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Patient Safety Learning

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  1. Patient Safety Learning
    A controversial unproven medical condition which is rooted in pseudoscience and disputed by doctors is routinely being used in Britain to explain deaths after police restraint, the Observer has found.
    “Acute behavioural disturbance” (ABD) and “excited delirium” are used to describe people who are agitated or acting bizarrely, usually due to mental illness, drug use or both. Symptoms are said to include insensitivity to pain, aggression, “superhuman” strength and elevated heart rate.
    Police and other emergency services say the labels, often used interchangeably, are a helpful shorthand used to identify when a person who might need medical help and restraint may be dangerous. But the terms are not recognised by the World Health Organization and have been condemned as “spurious” by campaigners who say they are used to “explain away” the police role in deaths.
    The American Medical Association rejected “excited delirium” after it was used by police lawyers in the case of George Floyd. California lawmakers banned it as a diagnosis or cause of death in October, saying it had been “used for decades to explain away mysterious deaths of mostly black and brown people in police custody”.
    The Royal College of Psychiatrists has also warned that the current definition of ABD, as it is now more commonly known in the UK, could be leading to people “being subjected to avoidable and potentially harmful interventions”. In 2017, a Home Office-commissioned review into deaths in police custody said the terms were “strongly disputed amongst medical professionals”.
    The Royal College of Psychiatrists has also warned that the current definition of ABD, as it is now more commonly known in the UK, could be leading to people “being subjected to avoidable and potentially harmful interventions”. In 2017, a Home Office-commissioned review into deaths in police custody said the terms were “strongly disputed amongst medical professionals”.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 17 March 2024
  2. Patient Safety Learning
    Hospitals are cynically burying evidence about poor care in a “cover-up culture” that leads to avoidable deaths, and families being denied the truth about their loved ones, the NHS ombudsman has warned.
    Ministers, NHS leaders and hospital boards are doing too little to end the health service’s deeply ingrained “cover-up culture” and victimisation of staff who turn whistleblower, he added.
    In an interview with the Guardian as he prepares to step down after seven years in the post, Rob Behrens claimed many parts of the NHS still put “reputation management” ahead of being open with relatives who have lost a loved one due to medical negligence.
    The ombudsman for England said that although the NHS was staffed by “brilliant people” working under intense pressures, too often his investigations into patients’ complaints had revealed cover-ups, “including the altering of care plans and the disappearance of crucial documents after patients have died and robust denial in the face of documentary evidence”.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 17 March 2024
  3. Patient Safety Learning
    Local NHS organisations are facing intense “pressure” from NHS England’s national and regional teams to cut staffing numbers to improve the service’s financial outlook for 2024-25. 
    Multiple sources have told HSJ that first draft financial returns submitted by the 42 integrated care systems indicate a combined deficit of around £6bn for the service.
    The £6bn figure is likely to fall substantially as NHS England meets individually with integrated care systems with the worst numbers.
    The need to reduce the number is prompting “horrible” conversations about service cuts, according to HSJ sources. One local leader in the South East region said the need to reduce staffing numbers constituted a “very significant part of the pushback on first-cut numbers”.
    A senior source in the Midlands added: “We’ve got virtually no workforce growth in our plan now… and we’ve still got a deficit. To get to breakeven we’d have to be looking at quite a significant workforce reduction.”
    Another leader in the South of the country said there was “big pressure” to get down to pre-pandemic staff numbers, “despite [the] increases in acuity, demand and backlogs as a consequence of covid”.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 18 March 2024
  4. Patient Safety Learning
    The wait to be diagnosed with endometriosis has increased to almost ten years, a "devastating" milestone say women with the condition.
    It now takes almost a year more than before 2020 to be diagnosed, according to research published by Endometriosis UK, which is setting up new volunteer-led support groups in Wales.
    The wait in Wales is also the longest in the UK, the research found.
    The Welsh government said it knew there was "room for improvement".
    "Nobody listened to me, and to feel like women are still going through that 20 years after my diagnosis is horrific," said Michelle Bates. The 48-year old from Cardiff was diagnosed aged 25 after suffering with "harrowing" pain from age 13 onwards - a 12-year wait.
    "I went back and forth to the GP with my mum, who was the only one who believed in my pain," she said.
    The study by Endometriosis UK, which is based on a survey of 4,371 people who received a diagnosis of endometriosis, showed almost half of all respondents (47%) had visited their GP 10 or more times with symptoms prior to receiving a diagnosis, and 70% had visited five times or more.
    It also found 78% of people who later went on to receive a diagnosis of endometriosis - up from 69% in 2020 - were told by doctors they were making a "fuss about nothing", or comments to that effect.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 18 March 2024
  5. Patient Safety Learning
    A nurse has warned that she has been “crushed and silenced” over a battle with the NHS and the nursing regulator to investigate claims that she was sexually harassed by a colleague at work.
    Michelle Russell told Nursing Times of the “eight-year nightmare” she has endured since coming forward about her experiences and that she said had recently led her nursing career to come to an end.
    “Knowing what’s happened to me is not going to make it easier for anybody else to speak out"
    She has argued that “speaking up is not encouraged” in the NHS and that her case would discourage other nurses from coming forward about sexual harassment.
    Ms Russell said: “Anybody who has been around me would be able to see the emotional impact of all of this on me.
    “I’ve lost my job for highlighting a public safety concern.”
    The national guardian for the NHS told Nursing Times sexual harassment was a “patient safety issue” and warned that staff continued to face difficulties when speaking out.
    It comes as the latest NHS Staff Survey this month revealed that almost 4% of nurses and midwives had been the target of unwanted sexual behaviour in the workplace by another member of staff in the last 12 months.
    Read full story
    Source: Nursing Times, 15 March 2024
  6. Patient Safety Learning
    Gripping a bag of morphine handed to him by hospital staff, Antonio sheltered at a bus stop, cold and shivering, as he tried to work out what to do.
    It was three days after undergoing gruelling surgery to remove his testicular cancer and the 36-year-old had been discharged from NHS care with nowhere to go.
    He was clutching a referral letter for the council’s housing team, given to him by hospital staff. When he arrived at the council office, he explained he had been homeless for the past few months – but was told they could not house him.
    “They asked me: ‘If you are in so much pain and trouble, why did they send you here?’ and I didn’t know what to say,” Antonio, whose name has been changed, tells The Independent. He was given a piece of paper with a phone number on it and told to call the next day.
    It was now late in the afternoon and the Salvation Army’s homeless day centre, where he would usually go for help, was closed. He had no option but to turn around and ready himself for a night on the streets.
    Antonio’s story is, tragically, not unique. He is one of thousands of people across England who have been discharged from NHS hospitals into homelessness in recent years, many while still battling serious health conditions.
    Data obtained by The Independent, in collaboration with the Salvation Army, shows at least 4,200 people were discharged from wards to “no fixed abode” in 2022/23.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 17 March 2024
  7. Patient Safety Learning
    The government is facing calls for a public inquiry into the scandal of sexual abuse in mental health hospitals, following an investigation by The Independent.
    Rape Crisis England and Wales has warned that the “alarming” scale of abuse within the UK’s psychiatric system requires “major intervention” from ministers.
    It comes after an expose by the Independent and Sky News revealed that almost 20,000 reports of sexual incidents – involving both patients and staff – had been made in more than half of NHS mental health trusts in the past five years.
    As well as a public inquiry, which would give survivors the chance to give evidence, Rape Crisis England and Wales wants the government to appoint a named minister with responsibility for addressing the problem.
    Chief executive Ciara Bergman said: “That anyone in the already vulnerable position of needing or being detained for in-patient care because of their mental health needs should experience sexual violence and abuse whilst in the care of the state, is deeply concerning.
    “We are concerned that without major intervention and leadership at the highest levels, this could lead to more incidents of sexual violence and abuse happening, and this behaviour being accepted as inevitable, when it is not, and is indeed absolutely preventable.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 15 March 2024
  8. Patient Safety Learning
    A doctor working at a women’s health clinic in Melbourne has been suspended as a regulator revealed it was aware of concerns about other practitioners there. The facility’s boss claims it is a “witch hunt”.
    It follows the death of 30-year-old mother Harjit Kaur, who died in January at the Hampton Park Women’s Clinic after what was described as a “minor procedure”.
    It was later identified as a pregnancy termination.
    The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) has confirmed Dr Rudolph Lopes’ registration had been suspended but did not reveal the reason behind the decision.
    His registration details show he was reprimanded in 2021 for failing to respond to the regulator’s inquiries.
    “[The regulator] has received a range of concerns about a number of practitioners associated with the Hampton Park Women’s Clinic,” Ahpra said in a statement.
    “[The regulator] has established a specialist team to lead a co-ordinated examination of these issues which involve multiple practitioners across a number of professions and across a number of practice locations.”
    Ahpra chief executive, Martin Fletcher, said he was “gravely concerned by the picture that is emerging.”
    “We have taken strong action to protect the public while our investigations continue,” Fletcher said.
    “National boards stand ready to take any further regulatory action needed to keep patients safe.
    “While the coroner continues to examine the tragic death of a patient, our inquiries are focusing on a wider range of issues that our investigations bring to light.”
    Read more
    Source: The Guardian, 15 March 2024
  9. Patient Safety Learning
    Some 6.8% of American adults are currently experiencing long Covid symptoms, according to a new survey from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), revealing an “alarming” increase in recent months even as the health agency relaxes Covid isolation recommendations, experts say.
    That means an estimated 17.6 million Americans could now be living with long Covid.
    “This should be setting off alarms for many people,” said David Putrino, the Nash Family Director of the Cohen Center for Recovery From Complex Chronic Illness at Mount Sinai. “We’re really starting to see issues emerging faster than I expected.”
    When the same survey was conducted in October, 5.3% of respondents were experiencing long Covid symptoms at the time.
    The 1.5 percentage-point increase comes after the second-biggest surge of infections across the US this winter, as measured by available wastewater data.
    More than three-quarters of the people with long Covid right now say the illness limits their day-to-day activity, and about one in five say it significantly affects their activities – an estimated 3.8 million Americans who are now experiencing debilitating illness after Covid infection.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 15 March 2024
  10. Patient Safety Learning
    Alice and Lewis Jones were forced to watch their 18-month-old baby die in front of them after a failure by a scandal-hit NHS trust left him with a “catastrophic brain injury” following his birth.
    Their son Ronnie was one of hundreds of babies who have died following errors by Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital, where the largest NHS maternity scandal to date was previously uncovered by The Independent.
    Two years later, Mr and Mrs Jones are calling for the Supreme Court to overturn a controversial decision in February which ruled bereaved relatives could not claim compensation over the psychological impact of seeing a loved one die, even if it was caused by medical negligence.
    It comes after the trust admitted to failings in a letter to the parents’ lawyers.
    Ronnie’s birth in 2020 fell outside of the Ockenden review and his parents have warned it showed failures were still occurring despite warnings made during the inquiry.
    Within the Ockenden inquiry, multiple cases of staff failing to recognise and act upon CTG training were found, and the final report recommended all hospitals have systems to ensure staff are trained and up to date in CTG and emergency skills.
    The report also said the NHS should make CTG training mandatory and that clinicians must not work in labour wards or provide childbirth care without it.
    A CTG measures a baby’s heart and monitors conditions in the uterus and is an important measure before birth and during labour to observe the baby for any signs of distress.
    Ms Jones said: “We knew about the Ockenden review, but everything at Telford was new and so I think we just assumed that lessons had been learned, the same thing wouldn’t happen to us.”
    Ronnie’s parents are campaigning to reverse the Supreme Court which ruled that “secondary victims” – including parents who are not directly harmed by the birth – are not eligible to bring claims for psychiatric injury following medical negligence.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 14 March 2024
  11. Patient Safety Learning
    A trust which last year was ordered to pay a whistleblowing nurse nearly £500,000 must now give a surgeon £430,000 to compensate him for the racial discrimination and harassment he faced after raising patient safety concerns.
    Tribunal judges previously upheld complaints made by Manuf Kassem against North Tees and Hartlepool Foundation Trust and have published a remedy judgment this week setting out the levels of damages the NHS organisation must pay.
    The judgment comes just over a year after a former senior nurse at the trust was awarded £472,600 for unfair dismissal after she warned high workloads had led to a patient’s death.
    Mr Kassem raised 25 concerns regarding patients’ care during a grievance meeting in August 2017. He alleged patients had “suffered complications, negligence, delayed treatment and avoidable deaths”.
    A trust review concluded appropriate processes were followed in the 25 cases. However, the tribunal ruled Mr Kassem was subjected to detriment after making the protected disclosure.
    According to the judgment, Mr Kassem was subsequently removed from the on-call emergency rota and his identity as a whistleblower was revealed by clinical director Anil Agarwal.
    In September 2018, he was the subject of a disciplinary investigation following several allegations against him made by colleagues and others, which concerned “unsafe working practices,” “excessive working hours,” and “potential fraudulent activity.”
    The investigation lasted 17 months and none of the allegations against Mr Kassem were upheld or progressed to a disciplinary hearing. 
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 15 March 2024
  12. Patient Safety Learning
    A "virtual ward" enabling patients who want to die at home get the palliative care they need has launched.
    Hospice Outreach provides a "specialised pathway" for patients identified by existing services who would benefit from support.
    It is part of a project that supports people at the very end of their life.
    Dr Victoria Bradley, of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH), said it was about giving people "control and agency".
    OUH claims Hospice Outreach's virtual ward will mean more people will receive personalised care, including in their own homes if that is their choice.
    It said specialist palliative care would be "provided virtually or in person, depending on what is best for the patient".
    Amelia Foster, chief executive at Sobell House, said: "Being able to offer a virtual ward to those in a palliative crisis or at the end of their lives helping them to remain at home means more people can access our care in the way that they wish."
    Dr Bradley, who is the clinical lead for palliative medicine at OUH, said: "We can support with discharge from hospital to people's homes if that is their wish, and by reducing people's time in hospital and caring for them at home, we can offer the right support in their chosen surroundings."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 14 March 2024
  13. Patient Safety Learning
    NHS England has told integrated care board (ICBs) leaders they must intervene over failures in abortion services in their patches amid “unprecedented demand” for such provision, HSJ has learned.
    NICE guidance states people should be assessed within a week of requesting an abortion, while procedures should take place within a week of assessment.
    However, NHSE said in a letter to ICBs today that “significant service pressures” have driven up waiting times for surgical abortions – approximately 13% of procedures – to three weeks or longer.
    NHSE has told ICBs to work with providers to, by July 2024:
    Respond to cases of “acute service disruption” and instances where rising waiting times risk limiting access to services; Establish referral pathways and procedures to ensure smooth transfers of care between independent and NHS providers when required; Ensure contracts for 2024-25 are sustainable and follow guidance in the NHS payment scheme; and Commission services in a more managed and collaborative way, including coordination of provision locally to bring waiting times in line with NICE standards. Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 12 March 2024
  14. Patient Safety Learning
    Doctors made do-not-resuscitate orders for elderly and disabled patients during the pandemic without the knowledge of their families, breaching their human rights, a parliamentary watchdog has said.
    In a new report on breaches of the orders during the pandemic, the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) found failings from at least 13 patient complaints.
    The research, carried out with the charity Dignity in Dying, found “unacceptable” failures in how end-of-life care conversations are held, and in particular with elderly and disabled patients.
    Following a review of complaints in 2019 and 2020 the PHSO found evidence in some cases that doctors did not even inform the patient or their family that a notice had been made and so breached their human rights.
    The report calls for health services in Britain to improve the approach by medics in talking about death and end-of-life care.
    In examples of cases reviewed, the PHSO revealed the story of 58-year-old Sonia Deleon who had schizophrenia and learning disabilities and a notice which was wrongly applied during the pandemic.
    In 2020, she was admitted to Southend University Hospital after contracting Covid-19 at age 58. On three occasions a notice was made but her family were never informed.
    Following Sonia’s death her family found out the reasons given by doctors for the DNAR which “included frailty, having a learning disability, poor physiological reserve, schizophrenia and being dependent for daily activities.”
    Sonia’s sister Sally-Rose Cyrille said: “I was devastated, shocked and angry. The fact that multiple notices had been placed in Sone’s file without consultation with us, without our knowledge, it was like being hit with a sledgehammer.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 14 March 2024
  15. Patient Safety Learning
    Staff whistleblowers have raised concerns over patient safety at one of Northern Ireland's biggest health trusts.
    Information received by UTV under Freedom of Information shows that most of the worries from health workers at the Belfast Health Trust relate to the Royal Victoria Hospital.
    Belfast Health Trust said any concerns raised by staff are investigated.
    The Royal College of Nursing NI was due to hold a webinar with members on Tuesday evening to discuss concerns members have about safety of patients being treated on corridors.
    The RCN's Rita Devlin said that the number of concerns raised with health trusts through the whistleblowing policy is only the tip of the iceberg.
    The concerns included unsafe staffing levels, bed shortages, boarding of patients, ED overcrowding, alleged drug dealing on a hospital site, staff sleeping on night duty, lack of mental health beds and the quality of staff training.
    The Belfast Trust said all staff are encouraged to make management aware of issues giving them concern through the whistleblowing process.
    The Trust added: "Any concern we receive is subject to a fair and proportionate process of investigation.
    "Whistleblowing investigations are of a fact finding nature and all relevant learning is shared as appropriate and taken forward by the Trust."
    Read full story
    Source: ITVX. 12 March 2024
  16. Patient Safety Learning
    A board director has publicly criticised his trust for its treatment of Muslim staff and patients.
    Mohammed Hussain posted on social media that some board members at Bradford Teaching Hospitals “are not heard and listened to”, and that there is a “dissonance” between its espoused values and the “lived experiences” of minority ethnic staff.
    Mr Hussain, a non-executive director since 2019, was responding to a post by CEO Mel Pickup, who had said the trust had a “variety of support offers for colleagues observing Ramadan”.
    He said there are “many examples” of Muslim families experiencing poor responses to complaints to the trust, while claiming that “outstanding” Muslim staff are having to “move out of the area to progress because they are not promoted internally”.
    The trust said its launching an investigation into the concerns raised by Mr Hussain. 
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 12 March 2024
  17. Patient Safety Learning
    NHS England has confirmed new financial incentives for trusts to deliver strong performance against the four-hour emergency target this month.
    National leaders are desperate for the NHS to hit the four-hour target in 76% of cases in March, telling trusts earlier this month that it was necessary to restore confidence in the health service.
    They took the unusual step at the start of the month of asking local leaders to sign a commitment to deliver the necessary performance. The recent pressure has come under criticism for encouraging hospitals to prioritise four-hour performance over caring for the sickest patients.
    It was also indicated there would be new financial incentives for those delivering the best performance.
    In a letter, NHSE confirmed a significant expansion to the criteria for trusts to claim a share of a £150m incentive fund, by improving their headline accident and emergency performance.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 12 March 2024
  18. Patient Safety Learning
    Women working for the NHS will be entitled to two weeks’ leave if they have a miscarriage, in a move hailed as a major step to wider recognition of the trauma of baby loss.
    NHS England has announced that all staff who lose a baby before 24 weeks should receive up to 10 days’ paid leave to help them recover from the distress involved.
    “Baby loss is an extremely traumatic experience that hundreds of NHS staff experience each year and it is right that they are treated with the utmost care and compassion when going through such an upsetting experience,” said Dr Navina Evans, its chief officer for workforce, training and education.
    Women will also be able to take further paid time off after a miscarriage for medical examinations, scans or other tests, or to receive mental health support, as well as the two-week grieving period.
    Rachel Hutchings, a fellow at the Nuffield Trust health thinktank, said its recent research into how parenting and caring responsibilities affect surgeons found that some staff who had a miscarriage did not feel well supported by the NHS.
    “Although some organisations had already introduced additional support for people who experienced baby loss, it is incredibly welcome that this policy recognises the experiences of these individuals and will ensure a more consistent approach”, said Hutchings.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 13 March 2024
  19. Patient Safety Learning
    Women who freeze their eggs are being misled by some UK clinics about their chances of having a baby, a fertility charity says.
    The Fertility Network was reacting to BBC analysis that found 41% of clinics offering the service privately could be breaching advertising guidance.
    The watchdog which sets guidance says clinics "must not give false or misleading information".
    It comes as a record number of people are freezing their eggs.
    The UK fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), also said it was concerned about the information given to those considering egg freezing.
    A successful pregnancy is not guaranteed by the procedure.
    Egg freezing for non-medical reasons, also known as social egg freezing, is an increasingly popular method for women to preserve their fertility in order to have children at a later date.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 13 March 2024
  20. Patient Safety Learning
    Children will no longer routinely be prescribed puberty blockers at gender identity clinics, NHS England has confirmed.
    The decision comes after a review found there was "not enough evidence" they are safe or effective.
    Puberty blockers, which pause the physical changes of puberty, will now only be available as part of research.
    It comes weeks before an independent review into gender identity services in England is due to be published.
    An interim report from the review, published in 2022 by Dr Hilary Cass, had earlier found there were "gaps in evidence" around the drugs and called for a transformation in the model of care for children with gender-related distress.
    Health Minister Maria Caulfield said: "We have always been clear that children's safety and wellbeing is paramount, so we welcome this landmark decision by the NHS.
    "Ending the routine prescription of puberty blockers will help ensure that care is based on evidence, expert clinical opinion and is in the best interests of the child."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 13 March 2024
  21. Patient Safety Learning
    A mental health trust linked to thousands of unexpected patient deaths repeatedly failed to act on coroners' safety warnings, campaigners say.
    BBC News has been given exclusive access to new evidence from coroners' reports gathered by a campaign group.
    It wants a criminal investigation into why so many patients died at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust - and has sent police the evidence.
    Campaigners, including patients and bereaved families, claim it is failing to make vital safety improvements despite promising to do so.
    Last summer, a report found more than 8,000 mental-health patients had died unexpectedly in Norfolk and Suffolk between 2019 and 2022. This is defined as the death of a patient who has not been identified as critically ill or whose death is not expected by the clinical team.
    The new evidence, based on 38 coroners' prevention of future death (PFD) reports since 2013, suggests there were repeated warnings more patients could die unless safety issues were addressed, including:
    dangerously poor record-keeping and communication family concerns being ignored unsafe levels of staffing at the trust. And campaigners say the trust's failure to improve safety has led to more deaths.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 12 March 2024
  22. Patient Safety Learning
    At least 50,000 people will die from pancreatic cancer over the next five years unless the government gives more funding to improve how quickly the condition is diagnosed and treated, a major charity has warned.
    Pancreatic Cancer UK hit out at 50 years of “unacceptably slow progress” compared to other types of cancer as it warned that thousands of lives will be lost unless £35m of “urgent” investment is put towards improving survival rates of the disease.
    The charity predicted that pancreatic cancer – described by experts as the “quickest-killing cancer” – is expected to kill more people each year than breast cancer by 2027, which would make it the fourth-biggest cause of cancer deaths in the UK.
    The charity has also called for a commitment to treat everyone diagnosed with the cancer within 21 days, which it says would double the number of people getting treatment in time.
    Figures show that, compared to the 52.5% survival rate across the 20 most common cancers in the UK, those with pancreatic cancer have just a 7% survival rate.
    Around 10,500 people are diagnosed with the disease each year, with 9,558 deaths a year, according to Cancer Research UK, with more than half of people dying within three months of diagnosis.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 12 March 2024
  23. Patient Safety Learning
    Millions of people are being urged to get checks for a condition which has been described as the “silent killer”.
    If left untreated, high blood pressure can lead to heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and vascular dementia.
    Up to 4.2 million people in England are thought to be living with high blood pressure without knowing it – around a third of all those with the condition.
    Now, a new NHS Get Your Blood Pressure Checked campaign has been launched, backed by health charities, to warn people the condition often has no symptoms.
    England’s chief medical officer, Professor Sir Chris Whitty, said: “High blood pressure usually has no symptoms but can lead to serious health consequences.
    “The only way to know if you have high blood pressure is to get a simple, non-invasive blood pressure test.
    “Even if you are diagnosed, the good news is that it’s usually easily treatable.
    “Getting your blood pressure checked at a local pharmacy is free, quick and you don’t even need an appointment, so please go for a check today – it could save your life.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 11 March 2024
  24. Patient Safety Learning
    Britain’s hard-pressed carers need all the help they can get. But that should not include using unregulated AI bots, according to researchers who say the AI revolution in social care needs a hard ethical edge.
    A pilot study by academics at the University of Oxford found some care providers had been using generative AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Bard to create care plans for people receiving care.
    That presents a potential risk to patient confidentiality, according to Dr Caroline Green, an early career research fellow at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford, who surveyed care organisations for the study.
    “If you put any type of personal data into [a generative AI chatbot], that data is used to train the language model,” Green said. “That personal data could be generated and revealed to somebody else.”
    She said carers might act on faulty or biased information and inadvertently cause harm, and an AI-generated care plan might be substandard.
    But there were also potential benefits to AI, Green added. “It could help with this administrative heavy work and allow people to revisit care plans more often. At the moment, I wouldn’t encourage anyone to do that, but there are organisations working on creating apps and websites to do exactly that.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 10 March 2024
  25. Patient Safety Learning
    A large number of people in hospital beds waiting for onward care has forced an NHS trust to declare a critical incident to "protect patient safety".
    Isle of Wight NHS Trust said on Monday demand for its emergency departments was outstripping the number of free beds, leading to delays.
    People are being asked to collect their relatives as soon as they are ready to be discharged.
    In a statement, interim chief operating officer Victoria Lauchlan said: "We currently have a high number of people in hospital beds who are waiting for onward care arrangements in the community.
    "We are working as an island healthcare system to do everything we can to ensure we can help better support these people to be discharged home with a package of care or to care and nursing homes.
    "At this time we are asking people to help by collecting their relatives or friends as soon as they are ready to leave and helping with any additional care and support at home."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 12 March 2024
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