Skip to content

News

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

People paying for operations up by third since Covid pandemic

The number of people paying privately for operations and treatments in the UK has risen by more than a third since the pandemic started, the latest figures from the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) show.
Last year 272,000 used their own money to pay for treatments, such as knee or eye surgery - up from 199,000 in 2019.
The NHS backlog has been blamed for the trend, with some of the treatments costing more than £15,000.
But there does appear to have been a shift away from private insurance driven by the cost of living crisis.
The numbers treated through that route were just below 550,000 - more than 30,000 fewer than three years ago.
Health providers are reporting patients desperate for treatment because of NHS waits are increasingly turning to the private market.
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 24 May 2023
Patient Safety Learning

Menopause: Post-hysterectomy care in NI must improve, says patient

A woman who had a hysterectomy has said she was discharged without sufficient information on its impact on her physical and mental health.
Mechelle Davis, from County Down, said it was crucial women left hospital with appropriate medication and advice.
Her operation involved removal of her womb, ovaries, fallopian tubes, and cervix.
Ms Davis was 48 when she had her operation and said she had no option but to look online for advice, something she described as "unsatisfactory".
"I had the operation in October 2022 and didn't go on HRT until the following February," she told BBC News NI.
"Every woman who is going through the menopause - including surgically induced - needs support.
In its online tool for clinicians, British Menopause Society advise that HRT plays a significant role in managing surgical menopause, especially in women under 45 - provided there are no contradictions such as personal history of hormone dependant cancer.
It also adds that "all women undergoing surgical menopause should have counselling and be provided with information about the hormonal consequences of surgery and the role of HRT, both before surgery and before leaving hospital with clear communication to the primary care team."
BBC News NI has spoken to other women who, after having a hysterectomy, were discharged without advice or a HRT prescription.
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 23 May 2023
Further reading on the hub:
World Menopause Day 2022: Raising awareness of surgical menopause
 
Patient Safety Learning

Over 80% of GP practices lack crucial technology, warns NHSE lead

Only 10-15% of GP practices are using all three of the ‘modern’ patient access tools — including overhauling their approach to triage — which are at the centre of NHS England’s primary care recovery plan, its GP lead has told HSJ. 
Amanda Doyle, national director for primary care and community services, told HSJ this was its current estimate of the share of practices which already have in place all three of: digital phone systems; online messaging; and modern triage, response and care navigation.
These are cornerstones of the primary care recovery plan,published by the government and NHS England this month, which says they are prerequisites for offering “modern general practice access”.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 23 May 2023
Patient Safety Learning

Woman died on floor after waiting over five hours for ambulance in Wales

A 58-year-old woman died alone curled up in a blanket on the floor of her bedroom as she waited more than five hours for an ambulance.
Relatives of Rachel Rose Gibson believe she had a heart attack at her home in Wrexham, north Wales, only a short drive away from a hospital, but died before an ambulance reached her.
The Welsh ambulance service said that on the day Gibson died, its crews spent more than 700 hours waiting outside hospitals for patients to be admitted, which meant they could not respond quickly to people needing help.
Family members said Gibson, a grandmother of seven, called an ambulance at 4pm on 5 April as she was coughing up blood and in chronic pain. By the time an ambulance arrived at 9.30pm, she had died.
Her daughter, Nikita, 29, said: “She was lying on the floor curled up in a blanket. It haunts me to know she died alone in so much pain.
“I feel like I can’t fully grieve because I’m so angry. She only lives five minutes away from the hospital, but must have been in too much pain to get into a taxi.”
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 22 May 2023
Patient Safety Learning

35,000 cases of sexual misconduct or violence in NHS in five years

More than 35,000 incidents of sexual misconduct or sexual violence - ranging from derogatory remarks to rape - were recorded on NHS premises in England between 2017 and 2022.
Rape, sexual assault or being touched without consent accounted for more than one in five cases.
Most incidents - 58% - involved patients abusing staff.
The data was collected by the BMJ and the Guardian, and shared with BBC File on 4.
Freedom of Information requests were received from 212 NHS trusts and 37 police forces in England.
The data that came back from trusts showed at least 20% of incidents involved rape, sexual assault or inappropriate physical contact - including kissing. Other cases included sexual harassment, stalking and abusive or degrading remarks. One in five cases involved patients abusing other patients - although not all trusts provided a detailed breakdown.
Meanwhile, police recorded nearly 12,000 alleged sexual crimes on NHS premises in the same time period - including 180 cases of rape of children under 16, with four children under 16 being gang-raped.
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 23 May 2023
Patient Safety Learning

Mental health patients forced to travel hundreds of miles for treatment despite government pledge

Some mental health patients in England are still having to travel more than 300 miles for hospital treatment two years after the government pledged to end the “completely unacceptable” practice.
The number of patients in crisis forced to move potentially hundreds of miles for NHS help is rising again after falling during the pandemic, separating them from family and support networks and potentially delaying their recuperation.
According to official data seen by the Observer, 420 so-called “out of area” treatments started in February because no local beds were available – up from 240 in February last year. The most recent NHS England records show there are 720 out of area placements deemed “inappropriate”, risking the patient’s recovery.
Dr Mayura Deshpande, an associate registrar for policy at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said targets for eliminating the practice had been “widely missed” and called for an urgent plan for the proper funding of mental health services. “It’s completely unacceptable that some mental health patients are having to travel hundreds of miles for care at a time when they are at their most vulnerable,” she said.
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 20 May 2023
Sam

Trusts ‘could be sued’ under new strike law

Ambulance chiefs have warned a controversial piece of legislation could lead to legal action against their trusts by patients denied an ambulance.
The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, would enable the health and social care secretary to set minimum levels of staffing for ambulance call centres and crews. Employers would be able to issue “work notices” compelling staff to provide cover during any strike.
But, in its response to the government consultation on how the system would work, the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives has said it does not support the legislation in its current form as it does not believe it will deliver an improvement for patients, or offer a practical means of delivering minimum service levels.
It said the proposed legislation appears to pass responsibility for the service levels to employers, which could leave them “exposed to patient liability risks to a greater extent than before”.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 22 May 2023
Sam

New NHS training launched as dementia rates increase among Asian and Black people

Healthcare leaders are rolling out new NHS training to help speed up dementia diagnoses among Black and Asian people following criticism about a lack of support for patients from minoritised communities, The Independent has revealed.
An awareness campaign is being launched in England to help those from ethnic minority communities receive a prompt diagnosis and get the support they need at the earliest opportunity.
The announcement follows a critical report which found that thousands of south Asian people with dementia are being failed by “outdated health services designed for white British patients”.
Dr Bola Owolabi, director of the Healthcare Inequalities Improvement programme at NHS England, said: “The pandemic put a greater spotlight on longstanding health inequalities experienced by different groups across the country.
“While there are many factors involved, the NHS is playing its part in narrowing the gap and ensuring equitable access to services through taking targeted action where needed to improve outcomes."
Read full story
Source: The Independent, 21 May 2023
Sam

Social Beats networking platform supports people with Long Covid

Social Beats, a networking platform for those living with Long Covid, has been launched by free social community service Biocomm, allowing people to exchange health information from trusted sources, share experiences and interact with other people with Long Covid.
The goal of the platform is to help connect those living with Long Covid so that they can receive and provide emotional and social support to others in the same position.
The platform is the brainchild of BiocommAI and is sponsored by InnoMedica and Normax Biomed.
Peter Jensen, CEO and chairman of Normax, said: “Community is key for anyone dealing with an illness or long-term condition. Biocomm.net is a safe space for people affected by Long Covid – a platform designed to help people living with the condition to connect with others and to build a better life.
“We have recognised that Long Covid has impacted people in many ways and now is the time to help them by enabling them to connect, learn and share knowledge.”
Read full story
Source: Digital Health, 22 May 2023
Patient Safety Learning

UK reliance on foreign nurses at critical level

Britain’s reliance on foreign nurses has reached “unsustainable” levels, the government has been warned as new analysis reveals that international recruits has accounted for two thirds of the rise in numbers since 2019.
Ministers have repeatedly promised to boost the domestic supply of health staff amid warnings that reliance on international workers leaves the NHS at the mercy of global labour markets.
Overall, a fifth of the UK’s nursing, midwifery and nursing associate workforce originally trained overseas.
The figures will reignite concerns that nations such as the Philippines, traditionally a key source for the NHS, are being increasingly targeted by countries including Germany and Canada. Senior NHS leaders fear the health service could be left in a precarious position if increased competition results in nurses choosing alternative destinations, resulting in a shortfall for the UK. The health service in England already has one post in ten vacant.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: The Times, 18 May 2023
Sam

More than 23,000 people died in A&E in England last year, Labour estimates

About 23,000 people died in accident and emergency departments last year, according to an estimate by Labour based on Freedom of Information requests to every NHS trust in England.
Half of the trusts responded to the party’s requests and, based on that information, it calculated that just over 23,000 people had died – an increase of more than 20% on 2021, and nearly 40% on 2020.
The increase in deaths corresponds with a sharp rise in NHS waiting times, as hospitals struggle with high demand and a lack of resources after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said: “People turning to the NHS in an emergency should know they will be seen and treated before it’s too late. The Conservatives’ failure over 13 years to properly staff or reform the NHS has a cost in lives.”
Maria Caulfield, the health minister, defended the government’s record, however, saying: “We are delivering a record number of tests, speeding up discharge from hospitals, and cutting waiting lists as we also work to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, and stop the boats.”
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 19 May 2023
Sam

ICB sends trust five safety warnings in six weeks

An integrated care board (ICB) has sent multiple warnings to a local trust highlighting ‘serious issues’ with the safety and quality of care provided.
East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust had had severe and widely reported issues in its maternity services but the five emails and letters from Kent and Medway ICB, sent across a six-week period in February and March, flagged concerns extending into other parts of the organisation. These included:
Serious incidents had “recurrent themes” and there was a “lack of evidence the trust is learning” from them. A spot audit had revealed more than one in five patients at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Thanet had overdue modified early warning scores, which can show if a patient is deteriorating.
Further concerns about adult safeguarding “have been raised in relation to 18 allegations of abuse against people in positions of trust” despite the provider implementing a review on the issue 18 months earlier.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 22 May 2023
Patient Safety Learning

Trust execs accused of creating a ‘cult of the individual’

Regulators are probing a series of whistleblowing claims about the leadership culture of a trust which is rated ‘outstanding’ for its management, HSJ has learned.
It is understood multiple current and former staff members at Bolton Foundation Trust, including people in senior positions, have been in contact with NHS England and the Care Quality Commission in recent months.
The claims include a dramatic worsening in leadership culture at the trust, particularly around the FTSU process and people who speak up being bullied, side-lined and silenced. And investigations and meetings are stage-managed and tightly controlled by executives, with constant “sugar-coating” and positive spin on board reports, and intolerance of people who disagree.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 22 May 2023
Patient Safety Learning

Labour vows to reverse rise in suicides in England and Wales within five years

A Labour government would reverse the rise in the number of deaths from suicide as part of a health plan to replace pain and anxiety with a “hope of a renewed NHS”, Keir Starmer will pledge.
In a speech today, the Labour leader will say his plan for reforming the NHS will focus on the biggest causes of death in the UK including suicide.
He will point to coroners’ statistics showing that deaths from suicides have been rising since 2008, and reached a record high last year in England and Wales. If the party takes power Labour will reverse this rise within five years, Starmer will say.
A segment of his speech previewed by the party says: “Suicide is the biggest killer of young lives in this country. The biggest killer. That statistic should haunt us. And the rate is going up. Our mission must be and will be to get it down.”
Labour has not provided details on how it proposes to meet this pledge other than an aspiration to shift from “sickness to prevention”.
Starmer will also propose introducing new NHS targets on cutting deaths in England from heart disease and strokes by a quarter over 10 years.
Read full story
Source: The Guardian, 21 May 2023
Patient Safety Learning

Gloucestershire maternity units still shut after staff shortages

Maternity services in Gloucestershire will remain shut for months because of staff shortages, it has been confirmed.
The Aveta Birth Unit in Cheltenham and Stroud's post-natal facilities are not expected to re-open until at least October, bosses say.
The announcement by Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust means women will have been unable to use the services for more than a year.
Maternity campaigners say new mothers are not getting support they need.
The trust said it had a long-term commitment to both units, but they cannot reopen safely at the moment.
The Aveta unit has been shut since last June and Stroud's six postnatal beds have been closed since September.
It means new mothers are forced to go home 12 hours after giving birth, or if they have medical needs being sent to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 19 May 2023
Patient Safety Learning

Leak shows NHSE ‘sorry’ for endorsing service which ‘hurt patients’

NHS England is ‘sorry’ for backing a mental healthcare model which it now admits has caused hurt to patients, according to a leaked draft policy document.
The serenity integrated mentoring model was launched in 2013 in the Isle of Wight and Hampshire. It quickly became viewed by mental health trusts as an “innovative approach” to helping support frequent users of the emergency services.
A core element of the scheme involves placing a local community police officer within the healthcare team charged with supporting those patients. 
In 2021, the pressure group StopSIM raised concerns about the model, which included a belief that police involvement was potentially coercive, criminalised mental health crises, and could result in withholding healthcare from people, which would breach human rights legislation. The group also argued the SIM programme had not been robustly and clinically evaluated.
As a result, NHSE committed to co-producing policy guidance on SIM with StopSIM. 
The draft document states: “NHS England did not apply sufficient scrutiny to the decision [to endorse SIM] and involve the voice of lived experience sufficiently. This compromised the safety and quality of care for service users and has caused hurt to patients. For this, NHS England is sorry.”
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 19 May 2023
Further reading on the hub:
The High Intensity Network (HIN) approach and SIM model for mental health care and 'high intensity users' – what are your views?
 
Patient Safety Learning
Registered address: Patient Safety Learning, China Works SB203, 100 Black Prince Road Vauxhall, London, SE1 7SJ

Account

Navigation

Search

Search

Configure browser push notifications
Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.