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Patient Safety Learning

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  1. Patient Safety Learning
    An urgent inquiry to investigate how alleged systemic racism in the NHS manifests itself in maternity care will be launched on Tuesday with support from the UK charity Birthrights.
    The inquiry will apply a human rights lens to examine how claimed racial injustice – from explicit racism to bias – is leading to poorer health outcomes in maternity care for ethnic minority groups.
    Data published last month by MBRRACE-UK (Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the country) showed black women were four times more likely than white women to die in pregnancy or childbirth in the UK while women from Asian ethnic backgrounds face twice the risk.
    Barrister Shaheen Rahman QC, who will lead the inquiry, said: “In addition to these stark statistics there are concerns about higher rates of maternal illness, worse experiences of maternity care and the fact black and Asian pregnant women are far more likely to be admitted to hospital with COVID-19.
    “We want to understand the stories behind the statistics, to examine how people can be discriminated against due to their race and to identify ways this inequity can be redressed.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 7 February 2021
     
  3. Patient Safety Learning
    Toronto, Canada, will launch a pilot programme that will see civilians, not police officers, dispatched to 911 calls involving mental health crises — as long as violence is not being threatened.
    Council also approved a motion by Mayor John Tory to fast-track parts of the plan and review 911 call services in 2021 to determine how best to dispatch help through the proposed new service.
    The plan calls for four crisis support teams in different parts of the city, to respond to some of the roughly 30,000 calls for people in crisis that go through 911 each year. 
    Pilot programmes are to be launched in early 2022, and were scheduled to be fully implemented in 2026 if proven successful. Tory’s motion called for full implementation by 2025.
    “Putting something else in place is not a simple task. It is necessary that we do it properly,” said Tory, in bringing forward the motion. Nonetheless, the mayor said, he believes it can be done more quickly.
    Asante Haughton, a mental health advocate and co-founder of the Reach Out Response Network, focused on transformational change in mental-health crisis response, said the move is another rung on the ladder to a more equitable society.
    “I really see this as an opportunity to transform the way that we think about mental health and transform the way that we think about social service and community building in general,” he said.
    Read full story
    Source: Toronto Star, 2 February 2021
  4. Patient Safety Learning
    Relatives of patients who died after receiving "dangerous" levels of painkillers at Gosport War Memorial Hospital have called for new inquests. 
    An inquiry found 456 patients died after being given opiate drugs at the hospital between 1987 and 2001, but no charges have ever been brought.
    Four families told the BBC they have requested judge-led "Hillsborough-style" hearings with a jury. The Attorney General's Office said it was reviewing the application.
    Police began a fresh inquiry in 2019 into 700 deaths after the Gosport Independent Review Panel found there was a "disregard for human life" at the hospital in Hampshire.
    Coroner-led inquests in 2009 found drugs administered at the hospital contributed to five deaths.
    However, lawyers representing some of the families told the BBC more wide-ranging inquests similar to those that examined the events of the Hillsborough disaster should be undertaken.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 5 February 2021
  5. Patient Safety Learning
    Hospitals across the country are preparing for a significant increase in children needing treatment for a rare disease triggered by coronavirus.
    Paediatric departments across the NHS are recalling children’s nurses who have been redeployed to help care for adult patients as well as freeing up specialist intensive care beds to be ready for more cases of the rare condition first identified after the first wave last year.
    Because of how widespread COVID-19 infections have become in the last month, with the numbers of patients in hospital peaking at almost 40,000, experts believe they will see a larger number of children affected by the disease called Paediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (PIMS).
    Modelling by London’s Evelina Children’s Hospital, which treated around 110 children with PIMS during the first wave of the virus, suggested for every 200 adults admitted to hospital across London, there was one child admitted with PIMS at the Evelina.
    This modelling cannot be used to predict admissions across the country, but paediatric experts believe they will begin to see a larger number of children with the condition with a peak expected in the next three weeks.
    It is thought COVID-19 triggers an inflammatory response among a very small minority of children – of all children infected with COVID-19, less than half of one per cent went on to develop PIMS.
    Those that do suffer severe inflammation in their blood vessels and can have damage to their heart. Symptoms of PIMS include a rash, fever and abdominal pain.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 4 February 2021
  6. Patient Safety Learning
    About one in three people recently given a Covid vaccine by the NHS report some side-effects.
    None was serious - a common one was some soreness around the injection site, the UK researchers who gathered the feedback found.
    Experts say the findings, from about 40,000 people - mostly healthcare workers - are reassuring for the millions having the vaccines now.
    The Zoe app team from King's College London found:
    37% experienced some local "after-effects", such as pain or swelling near the site of the injection, after their first dose, rising to about 45% of the 10,000 who had received two doses 14% had at least one whole-body (systemic) after-effect - such as fever, aches or chills - within seven days of the first dose, rising to about 22% after the second dose These after-effects get better within a few days. All of the medical trials and real-world experiences so far suggest the vaccines are safe and effective.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 4 February 2021
  7. Patient Safety Learning
    To be successful digital health technology must be accessible to all while still maintaining the human aspects of healthcare, a new report has said.
    ‘Digital Health during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Learning Lessons to Maintain Momentum’ draws on research and case studies of good practice in digital health during the pandemic.
    The aim of the report is to offer policy recommendations to help ensure the UK capitalises on the potential of digital health to the benefit of patients, the NHS and the UK, after the crisis subsides.
    The report, launched by the Patient Coalition for AI, Data and Digital Tech in Health, with support from patient organisations and the Royal Colleges of Nursing and Radiologists, highlights that uptake of digital health technologies has been limited, while patient experience of technologies including video conferencing and mobile apps has been mixed.
    While patients strongly believe in the value of digital health, there are still significant concerns about using it, particularly around data collection and sharing.
    A number of key organisations gave their support to the report. This included the likes of the British Heart Foundation, Patient Safety Learning and the Royal College of Nursing.
    Read full story
    Source: Digital Health, 3 February 2021
  8. Patient Safety Learning
    Within a few months of joining Great Ormond Street Hospital Foundation Trust as medical director, Mat Shaw became its chief executive. Heading up the organisation clearly brought with it new responsibilities and challenges, yet he says on one important issue there was little difference between the two roles – namely, the focus on patient safety and enabling clinicians to offer the best possible care for patients.
    “I lived through the time when all notes were on paper, when you had five, six volumes of thousands of pages. I lived through that time when it was very difficult to actually know what information to collect, and from where you should collect it, to make decisions around patients. And I recognise we don’t always do the right thing based on those systems.
    “So for me it’s been tremendously important to try and bring a system in, and the digital tools which are needed, to make care kinder and also safer, with better outcomes for patients. In our new strategy, digital is front and centre in a way that it’s never been before, because I consider this agenda so important to how we treat patients.”
    Read full story
    Source: HSJ (paywalled), 3 February 2021
     
  9. Patient Safety Learning
    Care homes in England operated by profitable chains have been branded unsafe by inspectors, who found serious failures in efforts to control the spread of coronavirus in its latest wave.
    In the last month 40% of care homes inspected by the Care Quality Commission in England were judged to be inadequate or in need of improvement. Several handling fatal coronavirus outbreaks were revealed to have broken laws meant to keep residents safe.
    Some of the worst failings uncovered in reports filed in the last month include CCTV showing PPE being used wrongly on 63 occasions in one home, infected residents mixing in communal areas with Covid-free residents, chronic staff shortages, and a care home manager continuing to work after showing Covid symptoms.
    The spate of problems relates to a small minority of care homes but coincides with a tripling of fatalities linked to the virus among care residents in England and Wales.
    Read full story
    Source: 4 February 2021
  10. Patient Safety Learning
    The NHS has been urged to rethink safety for thousands of frontline staff after new research suggested that Covid patients’ coughing is putting them at far greater risk of catching the virus than previously thought.
    The study found that coughing generated at least 10 times more infectious “aerosol” particles than speaking or breathing – which could explain why so many NHS staff have fallen ill during the pandemic.
    The research has led to fresh demands that anyone caring for someone with Covid-19, or suspected Covid-19, should be provided with the most protective equipment – including FFP3 respirator masks – and that hospital ventilation should be improved.
    Health workers are up to four times more likely to contract coronavirus than the general population, with infection rates among those on general hospital wards approximately double those of intensive care unit (ICU) staff – who do have access to the most protective PPE.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 3 January 2021
  11. Patient Safety Learning
    People with a learning disability must be urgently prioritised for the coronavirus vaccine, charities have warned as new data shows they are almost twice as likely to die from the virus than the general population.
    The latest data for learning disability deaths shows 80% of deaths in the week to 22 January were linked to COVID-19. This compares to just 45% in the general population.
    The charity Mencap said everyone with a learning disability should be prioritised for the vaccine.
    According to its analysis of deaths reported to the Office for National Statistics and the national Learning Disabilities Mortality Review programme, the proportion of deaths among the learning disabled has been increasing every week since November when it was just above 35%.
    Harry Roche, an ambassador at Mencap who has a learning disability, said: “The death rate for 18- to 34-year-olds with a learning disability is 30 times higher than the rest of the population. I’m 32 years old and have a learning disability – this statistic scares me. I’m calling on Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock to rethink and prioritise everyone with a learning disability. We are too often forgotten, don’t ignore us now.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 3 February 2021
  12. Patient Safety Learning
    With the first phase of the UK’s vaccination programme now fully under way, the government’s self-congratulatory tone suggests all clinically vulnerable groups are soon in line for protection. There’s certainly reason to be positive: millions of people are on their way to safety. But look a little closer and many high-risk people are struggling to access the vaccine.
    When the vaccine was first introduced last year, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) put shielders – or the “clinically extremely vulnerable” (CEV) – as low as sixth on the priority list, behind older people with no underlying health conditions. It resulted in the baffling situation where a marathon-running 65-year-old was given priority for the vaccine over a 20-year-old with lung disease who needs oxygen support. The government U-turned after pressure, moving CEV people up to fourth spot behind healthy over-75s.
    These are complex calculations, but there are still fears some will miss out. Some young disabled people who don’t meet the government’s narrow criteria of CEV and are worried they won’t be prioritised at all.
    Shielders – many of whom are of working age and live with children – also have extra risk factors compared with older people. As the British Medical Association said this month, we need a more sophisticated vaccine delivery that takes into account circumstantial factors such as race, health inequality and employment. I’ve received many messages from shielders who are terrified of being forced out to work, or of schools reopening before they get their vaccine.
    There are also those with learning disabilities to consider. Currently, only older people with a learning disability, those who have Down’s syndrome or people who are judged as having a severe learning disability are on the priority list. This means that people with a mild or moderate learning disability aren’t prioritised at all. This is despite the fact all people with learning disabilities have a death rate six times higher than the general population. Young adults with a learning disability are 30 times more likely to die of Covid than young adults in the general population.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 3 February 2021
  13. Patient Safety Learning
    Clinicians within a major teaching hospital’s cancer services have raised multiple concerns over patient safety, which they believe have resulted from badly planned service changes in response to the covid crisis.
    HSJ has spoken to several staff members who have worked in the haematology speciality at University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust since last June, when the services underwent significant changes to free up capacity for coronavirus patients.
    This involved most haematology services at Heartlands Hospital in east Birmingham moving to the trust’s main Queen Elizabeth Hospital site in Edgbaston.
    The staff, who all wished to remain anonymous, told HSJ the transfer happened at just one week’s notice and was poorly planned. Once implemented, they said QEH’s newly enlarged service suffered from extreme staffing shortages, leading to several “never events”, such as patients being given the wrong blood type.
    In one resignation letter, a nurse who had transferred to QEH told managers patients’ “basic care needs are not being met”.
    The nurse said most shifts were understaffed, with examples of three nurses looking after 30 patients and added in the resignation letter: “I am witnessing strong and knowledgeable colleagues breaking down on each shift.
    “Furthermore, never events are happening at an alarming rate, necessary resources are commonly unavailable and communication between all levels of seniority is poor…"
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 2 February 2021
  14. Patient Safety Learning
    Coronavirus patients who call an ambulance but are not yet sick enough to go to hospital are being given new home oxygen monitoring kits to help spot those who may deteriorate earlier.
    Across the Thames Valley region, thousands of patients will be given the kits which include a pulse oximeter device to monitor blood oxygen levels, a diary to track their symptoms and advice on what to do if they become sicker.
    South Central Ambulance Service Trust (SCAS) has become the first ambulance service in the country to launch the scheme after research showed a small drop in oxygen levels among some patients could be an early warning sign of serious complications.
    Patients with pneumonia and non-Covid lung conditions often experience shortness of breath before a drop in oxygen levels. But with coronavirus, patients can suffer what has been called ‘silent hypoxia’ where their oxygen levels can fall before the patient becomes breathless and calls for help.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 2 February 2021
  15. Patient Safety Learning
    The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine could lead to a "substantial" fall in the spread of the virus, say scientists.
    The impact of Covid vaccines on transmission has been a crucial unknown that will dramatically shape the future of the pandemic.
    The study, which has not been formally published, also showed the vaccine remained effective while people waited for a second dose. It was 76% effective during the three months after the first shot. 
    The UK, amid global debate and in sharp contrast to other countries, is prioritising giving the first dose to as many people as possible. The idea is to save more lives by giving more people some protection, but it means people will have to wait around three months for the booster instead of three weeks.
    This study - on 17,000 people in the UK, South Africa and Brazil - showed protection remained at 76% during the three months after the first dose. This rose to 82% after people were given the second dose.
    Prof Andrew Pollard, from the Oxford Vaccine Trial, said: "These new data provide an important verification of the interim data that was used by more than 25 regulators including the MHRA and EMA to grant the vaccine emergency use authorisation."
    "It also supports the policy recommendation made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation for a 12-week prime-boost interval, as they look for the optimal approach to rollout."
    The report does not tackle the impact of the new variants on how well the vaccines work.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 2 February 2021
     
     
  16. Patient Safety Learning
    The NHS’s London regional team has told its integrated care systems (ICS) to draw up plans for ‘another possible [covid-19] surge later in 2021’, HSJ has learned.
    The guidance, dated February 2021 says: “Later in March/early April we will ask for systems to begin to plan for a possible wave 3 covid surge.”
    The NHS England and Improvement London presentation adds: “[The] purpose of the critical care de-surge plan [is to] ensure that the… bed base can expand safely in the event of a 3rd covid surge and/or other major incident/event.”
    Any surge in covid cases is likely to be caused by new variants of the virus, such as those originating in Brazil and South Africa, which are more resistant to vaccines, becoming dominant in the UK. At present government advisers think this is unlikely and that even if this scenario did arise, it will be possible to modify vaccines to combat the new strain.
    The guidance sets out three other “strategic goals” the ICSs should address. But it has “surprised” senior figures from outside London who were waiting for the national framework for tackling the NHS’ growing elective waiting list expected later this month.
    The presentation said the other key goals were to: ensure “staff get… immediate rest and respite”; set out plans to “desurge critical care”; and plan for elective recovery.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 3 March 2021
  17. Patient Safety Learning
    Failures to follow national guidelines to prevent group B Strep infections in newborn babies is leading to a postcode lottery of care and opportunities to stop deadly infections being missed, a new report has found. Nearly 90% of hospitals in the UK are not using the recommended test for GBS carriage – which costs around £11- despite clear guidance issued by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and Public Health England (PHE) that the test can significantly decrease false-negative results.
    Group B Strep is the UK’s most common cause of severe infection in newborn babies, causing sepsis, pneumonia, and meningitis. Approximately 800 babies a year in the UK develop group B Strep infection in their first 3 months of life, 50 babies will die, with another 70 survivors left with life-changing disabilities. Most of these infections could be prevented.
    Only a tiny number of NHS Trusts are following the key new recommendations around giving pregnant women information on group B Strep, offering testing to some pregnant women, and following Public Health England guidelines on testing for group B Strep. As a result, pregnant women face a postcode lottery, potentially receiving significantly different care from recommended practice.
    Read full story
    Source: Group B Strep Support, 1 February 2021
  18. Patient Safety Learning
    The pandemic has had a deep impact on children, who are arriving in A&E in greater numbers and at younger ages after self-harming or taking overdoses, writes Dr John Wright of Bradford Royal Infirmary.
    Children are a lost tribe in the pandemic. While they remain (for the most part) perplexingly immune to the health consequences of COVID-19, their lives and daily routines have been turned upside down.
    From surveys and interviews carried out for the Born in Bradford study, we know that they are anxious, isolated and bored, and we see the tip of this iceberg of mental ill health in the hospital.
    Children in mental health crisis used to be brought to A&E about twice a week. Since the summer it's been more like once or twice a day. Some as young as 10 have cut themselves, taken overdoses, or tried to asphyxiate themselves.
    There was even one child aged eight.
    Lockdown "massively exacerbates any pre-existing mental health issues - fears, anxieties, feelings of disconnection and isolation," says A&E consultant Dave Greenhorn.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 2 February 2021
  19. Patient Safety Learning
    A newborn baby died after doctors caring for him failed to realise that the umbilical venous catheter (UVC) through which he was being fed and medicated was wrongly positioned, a coroner has found.
    Anna Crawford, assistant coroner for Surrey, called for guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on the use of the catheters after hearing that none currently exist.
    Yo Li was born extremely prematurely at St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey on 11 January 2019 and transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit, where he was put on mechanical ventilation. A UVC was inserted but it was wrongly positioned within his liver tissue and he died four days later.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: BMJ, 29 January 2021
  20. Patient Safety Learning
    A hospital has reported a "significant" increase in the number of pregnant women being treated for coronavirus.
    New Cross Hospital, in Wolverhampton, said part of its maternity ward had been sectioned off for Covid patients. 
    Nationally, the proportion of pregnant women in intensive care has almost doubled since the first wave.
    The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said pregnant women were at no greater risk of being infected with Covid than the general public.
    The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust's chief executive said the cause of the increase in the city was unclear.
    "We're seeing a lot more pregnant women now suffering with Covid and some of them have been very, very ill," Prof David Loughton said at a regional coronavirus briefing on Friday."We have had some deaths," he continued, "so that is really sad".
    An intensive care audit has shown the percentage of pregnant women aged 16-49 has almost doubled in the second wave compared to the first wave of the pandemic. Up until the end of August, 29 women in that age bracket who had been admitted with coronavirus were pregnant, compared to 103 from September to the end of January.
    Recently, the intensive care unit treated two Covid-positive pregnant patients and almost 200 expectant mothers tested positive in the city during the past quarter.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 2 February 2021
     
     
  21. Patient Safety Learning
    More than 2.5 million people over the age of 80 have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, NHS England has said. But the vaccine is failing to reach thousands of elderly people who receive care in their own homes, according to a provider, because they are too frail to travel to vaccination centres or fear catching the virus if they do.
    The Guardian spoke to three people who have family members over 80 still waiting to be vaccinated.
    “How on earth are elderly people expected to negotiate the system if they don’t have any help?” says Amanda Elliott, 59. Her father-in-law, George Elliott, 98, of Polegate, East Sussex, is still waiting to be vaccinated. “It seems very unfair,” she says.
    George, who was a glider pilot in the second world war, doesn’t feel entitled to a jab but finds the situation “puzzling”, Amanda says. He has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), finds it very difficult to move and has a carer going into his home twice a day.
    Amanda, a support worker at a school in Sutton, says George received a letter inviting him to book his vaccination online and “tried without success”. He then called to book over the phone and was offered an appointment in Brighton, Hastings or Petersfield, to which he would have difficulty travelling.
    “I called the booking line on his behalf last week to find out what he should do as he is housebound. I was directed to his GP and his surgery told me they are not carrying out vaccinations and that I shouldn’t have contacted them about this. They were very unhelpful,” Amanda says.
    In Kirkcaldy, Fife, 88-year-old Christina McPhee, who is housebound, is still waiting to be vaccinated. “The district nurse has to administer the vaccine to those who can’t leave their homes, but the local GP practice told me last Friday they have none allocated for those in the area,” says her niece Mary.
    AdMcPhee has a tracheostomy and has carers and nurses visiting her several times a day, making her “very vulnerable” because she is high risk. Her sister, Mary’s mother, who is 82 and lives with McPhee, was able to get the vaccine because she could travel to the surgery, but there is no news about when McPhee is likely to receive hers.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 1 February 2021
  22. Patient Safety Learning
    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) could regularly change its ratings of health and care providers without inspectors visiting them, under new plans from the watchdog.
    The CQC has said it wants to “move away from using comprehensive, on-site inspection as the main way of updating ratings” and instead use other sources like data and feedback from the public, to update ratings more regularly.
    At present — under the tough ratings regime introduced in 2014 in the wake of the Mid Staffs inquiry findings — it cannot change a provider’s score without carrying out a full inspection.
    It said in a recently published consultation that inspections “will remain an important part of how we assess quality,” but this will mostly be through more “targeted” inspections linked to significant risks to people’s safety, and the rights of vulnerable people.
    During the covid pandemic, CQC has targeted its on-site inspections at services where potential risks are identified, or where improvements are needed.
    Professor Ted Baker, the CQC’s chief inspector of hospitals, told HSJ the regulator wanted to move away from its current “fairly rigid” timetable of inspections in favour of a more “flexible” approach.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 2 February 2021
  23. Patient Safety Learning
    Self-care, self-management, illness prevention and personal goals are a vital part of wellbeing for many patients and carers. That’s why the Professional Records Standard Body (PRSB) is building a Patient and People Network, in order to support them in influencing the information that is prioritised for care and decide how it’s shared. 
    Covid has changed health and care priorities permanently and we know that digital is here to stay. Our goal is to ensure this can be done in the best way possible to maximise patient benefits and minimise any risks. To do this we have established a people priorities team, made up of patients and engagement specialists, and developed a strategy to help us deliver a programme of work that puts patient needs and priorities at its heart. We will be aiming to expand the team of patients and carers we currently work with, to address the issues that they feel are most pressing as well as work closely with our members’ and partners’ user networks. This will include challenges such as health inequalities, lack of access to information and sharing in decision-making. We appreciate that people’s information needs may be different to the professionals who treat them, but are equally important.  
    Our goals will be to work with a more diverse network of people on projects and better support people in sharing their views and concerns. We will be re-evaluating current processes to ensure that topics are accessible and that people feel they can get involved and share their views in a meaningful way to support change within the system.  The new network will also offer support and training where needed. If you’re a carer or someone who has used services in the past and would like to get involved, please contact us on info@theprsb.org.  
  24. Patient Safety Learning
    Bosses at the controversial NHS gender-change clinic for children have been removed after regulators highlighted a string of failures.
    The management team of the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) in London has been 'disbanded', documents reveal. It comes weeks after the clinic, run by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, was judged 'inadequate' by the Care Quality Commission.

    Watchdogs said staff were afraid to raise concerns about patient safety for fear of 'retribution' from bosses. 
    A report said: 'Staff did not always manage risk well. Many of the young [patients] were vulnerable and at risk of self-harm."
    The management team of the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) in London has been 'disbanded', documents reveal. It comes weeks after the clinic, run by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, was judged 'inadequate' by the Care Quality Commission.
    "The size of the waiting list meant staff were unable to proactively manage the risks to patients waiting for a first appointment."
    Read full story
    Source: MailOnline, 31 January 2021
     
  25. Patient Safety Learning
    Maternity staff are facing extreme burnout during the pandemic as staff shortages and longer, busier shift patterns lead to the workforce becoming increasingly overwhelmed, healthcare leaders warned.
    Senior figures working in pregnancy services told The Independent healthcare professionals are working longer hours, covering extra shifts around the clock, and spending more time on call to compensate for increasing numbers of employees taking time off work after getting coronavirus.
    Staff say stress-related absences have reached “worryingly” high levels, with junior doctors and midwives “thrown into the deep end” due to having to fill in for colleagues.
    Professionals argued the coronavirus crisis will lead to a rise in doctors, nurses and midwives suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health issues – raising concerns staff exhaustion could curb patient safety and standards of care.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 31 January 2021
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