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Sam

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  1. Sam
    Coronavirus tests for patients in mental health hospitals should be couriered to testing labs and prioritised for results to prevent patients being forced to self-isolate for longer than is necessary, according to new guidance.
    NHS England has told mental health hospitals they need to use dedicated couriers for urgent swabs and tests should be specifically labelled for mental health patients so they can be turned around faster.
    Health bosses are worried thousands of patients in mental health wards could deteriorate ifare forced to self-isolate in their rooms for longer periods.
    More than 14,000 patients were being detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act in January 2021, with patients needing to be tested on admission to wards and if they show symptoms.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 30 March 2021
  2. Sam
    A quarter of NHS workers are more likely to quit their job than a year ago because they are unhappy about their pay, frustrated by understaffing and exhausted by COVID-19, a survey suggests.
    The findings have prompted warnings that the health service is facing a potential “deadly exodus” of key personnel just as it tries to restart normal care after the pandemic.
    A representative poll of 1,006 health professionals across the UK by YouGov for the IPPR thinktank found that the pandemic has left one in four more likely to leave than a year ago. That includes 29% of nurses and midwives, occupations in which the NHS has major shortages.
    Ministers must initiate a “new deal” for NHS staff that involves a decent pay rise, better benefits, more flexible working and fewer administrative tasks, the IPPR said.
    “The last 12 months have stretched an already very thin workforce to breaking point. Many are exhausted, frustrated and in need of better support. If the government does not do right by them now, more many leave their jobs,” said Dr Parth Patel, an NHS doctor and IPPR research fellow who co-wrote its new report on how the NHS can retain and recruit more staff.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 30 May 2021
  3. Sam
    Today marks the last day that about four million of the most clinically vulnerable people in England and Wales are advised to shield at home.
    Letters have been sent out to the group in the last few weeks. They are still being advised to keep social contacts at low levels, work from home where possible and stay at a distance from other people.
    The change comes amid falling Covid cases and hospital admissions. According to NHS Digital, there are 3.8 million shielded patients in England and 130,000 in Wales.
    Scotland and Northern Ireland are expected to lift their restrictions later in April.
    People affected by shielding included Rob Smith, from Hull, who has muscular dystrophy.
    Shielding for more than a year has been a "nightmare", he told BBC Breakfast.
    "Where I was able to go out, I didn't feel I wanted to. I didn't feel confident to face people again," he said. "I've always been sociable.... It's had a massive impact."
    Mr Smith now says he feels anxious about the future and believes for many people who have been shielding, it will "take time to get used to being out there again".
    He is also wary of the risk of mixing with others again.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 31 March 2021
  4. Sam
    That throbbing headache just won’t go away and your mind is racing about what may be wrong. But Googling your symptoms may not be as ill-advised as previously thought.
    Although some doctors often advise against turning to the internet before making the trudge up to the clinic, a new study suggests that using online resources to research symptoms may not be harmful after all – and could even lead to modest improvements in diagnosis.
    Using “Dr Google” for health purposes is controversial. Some have expressed concerns that it can lead to inaccurate diagnoses, bad advice on where to seek treatment (triage), and increased anxiety (cyberchondria).
    Previous research into the subject has been limited to observational studies of internet search behaviour, so researchers from Harvard sought to empirically measure the association of an internet search with diagnosis, triage, and anxiety by presenting 5,000 people in the United States with a series of symptoms and asked them to imagine that someone close to them was experiencing the symptoms.
    The participants – mostly white, average age 45, and an even gender split – were asked to provide a diagnosis based on the given information. Then they looked up their case symptoms (which, ranging from mild to severe, described common illnesses such as viruses, heart attacks and strokes) on the internet and again offered a diagnosis. As well as diagnosing the condition, participants were asked to select a triage level, ranging from “let the health issue get better on its own” to calling the emergency services. Participants also recorded their anxiety levels.
    The results showed a slight uptick in diagnosis accuracy, with an improvement of 49.8% to 54% before and after the search. However, there was no difference in triage accuracy or anxiety, the authors wrote in the journal JAMA Network Open.
    These findings suggest that medical experts and policymakers probably do not need to warn patients away from the internet when it comes to seeking health information and self-diagnosis or triage. It seems that using the internet may well help patients figure out what is wrong.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 29 March 2021
  5. Sam
    A French court has fined one of the country’s biggest pharmaceutical firms €2.7m (£2.3m) after finding it guilty of deception and manslaughter over a pill linked to the deaths of up to 2,000 people.
    In one of the biggest medical scandals in France, the privately owned laboratory Servier was accused of covering up the potentially fatal side-effects of the widely prescribed drug Mediator.
    The former executive Jean-Philippe Seta was sentenced to a suspended jail sentence of four years. The French medicines agency, accused of failing to act quickly enough on warnings about the drug, was fined €303,000.
    The amphetamine derivative was licensed as a diabetes treatment, but was widely prescribed as an appetite suppressant to help people lose weight. Its active chemical substance is known as Benfluorex.
    As many as 5 million people took the drug between 1976 and November 2009 when it was withdrawn in France, long after it was banned in Spain and Italy. It was never authorised in the UK or US.
    The French health minister estimated it had caused heart-valve damage killing at least 500 people, but other studies suggest the death toll may be nearer to 2,000. Thousands more have been left with debilitating cardiovascular problems. Servier has paid out millions in compensation.
    “Despite knowing of the risks incurred for many years, … they [Servier] never took the necessary measures and thus were guilty of deceit,” said the president of the criminal court, Sylvie Daunis.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 29 March 2021
  6. Sam
    Many GPs find telephone appointments with patients frustrating and want to see them in person because they fear they will otherwise miss signs of illness , the leader of Britain’s family doctors has said.
    Prof Martin Marshall told the Guardian that remote consultations felt like working “in a call centre” and risked damaging the relationship between GPs and their patients.
    Telephone and video appointments had proved useful during the Covid pandemic, when GP surgeries limited patients’ ability to come in for face-to-face appointments, he said. However, while that helped limit the spread of coronavirus, “this way of working has been frustrating for some GPs, particularly when most consultations were being delivered remotely, who have felt like they’ve been delivering care via a call centre, which isn’t the job they signed up for."
    “Remote consultations have advantages, particularly in terms of access and convenience for patients. But we know that patients prefer to see their GP face to face."
    “Remote working has been challenging for many GPs, particularly when delivering care to patients with complex health needs,” said Marshall, who is a GP in London. “It can also make it harder to pick up on soft cues, which can be helpful for making diagnoses.”
    His remarks come as NHS leaders and doctors groups are discussing how far appointments should return to being in person now the pandemic is receding.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 28 March 2021
  7. Sam
    A 40-year-old mother of four took her own life at an NHSmental health unit after multiple opportunities were missed to keep her safe, an inquest has found, prompting her family to call for a public inquiry.
    Azra Parveen Hussain was allegedly the seventh in-patient in seven years to die by the same means while in the care of Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (BSMHT).
    Despite this, an inquest at Birmingham and Solihull Coroner’s Court last week heard that the Trust had not installed door pressure sensor alarms, which could have potentially alerted staff to the fatal danger these patients faced.
    While BSMHT is now taking action to install pressure sensors at Mary Seacole House, where Hussain died on 6 May, Coroner Emma Brown noted a lack of national regulation or guidance on the risks presented by internal doors in patients’ bedrooms and is issuing a Prevention of Future Deaths report calling for this to be remedied across the country.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 28 March 2021
  8. Sam
    Devices which measure blood oxygen levels could be giving “seriously misleading” results for Black and minority ethnic people, possibly contributing to increased Covid-19 mortality, experts have warned.
    Pulse oximeters attach a clip-like device to a person’s finger, toe or earlobe and send a beam of infrared light to measure oxygen levels in the blood.
    The resulting reading can be used to monitor oxygen levels of people with a variety of conditions, including by people at home with coronavirus, and to assess patients in hospital.
    At the moment, coronavirus patients who call an ambulance but are not yet deemed sick enough to go to hospital are being given new home oxygen monitoring kits to help spot those who may deteriorate earlier, and over 300,000 oximeters have been sent out by NHS England.
    But a new paper cites a “growing body of evidence” that pulse oximetry is less accurate in darker skinned patients.
    This could be contributing to health inequalities such as the increased COVID-19 mortality rates of ethnic minority patients, according to a review conducted for the NHS Race and Health Observatory.
    It is now calling for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to urgently review pulse oximetry products for ethnic minority people used in hospitals and by the wider public.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 27 March 2021
  9. Sam
    Wards at a trust facing an inquiry over the deaths of vulnerable patients have been downgraded to ‘inadequate’ over fresh patient safety concerns. 
    The Care Quality Commission said five adult and intensive wards across three hospitals run by Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys (TEWV) Foundation Trust “did not manage patient safety incidents well”. It also criticised the trust’s leaders for failing to make sure staff knew how to assess patient risk.
    The watchdog rated the trust’s acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units as “inadequate” overall as well as for safety and leadership. The trust was also served a warning notice threatening more enforcement action if the patient safety issues are not urgently addressed. At the previous inspection in March 2020, the service was rated “good”.
    TEWV said it has taken “immediate action” to address the issues, including a rapid improvement event for staff and daily safety briefings, and will also spend £3.6m to recruit 80 more staff. The trust’s overall rating of “requires improvement” remains unchanged after this inspection.
    Brian Cranna, CQC’s head of hospital inspection for the North (mental health and community health services), said: “We found these five wards were providing a service where risks were not assessed effectively or managed well enough to keep people safe from harm."
    “Staff did not fully understand the complex risk assessment process and what was expected of them. The lack of robust documentation put people at direct risk of harm, as staff did not have access to the information they needed to provide safe care."
    Read full story (paywall)
    Source: HSJ, 26 March 2021
  10. Sam
    Two nurses whose failures contributed to the death of a disabled woman carried on working at a care home because they "knew residents well".
    Rachel Johnston died after an operation to remove all her teeth in 2018. Staff at Pirton Grange, near Worcester, failed to spot her decline and did not carry out basic checks.
    Worcestershire Coroner's Court heard that despite their actions amounting to misconduct, they were "consistent" and it was better if residents knew carers.
    Senior coroner David Reid concluded last month that neglect contributed to her death. and the 49-year-old would probably have survived if the staff acted sooner.
    Agency nurses Sheeba George and Gill Bennett failed to carry out routine checks and get emergency medical assistance, the inquest heard.
    Giving her delayed evidence on Friday, care home manager Jane Colbourn said she accepted their actions amounted to misconduct, but they were allowed to carry on working at the home and other residents were not at risk.
    "At the time I would say, although what's happened has happened, they were consistent nurses who knew those residents well and it's better to have those nurses rather than nurses that don't know the other 34 residents at all," she said.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 27 March 2021
  11. Sam
    Women and girls in England are being asked to share their experiences of the health system as part of a government strategy to address inequalities.
    Ministers say there is "strong evidence" services for female patients need improving. Fertility, maternity and menopause care are among the areas to be discussed.
    Campaigners say they are "delighted" steps are "finally" being taken to close the so-called "gender health gap".
    While women in the UK have a longer life expectancy than men, the Department for Health and Social Care says they are spending less of their life in good health.
    Nadine Dorries, minister for women's health, said: "Women's experiences of healthcare can vary and we want to ensure women are able to access the treatment and services they need.
    "It's crucial women's voices are at the front and centre of this strategy so we understand their experiences and how to improve their outcomes."
    Studies suggest gender biases in clinical trials are a contributing factor. Less is also said to be known about many female-specific conditions and how to treat them.
    Patients have repeatedly reported to the BBC that they have felt overlooked when talking to doctors about conditions like endometriosis or complications following a pelvic mesh repair.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 6 March 2021
  12. Sam
    A regulator has admitted “concerns” over the software Babylon Healthcare uses in one of its digital health solutions and is exploring how to address this.
    The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority’s (MHRA) concerns relate to Babylon’s symptom checker “chatbot” tool. This is used by thousands of patients, including those registered with digital primary care practice GP at Hand.
    Two senior figures within the agency set out the MHRA’s concerns about the tool in a letter, seen by HSJ, which was sent to consultant oncologist David Watkins following a meeting between the parties last October.
    Dr Watkins has raised doubts over the tool’s safety for several years, including repeatedly documenting alleged flaws in the chatbot through videos posted online. However, last year, Babylon said only 20 of Dr Watkins’ 2,400 tests resulted in “genuine errors” being identified in the software.
    In the letter, dated 4 December, the MHRA’s clinical director for devices Duncan McPherson and head of software related device technologies Johan Ordish said Dr Watkins’ “concerns are all valid and ones that we share”. 
    In the letter to Dr Watkins, the two MHRA directors also said the regulator is further exploring some of the issues highlighted and the work could “be important as we develop a new regulatory framework for medical devices in the UK”.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 4 March 2021
  13. Sam
    Patients with learning disabilities were pushed and dragged across the floor while others had their arms trapped in doors by staff working at a private hospital, the care watchdog has found.
    The Care Quality Commission said instances of abuse caught on CCTV had now been reported to police and staff working at St John’s House, near Diss in Norfolk, have been suspended. Police have said no further action will be taken.
    The regulator has rated the home, part of The Priory Group, inadequate and put it into special measures after inspectors found a string of failures at the 49-bed home during an inspection in December.
    According to the CQC’s report, inspectors reviewed CCTV footage of seven patient safety incidents between August and December last year.
    This showed “issues such as prolonged use of prone restraint, a patient being dragged across the floor despite attempting to drop their weight, a patient being pushed over and the seclusion room door trapping a patients arm and making contact with a patient’s head when closed”.
    The report said that although some staff had been suspended the hospital had not reported all the incidents to the police or the local council. It added: “Following CQC raising this as a concern, the provider has now reported incidents to the police, the safeguarding team and has suspended further staff pending investigation.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 5 March 2021
  14. Sam
    More than a dozen NHS patients have stopped breathing and 40 others suffered serious effects after having powerful anaesthetic drugs mistakenly “flushed” into their systems by unsuspecting NHS staff.
    In one case a man has been left suffering nightmares and flashbacks after he stopped breathing on a ward when a powerful muscle relaxant used during an earlier procedure paralysed him but left him fully conscious. He only survived because a doctor was on the ward and started mechanically breathing for him.
    An investigation by the safety watchdog, the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB), found there had been 58 similar incidents in England during a three-year period.
    The mistakes happen when residual amounts of drugs are left in intravenous lines and cannulas and not “flushed” out after the surgery. When the IV lines are used later by other staff the residual drugs can have a debilitating effect on patients.
    In a new report HSIB said flushing intravenous lines to remove powerful drugs was a “safety-critical” task but that the process for checking this had been done was not being properly carried out, posing a life-threatening risk to patients.
    It said the use of a checklist by anaesthetic staff can be overlooked when doctors are busy with other tasks and they fail to engage with the process.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 4 March 2021
  15. Sam
    NHS England has ordered an independent review into patient safety and governance concerns at an acute trust which had been resisting calls to take this step, HSJ has learned.
    The intervention at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust comes after pressure from staff and local MPs, who believe more extensive investigation is required into cases of patient harm within the trauma and orthopaedics division.
    The broad issues were first revealed by HSJ in November, with documents suggesting several patients were harmed after leaders failed to act on multiple concerns being raised about a surgeon.
    The trust has already commissioned one external review. This reported last year and found the service to be riven by “internecine squabbles”. However, the review was overseen by trust executives and the terms of reference were focused on incident reporting and culture within the department.
    It is understood that some consultants have since been pushing for further investigation into specific cases where patients were harmed, as well as concerns that managers or clinicians who were accused of failing to tackle the issues have since been promoted to more senior positions.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 2 March 2021
  16. Sam
    Hospitals across London are racing to tackle a backlog of tens of thousands of urgent operations that need to be carried out in the coming weeks to prevent patients dying or losing limbs, The Independent has learnt.
    The slow decline in Covid patient numbers means many hospitals across the capital are warning they will still be relying on extra staff, and “surge” beds opened at the height of the crisis, well into March.
    NHS bosses have been briefed that across the city there are about 15,000 priority two (P2) patients. These are classed as needing urgent surgery, including for cancer, within 28 days, or they could die or be at risk of losing a limb.
    But the lack of available operating theatres, nurses and anaesthetists mean the city has a shortfall of more than 500 half-day surgical lists a week.
    The Independent has spoken with multiple NHS insiders and seen briefing documents detailing the challenges facing the capital’s hospitals, which are expected to last up to 21 March in some areas.
    One briefing warned: “Hospitals have insufficient capacity to meet urgent elective demand for P2. P2 demand is intended to be seen within 28 days, the surge has occurred for over 28 days. Patients who would normally have been seen are waiting longer than clinically advisable."
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 25 February 2021
  17. Sam
    Amongst the 3.9 million confirmed COVID-19 cases in the UK to date, it is estimated that around one in five people experience symptoms that last for five weeks or longer, and one in ten have symptoms that last for twelve weeks or longer.
    Termed Long COVID, people report a myriad of symptoms including chronic fatigue, breathlessness, loss of sense of smell, depression and concentration difficulties. Already totalling an estimated 186,000 people, long COVID will bring mounting pressure on primary care services.
    Within its COVID-19 rapid guideline for managing the long-term effects of COVID-19, NICE recommends health apps as part of giving advice and information on self-management.
    ORCHA has assessed almost 6,500 health apps to date against more than 350 measures and all major standards. From this research, they identified the top-scoring apps across each of the long COVID symptoms to help primary care, community settings and multidisciplinary assessment and rehabilitation services make informed decisions on the best apps for their patients.
    Read report
  18. Sam
    Plans to give the health secretary control over a patient safety watchdog risks “massive untold consequences” for the NHS, experts have warned.
    Under proposals, Matt Hancock would be able to determine which incidents the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) should investigate, while also being able to remove protections for NHS staff that mean they can give evidence without fear of reprisals.
    The move, outlined as part of wider reforms to the NHS, would give the health secretary far greater control over the HSIB than ministers currently have over the Air Accident Investigation Branch – on which the watchdog was modelled.
    Experts said the proposals cut across the original intention of an independent body that would act without fear or favour and earn the confidence of NHS staff.
    It is designed to operate under a so-called “safe space” for NHS staff to provide evidence of what went wrong during an incident without their testimony being used against them.
    Martin Bromiley, chair of the Clinical Human Factors Group and member of the expert panel that recommended the creation of HSIB in 2016, said he was seriously concerned over the plans.
    He said: “I am concerned about the reference to lifting safe space. As it stands with the Air Accident Investigation Branch people can apply to the High Court for it to be lifted and that makes sense because a judge can consider the whole case and the longer-term impact."
    Carl Macrae, Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Psychology at Nottingham University Business School, told The Independent: “I am very pleased to see there are concrete plans to establish HSIB as an independent body, but I am concerned this independence appears to be undermined by giving the secretary of state the power to tell it what to investigate."
    “People need to be able to trust that the healthcare investigator is acting with the sole purpose of improving safety and isn’t subject to political interference.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 24 February 2021
  19. Sam
    More than 1 in 10 Covid patients died within five months of being discharged from hospital, while almost a third of those who survived the virus had to be readmitted, new research has warned.
    Papers released by the governments Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) also revealed half of patients in hospital with the virus suffered complications, with one in four struggling when they got back home.
    Younger patients under the age of 50 were more likely to suffer complications.
    The reports present the first substantial evidence that Covid could be the cause of significant long term ill-health, with the virus attacking the body’s organs and causing diseases of the liver, heart, lungs and kidneys.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 20 February 2021
  20. Sam
    New research led by researchers at King’s College London suggests that restricting testing to the ‘classic triad’ of cough, fever and loss of smell which is required for eligibility for a PCR test through the NHS may have missed cases. Extending the list to include fatigue, sore throat, headache and diarrhoea would have detected 96% of symptomatic cases.
    A team of researchers at King’s and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) analysed data from more than 122,000 UK adult users of the ZOE COVID Symptom Study app. These users reported experiencing any potential COVID-19 symptoms, and 1,202 of those reported a positive PCR test within a week of first feeling ill.
    While PCR swab testing is the most reliable way to tell whether someone is infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the analysis suggests the limited list of three does not catch all positive cases of COVID-19.
    Testing people with any of the three ‘classic’ symptoms would have spotted 69% of symptomatic cases, with 46 people testing negative for every person testing positive. However, testing people with any of seven key symptoms - cough, fever, anosmia, fatigue, headache, sore throat and diarrhoea - in the first three days of illness would have detected 96% of symptomatic cases. In this case, for every person with the disease identified, 95 would test negative.
    Researchers also found users of the Symptom Study App were more likely to select headache and diarrhoea within the first three days of symptoms, and fever during the first seven days, which reflects different timings of symptoms in the disease course. Data from the ZOE app shows that 31% of people who are ill with COVID-19 don’t have any of the triad of symptoms in the early stages of the disease when most infectious.
    Read full story
    Source: King's College London, 17 February 2021
  21. Sam
    Staff at a Midlands hospital trust told regulators they had repeatedly raised safety concerns internally without action being taken.
    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has downgraded maternity services at Worcestershire Acute Hospital from “good” to “requires improvement” following an inspection prompted by the whistleblowers’ concerns.
    Staff had reported “continuously escalating” staffing level concerns to senior managers, but said they got “no response”. Some said they were fearful of raising concerns internally.
    Whistleblowers also reported delays to induction of labour, with examples of women waiting up to a week to be induced instead of one to two days. Managers said women who suffered delays were risk assessed.
    The CQC also identified a risk women might not be informed of significant harm caused to them or their babies following an incident, due to the way the trust was grading some babies who were admitted to the neonatal unit. However, it added: “When things went wrong, staff apologised and gave patients honest information and suitable support.”
    The report added the trust’s leaders were aware of the challenges in maternity, but “timely” action was not always taken to address the concerns.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 19 February 2021
  22. Sam
    Nearly 20 major healthcare bodies are appealing to the Prime Minister for better personal protection against coronavirus.
    They say at least 930 health and care workers have died of COVID-19 and more are experiencing long-term effects.
    In a letter, they say measures to stop airborne spreading are "inadequate" and call for urgent improvement in masks and other defences against variants.
    The government said it was monitoring evidence on airborne transmission and would update advice "where necessary".
    The organisations involved represent a wide range of health professionals, from doctors and nurses to dieticians and physiotherapists. Their approach to Downing Street follows repeated efforts to raise the issue with others in government.
    With health and care workers at three to four times greater risk of becoming infected than the general public, the plea to Boris Johnson is to make an "urgent intervention to prevent further loss of life". It says current policies focus on contaminated surfaces and droplets - for which the best defences are hand hygiene and social distancing - but not on airborne transmission by tiny infectious aerosols.
    The groups are demanding:
    ventilation is improved better respiratory protection, such as FFP3 masks, are provided healthcare guidance reflects the evidence of airborne transmission. Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 19 February 2021
  23. Sam
    At home early abortions pose no greater risk and allow women to have the procedure much earlier on in their pregnancy, research has found.
    The findings have sparked calls from leading healthcare providers for the option, which was rolled out in the wake of lockdown measures last spring, to be made permanent.
    Researchers, who conducted the UK’s largest study into abortions, discovered there were no cases of significant infection which necessitated the woman to go to hospital or have major surgery.
    The study, conducted by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and MSI Reproductive Choices, drew attention to the fact that despite misinformation to the contrary, not one individual died from having an at home early abortion.
    Eight in ten women said at home abortions were their preferred choice and they would opt for it in the future, while waiting times from when the woman has her consultation to treatment improved from 11 days to 7 days.
    Dr Jonathan Lord, medical director for MSI Reproductive Choices UK, said: “Being able to access abortion care earlier in pregnancy has also reduced the low complication rate even further.”
    Dr Lord added: “Telemedicine has provided a lifeline for vulnerable women and girls who cannot attend consultations in-person. We have seen a major increase in safeguarding disclosures, including from survivors of domestic and sexual violence, as they can talk more freely about distressing and intimate details from the privacy of their own home at the beginning of the Covid emergency."
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 19 February 2021
  24. Sam
    A firm which reviews healthcare apps for several NHS trusts says 80% of them do not meet its standards.
    Failings include poor information, lack of security updates and insufficient awareness of regulatory requirements, said Orcha chief executive Liz Ashall-Payne.
    The firm's reviews help determine whether an app should be recommended to patients by NHS staff.
    There are about 370,000 health-related apps available online, Orcha said.
    App developers can categorise their apps themselves and the ones reviewed by the firm include those tagged health, fitness and medical. So far, the firm has reviewed nearly 5,000 apps and found many poor examples, including:
    A diabetes management app offering complex medical support without any back-up from experts. A physiotherapy app offering exercise plans without any visible input from professionals. An app to help smokers quit, which had not had security updates in more than two years. Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 16 February 2021
  25. Sam
    An average of 10 pre-teen children are admitted to hospital for self-harm each week, it has been revealed, in an apparent doubling of rates.
    Between 2019 and 2020 there were 508 recorded hospital admissions for self-injury, such as cutting oneself, within the 9-12 age group in the UK, compared to 221 between 2013 and 2014, suggesting rates have doubled in the past six years, according to an analysis of the data from BBC Radio 4’s File on 4 programme.
    “The increase in the data that you've looked at is in keeping with what we're finding from our research databases,” Keith Hawton CBE, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Oxford and consultant psychiatrist at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, told BBC File on 4.
    Prof Hawton, who is also principal investigator of the multicentre study of self-harm in England, said: “It's almost as though the problem is spreading down the age range somewhat. And I do think it is a concerning problem. And I do think it's important that it's recognised that self-harm can occur in relatively young children, which many people are surprised by."
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 16 February 2021

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