating.

The decline in the amount of support and care provided to older people is piling pressure on families and carers and leaving the NHS in constant crisis mode, contributing heavily to ambulance queues outside A&E departments, the charity said in a new report

It warned that there would be a repeat of the NHS crisis this winter – in which rising numbers of elderly people have been unnecessarily stuck in hospital because of an acute lack of social care – without a shift to preventing unnecessary admissions.

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 17 February 2023

Read more

Watchdogs issue safety warnings after junior doctors left unsupervised on maternity wards

Two health watchdogs have issued safety warnings after junior staff were left to work unsupervised on maternity wards previously criticised after a baby’s death.

Training regulator, Health Education England (HEE), criticised the “unacceptable” behaviour of consultants who left junior doctors to work without any superiors at South Devon and Torbay Hospital Foundation Trust’s wards.

The maternity safety watchdog Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) also raised “urgent concerns” over student midwives and “unregistered midwives” providing care without supervision.

The latest criticism comes after the trust was condemned over the death of Arabella Sparkes, who lived just 17 days in May 2020 after she was starved of oxygen.

According to a report from December 2022, seen by The Independent, the HEE was forced to review how trainees were working at the trust’s maternity department after concerns were raised to the regulator. It was the second visit carried out following concerns about the department, and reviewers found there had been “slow progress” against concerns raised a year earlier.

Read full story

Source: The Independent, 16 February 2023

Read more

Nurses to walk out of emergency departments for 48 hours

Nurses will walk out of emergency departments, intensive care units and cancer care services for the first time in the next wave of strike action.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has announced its members will strike for 48 hours, from 6am on 1 March until 6am on 3 March and that a range of derogations will be removed, including emergency care cover. 

More than 120 NHS organisations — covering all types of providers, integrated care systems and national organisations (see map below) — will be affected by the RCN’s walkout next month as it represents the most significant escalation of strike action yet by nurses.

Previously, quite extensive exemptions (known as “derogations”) have been agreed, but the RCN has this time indicated they will be much more limited. 

HSJ asked the RCN what services will remain subject to national derogations, but a spokesman said discussions are continuing at a national level as part of a commitment to “life and limb care”.

He added services will be reduced to an “absolute minimum” and hospitals will be asked to rely on members of other unions and clinical professions instead.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 16 February 2023

Read more

Somerset care training to help support loved ones at home for longer

A training programme is providing people with the skills to care for loved ones suffering from serious conditions at home in their final days.

Sarah Bow's partner Gary White, from Somerset, was 55 when he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2021.

A team from NHS Somerset provided personalised training to Ms Bow which allowed the couple to spend the final 13 months of his life together at home.

The Somerset NHS Foundation Trust social care training team made visits to the couple's home as Mr White's condition progressed, to provide advice and guidance to Ms Bow.

The service was set up in November 2021 to provide free NHS standardised training and competency assessments in clinical skills to people involved in social care.

Ms Bow said the scheme had helped them spend more time together doing the things Mr White enjoyed.

"Being able to care for him meant we could have so many precious moments before he died," she said.

The training in a variety of skills including like catheters and injections, aims to reduce hospital admissions and improve patient discharge times.

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 17 February 2023

Read more
 

Sewage leak figures prompt warning over state of England’s hospitals

Hospitals in England have recorded more than 450 sewage leaks in the last 12 months, data shows, putting patients and staff in danger and prompting warnings that the NHS estate is “falling apart” after a decade of underinvestment.

Freedom of information requests to NHS trusts by the Liberal Democrats found alarming examples of sewage leaking on to cancer wards, maternity units and A&E departments. The investigation also uncovered multiple cases of urine and faeces flowing into hospital rooms and on to general wards.

Health officials called the revelations shocking. In some instances, sewage leaks made entire hospital departments unsafe for patients and led to staff struggling to work because they felt nauseous and had headaches.

Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, said: “This is a national scandal. Our country’s hospitals are falling apart after years of underinvestment and neglect. Patients should not be treated in these conditions and heroic nurses should not have the indignity of mopping up foul sewage.”

“At every turn, our treasured NHS is crumbling, from hospital buildings to dangerous ambulance wait times. The government needs to find urgent funds to fix hospitals overflowing with sewage. Patient and staff safety is a risk if ministers fail to act,” he said.

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 17 February 2023

Read more

USA: The number one problem keeping hospital CEOs up at night

Workforce problems in US hospitals are troublesome enough for the American College of Healthcare Executives to devote a new category to them in its annual survey on hospital CEOs' concerns. In the latest survey, executives identified "workforce challenges" as the number one concern for the second year in a row.

Although workforce challenges were not seen as the most pressing concern for 16 years, they rocketed to the top quickly and rather universally for US healthcare organisations in the past two years. Most CEOs (90%) ranked shortages of registered nurses as the most pressing within the category of workforce challenges, followed by shortages of technicians (83%) and burnout among non-physician staff (80%). 

Read full story

Source: Becker Hospital Review, 13 February 2023

Read more

Ambulance waits putting disabled children's lives at risk, doctors warn

Thousands of severely disabled children's lives are at risk because of long waits for ambulances, doctors and other experts have warned.

Emergency care is a vital part of their everyday lives, the British Academy of Childhood Disability says. 

Almost 100,000 children have life-limiting conditions or need regular ventilator support in the UK. They often rely on ambulances as part of their healthcare plan, because their condition can become life-threatening in an instant.

Dr Toni Wolff, who chairs the British Academy of Childhood Disability, told BBC News some families with severely disabled children had "what are essentially high-dependency units" of medical equipment at home.

"As part of their healthcare plan, we would normally say, 'If the child starts to deteriorate, call for an ambulance and it will be there within 10 or 20 minutes,'" she said.

"Now, we can't give that reassurance."

Despite their child being classed as a priority, parents have told BBC News they face the difficult decision to wait for an ambulance or take them, often in a life-threatening condition, to hospital themselves - a risk because of the huge amounts of equipment needed to keep them alive,

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 16 February 2023

Read more

Most health claims on formula milk ‘not backed by evidence’

Most health claims on formula milk products have little or no supporting evidence, researchers have said, prompting calls for stricter marketing rules to be introduced worldwide.

Millions of parents use formula milk in what has become a multibillion-dollar global industry. But a study published in the BMJ has found most health and nutritional claims about the products appear to be backed by little or no high-quality scientific evidence.

“The wide range of health and nutrition claims made by infant formula products are often not backed by scientific references,” said Dr Ka Yan Cheung and Loukia Petrou, the joint first co-authors of the study. “When they are, the evidence is often weak and biased.”

Dr Daniel Munblit and Dr Robert Boyle, senior co-authors for the study, added: “There is a clear need for greater regulation and oversight to ensure that these claims are supported by sound scientific evidence and to protect the health and wellbeing of our youngest and most vulnerable populations.”

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 15 February 2023

Read more

Government’s mental health review will not prevent ‘appalling’ abuse of patients, campaigners warn

A government review into mental health hospitals will fail to prevent the “appalling” treatment of patients, campaigners have warned.

The urgent inquiry into inpatient mental health services will focus solely on data, the government said on Tuesday.

The “rapid review”, launched following investigations by The Independent into “systemic abuse” across a group of children’s mental health hospitals, will last 12 weeks and is being led by a former national NHS mental health director Dr Geraldine Strathdee.

In an outline of what it will cover, the Department for Health and Social Care said it would look at what data is collected by the NHS on inpatient mental health services and whether it is used effectively to identify patient safety problems.

It will also look at the quality of data and identify good examples of care but it won’t look at individual cases of abuse or community services.

Major mental health charity Mind has warned the review “is not enough” and will not provide any learnings on how to prevent poor care. The charity is instead calling for a national statutory public inquiry into inpatient mental health services.

Read full story

Source: The Independent, 15 February 2023

Read more

'I'm well enough to leave hospital - but I can't'

"It would be much better if I was out there than in here," said Roger.

The 69-year-old looked wistfully across Newport from the window next to his bed at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Wales.

He has been here for three weeks after being admitted with an infection and although he is now well enough to leave, and desperate to do so, he can't.

Roger has cerebral palsy and the impact of his recent illness means he needs extra care to be arranged before he can safely go home.

Roger is not alone.

"At least a quarter of patients in our care of the elderly beds are in a similar position," explained Helen Price, a senior nurse at the hospital.

"It is very much a waiting game for that care to be available," she said.

Hospitals in Wales are fuller than ever, according to the latest statistics. In the final week of January more than 95% of all acute beds in the Welsh NHS were occupied, which is the highest figure ever recorded.

Paul Underwood, who manages urgent care in Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, said there are well over 350 patients medically fit enough to leave hospital.

"Roughly a third of patients do not need to be accommodated on those sites and that's extremely difficult," he said.

Read full story

Source: BBC News, 16 February 2023

Read more

‘Overheating’ incidents nearly double across NHS estates

The number of overheating incidents in clinical areas reported by NHS trusts has almost doubled over the last five years, with directors saying ageing estates make them vulnerable to extreme weather events.

Providers reported that temperatures went above 26°C – the threshold for a risk assessment – more than 5,500 times in 2021-22, according to official data.

Overheating looks set to become an increasingly significant issue for NHS estates, HSJ was told, as climate change makes extreme weather events more frequent and more intense.

Janet Smith, head of sustainability at Royal Wolverhampton and Walsall Healthcare Trusts, said: “We’re feeling it now. And it’s not going to change unless we do something about it. We need a climate resilient estate to actually deliver sustainable care.”

An overheating incident is when the temperature surpasses 26°C in an occupied ward or clinical space in a day, with each area counting as a separate incident. When this happens, trusts should carry out a risk assessment and take action to ensure the safety of vulnerable patients.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 16 February 2023

Read more
×
×
  • Create New...