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Patient Safety Learning

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Everything posted by Patient Safety Learning

  1. News Article
    Almost two-thirds of black Britons think the NHS does less to protect their health than that of white people, research has found. That negative view of the health service is shared by a majority of black people of almost all ages, and is held especially strongly by black women, according to findings of a study commissioned by a parliamentary committee. Overall, 64% of black people do not believe that their health is as protected by the NHS compared with white people’s. When asked if they thought it was, 34.3% disagreed and another 29.6% disagreed strongly, while just 19.9% agreed and a further 2.4% agreed strongly. The survey was commissioned by MPs and peers on the joint committee on human rights as part of its inquiry into black people, racism and human rights in the UK. The report will be published and debated with the authors at an evidence session today. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 7 September 2020
  2. News Article
    Modelling being used by NHS officials forecasts that hospital admissions could peak at five times the level seen in April without additional measures to control the virus, HSJ can reveal. In all scenarios presented, covid hospital admissions would remain high for an extended period of many months, even if new lockdown actions were taken. However, putting multiple measures in place could contain them to a peak of less than that seen in the spring, according to the work. They were included in a document marked “confidential” and included, apparently by accident, in public papers for Thursday’s meeting of Medway Foundation Trust board. Within hours of HSJ asking for more information, they were removed. They were badged with Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group, the NHS body which oversees services for that area. The forecasts were marked as being “Kent and Medway level”, but were referred to as “regional scenarios”, indicating they may have been produced by regional teams of NHS England and Improvement. The trust’s board papers said its own planning for the coming months would make use of the three scenarios presented in the document. Read full story Source: HSJ, 7 September 2020
  3. News Article
    The lungs and hearts of patients damaged by the coronavirus improve over time, a study has shown. Researchers in Austria recruited coronavirus patients who had been admitted to hospital. The patients were scheduled to return for evaluation 6, 12 and 24 weeks after being discharged, in what is said to be the first prospective follow-up of people infected with COVID-19, which will be presented at today's European Respiratory Society International Congress. Clinical examinations, laboratory tests, analysis of the amounts of oxygen and carbon dioxide in arterial blood, and lung function tests were carried out during these visits. At the time of their first visit, more than half of the patients had at least one persistent symptom, predominantly breathlessness and coughing, and CT scans still showed lung damage in 88% of patients. But by the time of their next visit, 12 weeks after discharge, the symptoms had improved, and lung damage was reduced to 56%. Dr Sabina Sahanic, a clinical PhD student at the University Clinic in Innsbruck and part of the team that carried out the study, said: "The bad news is that people show lung impairment from COVID-19 weeks after discharge; the good news is that the impairment tends to ameliorate over time, which suggests the lungs have a mechanism for repairing themselves." A separate presentation to the congress said that the sooner COVID-19 patients started a pulmonary rehabilitation programme after coming off ventilators, the better and faster their recovery. Yara Al Chikhanie, a PhD student at the Dieulefit Sante clinic for pulmonary rehabilitation and the Hp2 Lab at the Grenoble Alps University in France, used a walking test to evaluate the weekly progress of 19 patients who had spent an average of three weeks in intensive care and two weeks in a pulmonary ward before being transferred to a clinic for pulmonary rehabilitation. She said: "The most important finding was that patients who were admitted to pulmonary rehabilitation shortly after leaving intensive care progressed faster than those who spent a longer period in the pulmonary ward where they remained inactive. The sooner rehabilitation started and the longer it lasted, the faster and better was the improvement in patients' walking and breathing capacities and muscle gain." Read full story Source: The Independent, 7 September 2020
  4. Content Article
    The Centre for Ageing Community of Practice resource library brings together a catalogue of reports, studies and infographics on areas of interest to Community members and others interested in evidence around ageing better. From designing age-friendly homes to maintaining physical activity and supporting social connections, browse the library by theme to access a wide range of relevant resources.
  5. Content Article
    In 2001, 18-month-old Josie King died of dehydration and a wrongly-administered narcotic at Johns Hopkins Hospital. How did this happen? Her mother, Sorrel King, tells the story and explains how Josie’s death spurred her to work on improving patient safety in hospitals everywhere. 
  6. Content Article
    Sorrel King was a 32-year-old mother of four when her eighteen-month-old daughter, Josie, was horribly burned by water from a faulty water heater in the family's new Baltimore home. She was taken to Johns Hopkins--renowned as one of the best hospitals in the world--and Sorrel stayed in the hospital with Josie day-in and day-out until she had almost completely recovered. Just before her discharge, however, she was erroneously injected with methadone, and died soon after. Sorrel's account of her unlikely path from grieving parent to nationally renowned advocate is interwoven with descriptions of her and her family's slow but steady road to recovery, and ends with a deeply affecting description of a ski trip they took recently. The sun is shining, her children are healthy, and they are all profoundly happy--a condition that Sorrel has learned to appreciate all the more for Josie. The book ends with a resource guide for patients, their families, and healthcare providers; it includes information about how to best manage a hospital stay and how to handle a medical error if one does occur.
  7. Content Article
    This report from the Royal College of Nursing sets out the range of different factors that influence the total demand for staff and highlights the variety of methods for planning or reviewing staffing. However, recognising the complexities and difficulties of ensuring that staffing levels are safe is not an excuse for inaction.  Health care systems are without doubt complex; which provides more reason, not less, to have a rational system in place to ensure that staffing levels and mix are evidence based and patient safety is maintained.
  8. Content Article
    The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP) is an independent body composed of 27 national organisations. In 1995, the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) spearheaded the formation of the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention: Leading national health care organizations are meeting, collaborating, and cooperating to address the interdisciplinary causes of errors and to promote the safe use of medications.
  9. Content Article
    The University of Leeds have developed and tested the first mechanism for gathering real-time feedback from patients in acute mental health settings, about how safe they feel, and explored how this might be used to manage ward safety.
  10. Community Post
    Most healthcare professionals are familiar with Datix incident reporting software. But how and why has Datix become associated with fear and blame? Datix’s former chief executive and now chairman of Patient Safety Learning, Jonathan Hazan, has written a blog for the hub looking at why this has come about and what needs to be done to improve incident reporting. Do you have any ideas on how we can improve incident reporting? We'd love to hear from you. Reply to this topic below.
  11. News Article
    A new study shows a quarter of mothers say their choices were not respected during childbirth, with some left with life-changing injuries as a result, despite Britain’s highest judges establishing women should be the primary decision makers during labour five years ago. A poll of 1,145 women, carried out by leading pregnancy charity Birthrights and shared exclusively with The Independent, also found that a third said healthcare professionals did not even seek their own opinions on the childbirth process, while 14& said their choices were overruled. One woman told The Independent she had been forced to give up her career as a lawyer following what she described as a “violent delivery”, while her baby daughter also sustained serious injuries to her face which can still be seen now – 12 years after she gave birth. Birthrights, which campaigns for respectful pregnancy care for women, pointed to the fact half a decade has passed since Nadine Montgomery’s Supreme Court case proved mothers-to-be are the primary decision-makers in their own care yet this is still not the reality for the majority of women. Read full story Source: The Independent, 3 September 2020
  12. Event
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    Supporting individuals with learning disabilities to access the care for their needs comes with a number of challenges. But could we finally put the people using services at the heart of planning and delivery with the use of technology? Join this free online event from The King's Fund to discuss concrete examples of innovative digital solutions and to consider how technology can help with personalising care for people with learning disabilities. You will hear about: practical ways of adjusting a digital tool to the individual using it, to make them feel more comfortable in their path to more independence the importance of creative and empathetic attitudes in problem-solving in order to build tailored solutions evidence for the benefits of using digital tools for people with learning disabilities and some cautionary tales, too. ways to involve the person, their family and carers at an early stage and throughout the decision-making process the role of technology in promoting better health outcomes for people from disadvantaged groups and enhancing social inclusion. Registration
  13. News Article
    Death rates among seriously ill COVID-19 patients dropped sharply as doctors rejected the use of mechanical ventilators, analysis has found. The chances of dying in an intensive care unit (ICU) went from 43% before the pandemic peaked to 34% in the period after. In a report, the Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre said that no new drugs nor changes to clinical guidelines were introduced in that period that could account for the improvement. However, the use of mechanical ventilators fell dramatically. Before the peak in admissions on 1 April, 75.9% of COVID-19 patients were intubated within 24 hours of getting to an ICU, a proportion which fell to 44.1% after the peak. Meanwhile, the proportion of ICU patients put on a ventilator at any point dropped 22 percentage points to 61% either side of the peak. Researchers suggested this could have been a result of “informal learning” among networks of doctors that patients on ventilators were faring worse than expected. Read full story Source: The Telegraph, 3 September 2020
  14. News Article
    Plans for up to 150 new community diagnostic hubs to tackle the NHS’ ballooning diagnostic waiting lists are included in NHS England ‘blue print plans’ leaked to HSJ. The document pointed out the hubs “were highlighted in the phase 3 letter [from Sir Simon Stevens] and will be recommended as part of new service models for diagnostics in the forthcoming [Sir Mike] Richards’ Review of Diagnostics Capacity”. It said “at least 150 community diagnostic hubs should be established in the first instance (broadly equivalent to the number of acute hospitals)” although it appears many of these may be temporary facilities. The phase 3 letter said systems should mange the “immediate growth in people requiring cancer diagnosis and/or treatment returning to the service by… the development of community diagnostic hubs” among other measures The Richards review was commissioned by NHS England in 2019 as it had long been recognised that England has one of the lowest levels in Europe of diagnostic equipment as well as a shortage in facilities and staff. Last month think-tanks warned of significant worsening of cancer outcomes because of the backlog in diagnosis and treatment created by a fall in referrals during the pandemic..." Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 4 September 2020
  15. News Article
    The human rights watchdog for England and Wales has backed a grieving daughter’s court action against the health secretary, Matt Hancock, over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic in care homes. Cathy Gardner, who lost her father, Michael Gibson, to COVID-19 in a care home that accepted hospital discharges, is seeking a judicial review of policies that she alleges “failed to take into account the vulnerability of care home residents and staff to infection and death, the inadequacy of testing and PPE availability”. The government denies acting illegally over care homes in England, where more than 15,000 people have died with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. But the Equalities and Human Rights Commission said the case “raises potentially important issues of public interest and concern as to the way in which the rights of care home residents have been and will be protected during the current coronavirus pandemic”. “The bereaved families group isn’t backing down in its call for a public inquiry and I am not backing down in my call for a judicial review into policies I believe led to deaths in care homes,” Gardner said. ”I am delighted the EHRC have written to the court. This is a Human Rights Act case.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 3 September 2020
  16. Content Article
    Cancer and multiple non-cancer conditions are considered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as high risk conditions in the COVID-19 emergency. Professional societies have recommended changes in cancer service provision to minimize COVID-19 risks to cancer patients and health care workers. However, we do not know the extent to which cancer patients, in whom multi-morbidity is common, may be at higher overall risk of mortality as a net result of multiple factors including COVID-19 infection, changes in health services, and socioeconomic factors. This paper from Lai et al. predicts estimate of excess deaths in cancer patients related to the COVID-19 emergency using data from England, Northern Ireland and US.
  17. News Article
    Current scientific techniques are not yet safe or effective enough to be used to create gene-edited babies, an international committee says. The technology could one day prevent parents from passing on heritable diseases to children, but the committee says much more research is needed. The world's first gene-edited babies were born in China in November 2018. The scientist responsible was jailed, amid a fierce global backlash. The committee was set up in response. Gene-editing could potentially help avoid a range of heritable diseases by deleting or changing troublesome coding in embryos. But experts worry that modifying the genome of an embryo could cause unintended harm, not only to the individual but also future generations that inherit these same changes. It made several recommendations, including: Extensive conversations in society before a country decides whether to permit this type of gene-editing. If proven to be safe and effective, initial uses should be limited to serious, life-shortening diseases which result from the mutation of one or both copies of a single gene, such as cystic fibrosis. Rigorous checks at every stage of the process to make sure there are no unintended consequences, including biopsies and regular screening of embryos. Pregnancies and any resulting children to be followed up closely. An international scientific advisory panel should be established to constantly assess evidence on safety and effectiveness, allowing people to report concerns about any research that deviates from guidelines. Read full story Source: BBC News, 4 September 2020
  18. Content Article
    The association between higher registered nurses (RN) staffing (educational level and number) and better patient and nurse outcomes is well-documented. This discussion paper from Van den Heede et al. aims to provide an overview of safe staffing policies in various high-income countries to identify reform trends in response to recurring nurse workforce challenges.
  19. Event
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    Do you want to develop an in-house faculty that can drive forward not only an awareness of, but the practical application of Human Factors principles across your organisation? Do you want to be able to develop a group that can take the lead on capturing the learning from the incredible challenges presented by COVID-19? This unique distance-learning course from Medled will enable attendees to both integrate the principles of Human Factors and performance science into their existing training, as well as run short courses on ‘An Introduction to Human Factors for Healthcare’. You will explore concepts such as: Understanding the relationship between Human Factors, culture & safety. Models of safety and performance: Can we apply one model to all of healthcare? Systems thinking – looking beyond the individual. Just Culture – balancing accountability & safety. Safety-II – bridging the gap between work as imagined and work as done. Human performance in practice – Unpicking the nature of human capabilities & limitations. Components of high performing teams: Lessons from elite sport, across healthcare and other high risk industries. Leadership at all levels – moving beyond ‘command and control’. Principles of adult learning. Registration
  20. Event
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    This unique 1-day distance-learning course from Medled is delivered via Zoom by our expert trainers in a format designed to maximise learning retention and application of knowledge. You'll learn to: Understand the concept of systems thinking and models of safety – looking beyond the individual and the flawed concept of ‘Human Error’. Gain an introduction to human capabilities & limitations & how those influence quality and safety of care – how humans can be heroes and hazards. Be able to unpick the nature of human fallibility and why practice does not always make perfect. Have the knowledge to proactively contribute to the safety culture in your organisation. Be able to recognise error-provoking conditions and influence your systems of work. Understand the relationship between stress and performance/risk of error. Take away a tangible model for understanding the relationship between our physiological needs and performance – do we set ourselves up to fail? Understand strategies to optimise high-performance teamworking with ad hoc teams. Evidence-based, utilising cutting edge safety & performance science this course is suitable for all Healthcare Professionals, both clinical and non-clinical; it is applicable to all departments and multi-disciplinary teams. Accredited by Chartered Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors, you'll take part in interactive actitvities and leave with practical tools to take away. Registration
  21. Content Article
    In order to inform clinical and research practice in secondary care in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, an online survey was used to collect public opinions on attending hospitals. The survey link was circulated via the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Public Involvement (PPI) Leads network and social media. Data collection included self-identified risk status due to comorbidity or age, and 100 point Likert-type scales to measures feelings of safety, factors affecting feelings of safety, intention to participate in research, comfort with new ways of working and attitudes to research. Results for feelings of safety scales indicate two distinct groups: one of respondents who felt quite safe and one of those who did not. *Note: This article is a preprint and has not been peer-reviewed. 
  22. News Article
    Visiting A&E or relatives is considered much riskier than attending hospital for other reasons, according to the first in-depth piece of research into the subject. The research, authored by the University of Leicester and NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre Bioinformatics Hub, asked 400 participants how they felt about attending hospital across a range of scenarios during the pandemic. It also revealed that consistent staff use of PPE is seen as a top priority by patients, with staff testing receiving significant but much less support. Participants in the Leicester research were asked to rank how ”safe and confident” they felt coming into hospital for a number of reasons on a scale 1-100. The median score given to “visiting a friend or family member” was 49. The score for attending accident and emergency was 50. Attendance at A&E’s fell sharply during the pandemic peak. It is now rising, but has not reached pre-covid levels. The research suggests that fear could still be playing a significant part in the drop off. Attending hospital for elective care received a median score of 61. Participants were most confident in visiting hospital for essential surgery (median score 78), and clinical scans or x-ray (77). Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 3 September 2020
  23. Content Article
    Hazards and risks to workers’ safety and health should be identified and assessed on an ongoing basis. There are several ‘hierarchies of control measures’ in the health and safety field, each having an importance in its own right given the circumstances to which it is to be applied. This Health and Safety Blog explains the general hierarchy of control measures.
  24. Content Article
    In this perspective for the New England Journal of Medicine, Harderman et al. recommend that healthcare systems engage, at the very least, in five practices to dismantle structural racism and improve the health and well-being of the black community and the country.
  25. Content Article
    In advance of the second annual World Patient Safety Day on 17 September 2020, the theme of which is Health Worker Safety: A Priority for Patient Safety’, this blog from Patient Safety Learning looks at how staff safety relates to patient safety. 
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