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Sam

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  1. Sam
    PRESS RELEASE
    (London, UK, 11 September) – The charity Patient Safety Learning are calling on the NHS to publish details of post-COVID support clinics and clarify how these can be accessed by thousands of ‘Long COVID’ patients.
    Patient Safety Learning has written to Sir Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of the NHS, calling on him to take steps to publicise the locations and details of these services. This follows Matt Hancock MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, expressing concerns in the Health and Social Care Select Committee on Tuesday that not all GPs know how to access these services.
    Helen Hughes, Chief Executive of Patient Safety Learning, said: “We have heard from many Long COVID patients that they are not clear on the location of these clinics, what services they offer and who is eligible for support. Some patients have been advised by their GP that there are no post-COVID clinics available within their area. Though the NHS launched the ‘Your COVID Recovery’ online portal for patients recovering from COVID, there is no clear indication of how the clinics fit into this and how patients can access the support they need.”
    Long COVID patients are those with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 who continue to struggle with prolonged, debilitating and sometimes severe symptoms months later. In their letter, the charity has identified a series of steps needed to provide greater clarity for these patients, including:
    Publishing a list of all existing post-COVID clinics and contact details. Confirming whether these clinics are accessed by referral from your GP or self-referral. If by GP referral, publish the guidance issued to GPs on this process. Confirming who is eligible for these services, whether they are restricted to those hospitalised by COVID-19 or open to those who are managing their symptoms at home. Confirm what services are available from these clinics. Specifically, whether they can help patients access clinical investigations, as well as treatment and rehabilitation. Clarify whether these services are available to all patients or only those who have had a confirmed positive test for COVID-19. Notes to editors:
    Patient Safety Learning is a charity, which helps transform safety in health and social care, creating a world where patients are free from harm. We identify the critical factors that affect patient safety and analyse the systemic reasons they fail. We use what we learn to envision safer care. We recommend how to get there. Then we act to help make it happen. For more information: www.patientsafetylearning.org In the Health and Social Care Select Committee on Tuesday 8 September 2020, Matt Hancock commented that “The NHS set up Long COVID clinics and announced them in July. I am concerned by reports this morning from the Royal College of GPs that not all GPs know how to ensure that people can get into those services. That is something I will take up with the NHS and that I am sure we will be able to resolve.” The full transcript can be found here. Patient Safety Learning’s full letter to Sir Simon Stevens can be found here. Patient Safety Learning have previously set out patient safety concerns for Long COVID patients, outlining these issues in more detail. Read more here.  
  2. Sam
    A framework has been developed by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Royal College of Midwives and the Society and College of Radiographers, in partnership with NHS England and NHS Improvement, to support maternity services with the local reintroduction of hospital visitors and individuals accompanying women to appointments.
    During the pandemic, some Trusts in England have allowed partners to attend antenatal appointments and pregnancy scans, but there has not been a consistent approach across the country, leading to frustration and confusion among pregnant women and their partners.
    In a recent hub blog, Jules Mckoy, a Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Midwife at University Hospital Southampton, highlighted the huge rise in pregnant women reporting feelings of anxiety because of being isolated from friends and relatives and their concerns for the safety of their baby, themselves and their families. 
    Dr Edward Morris, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: “We welcome the publication of this framework to support Trusts in England safely re-introduce measures enabling partners to attend to antenatal and postnatal appointments, including pregnancy scans. This is an important step for the health and wellbeing of pregnant women and their partners, who have understandably found it difficult not to share the experience of a pregnancy scan, attend important appointments, support women in early labour or spend time with their newborn babies on the postnatal ward."
    “With the re-introduction of partners in maternity settings, it’s important that anyone attending hospitals and clinics for appointments and scans wears a face covering and ensures they practice social distancing and regular hand washing. These measures are in place to keep pregnant women, partners and staff safe.”
    Gill Walton, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said: “Visiting restrictions during the pandemic have been challenging for everybody, particularly for pregnant women and their families at an incredibly important and transformative time in their lives. These new guidelines are good news for them and for staff. They set out clearly the rules around visiting, providing much needed clarity about who can visit and the precautions they need to take to ensure visits can be done safely for themselves, for the people they are visiting, and for staff."
    “The guidance will also be welcome by maternity staff who have experienced some aggression from a small minority of visitors, unhappy and confused with varying and changing guidance.”
    Source: Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 8 September 2020
  3. Sam
    The number of patients with cancer referred from screening services has fallen to nearly a third of pre-covid levels, new data shows.
    A total of 2,604 patients had their cancer picked up by screening services between April to July. This compares to 7,204 in the same period last year.
    The NHS England data covers patients receiving treatment within two months of a referral from screening services. This means the April 2020 data is largely from screening carried out before cOVID-19 saw services being shut down.
    From May to July this year, 1,243 patients were treated after a referral from screening services, compared to 5,406 in the same period last time.
    NHS England which commissions screening services from trusts said no central decision had been taken to halt screening at the height of the outbreak but said: “We know that some local providers did take the decision to pause and in those cases plans are in place to get services fully up and running again.”
    The national screening programmes look for bowel, breast and cervical cancers.
    Head of policy at Macmillan Cancer Support Sara Bainbridge said: ”Behind every missed target is a real person whose prognosis and treatment options could be severely impacted by these delays. It’s vital that people see their GP if they have symptoms, and anyone who is worried about cancer needs to know that they’ll be seen promptly and safely."
    “Cancer must not become the forgotten ‘C’ during this pandemic – we urgently need the government to deliver the promised recovery plan and make sure the NHS has all the staffing and resources it needs to get cancer services back on track.”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 10 September 2020
     
  4. Sam
    The coronavirus pandemic has made a "difficult situation even worse" for women trying to access contraception, a group of MPs and peers has warned. Their inquiry claims years of cuts means patients "have to navigate a complex system just to receive basic healthcare".
    It warns damage caused by the pandemic could see a rise in unplanned pregnancies and abortions. Sexual health doctors say the service is "overstretched and underfunded".
    The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Sexual and Reproductive Health says cuts to public health funding in England have had a wide-ranging impact, including:
    service closures reduced opening hours waiting lists staff cuts. The impact of these cuts is often felt by the most marginalised groups.
    The MPs' group is calling for a single commissioning body to improve accountability.
    Women are said to be "bounced from service to service" - like Louise, 32, who struggled for years to find a contraception which didn't cause adverse effects. In some cases during lockdown, even essential care provision like emergency fittings and removals of devices have been affected. Lisa's coil fitting in March was cancelled because of the pandemic. She is now pregnant.
    The inquiry says the underfunding of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) - intrauterine contraception and implants - means GPs are not incentivised to provide these services, which has contributed to a "postcode lottery" when it comes to services.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 11 September 2020
  5. Sam
    COVID-19 may have contributed to the deaths of 18 people who contracted the infection while being treated at Weston general hospital in Somerset, an investigation has found. The layout of the hospital and the proximity of staff and other patients who had Covid but were asymptomatic may have been among the reasons for the 18 people acquiring the virus.
    The hospital temporarily stopped accepting new patients, including into its A&E department, on Monday 25 May following a Covid outbreak among patients. It fully reopened on 18 June.
    As part of its investigation, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS foundation trust identified 31 patients who died after contracting Covid while they were in-patients from 5-24 May. A detailed review of each of the cases was undertaken and it concluded that in 18 patients, the infection may have contributed to their death.
    Dr William Oldfield, the trust’s medical director, said: “We are deeply sorry for this. We are already in contact with the families of these patients and have informed them of the outcome of the review. We have apologised unreservedly and have offered them support."
    “For each family concerned, we will undertake an investigation into the specific circumstances that led to the death of their loved one. We will invite them to help inform the investigation to ensure that any questions they have are addressed. We recognise that other patients and families may have concerns and we would like to provide reassurance to everyone that the safety of our patients and staff continues to be our main priority.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 10 September 2020
  6. Sam
    The emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), including drug-resistant bacteria, or “superbugs”, pose far greater risks to human health than Covid-19, threatening to put modern medicine “back into the dark ages”, an Australian scientist has warned, ahead of a three-year study into drug-resistant bacteria in Fiji.
    “If you thought Covid was bad, you don’t want anti-microbial resistance,” Dr Paul De Barro, biosecurity research director at Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, told The Guardian.
    “I don’t think I’m exaggerating to say it’s the biggest human health threat, bar none. Covid is not anywhere near the potential impact of AMR. We would go back into the dark ages of health.”
    WHO warns overuse of antibiotics for COVID-19 will cause more deaths
    While AMR is an emerging public health threat across the globe, in the Pacific, where the risk of the problem is acute, drug-resistant bacteria could stretch the region’s fragile health systems beyond breaking point.
    An article in the BMJ Global Health journal reported there was little official health data – and low levels of public knowledge - around antimicrobial resistance in the Pacific, and that high rates of infectious disease and antibiotic prescription were driving up risks.
    “A challenge for Pacific island countries and territories is trying to curtail antimicrobial excess, without jeopardising antimicrobial access for those who need them,” the paper argued.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 10 September 2020
  7. Sam
    The Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has stressed the importance of GPs having rapid access to testing results for patients, as newly-released research highlights the role general practice is playing during the coronavirus pandemic.
    Released by Queen Mary University of London, and published in the British Journal of General Practice, the research showed GPs and their teams were continuing to deliver frontline care to NHS patients with both Covid and non-Covid conditions.
    The active role of GPs in the COVID-19 response is nothing new or surprising, though notably the Queen Mary research focused in heavily on ‘suspected’ cases of Covid, due to limited community testing throughout the pandemic, giving a clearer picture of the primary patient group using general practice services.
    Responding to the research, Professor Martin Marshall, Chair of the RCGP, said: “This data shows the significant role GPs and our teams have played in tackling Covid-19 and delivering care to patients during the pandemic – and how the virus has impacted on all parts of the health and care services.
    “General practice has been open throughout the pandemic with GPs and our teams continuing to deliver the vast majority of NHS patient care to patients with both Covid and non-Covid conditions."
    Read full story
    Source: National Health Executive, 8 September 2020
  8. Sam
    A London hospital hit by a COVID-19 outbreak that required 70 staff to self-isolate has been ordered to take stringent measures to control infection.
    Hillingdon Hospital NHS Foundation Trust declared a COVID-19 outbreak in July and revealed that 70 staff members, some of whom had tested positive, were self-isolating. Ambulances were forced to divert patients to other emergency departments.
    An investigation later found that a nurse who had COVID-19 unwittingly infected 16 others during a training session on 30 June, described by one doctor as a “super spreading event.”
    The Care Quality Commission (CQC), which carried out an unannounced inspection on 4-5 August, has used its urgent enforcement powers to place conditions on the trust’s registration to protect patients and staff.
    Nigel Acheson, the CQC’s deputy chief inspector of hospitals, said, “We found a number of concerns relating to infection control and this is why we have taken action to ensure the safety of patients, staff and visitors."
    “We have imposed urgent conditions upon the trust’s registration and expect the trust to focus on making the required improvements as a matter of priority. We will return to inspect and ensure that action has been taken and that improvements have been made and are being sustained.”
    The trust has been told it must ensure that staff and patients observe social distancing, must place personal protective equipment (PPE) in easily accessible places, and must make sure that staff wear PPE before going into high risk areas.
    Read full story
    Source: BMJ, 9 September 2020
  9. Sam
    A risk calculator that takes seconds to produce a score indicating a COVD-19 patient’s risk of death could help clinicians make care decisions soon after patients arrive in hospital, according to a large study conducted by a consortium of researchers across the UK.
    As UK COVID-19 cases rise, schools reopen and the weather gets colder, doctors at UK hospitals are expected to see an influx of coronavirus patients.
    Patients with COVID-19 behave very differently to patients with other conditions such as flu and bacterial pneumonia, said Dr Antonia Ho of the University of Glasgow, one of the study’s authors, and it is very challenging for doctors managing this unfamiliar disease to accurately identify those who are at high risk of deterioration or who can ride out their illness at home.
    “So having a tool that … can help clinicians at the front door to accurately group patients who are coming in with COVID-19 into four distinct risk categories – low, intermediate, high and very high risk – is hugely valuable,” she added. “Having an accompanying low-risk score will provide that doctor with increased confidence that the vast majority of people, patients with that low-risk score, will come to no real harm.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 9 September 2020
  10. Sam
    Serious patient safety and wellbeing concerns about the latest hospital discharge guidance have been raised to HSJ by senior clinicians and charities.
    Senior geriatricians warned that the guidance could prompt an increase in “urgent readmissions”, “permanent disability” and “excess mortality”, while charities said families could be left with “unsustainable caring responsibilities” because of the new rules.
    The government guidance, Hospital Discharge Service: policy and operating model, published in August, said clinicians should consider discharging patients when they were “medically optimised” rather than “medically fit”. It said 95% of these patients would return straight home with additional social care and rehabilitation support if needed.
    Many of the concerns raised surround the retention of the “criteria to reside”. This was originally agreed in March when there was a push from NHS England to free up acute beds over fears hospitals would become overwhelmed with covid admissions as the pandemic hit the UK. The criteria has, however, been maintained in the new guidance, despite a significant fall in infections and deaths from the virus.
    Rachel Power, chief executive of The Patients Association charity, warned: “This guidance makes it clear that the NHS is still having to take drastic emergency action in the face of covid-19, that will continue to take a heavy toll on patients. It is clear that many patients will be rushed home who would normally have had a longer period of hospital care.”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 8 September 2020
  11. Sam
    Hundreds of women with breast cancer in London were not picked up by routine screening as services closed during the lockdown, officials have estimated.
    Data from NHS England and Improvement’s London office said it expected 450 people to have breast cancer and have gone undiagnosed because of the heavily reduced amount of screening at the height of the outbreak. It was included in a letter from officials to local health system leaders, seen by HSJ.
    It said the figure was an estimate based on the 115,000 routine breast screenings that would have taken place between late March and the end of June and which had to be re-scheduled.
    London represents around 15% of England’s population, so a nationwide estimate would run into thousands. 
    Responding to the figures, Breast Cancer Now chief executive Baroness Delyth Morgan said: ”While it’s encouraging that the breast screening programme in London is now back up and running, we are concerned to hear of the hundreds of potential delayed cancer diagnoses as a result of disruption due to the pandemic. The earlier breast cancer is diagnosed, the more likely treatment is to be successful."
    “With over a hundred thousand people missing out on vital breast screening during the pandemic in London alone, we urge the government to ensure there is sufficient capacity in the already-stretched workforce to meet the huge backlog and to avoid any cancers going undetected for longer.”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 9 September 2020
  12. Sam
    Thursday 17 September is WHO’s World Patient Safety Day. There’s no better moment in history to call for new legislation that finally ensures health worker and patient safety. Today, the Patient Safety Movement Foundation released a detailed white paper urging the creation of a National Patient Safety Board.
    In a statement, the Patient Safety Movement said COVID-19 has exposed the safety gaps in our healthcare system that already cause 200,000 deaths a year and that we must put health workers, and thus patients, first by finally establishing a National Patient Safety Board (NPSB). This would solve the problem in three key ways:
    Data-driven insight and standards: An NPSB would create and maintain a National Patient Safety Database to receive non-identifiable patient safety work product. The Board would facilitate the reporting, collection, and analysis of patient safety data and the development and dissemination of training guidelines and other recommendations to reduce medical errors and improve patient safety and quality of care. Transparency and accountability: The NPSB would also require an on-going analysis of the patient safety data in the Database and other available data to determine performance and systems standards, tools, and best practices (including peer review) for doctors and other health care providers necessary to prevent medical errors, improve patient safety, and increase accountability within the health care system. Align incentives: An NPSB would save lives and taxpayer dollars by aligning incentives, especially Medicare reimbursements, with proven patient safety protocols. "COVID-19 shouldn’t be the breaking point for our health workers, but it should be the breaking point for our tolerance of the lack of patient safety. Congress must act today on this bipartisan issue.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Patient Safety Movement, 8 September 2020
  13. Sam
    The development of a promising COVID-19 vaccine has been put on hold due to an adverse reaction in a trial participant.
    A spokesman for AstraZeneca, the company working with a team from Oxford University, told the Guardian the trial has been stopped to review the “potentially unexplained illness” in one of the participants. The spokesman stressed that the adverse reaction was only recorded in a single participant and said pausing trials was common during vaccine development.
    “As part of the ongoing randomised, controlled global trials of the Oxford coronavirus vaccine, our standard review process was triggered and we voluntarily paused vaccination to allow review of safety data by an independent committee,” the spokesman said.
    “This is a routine action which has to happen whenever there is a potentially unexplained illness in one of the trials, while it is investigated, ensuring we maintain the integrity of the trials. In large trials illnesses will happen by chance but must be independently reviewed to check this carefully."
    “We are working to expedite the review of the single event to minimise any potential impact on the trial timeline. We are committed to the safety of our participants and the highest standards of conduct in our trials.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 9 September 2020
  14. Sam
    A leading health expert has suggested ministers have “lost control of the virus”, after the UK recorded it’s largest 24-hour spike in COVID-19 cases since 23 May.
    Government figures showed there have been a further 2,988 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK as of 9am on Sunday. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in the UK to 347,152.
    Sunday's figure is the highest since May 22 when 3,287 cases were recorded, and is also the first 24-hour period when cases passed 2,000 since the end of May. The tally was an increase on Saturday's figures of 1,813 new cases.
    Prof Gabriel Scally, a member of the Independent Sage group and a former NHS regional director of public health for the south-west, warned that government ministers had “lost control of the virus”.
    “It’s no longer small outbreaks they can stamp on,” he told The Guardian. “It’s become endemic in our poorest communities and this is the result.
    Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth called upon the government to respond to the sharp spike.
    He added that it was “a stark reminder that there is no room for complacency in tackling the spread of the virus”.
    “This increase, combined with the ongoing testing fiasco where ill people are told to drive for miles for tests, and the poor performance of the contact tracing system, needs an explanation from ministers,” he said on Sunday.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 7 September 2020
  15. Sam
    Inquest finds Susan Warby, 57, received insulin she did not need after blood test mistakes. Hospital errors contributed to her death five weeks after bowel surgery, an inquest into her death has concluded.
    Susan Warby, 57, who died at West Suffolk hospital in Bury St Edmunds, was incorrectly given glucose instead of saline through an arterial line that remained in place for 36 hours and resulted in inaccurate blood test readings. She was subsequently given insulin she did not need, causing bouts of extremely low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) and the development of “a brain injury of uncertain severity”, recorded Suffolk’s senior coroner, Nigel Parsley.
    Speaking after the inquest was adjourned in January, Susan's husband, Jon Warby, said he was “knocked sideways completely” when he received an anonymous letter two months after her death highlighting blunders in her treatment.
    Doctors at the hospital were reportedly asked for fingerprints as part of the hospital’s investigation into the letter, a move described by a Unison trade union official as a “witch-hunt” designed to identify the whistleblower.
    Following January’s adjournment, Parsley instructed an independent expert to review the care that Warby received. Warby’s medical cause of death was recorded as multi-organ failure, with contributory causes including septicaemia, pneumonia and perforated diverticular disease, affecting the bowel.
    Recording a narrative conclusion, Parsley wrote: “Susan Warby died as the result of the progression of a naturally occurring illness, contributed to by unnecessary insulin treatment caused by erroneous blood test results. This, in combination with her other comorbidities, reduced her physiological reserves to fight her naturally occurring illness.”
    Jon Warby said in a statement: “The past two years have been incredibly difficult since losing Sue, and it is still a real struggle to come to terms with her no longer being here. The inquest has been a highly distressing time for our family, having to relive how Sue died, but we are grateful that it is over and we now have some answers as to what happened."
    “After learning of the errors in Sue’s care, I wanted to know how these occurred and what action was being taken to prevent any similar incidents in the future. The trust has now made a number of changes which I am pleased about.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 7 September 2020
     
  16. Sam
    Greater NHS support is needed for people chronically ill for months with COVID-19 symptoms, experts have told BBC Radio 4's File on 4.
    The Royal College of GPs is calling for a national network of "post-Covid" clinics to help such people. But less than 12% of 86 NHS care commissioning groups asked by the BBC said they were running such services.
    NHS England said it was "rapidly expanding new and strengthened rehab centres".
    Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King's College London and leader of the Covid Symptom Study app, said around 300,000 people in the UK have reported symptoms lasting for more than a month - so called "long Covid".
    He added that data from the app showed around 60,000 people have been ill for more than three months. However, many of these people may not have been tested for Covid.
    The government moved away from community testing on 12 March, instead only testing those admitted to hospital. That meant people who recovered from suspected coronavirus at home were unable to access tests.
    Elly MacDonald, 37, from Surbiton, was training for the London Marathon when she first developed what she believes were Covid symptoms on 21 March. More than five months on, she still suffers from breathlessness and extreme fatigue, but has not received a positive test result - because community testing was re-introduced too late for it to detect her illness.
    She changed her GP practice after initially feeling she was not being helped. Elly said: "Just knowing that I actually have people who are taking me seriously - that's been very important for my recovery. I just want my life back."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 8 September 2020
  17. Sam
    In April, when the coronavirus outbreak was at its peak in the UK and tearing through hospitals, junior doctor Rebecca Thornton’s mental health took a turn for the worse and she ended up having to be sectioned.
    Even now, three months later, she cannot face going back to her job and thinks it will take her a year to recover from some of the horrors she saw while working on a Covid ward in a deprived area of London.
    “It was horrendous,” Thornton recalls. “It’s so harrowing to watch people die, day in, day out. Every time someone passed away, I’d say, ‘This is my fault’. Eventually I stopped eating and sleeping.”
    Thornton’s case may sound extreme but her experiences of working through Covid are far from unique. More than 1,000 doctors plan to quit the NHS over the government’s handling of the pandemic, according to a recent survey, with some citing burnout as a cause.
    A psychologist offering services to NHS staff throughout the UK, who asked to remain anonymous, has witnessed the toll on staff. “I’ve seen signs of PTSD in some healthcare workers,” she says. “Staff really stood up to the plate and worked incredibly hard. It was a crisis situation that moved very quickly ... After it subsided a little bit, the tiredness became very clear.”
    Roisin Fitzsimons, who is head of the Nightingale Academy, which provides a platform to share best practice in nursing and midwifery, and consultant nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS foundation trust, also worries about the looming threat of an uncertain future. “Are our staff prepared? Do they have the resilience to go through this again? That’s the worry and that’s the unknown. Burnout is hitting people now. People are processing and realising what they’ve gone through.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 8 September 2020
  18. Sam
    COVID-19 patients have active and prolonged gut viral infection, even in the absence of gastrointestinal symptoms, scientists in Hong Kong showed.
    The coronavirus may continue to infect and replicate in the digestive tract after clearing in the airways, researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong said in a statement Monday. The findings, published in the medical journal GUT, have implications for identifying and treating cases, they said.
    SARS-CoV-2 spreads mainly through respiratory droplets -- spatters of virus-laden discharge from the mouth and nose, according to the World Health Organization. Since the first weeks of the pandemic, however, scientists in China have said infectious virus in the stool of patients may also play a role in transmission.
    The finding “highlights the importance of long-term coronavirus and health surveillance and the threat of potential fecal-oral viral transmissions,” Siew Chien Ng, associate director of the university’s Centre for Gut Microbiota Research, said in the statement.
    Read full story
    Source: Bloomberg, 7 September 2020
  19. Sam
    Over 1,000 doctors plan to quit the NHS because they are disillusioned with the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and frustrated about their pay, a new survey has found.
    The doctors either intend to move abroad, take a career break, switch to private hospitals or resign to work as locums instead, amid growing concern about mental health and stress levels in the profession.
    “NHS doctors have come out of this pandemic battered, bruised and burned out”, said Dr Samantha Batt-Rawden, president of the Doctors’ Association UK, which undertook the research.  The large number of medics who say they will leave the NHS within three years is “a shocking indictment of the government’s failure to value our nation’s doctors,” she added. “These are dedicated professionals who have put their lives on the line time and time again to keep patients in the NHS safe, and we could be about to lose them.
  20. Sam
    A leaked government report suggests a "reasonable worst case scenario" of 85,000 deaths across the UK this winter due to COVID-19.
    The document also says while more restrictions could be re-introduced, schools would likely remain open.
    But it says the report "is a scenario, not a prediction" and the data are subject to "significant uncertainty".
    However some are critical of the modelling and say some of it is already out of date.
    The document, which has been seen by BBC Newsnight, was prepared for the government by the Sage scientific advisory group, which aims to help the NHS and local authorities plan services, such as mortuaries and burial services, for the winter months ahead.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 29 August 2020
  21. Sam
    A survey of members of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has found that almost two thirds (60%) of doctors worry that patients in their care have suffered harm or complications following diagnosis or treatment delays during the pandemic, while almost all doctors (94%) are concerned about the general indirect impact of COVID-19 on their patients.
    This is also compounded by the difficulty doctors are finding in accessing diagnostic testing for their patients. Only 29% of doctors report experiencing no delays in accessing endoscopy testing (one of the main diagnostic tests used by doctors) for inpatients, decreasing to just 8% for outpatients.
    Only 5% of doctors feel that their organisations are fully prepared for a potential second wave of COVID-19 infection, and almost two thirds (64%) say they haven’t been involved in any discussions about preparations for a second wave of the virus.
    While the government’s promise to roll out flu vaccines to millions more people is welcome, the RCP recently set several more priorities to help prepare the health service for future waves of COVID-19, including the need to ensure the NHS estate is fully able to cope.
    Only 5% say they wanted an antibody test for COVID-19 but were unable to access one. Of those tested, a quarter (25%) were positive, with little or no difference when it came to gender, between white and BAME doctors, trainees and consultants or between London and the rest of England.
    Professor Andrew Goddard, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: “Delays to treatment are so often a major issue for the NHS but as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s fair to say we’ve reached crisis point. Doctors are, understandably, gravely concerned that their patients’ health will have deteriorated to the point where they will need much more extensive treatment than previously, at a time when NHS resources are already incredibly depleted."
    “We also cannot underestimate the need to prepare for a second wave of COVID-19 infection, which threatens to compound the situation. Without careful and rigorous preparation, a second wave coupled with the winter flu season, could overwhelm the NHS.”
    Source: Royal College of Physicians, 5 August 2020
  22. Sam
    There has been a sharp rise in the number of nurses considering quitting the profession compared to this time last year, suggest results from a new survey.
    The research also found that “existing tensions” among the workforce appeared to have been “exacerbated” by the COVID-19 crisis.
    The survey findings feature in a new report published by Royal College of Nursing and cover the views of almost 42,000 of its members across the UK and Channel Islands.
    Of those who responded to the survey, 36% of nurses were thinking of leaving the profession, an increase from 27% reported in a similar piece of research carried out at the end of last year.
    When considering the reasons for quitting, 61% of staff indicated that the level of pay was the “main driver”, while others said they were dissatisfied with the way nursing staff had been treated during the pandemic (44%).
    Meanwhile, 43% of nurses cited low staffing levels and 42% a lack of management support as key reasons for wanting to leave nursing.
    Read full story
    Source: Nursing Times, 17 July 2020
  23. Sam
    British scientists analysing data from a widely-used COVID-19 symptom-tracking app have found there are six distinct types of the disease, each distinguished by a cluster of symptoms.
    King’s College London team found that the six types also correlated with levels of severity of infection, and with the likelihood of a patient needing help with breathing - such as oxygen or ventilator treatment - if they are hospitalised.
    The findings could help doctors to predict which COVID-19 patients are most at risk and likely to need hospital care in future waves of the epidemic.
    Read full story
    Source: Reuters, 17 July 2020
     
  24. Sam
    A GP surgery that had been told it required improvement has been shut down after an inspection found patients could be at "risk of harm".
    Hampshire's Brockhurst Medical Centre had already been due to close on 31 December.
    However, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) suspended its registration with "immediate effect" following an unannounced inspection on Monday.
    Patients are expected to be transferred to other practices on Saturday.
    In September, a CQC assessment of the practice, on Brockhurst Road in Gosport, rated it overall as "requires improvement".
    The issues highlighted in the report included that the practice "did not have systems for the appropriate and safe use of medicines" and "there was a risk that some patients were not receiving the care and treatment they needed".
    Following Monday's inspection, Garry Higgins, of the CQC, said it had taken "urgent action" to suspend the registration of the GP surgery.
    "We took the action because we believe if we didn't people using the service may be exposed to the risk of harm," he added.
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    Source: BBC News, 5 December 2020
  25. Sam
    Many people in Britain are likely to suffer from physical and mental problems for several years after the COVID-19 epidemic has subsided. That is the grim message from doctors and psychologists who last week warned that even after lockdown measures had been lifted thousands of individuals would still be suffering.
    Some of these problems will be due directly to the impact that the virus has had on those it has infected, especially those who went through life-saving interventions in intensive care units (ICUs) in hospital. In addition there will be a considerable impact on vulnerable people affected by the lockdown and isolation.
    Read full
    Source: The Observer, 2 May 2020
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