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Keep up to date with the latest news, research and activity in patient safety.

Trust pioneers voice recognition technology to enhance surgical patient safety

Surgical teams at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust are leading the way in patient safety innovation after becoming the first NHS trust in the UK to pilot a groundbreaking voice recognition system in a surgical setting.
The new Voice-Care technology is designed to improve compliance with critical safety procedures, reduce the risk of human error and streamline operating theatre workflows.
The hands-free digital platform enables surgical teams to complete essential safety checks through spoken commands, removing the need for manual paperwork while supporting full compliance with World Health Organisation Surgical Safety Checklist standards.
Operating theatres are fast-paced environments where distractions can occur. Voice-Care acts as a digital co-pilot for clinical teams, guiding staff through key safety protocols and ensuring crucial steps are not missed. By automating documentation, the system also reduces administrative burden and allows clinicians to focus more of their time on delivering patient care.
Read full article.
Source: National Health Executive, 24 August 2026
Mark Hughes

Cork University Hospital consultants seek independent staffing assessment over patient safety fears

An independent assessor is required to determine appropriate staffing levels at Cork University Hospital (CUH), consultants have urged.
In a letter to Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill on Wednesday, the consultants wrote that a staffing shortfall was “already affecting patient services and will increase the risk to the safety of CUH patients heading into the winter period”.
“We believe that this has occurred as a result of years of underfunding relative to other similar-sized hospitals. This, we contend, is due, in part, to a recurring desire of CUH management over many years to stay within their budget allocation when other hospitals did not.”
On Wednesday morning the Minister said CUH must improve in managing its budget and deploying its resources.
Read full article.
Source: The Irish Times, 26 August 2026
Mark Hughes

Treatment involving patient's family cuts mental health hospital admissions, study finds

Involving a patient's family and friends as part of a new approach to mental health treatment makes it three times less likely they will be admitted to psychiatric hospital, research has found.
Patients rated their recovery and quality of life more highly than those who were treated in the traditional way, the study published in The Lancet Psychiatry also found.
It is the first major study of Open Dialogue, a way of providing treatment and organising mental health services that involves focusing on the patient's priorities, seeing the same clinicians, and involving people close to them.
But, the trial, in five NHS trust areas, found it did not stop patients suffering relapses, and some critics say there needs to be further research into its effectiveness.
Read full article.
Source: BBC News, 27 August 2026
Mark Hughes

Trust admits to harming 200 patients

Almost 200 patients suffered harm after a major teaching trust failed to manage its neurological waiting lists effectively, Health Service Journal has discovered. 
A total of 195 multiple sclerosis patients were affected at University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust after missing appointments and opportunities to start treatment, documents obtained by Health Service Journal under the Freedom of Information Act show.
Securing the information from the trust took more than six months.
Read full article (Paywalled).
Source: Health Service Journal, 27 August 2026
 
Mark Hughes

UK patient first in the world to have brain tumour removed through AI-assisted surgery

A 48-year-old man has become the first patient in the world to have a brain tumour removed while medical teams used real-time artificial intelligence during surgery.
Surgeons at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, part of University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, operated on Rhys Hibbert using novel technology which helps identify miniscule brain anatomy by colour coding, or segmenting, crucial structures to help clinicians recognise them safely.
The hospital has been using the technology as a research tool for some time, but the operation, which was conducted in May, marked the very first occasion it has been used on a live patient.
Specialists used the innovative tool to remove a growth on Mr Hibbert’s pituitary gland. Mr Hibbert, from Bedfordshire, said the operation saved his sight and he is now back at work as a customer services manager and a community volunteer.
Read full article.
Source: The Independent, 27 August 2026
Mark Hughes

NHS failing child sexual abuse victims in adulthood, say psychiatrists

People sexually abused as children who seek help in later life for mental health problems are being failed by the NHS, senior doctors have told the BBC.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists is issuing a public apology for what it says is decades of mismanagement and misdiagnosis in the UK.
For some, it has worsened their traumas, it said.
The college said mental health staff have been too focussed on treating symptoms rather than exploring how past traumatic experiences can still affect patients.
Support is improving, it said, but there must be better training and more investment - something NHS bosses have said is being introduced.
Immediate past president of the college, Dr Lade Smith, said she was "sorry" that, too often, victims have suffered "avoidable harm when seeking help".
The report details how treatment has sometimes been inappropriate, while people have been re-traumatised by the experience of repeated assessments and history-taking and not always being believed.
Dr Smith told the BBC it was clear people were not getting the support they needed, and that this was not just a failing of psychiatrists, but the whole mental health system.
"Services are so fragmented. The system is set up to provide short, discrete episodes of care. Psychiatrists do not get the time to build up a relationship with patients so they can be properly supported.
"They are lucky if they get eight sessions of therapy, when it could take eight sessions for a person just to disclose the abuse.
"And these are just the people who get support – many don't even get seen by mental health services because services are so stretched," she said.
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 26 August 2026
Sam

Autism and ADHD care complaints more than triple in five years in England

Complaints about autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services in England have more than tripled in five years, official figures show, with the NHS ombudsman warning of years-long waits and patients paying thousands of pounds for private care.
One woman was removed from an ADHD medication waiting list without warning after almost four years, leaving her without the support she needed for about six months. Another patient was given an autism assessment lasting just 50 minutes that failed to follow guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, while a man referred to an ADHD service that was not yet operational ended up paying almost £4,000 for private treatment.
Complaints rose from 410 in 2021-22 to 1,257 in 2025-26, an increase of more than 200%, as referrals and the number of people waiting for assessment, treatment and support also increased.
The parliamentary and health service ombudsman, Paula Sussex, said ADHD and autism services were “under significant pressure, with demand outstripping capacity”, adding: “While commissioning cannot solve these supply constraints, the way services are designed, commissioned and delivered can compound the pressure people experience and make it harder to make the best use of available resources.”
She said: “Right now, the system is too complex and inconsistent, leaving too many patients falling through the gaps.”
A report, called Improving ADHD and Autism Services: Commissioning With Confidence, shares the ombudsman’s findings based on 3,000 complaints. It found recurring issues, including uncertainty around patients’ right to choose a provider. Under right to choose, patients in England can choose from eligible NHS-funded providers for certain services, including some independent providers. However, the ombudsman found uncertainty around how this right applied, with patients sometimes being told wrongly that they could not exercise it.
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Source: The Guardian, 26 August 2026
Sam

US: 30 senators demand HHS restore cancelled patient safety grants

A group of 30 senators is pressing HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reverse the cancellation of roughly 150 federal patient safety research grants and restore the funding behind them.
In a letter dated 12 August, led by Senators. Richard Blumenth and Tammy Baldwin, the lawmakers called on HHS to rescind terminations that took effect on 15 July and disrupted nearly 200 research programs across 30 states. All 30 senators are Democrats.
The grants were awarded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the only federal agency dedicated to health services research. The senators said the agency has obligated just 5% of its extramural grant funding since 1 October, leaving roughly $200 million unspent for the fiscal year.
“This unprecedented action … undermines decades of taxpayer investments to improve healthcare delivery, patient safety, and health outcomes for all Americans,” the senators wrote.
The letter cited projects cut midstream, including maternal emergency training in Connecticut, fall-risk reduction in rural Colorado hospitals, an effort to curb unnecessary antibiotic use in Utah and research using AI to predict hospitalisations in Wisconsin.
Read full story
Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 18 August 2026
Patient Safety Learning

End of life care waits help push delayed discharges to record levels

Hospital discharge delays hit their highest level on record in July.
An average of 14,054 patients a day remained in an acute bed at least two weeks after they were declared medically fit to leave, according to the latest NHS England data analysed by HSJ.
That is 12% up on July 2025 and beats the previous high of 13,965, set in January 2023, even though delays normally run lower in summer.
Other NHSE figures show delays are also getting longer. Patients discharged in June waited an average of 0.95 days beyond their discharge ready date, up 19% on a year earlier.
The increased delays were down to steep rises in waits for social or intermediate care. Delays directly related to hospital or other NHS services showed no change. 
Much of the growth is the result of cases in which patients’ needs were still being processed or had not been arranged, rather than directly down to a lack of care capacity.
Senior NHS officials are understood to be concerned about the rise in delayed discharges. They are most concerned about the breakdown of agreements on intermediate care provision made between the NHS and councils amid budget strain and restructures. This is resulting increased care home and step-down capacity built up during the winter becoming unavailable, despite ongoing high demand.
Health and social care secretary Yvette Cooper has claimed  the discharge system was “all a mess”.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 25 August 2026
Patient Safety Learning

NHS England to offer women ‘gamechanging’ free home testing kits for cervical cancer

Millions of women in England who have missed cervical screening appointments will be offered free home testing kits on the NHS.
The move comes amid concerns that only two-thirds of women attend in-person cervical screening appointments when asked to do so, leaving as many as 4 million women not up to date.
The rollout is being described as a “gamechanger”, offering a “discreet and convenient option” to encourage more women to get screened.
The kits contain a swab to collect a sample from the vagina. This is then posted back to the NHS free, where it is tested in labs for high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV).
If high-risk HPV is detected, patients will then be asked to attend a cervical screening appointment with a clinician.
Starting on Tuesday, eligible women between 30 and 65 who have not attended screening appointments will be sent invitations via the NHS app, text message, email or letter.
Dr Sue Mann, national clinical director for women’s health at NHS England, said: “Screening saves thousands of lives each year by preventing cancers and catching them earlier, but only around two-thirds of women are attending cervical screening appointments when invited by the NHS.
“Offering millions of women an alternative test they can do from the comfort of their own homes will be a gamechanger – making it easier than ever for them to get tested for HPV.”
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 25 August 2026
Patient Safety Learning

More avoidable deaths could come at scandal-hit NHS trust, retired consultant says

More patients at Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA) hospitals will die avoidable deaths unless major changes are made, a retired consultant doctor has said in an urgent warning.
Dr Glyn Smurthwaite, 65, was a consultant at Salford Royal who worked there from 1995 to 2024 and said it is ‘utterly unsafe’ and ‘toxic’.
It comes as dozens of patients have died or come to harm at NCA hospitals due to treatment delays and staffing errors according to the trusts’ own reports, with a workforce which is under extreme pressure and facing high levels of staff absences over sickness.
The NCA manages hospitals in Salford, Bury, Oldham and Rochdale, treating more than a million patients.
The Manchester Evening News (M.E.N) has spoken to patients who were treated at NCA hospitals, with experiences of people ‘screaming in pain’ while staff were ‘too busy’ to help, and a 76-year-old who spent 36 hours on a trolley in A&E and claimed she became ‘really poorly’ after experiencing the NCA’s standards of care.
Lengthy delays at NCA hospitals were linked with ‘28 deaths’ and 56 issues of ‘severe harm’, while problems diagnosing illness led to ten deaths last year.
The Northern Care Alliance said that it is facing challenges but is working to address concerns.
“I was appointed in 1995 and I left because the place was crumbling and toxic in 2023 early 2024,” Dr Glyn Smurthwaite said.
“I’ve been a campaigner ever since because the place is utterly unsafe, and it’s led by an utterly incompetent out of touch board who don’t have a clue what’s happening on the shop floor.
“It was failing miserably before the NCA was envisaged. It started to go wrong I would say 2008 or 2009, at this point around 2010 certainly things were getting worse.”
The retired consultant said there was a ‘system of governance that utterly failed and was incompetent’, and has called for the removal of the current board of directors.
Read full story
Source: Manchester Evening Post, 23 August 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Patient safety should be first - surgeons speak out on emergency general surgery

A leading surgeon in Northern Ireland has said colleagues from across the UK and Ireland felt they had no option but to intervene when it appeared politics not patient safety was influencing discussions on the provision of emergency general surgery (EGS).
The surgeons issued a statement after Health Minister Mike Nesbitt resigned following a fall out with Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Jon Burrows over withdrawing EGS from Causeway Hospital.
Damian McKay, an Ulster Hospital surgeon, said he and others were "concerned, disappointed and frustrated".
The new Health Minister Robbie Butler has said his decisions will be based on "expert evidence opinion" as well as the "voices of the people".
McKay, who is a general and colorectal surgeon, was speaking on behalf of the three surgical associations in the UK and Ireland who issued a joint statement on Friday in response to the disagreement.
Burrows had declared he would never support the withdrawal of the EGS service during a public meeting, a view Nesbitt said he only discovered by "monitoring the media".
The surgeons said "recent developments" risked further delaying the implementation of the 2022 review of EGS services in Northern Ireland, which recommended having the service at fewer sites.
McKay told BBC News NI: "The key message should always be patient safety first and political votes second.
"Health outcomes should not be dictated to by Facebook and social media groups – it should be determined by evidence and the evidence around Causeway has been there since 2025."
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 24 August 2026
Patient Safety Learning

Prostate cancer cases surge in UK as charity warns against ‘myths’ preventing men getting checked

More than 100,000 additional men are living with prostate cancer in the UK compared with 2020, according to new estimates from Macmillan Cancer Support.
Data from the charity reveals that over 68,000 men receive a prostate cancer diagnosis annually across the country, representing roughly one diagnosis every eight minutes.
The organisation estimates that approximately 600,000 men are currently living with the condition, up from about 500,000 four years ago.
Prostate cancer remains the most frequently diagnosed form of cancer in the UK.
However, Macmillan warned that widespread “myths” surrounding the disease could be preventing men from seeking vital checks.
Dr Anthony Cunliffe, lead medical adviser at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: "One of the biggest misunderstandings I hear is that feeling well means you cannot have prostate cancer.
"Many people are surprised to learn that, in reality, prostate cancer often develops without symptoms in its early stages, which is why it’s important to have a conversation with your GP if you’re worried."
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 22 August 2026
Patient Safety Learning

New daily diabetes pill that helps with weight loss launches in UK pharmacies

A new daily pill that treats diabetes and helps with weight loss will be available in UK pharmacies from Monday.
Pharmacists said the move would be welcome for people who cannot use weight-loss jabs, but also issued a warning over the growing problem of fake, unlicensed or counterfeit versions of GLP-1 tablets.
Orforglipron, known as Foundayo and made by the US pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, was authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) earlier this month. The UK is the first country in Europe to approve it, after approving another weight-loss pill in June.
“The UK is the first country in Europe where Foundayo is now available,” said Khalil Asmar, the vice-president of cardiometabolic health at Lilly Northern Europe. “We’re pleased that this means there is another oral treatment option for eligible UK patients alongside licensed injectable treatments.”
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 24 August 2026
Patient Safety Learning

In-house EPRs can avoid ‘phenomenal’ costs, says top CEO

A leading hospital chief executive has championed in-house NHS technology that costs “a fraction” of major commercial systems – and said she does not use the federated data platform.
Birju Bartoli, chief executive of Northumbria Healthcare Foundation Trust, said a custom electronic patient record system the provider has developed itself showed there was an alternative to paying “phenomenal” sums to big external tech firms.
Ms Bartoli said: “We didn’t think we could afford [what commercial suppliers were asking], and it wouldn’t necessarily give us what we wanted. So the idea was born of: ‘Why don’t we just do it ourselves?’”
The trust launched the system in 2023, had continued developing it, and it was a success with staff, she said.
In a wide-ranging interview, she also cautioned that integrated health organisations – for which Northumbria is a forerunner – should not become a “fix all ills” answer to multiple problems, including social care.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 24 August 2026
Patient Safety Learning

USA: Ascension hospital CEO apologises for safety event that harmed 4 patients

A safety event that affected four patients at Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital Midtown in Nashville, Tennessee, led to the hospital self-reporting to state regulators, according to a statement from the hospital’s CEO.
Hospital leadership reported the event to state regulators and launched an investigation the day it occurred, President and CEO Shubhada Jagasia, MD, said in statement on 19 August, shared with Becker’s.
The hospital declined to provide any specific clinical details about the safety event, citing patient privacy, though a local news station spoke with a family member of one of the affected patients.
A woman told WKRN her mother-in-law became paralysed after receiving potassium during a knee replacement surgery at the hospital, the CBS affiliate reported 18 August. According to the patient’s daughter-in-law, Kristina Dorton, the 72-year-old woman underwent the knee replacement; the procedure itself was successful, but Ms. Dorton said the surgical team is believed to have administered potassium instead of the intended local anesthetic, bupivacaine, during spinal anesthesia. 
The patient was moved to the ICU afterward and, as of 18 August, has had no feeling, movement or pain response from her breastbone down, according to WKRN. The hospital has not confirmed the medication error or whether the same error affected the other three patients.
Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital Midtown said it has identified the cause of the safety event and implemented corrective safeguards.
“Our hearts are with the four patients and their families impacted by this event. On behalf of our leadership and care teams, I am deeply sorry for the harm caused to our patients,” Dr. Jagasia said. “We have met directly with each of the families to express our deep support, connected them with spiritual care teams, and ensured they have access to all appropriate resources and ongoing care needed.
“Providing safe, high-quality care is at the core of everything we do, and any gap in meeting that standard receives our immediate, uncompromising attention.”
Read full story
Source: Becker's Clinical Leadership, 19 August 2026
Patient Safety Learning
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