HelenH
Members
-
Joined
-
Last visited
Everything posted by HelenH
-
Community PostKey Learning 4: ‘ It is important that the culture of the organisation & the leadership environment & approach allows for individuals to feel comfortable with the various checks and balances operating effectively – such as challenge from their Boards’
-
Community PostKey Learning 3: ‘ It is also important that all NHS organisations are aware of and have implemented the May 2018 Guidance for NHS Boards. This requires them, where concerns raised are wholly or in part about members of the Board, to inform the Trust’s FTSU Guardian in confidence’
-
Community PostKey Learning 2: ‘The approach to FTSU by NHS organisations continues to develop. Those responsible for its operation … may need further support in some important areas. eg understanding the importance of separating FTSU from performance and disciplinary matters’
-
Community PostKey learning 1: ‘Staff who do Speak Up may not always be right, but that should not matter. Important patient safety concerns would be less likely to be raised if staff feared being wrong and facing disciplinary action (or simply being castigatedasatroublemaker)’
-
Community PostHi Steve, I’ve just finished reading the Exec Summary and have been tweeting the key learnings identified within it. Shocking. I’ll add
-
Community PostIt’s very kind of you to share your experience with us. How absolutely awful, it’s shocking to hear. The staff ‘appeared kind and caring’ was such a telling phase. From what you outline, they must have seen how much pain and distress you were in. I agree with you, we must ensure that women are provided with the information and support they need, so that women don’t experience such avoidable pain. The guidance is there, it needs to be followed. Thank you again and sending you my very best wishes. Helen
-
-
-
Content Article
In this blog, Patient Safety Learning’s Chief Executive, Helen Hughes, highlights a recent discussion at a meeting of the Patient Safety Management Network about how After Action Reviews (AARs) can help promote learning and patient safety improvement. -
C56cc20fb3765e956cbc530161c681ddThank you for your comment. It’s a dreadful and upsetting set of circumstances. My husband was recently in hospital and the experience of calls being unattended was routine. This was clearly devastating for the patient, her family and all involved. It reinforces the need for a safety systems approach and sufficient resources to ensure that risks are assessed and managed. There are 50k nursing vacancies in the NHS, this comes with significant safety consequences. I strongly agree with your point of the need to prioritise for acuity and dependency, clearly a huge challenge for the service at the moment.
-
Content Article
In this blog Patient Safety Learning’s Chief Executive, Helen Hughes, reflects on her recent experience attending a meeting of the Patient Safety Management Network and hearing about the work of the Quality and Safety Department at the Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust. -
Community PostThank you for posting. I’m really pleased it worked out well for you and your health is good. Such a relief. It would be awful if women are put off having a necessary procedure because of fear of pain. But as you say, the percentage of women who do experience severe pain is very high. I don’t know the evidence base for the Drs statement that women who have an injection have higher pain scores. Does anyone reading this post have more information on this?
-
Community PostSobering example and very good advice. Would you mind us turning this into a blog? @Patient Safety Learning
-
C56cc20fb3765e956cbc530161c681ddDavid makes a valid point, CEOs must be able to listen to those that raise concerns, staff and patients. And that how issues are raised will be affect this, I’m sure. But we have so much evidence that there is a failure to acknowledge and respond to concerns. We need a culture that celebrates and takes action when people highlight where improvements are needed. Think it’s Appropriate to add one of my favourite Einstein quotes: insanity, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results
-
Community PostHi all, I've a personal experience which I'll share, but it has to be un-attributable. After 5 cancellations of surgery over the last 18 months (partly Covid, partly building maintenance and partly because there were no post surgery ICU beds available), my friend/family member was told that they were being referred to a specialist hospital, relatively nearby. No explanation was given as to whether this was a matter of clinical urgency, capacity or another factor. Within a few weeks, they were phoned up by the specialist hospital and told that the referral should never have been made and they were not accepting it. My friend/family member was then told that they had to go back to the referring hospital, tell them that the referral wasn't being accepted and that the surgery needed to be rescheduled. All of this information was presented in a manner of irritation that the specialist hospital had been inconvenienced. It was also made clear that it was the patients' responsibility to communicate with the referring hospital and 'sort this mess out.' There was no suggestion that my friend/family member's GP might be involved and could/should be able to be supportive, nor was there any indication of what impact this could have on surgery waiting time and her deteriorating health. This may have happened at any time, but we suspect that the huge backlog and capacity constraints have had an impact on the availability of treatment, clinical prioritisation and patient communication. Is this an isolated incident? Please share if you have an experience as a patient or member of staff trying to deliver safe and effective care.
-
C56cc20fb3765e956cbc530161c681ddExcellent blog, thanks Becky. A colleague of mine has brought this project to my attention:https://www.visualdx.com/projectimpact/ It’s a Global project with a strong US focus. Many members of the ILDS are contributing to this project https://ilds.org/our-members/ Our Mission Project IMPACT is a global effort brought to you by VisualDx to reduce disparities in medicine and highlight the tools we use to bridge gaps of knowledge and improve care.
-
-
Community PostThank you for sharing your ghastly experience. It drives us @Patient Safety Learning to support the wonderful campaigners that have been exposing this obscenity, affecting so many women. I hope we can deliver the change needed to stop this. Women should not be exposed to this pain. It’s avoidable. I’m so sorry that you suffered in this way, the pain and the betrayal. Helen
-
Community PostHi Helen, thank you for sharing your horrible experience with us. I hope that you are able to receive the care you need without fear or pain. We are working closely with @Katharine Tylko and her wonderful colleagues at CAPH. They also have a FB group where women are sharing their stories too. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1564972663700527&id=193342597530214 We will not stop until these significant patient safety concerns are addressed. You might find our latest blog on this issue of interest. https://www.patientsafetylearning.org/blog/minister-acknowledges-patients-concerns-about-painful-hysteroscopies-but-will-action-be-taken Thanks again. Personal testimonies really help drive home the need for urgent action. Take care and best wishes, Helen
-
Community PostThis is absolutely not correct. From the NICE guidance ‘Do not exclude people from referral to a multidisciplinary assessment service or for further investigations or specialist input based on the absence of a positive SARS‑CoV‑2 test (PCR, antigen or antibody).’ https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng188/chapter/3-Investigations-and-referral Please see a jointly produced leaflet by us and the RCGP People have said that they have found this helpful in discussing with the GP. Hope it helps. If it does, can you let us know? Best wishes Helen and @Stephanie O'Donohue
-
Community PostHi Michelle, we’ve a few of those on the hub, should be searchable. Any problem, just let us know @Patient Safety Learning I met with the CEO of an Australian company this week and they have a tool that hasn’t yet been used in healthcare. It is a 10 minute survey that looks at: health and well being; safety systems; safety leadership; safety engagement. It’s called the Health and Safety Index. It looks pretty impressive. I’ve been thinking that it would be good to get a few pilots in healthcare on it and they’re keen. If you’re interested, do let me know and I’ll make the introductions healthandsafetyindex.com.au
-
Community Post@Steve Turner An excellent blog, thank you. Very powerful concluding thoughts: Given the annual expenditure on medicines with the benefits and risks involved in their use, it seems surprising to me that the art and science of prescribing medicines receives so little attention in investigation reports, and from public bodies. I believe patients, the public and healthcare practitioners need to be aware of the Prescribing Competency Framework and why the framework must be applied in practice, used in clinical supervision and CPD, and why we must all speak out if we believe it is not being followed. At present it appears that, since the demise of the National Prescribing Centre, no national body is picking up on this need for more awareness, training and education specifically related to prescribing. I believe that patients are being harmed and lives may be being lost as a direct result of this gap in learning. I do hope that your blog and discussion drives the change needed.
-
C56cc20fb3765e956cbc530161c681ddHi Derek, It's a pushing water uphill task, at times, as you and we well know. Sharing is not the problem, it's getting people to listen and act that's the challenge. By adding content to the hub, we try hard to bring innovation to people's attention. Any more we can do @Clive Flashman ? Helen
-
Community PostHi Carrie, I’m at a meeting with the CIEHF this afternoon and will raise the general point with them, how needle phobic patients are being supported. They may wish to include in any guide and advice. I’d have thought that the main contact for personal support should be your GP. Hope that helps, best wishes, Helen
-
