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  1. Patient Safety Learning
    One in five patients registered to a pair of GP surgeries in the north of England have Long Covid, according to a report that lays bare stark regional inequalities.
    The north-west of England had higher than average numbers of people reporting Long Covid symptoms, with just over one in 20 people (5.5%), followed by the north-east and Yorkshire (5.1%).
    According to the analysis, a fifth of patients at Parklands medical practice in Bradford and Margaret Thompson medical centre in Liverpool are living with Long Covid, and the 10 GP surgeries with the highest prevalence of Long Covid are in the north of England.
    The report also found the prevalence of Long Covid among the most deprived areas of England was 6.3%, almost double the rate in the least deprived areas.
    Dr Stephanie Scott, the lead author of the report and senior lecturer in public health at Newcastle University, said: “Long Covid is a complex condition that goes beyond physical and mental symptoms, affecting other parts of people’s lives including their sense of self and professional identity. This can then lead to experiences of social isolation.
    “Currently, there is little evidence-based treatment for Long Covid and the health system focuses on symptom management. This needs to change. Our research has offered a glimpse into the reality of what it is like to live with this often-debilitating condition and the knock-on effects it has on people’s personal and professional lives."
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 23 August 2024
  2. Patient Safety Learning
    A health minister has defended plans for ambulances to leave patients in hospital corridors after 45 minutes to be able to respond faster to 999 calls.
    While emergency doctors have criticised the move, Stephen Kinnock, the care minister, said the policy had “worked very well” in London.
    The Times revealed that NHS England has told ambulance services to think about adopting the “drop and go” system used in London, which is credited with cutting response times for heart attacks and strokes.
    Ambulance bosses argue it is safer to leave patients in hospital — even if they have not yet been admitted — rather than risk delays in reaching life-threatening emergencies.
    However, A&E doctors insist that it is “not acceptable” to abandon patients without a proper handover and assessment by hospital staff and warn of rows between staff as the health service anticipates a tough winter.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: The Times, 21 October 2024
    Related reading on the hub:
    Woman died of sepsis after being ‘abandoned in hospital corridor’ A nurse's response to the NHSE guidance on their principles for providing safe and good quality care in temporary escalation spaces A silent safety scandal: A nurse’s first-hand account of a corridor nursing shift
  3. Patient Safety Learning
    A community services provider at the centre of bullying and racism allegations is being formally investigated by NHS England over its governance arrangements, HSJ can reveal.
    The investigation will look into the governance of Sirona Care and Health, an NHS and council-funded social enterprise which is the main provider of community health services for the Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care System.
    HSJ last month reported that Sirona had launched an internal investigation into its staff culture following allegations of “unacceptable behaviours”, including racism and bullying.
    In an internal staff message sent this month, seen by HSJ, Sirona interim chief executive Julie Sharma said NHSE “has a duty to make sure our governance is working well” and is therefore “undertaking a formal investigation” into how the provider is run, and its decision-making processes.
    Ms Sharma said: “We know that some things could be better. For instance, too many of our executive directors are on interim contracts and our board is short of non-executive directors. We are addressing both of these.”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 24 October 2024
  4. Patient Safety Learning
    Royal college chiefs have called for an inquiry into the NHS long-term workforce plan to be reopened amid “significant concerns” over its projections.
    Seven colleges led by the Royal College of GPs have written to the Commons’ public accounts committee asking it to restart its probe into the workforce plan’s modelling, which began earlier this year but then halted ahead of July’s general election.
    It comes after the National Audit Office found “significant weaknesses” in the workforce plan’s projections, such as the number of fully qualified GPs. HSJ has previously revealed GP numbers will barely increase under the national workforce plan.
    NHSE has previously said the long-term workforce plan “is based on credible and robust modelling”, which was independently assessed by the Health Foundation think tank.
    A letter to new PAC chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, which has been signed by the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Physicians among other bodies, said: “During the inquiry, written evidence submissions reflected significant concerns and recommendations regarding certain aspects of the LTWP.
    “However, the general election halted this process, and the inquiry was closed before it was concluded. We are therefore calling on the committee to re-open its inquiry into the LTWP.”
    The letter, shared with HSJ, called for the findings of the reopened inquiry to be published ahead of the workforce plan’s next iteration in summer 2025.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 25 October 2024
  5. Patient Safety Learning
    The value of the UK’s private healthcare market rose to a record £12.4bn last year as long NHS waiting lists fuelled demand from individuals and the health service paid for nearly £3.5bn of procedures to help ease the care backlog.
    As private medical insurance boomed, total revenues generated in the independent healthcare sector hit an all-time high in real terms pegged to 2003 prices, research revealed.
    The total value of work done in hospitals, clinics and by privately practising doctors, including cataract removals, knee surgery and MRI scans, was £1bn higher than in 2022, according to the latest report by the health data provider LaingBuisson.
    More patients went private last year as the NHS waiting list peaked at 7.77 million in September, up sharply from 4.57 million at the end of 2019. Increasing numbers took out private medical insurance to fund their treatment, while there has been a decline in those paying out of their own pockets, LaingBuisson said.
    Tim Read, the co-author of the report, said: “Increasingly we are seeing people willing to find alternatives rather than waiting to be seen on the NHS. Independent hospitals are seeing a continued boom in people claiming against health insurance entitlements, whilst independent clinics offering lower cost treatments – whether it’s cataract surgery or a diagnostic scan – are becoming an increasingly common sight on high streets across England, not just in more affluent areas traditionally associated with private healthcare.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 25 October 2024
  6. Patient Safety Learning
    As the number of people infected with bird flu rises in the US, continued limits on testing may pose a problem as these cases crop up.
    Commercial labs are now developing tests that will be available by prescription, but the tests will still be recommended only for people in close contact with animals and animal products – even as cases in Missouri remain a mystery and wild bird migration and extreme heat may increase spillover opportunities, officials say.
    Blood tests have revealed a second person in Missouri exposed to bird flu with no known animal contact, officials with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told reporters on Thursday.
    Quest Diagnostics announced on Wednesday that its test for H5N1 will soon be available with a prescription from a medical provider, and other commercial labs are also developing tests for the public. But the tests will only be recommended for people with close contact to animals or animal products like raw meat or milk.
    In “the lion’s share of situations”, most people with flu symptoms do not need an H5N1 specific test, said Nirav Shah, principal deputy director at the CDC. “It’s really when there’s an epidemiological exposure history that is suggestive of H5, where the H5 test would be warranted.”
    Neither of the Missouri cases would’ve been detected with limitations like these. However, the CDC still recommends that states regularly check positive flu A tests for H5N1, which is how the first Missouri case was found.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 24 October 2024
  7. Patient Safety Learning
    A new report concludes that health services are “failing” children as young people face average waits of a year for an autism diagnosis.
    The Care Quality Commission’s annual State of Care report, published today, warned of poor care and specialist staff shortages within providers, alongside “far too long” waits for treatment.
    NHS Providers’ deputy CEO Saffron Cordery said trust leaders were “deeply concerned” about meeting demand, particularly in mental health services.
    But she added: “Their ability to do so comes against a backdrop of soaring demand, resource pressures and the poor condition of the mental health estate, much of which isn’t fit for purpose.
    “A cross-government approach to improving health and wellbeing is vital to protect a whole generation of children and young people at risk of being left behind.”
    The CQC has faced two damning reviews of its own, as well as fundamental questions about the quality of its inspections, but NHS Providers and others have said it “echoed what NHS trust leaders tell us.”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 25 October 2024
  8. Patient Safety Learning
    An NHS trust will become the first ever to be tried for the corporate manslaughter of a mental health patient after being charged over the death of a 22-year-old woman.
    Alice Figueiredo died at Goodmayes hospital, run by North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT), in July 2015.
    Last year the Crown Prosecution Service announced it was charging NELFT with corporate manslaughter as well as a health and safety breach.
    The ward manager at the time, Benjamin Aninakwa, will also stand trial for manslaughter by gross negligence and health and safety breaches for actions related to her death.
    The trial opens on 29 October and is expected to last for nine weeks.
    NEFLT will be the second ever NHS trust to be charged with corporate manslaughter after Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust was charged following the death of a woman who underwent an emergency Caesarean in 2015.
    However, it is the first mental health trust to be charged over the death of a patient in a psychiatric unit.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 24 October 2024
  9. Patient Safety Learning
    Thousands of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are having to go without medication as a result of shortages, with some missing school as a result.
    There has been a national shortage of ADHD medications for more than a year, with the worst affected drug currently methylphenidate, which is commonly used for children and sold under the brand names Concerta and Ritalin.
    Two thirds of parents said they faced problems getting their child’s medication at the beginning of this school year, according to a survey by the charity ADHD UK, with some saying their children are unable to concentrate in lessons or having to take days off.
    Campaigners and pharmacists have urged the Department of Health and NHS to loosen bureaucracy that means patients cannot switch to alternative drugs that are in stock.
    Henry Shelford, chief executive of ADHD UK, said: “We were under the impression it would be solved by now but it’s absolutely not. There are huge challenges across the country. The problem in the UK is much worse than almost anywhere else in the world.
    “It is absolutely destroying lives. It is devastating for children. Removing medication from a child with ADHD is akin to removing a wheelchair from a disabled person. They can’t live their normal lives.
    “I know people whose entire careers are being unravelled because of problems with their medication. For many people medication is life-changing, and so to have it removed is equally life-changing.”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: The Times, 24 November 2024
    Further reading on the hub:
    Medicines Shortages Policy: Solutions for empty shelves Medication supply issues: Mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) - Medication including labelling - Patient Safety Learning - the hub Medication supply issues: A pharmacist’s perspective
  10. Patient Safety Learning
    Thousands of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in England are to become the first in Europe to benefit from a major roll out of an immunotherapy pill.
    Current treatments involve regular trips to hospital, drug infusions, frequent injections and extensive monitoring, which add to the burden on patients and healthcare systems.
    The new tablet, cladribine, can be swallowed at home, and needs to be taken only 20 times in the first two years of a four-year cycle. The regime consists of a maximum of 10 days of treatment in the first year and 10 days in the second; no additional treatment is needed in the next two years.
    Patients thinking about having children can also safely conceive in the third and fourth years of the treatment cycle. This is an important development, as MS is most commonly diagnosed in women in their 20s and 30s.
    The NHS in England is the first healthcare system in Europe to widely introduce the drug to patients with active relapsing-remitting MS after it received the go-ahead from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
    As well as benefits for the patient, the rollout is expected to save thousands of clinical hours each year, freeing up NHS capacity by reducing the need for hospital appointments and time consuming treatments.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 12 March 2025
  11. Patient Safety Learning
    Almost three-quarters of people undergoing fertility treatment in the UK are using “unproven extras” to increase their chances of having a baby, despite little evidence that they work.
    The findings, from the UK’s fertility watchdog, mean that about 40,000 people a year wanting to conceive are spending money on acupuncture, supplements and drugs, even though they are largely unproven.
    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) issued the caution in its latest annual national patient survey, which captures patients’ experiences of NHS and private fertility care.
    Overall, 73% of patients are using at least one additional test, treatment or emerging technology when undergoing IVF or donor insemination treatment, the survey of 1,500 people showed.
    The regulator has been trying since 2017 to reduce the use of such extra treatments “since almost all remain unproven in increasing the chance of having a baby for most patients”.
    More than half (52%) of patients who opted to pay for what the HFEA calls an “unproven extra” did so after discussing with their doctor how effective it was likely to be. Even more (59%) went ahead based on their clinic’s recommendation, the HFEA found.
    The regulator voiced concern about the fact that “only 37% of patients said their clinics explained the risks of using an additional test, treatment or emerging technology”.
    “It’s disappointing to see a significant number of patients are still using add-ons and emerging technologies, and particularly disappointing that only half of patients had the effectiveness explained to them, let alone the risks”, said Julia Chain, the HFEA’s chair.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 26 March 2025
  12. Patient Safety Learning
    A coroner has warned of a "culture of cover-up" at a care home where neglect contributed to the death of a disabled 12-year-old girl.
    Raihana Awolaja, who required 24-hour one-to-one care, died of cardiac arrest in 2023 after her breathing tube became clogged while she was left alone at Tadworth Court in Surrey, a residential care facility operated by The Children’s Trust. 
    Now a senior coroner looking into her death, Professor Fiona Wilcox, has written to the Trust's chief executive, warning there could be further deaths at the home if improvements aren't made.
    Prof Wilcox raised several serious concerns about the home, including that severely disabled children may not be receiving the level of care needed to keep them safe and more staff training was required.
    She also warned there "may be culture of cover up at Tadworth Children’s Trust".
    She added: "They carried out a flawed investigation after this incident, pushing blame onto an innocent individual and thereby avoiding highlighting systemic failures and learning and thus risking lessons that should be learned are lost that could prevent future deaths."
    Read full story
    Source: ITV News, 21 May 2025
  13. Patient Safety Learning
    Women who have delayed coming forward for cervical screening will be offered a test to be taken at home, NHS England has said.
    The DIY test kits, available from January, contain a long cotton-wool bud to swab the lining of the vagina.
    The test is for human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes most cervical cancers, and women between the ages of 25 and 64 are offered it every few years.
    The Department for Health and Social Care in England said the scheme would tackle "deeply entrenched barriers" that keep women away from cervical screening.
    This can be due to embarrassment, discomfort, lack of time as well as religious or cultural concerns.
    Just 68.8% of women currently take up the offer of cervical cancer screening - well below the NHS England target of 80%.
    Younger women, those with a disability, ethnic minority communities and LGBT+ groups are more likely to miss appointments.
    A recent trial showed the rollout of home test kits across England could increase the proportion screened to 77% over three years.
    Hazel Stinson, 49, from Kent, suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome and was last able to visit the GP for a cervical screening six years ago.
    She says she is "absolutely thrilled" that at-home testing is being rolled out across England.
    "This will mean that I and millions of other people just like me will be able to have the test when otherwise they might not be able to do it," she added.
    Ms Stinson said as someone with chronic fatigue, which is also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis or ME, "the most important thing is to advocate for yourself".
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 24 June 2025
    Related reading on the hub:
    Top picks: 9 resources about improving access to cervical screening The Eve Appeal: What adjustments can you ask for at your cervical screening? Catching cancer early: what more can we do as GPs? Improving healthcare services for people with ME and Long Covid: Patients share their challenges, and the actions needed
  14. Patient Safety Learning
    With the UK bracing for another heatwave this week, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is reminding people that high temperatures can affect medicines and how well they work. Hot weather changes how your body responds to medications, which could impact people managing long-term conditions – but a few simple steps can help avoid problems.
    Alison Cave, Chief Safety Officer at the MHRA, said:
    “Let’s face it – when there’s a heatwave, most of us are focused on getting outside and enjoying it while it lasts. But it’s easy to forget that medicines left in the heat – in cars, bags, or on sunny windowsills – might not work properly when you need them.
    “Some medicines can also make you more likely to burn in the sun, feel dizzy, or get dehydrated, especially if you’re taking diuretics or have a condition like asthma, heart disease, or diabetes.
    “To stay safe in the heat:
    Store medicines somewhere cool, dry and out of direct sunlight – especially if you’re out and about. Know the signs of heat-related illness – stay hydrated and listen to your body. Take extra care in the sun if your medicine makes your skin more likely to burn. “And remember, for all medicines it’s important to read the leaflet and speak to a healthcare professional if you have any questions.” 
    Read press release
    Source: MHRA, 10 July 2025
  15. Patient Safety Learning
    Warnings about common medications that can cause impulsive behaviours, such as sex and gambling addictions, are being officially reviewed after BBC News identified an error in drug leaflets.
    Side effects of a family of drugs used to treat Parkinson's, Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) and other conditions have led to huge debts, broken marriages, criminality and suicide, our year-long investigation found. More than 350 affected people have contacted the BBC during that period.
    One in six Parkinson's patients taking the drugs are affected by impulse control disorders, the clinical term for these behaviours, according to one study cited as the largest of its kind.
    Yet those side effects are described as "uncommon" in leaflets for one of the drugs, suggesting they only affect fewer than one in a hundred patients.
    After being alerted by the BBC, the UK's drug safety regulator said that "an error has been identified" and it would be changing that label to "common".
    In response to our findings, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has also begun reviewing warnings for all eight of these medications, which are known as dopamine agonist drugs.
    Boehringer Ingelheim, the developer of Pramipexole - the Parkinson's drug with impulsive behaviours listed as "uncommon" - said the regulator had approved its leaflets and that it was committed to improving patient safety.
    Neither it nor the MHRA were able to say how long the error had existed for, but the BBC has discovered its inclusion in a leaflet from 2021 - meaning patients have been misled for at least five years.
    The MP who heads the Health Select Committee has told us she "wants answers" from the MHRA and believes it should apologise to families for the mistake.
    "I just can't even begin to imagine hearing what they've been through - abuse, financial ruin, all that you've uncovered - and then to find out that they could have been so much better forewarned," said Layla Moran.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 28 March 2026

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