Jump to content
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    16,320

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Patient Safety Learning

Administrators

 Content Type 

News posted by Patient Safety Learning

  1. Patient Safety Learning
    A hospital's oxygen supply has "reached a critical situation" due to rising numbers of COVID-19 infections.
    A document shared with the BBC showed Southend Hospital has had to reduce the amount it uses to treat patients. It said the target range for oxygen levels that should be in patients' blood had been cut from 92% to a baseline of 88-92%.
    Hospital managing director, Yvonne Blucher, said it was "working to manage" the situation.
    "We are experiencing high demand for oxygen because of rising numbers of inpatients with Covid-19 and we are working to manage this," she said.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 11 January 2021
  2. Patient Safety Learning
    The government is being pressed to urgently pay care homes to take on thousands of patients from hospitals, many of which are on course to be overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients.
    Hospitals, particularly in London and the surrounding areas, are seeing very high and rapidly growing numbers of covid-19 admissions, and are running out of options to free up beds. Multiple senior NHS leaders said they need to discharge more patients to care homes, but that this had become increasingly difficult.
    Beds in many care homes are lying empty, but many care providers are refusing to accept residents where there is a risk of introducing covid-19 and fear of repeating the disaster of the spring in the sector.
    Part of the problem is some care providers which would otherwise become covid-designated homes say they are not insured for the risk of doing so.
    HSJ understands national officials in the NHS and government are now considering options to try to alleviate the problem, amid urgent requests from local NHS leaders, including paying for the additional insurance cost. However, sources said the Treasury had not yet been willing to foot the bill.
    Read full story
    Source: HSJ, 7 January 2021
  3. Patient Safety Learning
    The government has confirmed plans to open seven new mass vaccination centres across England next week.
    The seven centres opening are:
    ExCel Centre (Nightingale), London Etihad Tennis and Football Centre, Manchester Centre for Life, Newcastle Robertson House, Stevenage Epsom Downs racecourse, Surrey Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol Millennium Point, Birmingham The exact opening dates for each site have yet to be established, however the prime minister’s official spokesperson said they would be opening “next week”. More details on how the vaccination sites will operate are expected to be revealed over the coming days. 
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 6 January 2021
  4. Patient Safety Learning
    In a bid to fight against misinformation about the coronavirus vaccines, a group of scientists from all over the world have created an online guide to building a ‘truth sandwich’.
    The guide serves to arm people with practical tips, up-to-date information and evidence to talk reliably about the vaccines, and enable them to constructively challenge associated myths.
    The scientists, led by the University of Bristol, are appealing to everyone to understand the facts set out in the 'COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Handbook', follow the guidance and spread the word.
    Professor Stephan Lewandowsky, the lead author of the guide, said: “Vaccines are our ticket to freedom and communication about them should be our passport to getting everyone on board."
    “The way all of us refer to and discuss the COVID-19 vaccines can literally help win the battle against this devastating virus by tackling misinformation and improving uptake, which is crucial."
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 7 January 2021
  5. Patient Safety Learning
    Some trusts in London and the South East are closing standalone birth centres and warning they cannot support home births because of high levels of demand for ambulance services from covid patients.
    Women in East Sussex who planned to give birth at Eastbourne District General Hospital and Crowborough Birth Centre have been told they need to go to other units. Both Eastbourne and Crowborough have standalone midwife-led units and women who have a difficult labour would need to be transferred by ambulance to another hospital.
    Both East Sussex Healthcare Trust and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust, which run the services, cited pressure on the ambulance services as the reason for the closures. The trusts, both of which are served by South East Coast Ambulance Service Foundation Trust, have also suspended support for home births.
    Services are continuing at a similar birthing unit at Maidstone Hospital, with private ambulances transferring women to Tunbridge Wells Hospital if needed. However, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust has posted on Facebook to warn women the situation may change and it is monitoring ambulance response times to determine “the safety of our out of hospital birthing choices”.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 6 January 2021
  6. Patient Safety Learning
    For the first since April the UK has recorded more than 1,000 daily Covid-related deaths – one of the highest figures of the pandemic.
    Right now, London is at the epicentre of this crisis. Hospitals now have more Covid patients being admitted every day than they did at the peak in April. Many doctors and nurses say they're reaching breaking point.
    The BBC's medical editor Fergus Walsh filmed inside the intensive care unit at London's University College Hospital, which is one of the busiest in the capital.
    View video
    Source: BBC News, 6 January 2021
  7. Patient Safety Learning
    London’s hospitals are less than two weeks from being overwhelmed by covid even under the ‘best’ case scenario, according to an official briefing given to the capital’s most senior doctors this afternoon.
    NHS England London medical director Vin Diwakar set out the stark analysis to the medical directors of London’s hospital trusts on a Zoom call.
    The NHS England presentation, seen by HSJ , showed that even if the number of covid patients grew at the lowest rate considered likely, and measures to manage demand and increase capacity, including open the capital’s Nightingale hospital, were successful, the NHS in London would be short of nearly 2,000 general and acute and intensive care beds by 19 January.
    The briefing forecasts demand for both G&A and intensive care beds, for both covid and non-covid patients, against capacity. It accounts for the impact of planned measures to mitigate demand and increase capacity.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 6 January 2021
  8. Patient Safety Learning
    Many people suffering from “long Covid” are still unable to work at full capacity six months after infection, a large-scale survey of confirmed and suspected patients has found.
    While COVID-19 was initially understood to be a largely respiratory illness from which most people would recover within two or three weeks, as the pandemic wore on increasing numbers reported experiencing symptoms for months on end.
    These long haulers – with symptoms affecting organs ranging from the heart to the brain – have no real explanation and no standardised treatment plan for their long-term condition. There is no consensus on the scale and impact of long Covid but emerging data is concerning.
    In one of the largest studies yet, which has not been peer reviewed, Patient Led Research for COVID-19 (a group of long Covid patients who are also researchers) surveyed 3,762 people aged 18 to 80-plus from 56 countries who responded in nine different languages to 257 different questions
    Two-hundred and five symptoms across 10 organ systems were recorded, with 66 symptoms traced over seven months. On average, respondents experienced symptoms from nine organ systems.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 5 January 2021
  9. Patient Safety Learning
    NHS leaders are holding fresh talks with private healthcare groups to try to secure surgery for urgent cancer patients in London, as the covid-19 second wave causes hospitals in the capital to make widespread cancellations, HSJ understands.
    In recent weeks, pivotal independent sector providers have declined to do the procedures for the payments on offer.
    In the spring covid peak, the NHS block-booked private capacity in London, but now only small, spot contracts are in place for this work. Under the previous deal, rules meant low-priority private patients could not be treated ahead of NHS patients who needed surgery urgently.
    But now providers can prioritise their private patients as they see fit. HSJ understands NHS England, under pressure from the Treasury, was not willing to pay the prices asked by the three private providers.
    As London NHS hospitals continue to fill with covid patients, particularly in critical care, they are able to do few cancer procedures beyond the most urgent category, P1, and are suspending many procedures in the lower categories, including P2, sources said. P2 is defined as patients who need treatment within four weeks.
    One senior clinical manager in the city told HSJ on Monday: “Cancellations [are] rife. We have stopped almost all operating in our elective hub apart from P1 [patients assessed as needing surgery within three days].
    “The independent sector has not opened up capacity and lifestyle operations [are] still planned [in private hospitals].”
    Read full story (paywalled) 
    Source: HSJ, 5 January 2021
  10. Patient Safety Learning
    Doctors on the front line of the UK’s vaccine programme have said they are “ready to go” and will be able to administer doses “very quickly” in the months ahead, amid questions over whether or not the NHS can inoculate 2 million people a week.
    After suggestions that staffing constraints could hinder the roll-out of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, which was approved for use last week, NHS officials and GPs have insisted that the health service is primed to deliver doses as soon “as supply becomes available”.
    On Monday, Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director of NHS England, said 100 hospital hubs and 700 vaccination centres – based in GP practices and other community settings – would have access to the vaccine by the end of the week, with plans in place to expand the programme.
    “We aim to get it into people’s arms as quickly as it is supplied to us,” Prof Powis said. “If we get 2 million doses a week, our aim is to get 2 million doses into the arms of those priority groups."
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 4 January 2021
  11. Patient Safety Learning
    A thousand health professionals have backed an appeal for hospital staff to be given improved personal protective equipment.
    In an open letter to UK political leaders, they say there is growing evidence that tiny coronavirus particles can spread through the air.
    The group want general ward staff to be given the type of high-quality masks usually only worn in intensive care.
    Nurses' leaders said higher level PPE should be provided as a "precaution".
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 5 January 2021
  12. Patient Safety Learning
    Nine months ago, Boris Johnson praised staff at St Thomas’ for saving his life. Now, a senior intensive care nurse at the London hospital has warned that patient care is being compromised because of staff shortages and a failure to plan for the second Covid wave.
    Dave Carr, an intensive care charge nurse, is one of many NHS workers desperate for the public to know what is going on inside their hospitals at a time when misinformation and scepticism about the virus are rife.
    “The public needs to be aware of what’s happening. This is worse than the first wave; we have more patients than we had in the first wave and these patients are as sick as they were in the first wave. Obviously, we’ve got additional treatments that we can use now, but patients are still dying, and they will die,” said Carr.
    As a representative for the union Unite, Carr feels emboldened to speak out. But across the NHS, many more staff claim they have been threatened with disciplinary action or even dismissal if they put their head above the parapet.
    In Devon, one nurse working on a Covid ward said safety standards had slipped at her hospital, but she feared for her job if she was identified by name. “The infection control restrictions are more relaxed. Before, we had to use a separate entrance but now we don’t, and some doctors feel they don’t have to obey the infection control protocols and are still unsure of how to properly remove the PPE,” she said.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 1 January 2021
  13. Patient Safety Learning
    Very long waits for emergency hospital care have surged in London since mid December, due to a rapid rise in COVID-19 admissions combined with limited capacity, according to figures leaked to HSJ.
    Data sent to HSJ indicates that December will set a new record high nationally for the number of 12-hour “trolley waits”. This is when there are 12 hours or longer from the decision is made to admit a patient from the emergency department to hospital, to when they are actually admitted to a bed.
    It adds to fears about what will happen if rising covid occupancy — which has left some hospitals running out of staff and acute beds, and intensive care well over normal capacity —  combines with potential additional winter demand in coming weeks.
    Several senior hospital managers in areas heavily affected by covid said there were two main factors. One is shortage of beds and operational issues: there are about 6,300 fewer general and acute beds open nationally this winter, due to infection prevention measures. The beds that remain have to be split between covid positive and negative, often taking time to convert more.
    Two sources said bed shortages were exacerbated by problems with discharge, particularly of covid patients who no longer need acute care, including “local authorities taking their eye off the ball on designated settings and covid-positive pathways”, according to one.
    And another reason behind delays is waiting for covid test results before admitting patients.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 4 January 2021
  14. Patient Safety Learning
    Doctors have sought to reassure parents that there has been no increase in the severity of COVID-19 cases among children because of the new variant.
    The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) said children's wards are not seeing any "significant pressure" from COVID-19.
    It comes after a London hospital matron told BBC Radio 5 Live of having a ward full of children with coronavirus. 
    Laura Duffel said the surge in cases was "much scarier" than the first wave. Ms Duffel, who has been working on Covid wards since the beginning of the UK's epidemic and specialises in children's intensive care, told 5 Live's Chiles on Friday show that people were "wrong" to say busy hospitals were merely a reflection of normal winter pressures on the NHS.
    "This wave has just hit us so fast. It's literally in the space of a week that this has gotten so bad," she said.
    However, doctors denied that the virus is putting significant additional pressure on children's wards across the country. 
    Prof Russell Viner, president of the RCPCH, said: "Children's wards are usually busy in winter. As of now we are not seeing significant pressure from COVID-19 in paediatrics across the UK.
    "As cases in the community rise there will be a small increase in the number of children we see with Covid-19, but the overwhelming majority of children and young people have no symptoms or very mild illness only.
    "The new variant appears to affect all ages and, as yet, we are not seeing any greater severity amongst children and young people."
    Dr Ronny Cheung, a consultant paediatrician at Evelina Children's Hospital, in London, added: "I've been the on-call consultant in a London children's hospital this week. Covid is rife in hospitals, but not among children - and that is corroborated by my colleagues across London."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 3 January 2021
  15. Patient Safety Learning
    When dentist Andy Bates offered to help administer the coronavirus vaccine, he hadn't bargained for the "overload of bureaucracy" he says came his way.
    Dr Bates, from North Yorkshire, is one of a number of health staff to criticise the paperwork needed to gain NHS approval to give the jabs.
    Some medics have been asked for proof they are trained in areas such as preventing radicalisation.
    The PM said the health secretary would be "taking steps" to address the issue.
    Asked about reports potential volunteers were being deterred by the additional training and forms about "de-radicalisation measures" and "fire drills", Mr Johnson told the BBC's Andrew Marr on Sunday: "I think it's absurd and I know that the health secretary is taking steps to get rid of that pointless bureaucracy."
    The NHS has previously said training and checks were needed for vaccinators.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 3 January 2021
  16. Patient Safety Learning
    There are 14 hospital trusts on course to have at least a third of their beds filled by covid patients on New Year’s Eve.
    HSJ analysed current occupancy and growth at each general acute trust in the seven days to 21 December. Projecting the same rate of growth forward, the number of trusts with at least a third of their bedbase likely to be taken by covid patients would increase from 5 at present to 14.
    Three of the four acute trusts in Kent are projected to have covid bed occupancy of over 40%.
    Another two trusts are in areas covered by tier two restrictions. They are Queen Elizabeth in Norfolk, and Countess of Chester. A third, East Sussex, has one of its two general hospitals in “tier four” (St Leonards), and the other in Eastbourne, which is outside the Sussex “tier four” zone.
    There are also 27 trusts not in tier four areas which had more than 50 covid patients on 21 December, and where the number of covid patients grew by at least 20 per cent in that week. These include Liverpool University Hospitals and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals.
    HSJ last week projected that, if trends continued, English hospitals would have just short of 19,000 covid patients on New Year’s Eve in total — almost exactly the same as the 12 April first wave peak. Current projections put that number at over 20,000.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 23 December 2020
  17. Patient Safety Learning
    A major survey of NHS IT chiefs has revealed that despite more positive attitudes and uptake towards technology as a result of COVID-19, the long-term challenges of digital transformation within hospital trusts remain unchanged and only 14% of respondents believe they have sufficient funding to cover business priorities.
    The Digital Health Intelligence NHS IT Leadership Survey, carried out annually by Digital Health Intelligence, offers a 'state of the nation' insight into the priorities, concerns and challenges faced by NHS chief clinical information officers (CCIO’s), Chief Information Officer’s (CIOs) and other relevant digital health leaders.
    It revealed that despite record levels of positivity for digital transformation - 83% of respondents said the pandemic had resulted in a more positive attitude to digital among board members, up on 63% the previous year - just 24% are expecting a significant rise in funding and 14% think budgets will decrease.
    Read full story
    Source: Digital Health, 15 December 2020
  18. Patient Safety Learning
    NHS leaders have raised concerns about the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine, with more than half of hospital trusts and two-thirds of GPs yet to receive supplies amid growing alarm over the new fast-spreading variant.
    Dr Richard Vautrey, the chair of the British Medical Association’s GP committee, urged the government to speed up delivery of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in order to save lives. Experts also demanded greater transparency from ministers on how many doses are available.
    Vautrey said: “We need millions of doses to be made available as soon as possible – urgently – because it’s the number one priority for GP practices, our patients and the nation, especially given the new mutant strain.
    “GPs who haven’t got it yet are frustrated because they want to be getting on and vaccinating their patients as well. Their frustration is understandable. They want to protect their patients, especially their vulnerable patients, as quickly as possible.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 22 December 2020
  19. Patient Safety Learning
    Patient and Public Voice (PPV) partners play a crucial role in specialised services and are represented across the board on NHS advisory groups and governance structures to ensure that the views of patients, carers and the public are at the heart of what we do.
    Specialised Services are currently recruiting to a range of vacancies for PPV partners, all of which can be found here.
    NHS England and NHS Improvement are committed to promoting equality and inclusion to ensure that our PPV partners reflect and represent our diverse population, and particularly encourage people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds to apply.
    Read more
    Source: NHS England/Improvement
  20. Patient Safety Learning
    Acutely ill patients requiring emergency care are being diverted to their GP via the new NHS 111 First call-before-you-walk A&E triage system, Pulse has learned.
    GPs have reported receiving inappropriate NHS 111 referrals including:
    an acutely dizzy elderly patient who was later confirmed to have had a posterior circulation stroke;  a patient with acute coronary syndrome; and a patient with acute UTI symptoms. Meanwhile, GPs are also warning that patients are using the triage system as a way of ‘jumping the queue’ because the route is likely to get them an appointment quicker than calling their practice.
    From this month, patients in England are being asked to call 111 before attending A&Es – with 111 triaging them to the most appropriate service, including GP practices.
    Scottish patients are also being asked to phone ahead of attending A&E; while pilots are ongoing in Northern Ireland; and Wales is in the process of rolling out a ‘contact first’ model following summer pilots.
    The BMA has said the influx of inappropriate referrals by NHS 111 is likely being ‘compounded’ by the new 111 First system, which is ‘contributing to the immense pressures currently facing primary care’.
    GPs have raised concerns about several cases in which patients should not have been sent to them by 111 because they required more urgent care.
    One GP, who asked not to be named, told Pulse: "I had a patient with UTI symptoms – a temperature of 39°C, a heart rate of 140, nausea and abdomen/loin pain. They were told: speak to your GP."
    Read full story
    Source: Pulse, 21 December 2020
  21. Patient Safety Learning
    People who suffer from the debilitating effects of long Covid should be offered psychiatric care, the first clinical guidance to be published on the subject recommends.
    The guidelines urge healthcare professionals to look out for signs that patients who continue to suffer symptoms of COVID-19 for weeks after contracting the virus are at risk of self-harm.
    In the new advice, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the Royal College of General Practitioners, say people with ongoing symptomatic COVID-19 or suspected post-Covid 19 syndrome, whose symptoms last longer than 12 weeks, should be “urgently” referred for assessment if they have severe psychiatric symptoms or are at risk of self-harm or suicide.
    The guidelines state: “Follow relevant national or local guidelines on referral for people who have anxiety and mood disorders or other psychiatric symptoms. Consider referral for psychological therapies if they have common mental health symptoms, such as symptoms of mild anxiety and mild depression, or to a liaison psychiatry service if they have more complex needs (especially if they have a complex physical and mental health presentation).”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: The Telegraph, 18 December 2020
  22. Patient Safety Learning
    Doctors and nurses on the front line of the fight against coronavirus at the Royal London Hospital – which has the largest number of Covid patients in the capital – have been denied the Pfizer vaccine, The Independent has learnt.
    Hospital bosses at Barts Health Trust have written to staff today expressing their frustration over the decisions by NHS England, which meant the northeast of London – where the rate of infections and hospitalisations are worst – has not been given access to any vaccines.
    The Independent has learned that staff from the Royal London booked appointments to be vaccinated at University College London, but they were turned away because the vaccinations had been earmarked for NHS staff from University College London Hospital Trust.
    The trust’s chief medical officer wrote to senior doctors on Monday warning them the crisis facing the hospital would get worse before it gets better.
    Professor Alistair Chesser told staff: “It has been frustrating to see the vaccine delivered to other trusts and to GP surgeries but not to us in the last few days given the pressure we are under. Please be assured we are lobbying for our staff and our patients at the very highest levels and will not let this rest.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 22 December 2020
  23. Patient Safety Learning
    Thousands of people who are at extreme risk from the coronavirus and live in tier 4 areas have been told to stay indoors at all times unless they are exercising or have medical appointments.
    The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) issued new advice on Monday warning people classed as “clinically extremely vulnerable” to stay home, in a bid to protect them from the new, more infectious strain of COVID-19.
    Those affected have been told not to leave their homes even if they cannot work remotely. The government said residents could be eligible for statutory sick pay, employment support allowance, or universal credit as well as the coronavirus job retention scheme.
    The DHSC said the high-risk group should stay at home as much as possible. Children who have been advised to shield should not attend school, the department added. 
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 21 December 2020
  24. Patient Safety Learning
    Cancer surgery in London is under threat as rising covid admissions put pressure on services that no longer have back-up capacity from the independent sector, HSJ has learned.
    Research by HSJ has discovered that NHS England ended contracts with HCA, The London Clinic and the Cromwell Hospital at the end of August, after concerns about underutilisation.
    Under the previous deal with the private sector, rules were in place to make sure low-priority private patients were not treated ahead of NHS patients who needed surgery urgently.
    HCA and The Cromwell have confirmed the contracts were ended in August and were not renewed. The London Clinic did not respond to a request for comment.
    As of 19 December, there were 2,909 covid inpatients being treated in London hospitals, a rise of 39% over the previous seven days. Barts Health Trust and Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Trust in the east of the city are under particular pressure.
    Should the number of covid patients reach a level that requires the capital to instigate surge protocols, theatre space set aside for cancer operations is likely to be commandeered. Under this scenario, the NHS in the capital would no longer have the option to transfer cancer patients to private facilities as it did during the first wave of the pandemic.
    A senior London-based source said: “This is a real and imminent threat to London’s ability to perform cancer surgery."
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 21 December 2020
  25. Patient Safety Learning
    A new training aid, developed in Fife, is helping to equip trainee medical staff from around the world with the skills to prevent late miscarriage and premature labour.
    It was invented by Dr Graham Tydeman, consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology at Kirkcaldy’s Victoria Hospital, in conjunction with the St Thomas’ Hospital, London, and Limbs and Things.
    The lifelike simulator allows trainees to perform hands on cervical cerclage in advance of a real-life emergency. The procedure involves an emergency stitching around the cervix and is necessary when the cervix shortens or opens too early during pregnancy, helping to prevent late miscarriage or extreme premature labour.
    It is not a common event and the simulator was developed by Dr Tydeman following a request from medical trainees across the UK.
    The device has already been warmly received by hospitals and training institutions across the world – with orders from countries including New Zealand and India.
    Dr Tydeman said: “The reason this was developed is that it is not a common procedure and is very difficult to teach trainees."
    “Increasingly women are understandably asking  about the experience of their surgeon and anyone having this procedure understandably does not want it to be the first one that a doctor has ever done because if it goes wrong there could be tragic consequences with loss of the baby. However, if a trainee has shown suitable skills using this simulator, I would be able to confidently reassure women that the doctor had been adequately trained, although a more experienced person would always help during the actual operation for the first few procedures on real women."
    Read full story
    Source: The Courier, 19 December 2020

© 2026 Patient Safety Learning. All rights reserved.

Patient Safety Learning is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission Registration number 1180689.

×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.