SafeDavid3
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Content ArticleDavid is a health and safety consultant and member of the Covid Airborne Transmission Alliance (CATA). The Safer Healthcare Biosafety Network (SHBN) is an independent forum focused on improving healthcare worker and patient safety. It is made up of clinicians, professional associations, trades unions and employers, patient organisations, industry, and government agencies with the shared objective to prevent occupational and patient safety incidents and improve occupational health and safety and patient safety in healthcare. It includes representatives from the UK-Health Security Agency, NHS, Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Care Quality Commission (CQC), Public Health, Royal College of Nursing (RCN), British Medical Association (BMA) and many others. You can watch the video of David’s presentation (20 minutes) and download the pdf presentation slides below.
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E918369e5c260eca66fa4b6b3b94612b@Aneta Infection Prevention Thank you for sharing your experiences which, sadly, I fear will have been repeated many times over across the world . Whatever one's professional background, it is the most awful thing when you see things going on around you, which you know are wrong, abhorrent to all of your own moral and ethical principles and you know that people are going to get hurt (or worse), yet a crazy sort of national insanity prevails all around you, which you seem powerless to influence. I do so empathise. It has been the same for many of us in CATA, an alliance of healthcare professional organisations in the UK, struggling throughout the pandemic to instil some sense into UK healthcare authorities. Sadly, they are not easily persuaded. I suppose they are reluctant to admit that they got it wrong - unlike the past and present WHO Chief Scientists (Soumya Swaminathan and Sir Jeremy Farrar) who have, at least, 'fessed up' that WHO was far too late recognising airborne transmission and many lives could have been saved had they done so earlier. I'm not convinced that their remorse eases the pain of the bereaved and those suffering from Long Covid, but I suppose it's better than nothing. And better than in the UK where the key actors are remorseless and lacking an iota of contrition for the harm done. By the way, in the UK our standard for respiratory protection against airborne pathogens in healthcare is FFP3 (your equivalent of N99) as they afford very much more efficient protection. I have never understood why USA and EU opt for a lower level of protection. You healthcare workers 'over the pond' and 'over the Channel' are as valued (or should be as valued) as ours here. That said, it seems that the Covid-19 pandemic levelled the playing field in terms of undervaluing healthcare workers, either side of 'the pond' or the Channel. The UK Government/healthcare authorities abandoned our standard (for FFP3) on Friday 13th March, in favour of ineffective surgical masks, largely as a result of the guidance given by WHO, leading us to believe the disease was not airborne. It remains to be established to what extent, if at all, that WHO's stance on this may have been influenced by the Governments around the world (especially the major financial sponsors like USA and UK) who didn't have enough respirators to equip everyone with 'airborne precautions. One thing is sure. The lessons have to be learned before the next pandemic strikes, which judging by the latest evidence could be Avian flu H5N1, with a case fatality rate (lethality) more than ten times that of Covid-19. You will need better than N95s...
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In this blog I describe the biggest abuse of the health and safety system in living memory. It relates to the misuse and abuse of ’risk assessment’, the very cornerstone of workplace health and safety. I explain how this left hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers (HCWs) at risk of catching Covid-19 as they provided close-quarter care to infectious patients. In turn, this paved the way for onward transmission to other patients, healthcare colleagues and their own families at home. Risk assessment, when used correctly by responsible, properly trained and competent people is a powerful weapon in the armoury of tools available to protect workers against injury, disease and death as they go about their work. However, as I will discuss, in the wrong hands, used by people lacking in basic health and safety competencies who may have misplaced objectives and motivations, it can be a very dangerous thing indeed. Although some parts of this blog will be familiar to readers of my previous blogs, as the narrative unfolds you will see that I introduce new information evidenced by emails and other correspondence obtained through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.* *Note: This blog contains no information that is subject to the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry confidentiality undertakings. -
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In this blog, I discuss the limitations associated with FFP3 (Filtering Face Piece) tight-fitting masks as respiratory protective equipment (RPE) for the healthcare sector during the ongoing Covid pandemic. I highlight inequalities in the distribution of effective RPE among healthcare workers (HCWs) and also draw attention to the underlying reasons for the shortage of RPE that has beset our healthcare services since the start of the pandemic. -
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My last blog, "Forgotten heroes" – the sequel, built upon a very moving BBC Panorama programme Forgotten heroes of the Covid front line. The BBC documentary told the sad story of healthcare workers (HCWs) who had bravely and knowingly put themselves in harm's way to care for their patients during the darkest days of the pandemic. Many lost their lives, while many more were rendered so severely injured by the disease (Long Covid) that they were (and remain) unable to work and have been unceremoniously sacked by their NHS Health Trusts/Boards. The way that an organisation manages its activities is known as 'governance'. Good governance will lead to high standards of ethics, morality, care and compassion for the people who work within it and those who may be affected by its acts and omissions. Hence, when applied to a whole country, it is known as 'Government', its departments and agencies. In this blog, I propose a possible hypothetical scenario that may have led to the tragic situation revealed by the BBC documentary. I hope this will lead you to consider the standards of 'governance' that apply to the 'duty of care' which a Government owes to its HCWs during a pandemic and what, morally and ethically, should be done to support those "forgotten heroes" if the Government’s governance should be found to be severely lacking. But is the scenario I am asking you to imagine hypothetical or is it real? I shall leave that to your judgement – and that of the Covid-19 Pub -
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I guess that a common feature linking most visitors to Patient Safety Learning is that they have a profound interest in two things. First, recognising and applauding innovations and ‘best practice’ in healthcare. Second, recognising, exposing and denouncing bad practice. The thing they have in common is the desire to learn from the mistakes in the past to do better in the future. When it comes to ‘bad practice’ in healthcare it is usually in connection with some adverse and damaging impact on patients. Our thoughts turn perhaps to certain medical failures, such as the ‘Mid‑Staffs scandal’. Seldom do we find the need to consider the adverse and damaging impacts on the doctors, nurses and all the other staff who work in the health and social care sector. However, those of you who watched the recent BBC Panorama programme, 'Forgotten heroes of the Covid frontline' will have been appalled at the scandal that now confronts so many frontline staff for whom we stood outside our front doors and clapped for so enthusiastically back in those dark days at the height of the pandemic. This blog is dedicated to those 'forgotten heroes'. I hope that it demonstrates that they are not, in fact, forgotten I hope that the resources linked to this blog may be of help to them. -
Content ArticleA letter to the Chair of the Commons Health and Social Care Select Committee expressing concern that written evidence provided to the Committee's “Coronavirus: Lessons Learned to Date" inquiry was not properly considered and opportunities to protect healthcare workers from disease were missed.
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Content ArticleEvidence submitted outlining the issues relating to the protection of health and care workers. It explains how surgical masks are not 'protective' against airborne disease and represent a breach of COSHH Regulations.
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Content ArticleLetter outlining potential legal non-compliance by persons involved in issuing Infection Prevention and Control Guidance.
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