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  1. Today
  2. Content Article Comment
    Brilliant article and really tells it how it is. In attending a variety of hospital over the years , I have made "subject access requests" to see my medical records , and found so many mistakes, in my medical records that it would take many months to correct. Each time I see a new doctor in a new hospital I verbally point out the errors on my records.. They all seem surprised that I took the trouble to find out. Sadly in my view, too many people place doctors on a pedestal and believe everything they are told. I owe my life to the NHS having had Sepsis twice and been treated for it. Bot no doctor or NHs system is perfect.
  3. Content Article Comment
    Over the last 4 years I have attended 4 different NHS trust in South East London as an out patient. Two of them are still using Royal Mail to communicate with me about appointments. One is using "dotpost and the other is using email & text. My GP and local hospital are both in Surrey, and I can access medical records at both on line . The 4 Trust in south East London have different computer systems to those in Surrey and I f I want access to medical records with any of them I have to make a subject access request under GDPR. I can see no real connection between any NHS trusts for clinical data or information until such time as they all buy l computer systems and programmes which are common to all of them nationwide
  4. Content Article Comment
    As a patient over the last 10 years I have attended as an in patient two NHS Hospital in Surrey and South London. Plus 5 others as an outpatient. They all have different computer systems and all use different systems for communication with patients. Two of them are still using Royal Mail for appointments., two use "dotpost" for appointment and the others use both email and text. Only two of them have access to clinical records, the other have to be sent a subject access request . Patient communication is totally disjointed and ineffective
  5. News Article
    A scandal-hit hospital trust has come under fire yet again after advertising for a maternity doctor with "a desire to promote normal birth". Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it was seeking an obstetrics and gynaecology consultant in its high risk baby unit who would support "active" labour. Yet safe birth campaigners have reacted with fury online, claiming 'normal' has become a codeword for 'natural' birth — a fixation which has led to many midwives frowning on medical intervention and caesareans, even when needed. This 'obsession', they add, has been linked to failures at a number of maternity units in recent years where hundreds of babies died, major inquiries have found. The trust was embroiled in a similar controversy last year after Winchester's Royal Hampshire County Hospital faced a claim of unfair dismissal by a former consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist. Martyn Pitman, who had worked at the hospital for 20 years, was sacked last March after raising concerns about midwifery care and patient safety at the hospital. In a post on X, Catherine Roy linked to the advert, adding: "Where Martyn Pitman used to work. The takeover by normal birth is now complete I think. What a scandal." In response, consultant paediatrician Dr Ravi Jayaram, whose evidence helped catch convicted serial baby-killer Lucy Letby at Countess of Chester Hospital, said: "Anyone who applies for this should be immediately excluded from consideration for the post." He added: "[It] should read 'desire to support and promote safe birth' — if it needed to be said at all." Read full story Source: The MailOnline, 13 June 2024
  6. Yesterday
  7. Content Article
    Drug shortages are a chronic and worsening issue that compromises patient safety. Despite the destabilising impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on pharmaceutical production, it remains unclear whether issues affecting the drug supply chain were more likely to result in meaningful shortages during the pandemic. This study estimated the proportion of supply chain issue reports associated with drug shortages in the USA overall and with the Covid-19 pandemic. It found that supply chain issues associated with drug shortages increased at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Ongoing policy work is needed to protect US drug supplies from future shocks and to prioritize clinically valuable drugs at greatest shortage risk.
  8. Content Article
    In most developed countries, substantial disparities exist in access to mental health services for black and minority ethnic (BME) populations. This study sought to determine perceived barriers to accessing mental health services among people from these backgrounds to inform the development of effective and culturally acceptable services to improve equity in healthcare. It found that people from BME backgrounds require considerable mental health literacy and practical support to raise awareness of mental health conditions and combat stigma. There is a need for improving information about services and access pathways. Healthcare providers need relevant training and support in developing effective communication strategies to deliver individually tailored and culturally sensitive care. Improved engagement with people from BME backgrounds in the development and delivery of culturally appropriate mental health services could facilitate better understanding of mental health conditions and improve access.
  9. Content Article
    These top tips and key actions have been co-developed to support effective collaborative partnership working in the planning and delivery of community mental health services. They recognise that every heath and care system will experience challenges in relation to partnership working given the statutory and cultural differences of organisations working across the mental health pathways and that there will be different arrangements to frame local partnership working, including for example a Section 75 agreement.
  10. Content Article
    Falls are reported by more than 14 million US adults aged 65 years or older annually and can result in substantial morbidity, mortality, and health care expenditures. This study reviewed interventions to reduce falls.
  11. Content Article
    Infections due to multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) are associated with increased morbidity, mortality, length of hospitalisation, and health care costs. Regional interventions may be advantageous in mitigating MDROs and associated infections. This study evaluated whether implementation of a decolonisation collaborative is associated with reduced regional MDRO prevalence, incident clinical cultures, infection-related hospitalisations, costs, and deaths. It found a regional collaborative involving universal decolonisation in long-term care facilities and targeted decolonisation among hospital patients in contact precautions was associated with lower MDRO carriage, infections, hospitalisations, costs, and deaths.
  12. News Article
    C2.AI has formally launched its Maternity and Neonatal Observatory at the NHS ConfedExpo in Manchester (Government and Public Sector Journal). The observatory is intended to give hospitals and clinicians a detailed picture of the performance of maternity units and the health trajectories of individual women, so areas of concern can be identified and acted on. The system works by calculating and comparing observed outcomes for women and babies with expected outcomes for these individuals. To do this, it uses AI and machine learning to assess clinical factors, case-mix, and the social determinants of health. Early adopters within the NHS, where maternity services are under intense scrutiny, are expected soon.
  13. Content Article
    The Global Strategy for Infection Prevention and Control (GSIPC) vision is that by 2030 everyone accessing and providing healthcare is safe from associated infections. The GPIPC outlines eight strategic directions, providing the guiding framework for country action plans. A Guide to Implementation is being developed to support countries in the development of their national action plans towards the 'vision of 2030'.
  14. News Article
    The NHS supply chain contains “absolutely massive” cybersecurity risks which have not “really been talked about”, an integrated care board and trust chair has warned. Lena Samuels, who is chair of two London trusts and of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board, said: “We’ve been talking internally about our own organisations but we haven’t really talked about the supply chain and the risks within that – and that is absolutely massive.” Ms Samuels, speaking at the NHS Confed Expo conference yesterday, said many NHS organisations still needed to question: “How do our risk registers capture what our supply chain resilience looks like in terms of cyber protection?” She said NHS organisations also needed to be considering “who on my board is going to ask that question” and “whether they’re going to even think of asking that question”, adding: “There’s so much that we’ve got to think about.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 14 June 2024
  15. Content Article
    Managing medicines for someone can be a challenge, particularly if they're taking several different types. Although the person you care for may appreciate your support with their medicines, bear in mind that they have a right to confidentiality. It's up to them to decide how much of their health and medicines information is available to you as their carer, and how much you should be involved in their care. This NHS page gives tips on how to give pills correctly, dosette boxes and medicine reminders, asking for a structured medication review and medicine safety.
  16. Content Article
    Total parenteral nutrition (TPN, also known as PN) is a method of providing nutrition directly into the bloodstream to those unable to absorb nutrients from the food they eat. TPN is used in all age groups, but in babies its use is often as part of a temporary planned programme of nutrition to supplement milk feeds in those too immature to suckle or too sick to receive milk feeds as a result of intestinal conditions. TPN consists of both aqueous and lipid components, which are infused separately into the baby via specific administration sets and infusion pumps. The rate at which TPN is administered to a baby is crucial: if infused too fast there is a risk of fluid overload, potentially leading to coagulopathy, liver damage and impaired pulmonary function as a result of fat overload syndrome. In a recent three and a half year period 10 incidents were identified where infusion of the aqueous and/or lipid component of TPN at the incorrect rate resulted in severe harm to babies through pulmonary collapse, intraventricular haemorrhage or organ damage, and where intensive intervention and treatment were needed. Most of these incidents involved too rapid a rate of infusion.
  17. News Article
    The owner of a group of privately-run children’s mental health hospitals is facing legal action by dozens of former patients, who claim they suffered inhuman and degrading treatement at the facilities. Hospitals formerly run by The Huntercombe Group face at least 54 individual clinical negligence claims, The Independent can reveal. Patients treated within several of the hospitals, now owned by Active Care Group, came forward to solicitors Hutchoen Law following several exposés by this publication, revealing allegations of “systemic abuse.” Documents submitted to Manchester Civil Court on Thursday before Judge Nigel Bird, who will decide if permission is be granted for claims to be brought, revealed allegations including: Assault and battery, relating to the inappropriate and unnecessary forced feedings and physical restraint. False imprisonment. Breaches of the Human Rights Act including prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment. Read full story Source: The Independent, 13 June 2024
  18. News Article
    The mother of a 13-year-old girl who died of sepsis has said she hopes Martha’s rule, which gives patients and their families the right to a second medical opinion, will “upend” the “hierarchy” on hospital wards. Merope Mills, who campaigned with her husband, Paul Laity, to give families more say regarding care following the death of their daughter Martha, also called for a “mutual respect” between patients and doctors. More than 140 NHS sites in England have agreed to implement Martha’s rule, a patient safety initiative that will give patients and their families round-the-clock access to a rapid review by an independent critical care team from elsewhere in the hospital if they feel their health, or that of a family member, is deteriorating and they are not being listened to. Speaking at NHS ConfedExpo on Wednesday, Mills, an executive editor at the Guardian, said: “My big thing is, I think we need to be more equal. “It’s a very unequal place, a hospital ward, and there’s hierarchy and it’s very steep and it’s very strict. And, you know, when I first started talking about that, I sort of thought the nurses were at the bottom of the hierarchy. “And I refer to that because they didn’t feel that ability to speak up in Martha’s case. But I’ve actually come to realise that the people at the bottom of the hierarchy are the patients. “They are the ones with the least power and I just would like to upend that and just have a sense of mutual respect between doctor and patient.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 14 June 2024
  19. News Article
    NHS England’s head of patient safety has suggested too much time and resource is being spent on “burdensome” inquiries to investigate failings in the system. Aidan Fowler said national chiefs want to see a shift away from “looking back 10 years and asking ‘what did we miss’”, and instead wants teams to be resolving problems in real time. At trusts where safety concerns have been highlighted, he said “people descend, and there are a lot of asks, and the pressure mounts, and they end up with an action list of hundreds of things, and it becomes very burdensome – we have to avoid that”. Speaking at a session at the NHS Confederation Expo event in Manchester this week, he encouraged organisations to report concerns early so NHSE can respond more quickly, supporting them and working through problems to prevent public inquiries from needing to happen in the first place. Mr Fowler added: “We have to get more proactive. We will spend less of our time in the future, is the plan, than we are now – doing what I call driving in the rear view mirror. “We don’t want to be looking back 10 years and asking, ‘what did we miss’, we want to be seeing things in real time… we don’t want to be spending our time in big inquiries into failings in the system.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 14 June 2024
  20. News Article
    Three staff have been put on “improvement plans” after a patient’s death which a coroner said nurses had been dishonest about, HSJ has learnt. North East London Foundation Trust was heavily criticised over the death of Winbourne Charles at an inquest last year. Coroner Graeme Irvine said staff “had not told the truth” about how Mr Charles came to take his own life in an inpatient unit at Goodmayes Hospital, in east London. Two witnesses refused to give evidence, citing a rule that they could not be compelled to incriminate themselves. Mr Irvine recorded a verdict of “suicide, contributed to by neglect, to which failures in medical intervention contributed and to which failures to respond to an obvious risk of self-harm contributed”. His prevention of future deaths report also noted “observation records appeared to have been created utilising a ‘cut and paste’ function” while there were “factually inaccurate entries” stating Mr Charles “was alive and well” up to two days after his death. In comments reported by the Barking and Dagenham Post last year, Mr Irvine said: “I think witnesses who have given evidence to me in this inquest have not told the truth. “It seems to me that this remarked upon a culture of impunity and that, unless someone sees there are consequences to their actions, nothing is going to change.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 14 June 2024
  21. Content Article
    On 11 April 2021 an investigation into the death of Winbourne Gregory Charles, aged 58, was carried out. Winbourne was admitted into hospital under section 2 of the Mental Health Act 1983 in November 2020 following an attempt to take his own life. In December 2020 on a diagnosis of depressive illness incorporating psychotic symptoms, Mr Charles was made subject to an order under section 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983. On 10 April 2021 Mr Charles was found unresponsive, suspended on the mental health ward. The Court returned a conclusion of:   “Suicide, contributed to by neglect, to which failures in medical intervention contributed and to which failures to respond to an obvious risk of self-harm contributed.”   Mr Charles’ medical cause of death was determined as 1a Suspension.
  22. Content Article
    Current adverse effects of medical treatment (AEMT) incidence estimates rely on limited record reviews and underreporting surveillance systems. This study evaluated global and national longitudinal patterns in AEMT incidence from 1990 to 2019 using the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) framework. It found that although the global population increased 44.6% from 1990 to 2019, AEMT incidents rose faster by 59.3%. The net drift in the global incidence rate was 0.631% per year. The proportion of all cases accounted for by older adults and the incidence rate among older adults increased globally. The high SDI region had much higher and increasing incidence rates versus declining rates in lower SDI regions. The age effects showed that in the high SDI region, the incidence rate is higher among older adults. Globally, the period effect showed a rising incidence of risk after 2002. Lower SDI regions exhibited a significant increase in incidence risk after 2012. Globally, the cohort effect showed a continually increasing incidence risk across sequential birth cohorts from 1900 to 1950.  As the global population ageing intensifies alongside the increasing quantity of healthcare services provided, measures need to be taken to address the continuously rising burden of AEMT among the older population.
  23. Content Article
    This cohort study in JAMA Network Open aimed to assess how patients receiving radiation treatment for cancer rated their satisfaction with fully remote management by doctors. It also identified the associated safety events, financial implications and environmental consequences. The authors found that: more than 99% of safety events did not reach patients or caused no harm to patients. 98% of patient ratings of satisfaction with fully remote management were good to very good. out-of-pocket cost savings associated with fully remote management totalled approximately $612 913 ($466 per patient). estimated carbon dioxide emissions decreased by 174 metric tons.
  24. Last week
  25. Event
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    The Centre for Perioperative Care (CPOC) progresses a number of innovative and exciting collaborations with its patient facing partners since its origin in 2019. This webinar is designed to bring together lay and patient representation from both its Board and Advisory Group partners, as well as patient organisations and charities. The aim is to understand better the needs of patient and public engagement from a perioperative perspective. The webinar will include presentations from speakers investigating the Psychological and Behavioural science backgrounds of patients’ needs and wants, as well as patientvoices@RCOA. There will be an opportunity to develop these ideas in breakout groups to produce a consensus statement which CPOC will use to further develop the patient facing perioperative strategy. Considering the increasing waiting times that patients are having to process, while seeing their conditions potentially deteriorate, this is an opportunity to bring like-minded voices together to benefit patient outcomes within the UK. Further information
  26. Content Article
    In this blog, patient advocate and healthcare communications consultant, Tambre Leighn, provides a detailed exploration of her poster, Ask Me!: Transforming Patient Communication to Improve Enrollment & Adherence in Clinical Trials and Cancer Care.
  27. Content Article
    Patient advocate and healthcare communications consultant, Tambre Leighn, shares her poster, Ask Me!: Transforming Patient Communication to Improve Enrollment & Adherence in Clinical Trials and Cancer Care, presented at the American Association of Cancer Researchers conference.
  28. Content Article
    This poster from presents preliminary data from a proof-of-concept examining the use of artificial intelligence technology, which can aid medical staff in locating, automatically reporting and effectively classifying safety incidents
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