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

Probe opened into deaths of 650 patients treated by jailed breast cancer surgeon

The deaths of 650 patients treated by a breast cancer surgeon who was convicted of maiming hundreds are being investigated, it has been reported.
Once one of the country’s leading doctors, Ian Paterson carried out thousands of operations before he was jailed for uneccesarily performing hundreds of life-changing surgeries.
The Sunday Times has now revealed medical experts are sifting through the records of women who were cared for by the disgraced surgeon over more than twenty years.
He is currently serving a 20-year jail term, having been found guilty of 17 counts of wounding with intent. Many of the procedures, which took place between 1997 and 2011, had “no medically justifiable reason”, a court heard.
According to The Sunday Times, 27 inquests have been opened in cases where coroners “believe there is evidence to have reason to suspect that some of those deaths may be unnatural”.
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Source: The Independent, 16 April 2023
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Nurses’ strike over May bank holiday presents ‘serious challenge’ to NHS, health leader warns

An all-out nurses’ strike over the May bank holiday will present “serious risks and challenges” to the NHS, a health leader has warned.
Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, said the “unprecedented” strike action – which will involve staff in emergency departments, intensive care units and cancer care for the first time – was “extremely worrying”.
He also said the threat of coordinated industrial action with junior doctors could result in the “most difficult challenge” for the NHS to date.
Sir Julian told BBC Breakfast: “If this takes place in the way that it’s been described, then it would be the first time that we’ve seen nurses not working in those key areas, which of course would present serious risks and challenges for trusts to manage and mitigate that.”
Nick Hulme, chief executive of Ipswich and Colchester hospitals, told Radio 4 the latest round of nurses’ strikes will “significantly increase the risk to patients”, adding cancer patients will face greater risks as care could be delayed.
He said: “If there is a delay to cancer care, some delays won’t cause significant effects, but there are many people who have been waiting far too long for care and this will only exacerbate that risk."
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Source: The Independent, 16 April 2023
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Parkinson's disease biomarker found

In an enormous leap forward in the understanding of Parkinson’s disease (PD), researchers have discovered a new tool that can reveal a key pathology of the disease: abnormal alpha-synuclein — known as the “Parkinson’s protein” — in brain and body cells.
The breakthrough published in the scientific journal The Lancet Neurology, opens a new chapter for research, with the promise of a future where every person living with Parkinson’s can expect improved care and treatments — and newly diagnosed individuals may never advance to full-blown symptoms.   
The tool, called the α-synuclein seeding amplification assay (αSyn-SAA), can detect pathology in spinal fluid not only of people diagnosed with Parkinson’s, but also in individuals who have not yet been diagnosed or shown clinical symptoms of the disease, but are at a high risk of developing it. 
By helping to identify people at the earliest stages of PD, “We could then study what happens at different biological stages of the disease,” says Dr. Sherer. Says Ken Marek, MD, PPMI principal investigator, “αSyn-SAA enables us to move to another level in effecting new strategies for prevention of disease.” 
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Source: The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson' research, 13 April 2023
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Father whose baby died after missing vitamin K jab urges parents not to be taken in by misinformation

A father whose baby died at six weeks after his vitamin K jab was missed has urged parents not to be taken in by misinformation spreading across social media.
Alex Patto, 33, and his wife wanted their newborn son, William, to have the vitamin K jab to protect him against a rare but serious bleeding disorder known as vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB).
But the Rosie Hospital in Cambridge missed the jab and their firstborn child tragically passed away at six weeks old after suffering a bleed on his brain.
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has completed a serious incident report and an inquest is due to take place in the coming months.
Having gone through baby loss, Alex said he finds it “hard to understand” why parents would trust unverified information on social media over advice from their healthcare professional to opt into the jab.
iNews previously revealed an increase in anti-vaccination misinformation on social media discouraging parents from getting the vitamin K jab for their newborn babies. The jab is a vitamin injection, not a vaccine – which are given to protect against infectious diseases – but doctors have reported videos on social media are incorrectly mislabelling it as such.
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Source: iNews, 23 March 2023
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Assaults, neglect and a Taser revealed in ‘deeply shocking’ BBC care home investigation

A company which ran children's homes where residents were systemically abused also failed to prevent adults being harmed, BBC News has learned.
An investigation found 99 cases of abuse at a Doncaster home for vulnerable adults in 2010. One worker even ordered a Taser to use there.
The care home company - Hesley - said improvements were made at the time. But children at other Hesley homes were later reported to have been punched, kicked and fed chillies.
The BBC reported in January how more than 100 reports of appalling abuse and neglect - dating from 2018 to 2021 - were uncovered at sites run by the Hesley Group. They included children being locked outside in freezing temperatures while naked, and having vinegar poured on wounds.
Now the BBC has obtained confidential reports from within Hesley and the local authority which reveal wider safeguarding failings spanning more than a decade at both children's homes and placements for vulnerable young adults.
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Source: BBC News, 14 April 2023
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‘Buckling’ NHS fails to treat 250,000 children with mental health problems

A quarter of a million children in the UK with mental health problems have been denied help by the NHS as it struggles to manage surging case loads against a backdrop of a crisis in child mental health.
Some NHS trusts are failing to offer treatment to 60% of those referred by GPs, the research based on freedom of information request responses has found.
The research carried out by the House magazine and shared with the Guardian also revealed a postcode lottery, with spending per child four times higher in some parts of the country than others, while average waits for a first appointment vary by trust from 10 days to three years.
Olly Parker, head of external affairs at YoungMinds, said the freedom of information findings showed a “system is in total shutdown” with “no clear government plan to rescue it”, after the 10-year mental health plan was scrapped.
“In the meantime, young people are self-harming and attempting suicide as they wait months and even years for help after being referred by doctors,” he said. “This is not children saying ‘I’m unhappy.’ They are ill, they are desperate and they need urgent help.”
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Source: The Guardian, 16 April 2023
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Deaths rise as junior doctors go on strike

Junior doctors have been accused of putting “politics above patient safety” as figures showed excess deaths almost tripled after their strikes.
Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures showed the number of deaths above average increased significantly in the two weeks during and after the first round of industrial action by the British Medical Association (BMA).
Junior doctors walked out for 72 hours between March 13 and 15, with more than 175,000 appointments and operations cancelled. Health experts said the walkout around that time could be linked to the rise.
A government source said: “The militant leaders of the BMA junior doctors committee seem willing to put politics above patient safety. They have adopted increasingly hardline tactics whilst demanding a completely unrealistic 35 per cent pay rise. 
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: The Telegraph, 13 April 2023
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I was in so much pain I’d faint — yet doctors ignored me for decades

“You’re just unlucky,” the doctor told me. Whichever GP I saw, wherever I was, male or female, I would be asked the same questions. Do you drink alcohol? Are you sexually active? Is your underwear too tight? If I heard another woman being relentlessly quizzed like that today, I’d probably call it victim blaming."
"... when you’re told, over and over, that it’s just bad luck and that some women suffer more than others, you believe it. You put your trust in the professionals. You don’t advocate for yourself because you don’t understand that there’s anything that needs fighting for."
Claire Cohen, 39, had spent much of her life since her mid-teens in acute pain, begging for help. Now she’s finally been diagnosed with endometriosis, she looks at how medicine is still failing to treat a condition that can have a devastating effect on one in ten women
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: The Times, 13 April 2023
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Thousands receive diagnosis after 60 new diseases found

Thousands of children with severe developmental disorders have finally been given a diagnosis, in a study that found 60 new diseases.
Children, and their parents, had their genetic code - or DNA - analysed in the search for answers to their condition.
There are thousands of different genetic disorders. Having a diagnosis can lead to better care, help parents to decide whether to have more children, or simply provide an explanation for what is happening.
The Deciphering Developmental Disorders study, conducted over 10 years in the UK and Ireland, was a collaboration between the NHS, universities and the Sanger Institute, which specialises in analysing DNA.
Among the findings, researchers discovered Turnpenny-Fry syndrome.
Jessica Fisher's son, Mungo - who took part in the study - was diagnosed with the syndrome.
Jessica subsequently started an online support group for the syndrome, which is now made up of 36 families from around the world, including America, Brazil, Croatia and Indonesia.
"It's devastating to learn that your child has a rare genetic disorder, but getting the diagnosis has been key to bringing us together," said Jessica.
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Source: BBC News, 13 April 2023
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One in 10 A&E patients waits 12hrs, long-hidden data reveals

Around 10 per cent of the 1.2 million accident and emergency attendees in February waited 12 hours or more, newly published NHS England data has revealed, laying bare the true extent of the NHS’s emergency care crisis.
The data – which NHSE has collected for years but has only now started to publish – shows 125,505 patients waited 12 hours or more from their arrival at A&E to be admitted, transferred or discharged.
This is more than double the highest figure under the existing metric of around 55,000, which only starts the clock from when the patient has received a decision to admit.
NHSE’s decision to publish the data for 12-hour breaches from time of arrival follows a concerted campaign by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, which has long raised concerns the measure from decision to admit has significantly masked the true extent of long waits in A&E.
Read full story (paywalled)
Source: HSJ, 13 April 2023
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UK in ‘rapidly escalating’ diabetes crisis as cases top 5m, report says

The UK is experiencing a “rapidly escalating” diabetes crisis, with cases topping five million for the first time and under-40s increasingly affected, a report has revealed.
About 90% of diabetes patients have type 2, a condition much more likely to develop if people are overweight. About two-thirds of adults in the UK are overweight or obese.
Statistics published by Diabetes UK reveals an all-time high for type 2 and type 1 combined of 4.3m officially diagnosed cases and another 850,000 people living with one or other of the conditions but still to be diagnosed. Another 2.4 million people are at high risk of developing the type 2 form in the UK.
“These latest figures show we’re in the grip of a rapidly escalating diabetes crisis, with spiralling numbers of people now living with type 2 diabetes and millions at high risk of developing the condition,” said Chris Askew, the chief executive of Diabetes UK.
“These latest figures show we’re in the grip of a rapidly escalating diabetes crisis, with spiralling numbers of people now living with type 2 diabetes and millions at high risk of developing the condition,” said Chris Askew, the chief executive of Diabetes UK.
The stark figures mean millions of Britons are at increased risk of complications including heart attacks, kidney failure, stroke, amputation and blindness.
As a result, the UK faces a public health emergency unless action is taken, Askew said. “Diabetes is serious, and every diagnosis is life-changing. It’s a relentless condition, and the fear of serious complications is a lifelong reality for millions of people across the UK.
“But it doesn’t have to be this way. With the right care and support, cases of type 2 diabetes can be prevented or put into remission. What we need to see is the will, grit and determination from government and local health leaders to halt this crisis in its tracks and improve the future health of our nation for generations to come.”
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Source: The Guardian, 13 April 2023
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Ghana first to approve 'world-changer' malaria vaccine

Ghana is the first country to approve a new malaria vaccine that has been described as a "world-changer" by the scientists who developed it.
The vaccine - called R21 - appears to be hugely effective, in stark contrast to previous ventures in the same field.
Ghana's drug regulators have assessed the final trial data on the vaccine's safety and effectiveness, which is not yet public, and have decided to use it.
The World Health Organization is also considering approving the vaccine.
Malaria kills about 620,000 people each year, most of them young children.
It has been a massive, century-long, scientific undertaking to develop a vaccine that protects the body from the malaria parasite.
But widespread use of the vaccine hinges on the results of a larger trial involving nearly 5,000 children.
These had been expected to take place at the end of last year, but have still not been formally published. However, they have been shared with some government bodies in Africa, and scientists.
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 13 April 2023
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Pharmacies on ‘brink of collapse’ in England

England’s pharmacies are on the brink of collapse – struggling with a shortage of staff and medical supplies – combined with increased patient demand and soaring costs, according to an industry survey shared exclusively with this programme.
Staff say that some patients are so frustrated by the supply problems, they’re getting aggressive.
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, the industry body which carried out the survey, says the Government and NHS need to step in now, before it’s too late.
View video
Source: Channel 4 News, 12 April 2023
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Medic blames NHS Highland 'dysfunction' for doctor exodus

A top doctor has blamed a "dysfunctional" culture at NHS Highland for a crisis in medical recruitment and retention engulfing its rural hospitals.
Dr Gordon Caldwell, a consultant physician who was the clinical lead at Lorn and Islands hospital in Oban until he resigned last summer, said there "still seems to be a lot of fear" among staff more than four years on from a bullying scandal that cost the health board nearly £3 million in settlements.
Dr Caldwell - who joined NHS Highland in 2018 - said an exodus of senior consultants from Oban and Fort William over the past 18 months is down to management "undermining us, bullying us, and blaming us for problems that were due to a lack of leadership".
The 66-year-old, who is internationally regarded for his expertise in medical education, became so concerned about the impact on junior doctor training in Oban that he whistleblew to NHS Education for Scotland (NES) while on sick leave for stress after finding his own internal complaints rebuffed.
A resulting inspection report, published in May last year, said NES had "serious concerns about the training environment" at Lorn and Islands hospital, including around the "safety of care".
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Source: The Herald, 1 April 2023
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A&E staff in England struggling to spot abuse cases in infants, says watchdog

Staff in hospital emergency departments in England are struggling to spot when infants are being physically abused by their parents, raising the risk of further harm, an investigation has found.
Clinicians often do not know what to do if they are concerned that a child’s injuries are not accidental because there is no guidance, according to a report from the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) that identifies several barriers to child safeguarding in emergency departments.
Matt Mansbridge, a national investigator, said the report drew on case studies of three children who were abused by their parents, which he said were a “hard read” and a “stark reminder” of the importance of diagnosing non-accidental injuries quickly, since these are the warning sign in nearly a third of child protection cases for infants under the age of one.
“For staff, these situations are fraught with complexity and exacerbated by the extreme pressure currently felt in emergency departments across the country,” Mansbridge said. He said the clinicians interviewed wanted to “see improvement and feel empowered” to ask difficult questions.
“The evidence from our investigation echoes what staff and national leads told us – that emergency department staff should have access to all the relevant information about the child, their history and their level of risk, and that safeguarding support needs to be consistent and timely/ Gaps in information and long waits for advice will only create further barriers to care,” he said.
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Source: The Guardian, 13 April 2023
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Covid: Staff propped up care homes without extra pay, says report

Many care home staff worked extra hours without extra pay to prop up the system during the pandemic, a study suggests.
Public money helped stabilise UK care homes during the first wave of Covid-19 but it was withdrawn too soon and not focused on staff, says the research, led by Warwick Business School.
The researchers studied the accounts of more than 4,000 UK care home companies, from just before the pandemic and during the first year of the health crisis.
They found nearly two thirds (60%) of care homes were already financially fragile as the pandemic took hold.
The report concludes: "The decision by government to end financial support for care home companies after the peak of the pandemic had passed has likely contributed to the current financial and operational difficulties experienced by the sector."
It states the financial plight of many staff and the immense pressure they were under "means it is not surprising the care home sector has struggled to both recruit and retain staff once lockdown restrictions were removed and the wider economy re-opened".
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Source: BBC News, 12 April 2023
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