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Sam

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  1. Sam
    A London acute trust is planning to provide staff working in frailty units with body cameras and those in antenatal clinics with additional security, as violence and aggression against them goes ‘through the roof’.
    Matthew Trainer, chief executive of Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust in north east London, described the measures the trust is planning to take in response to growing staff concerns about their safety.
    Speaking at a King’s Fund event about making NHS careers more attractive, Mr Trainer said: “We need to understand the impact of violence and aggression against the workforce and that’s going through the roof just now.
    “Our ultrasound technicians have now asked for help as their antenatal scans are becoming so fraught. We are about to introduce body cameras in our frailty wards to help with the increase in violence and aggression against staff there.”
    Mr Trainer – who joined BHRUT in 2021 from Oxleas Foundation Trust – said a long-running problem with violence and aggression in emergency departments was spreading to other departments.
    Mr Trainer stressed the main problem, particularly in frailty units, was not patients’ own behaviour, but that of family and friends visiting them.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 13 December 2023
  2. Sam
    The Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk is calling for a criminal investigation into an apparent scandal that decisively surfaced over the summer, centred on the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS foundation trust (or NSFT), which sees to mental health provision across those two very large English counties.
    It is centred on the “unexpected” deaths of 8,440 people between April 2019 and October 2022, all of whom were either under the care of the trust, or had been up to six months before they died. The story of the failures that led to that statistic date back at least a decade; the campaign says it amounts to nothing less than “the largest deaths crisis in the history of the NHS”.
    The figure of 8,440 was the key finding of a report by the accounting and consultancy firm Grant Thornton – commissioned by the trust, ironically enough, to respond to anxious claims by campaigners, disputed by the trust, that there had been 1,000 unexpected deaths over nine years.
    There are no consistent national statistics for such deaths, and no universal definition of “unexpected”: in Norfolk and Suffolk, a death will be recorded as such if the person concerned was not identified by NHS staff as critically or terminally ill; the term includes deaths from natural causes as well as suicide, homicide, abuse and neglect. The period in question includes the worst of the pandemic, although the trust’s own annual deaths figures did not reach a peak until 2022-23. But the numbers still seem jaw-dropping: they represent an average of about 45 deaths a week.
    To put that in some kind of perspective, earlier reports about the trust’s deaths record had raised the alarm about a similar number of people dying every month. And the Grant Thornton report included another key revelation: the fact that the trust’s record-keeping was so chaotic that in about three-quarters of cases, it did not know the specifics of how or why the people concerned had died. After its publication, moreover, there were more revelations about the trust, and its culture and practices. 
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 21 January 2024
  3. Sam
    Hospitals are still promoting a “natural birth is best” philosophy – despite a succession of maternity scandals highlighting the dangers of the approach.
    A Telegraph investigation has found a number of trusts continuing to push women towards “normal” births – meaning that caesarean sections and other interventions are discouraged.
    On Saturday, the Health Secretary has expressed concern about the revelation, vowing to raise the matter with senior officials.
    Guidelines for the NHS make it categorically clear that a woman seeking a caesarean section should be supported in her choice, after “an informed discussion about the options”.
    Maternity services were last year warned by health chiefs to take care in the language they used, amid concern about “bias” towards natural births.
    The warning from maternity officials followed concern that women were being left in pain and fear, with their preferences routinely ignored.
    The findings come 18 months after Dame Donna Ockenden published a scathing report into maternity care at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust, which warned that a focus on natural birth put women in danger. 
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: The Telegraph, 23 September 2023
  4. Sam
    A US organisation that supports people with eating disorders has suspended use of a chatbot after reports it shared harmful advice.
    The National Eating Disorder Association (Neda) recently closed its live helpline and directed people seeking help to other resources, including the chatbot.
    The AI bot, named "Tessa," has been taken down, the association said. It will be investigating reports about the bot's behaviour.
    In recent weeks, some social media users posted screenshots of their experience with the chatbot online.
    They said the bot continued to recommend behaviours like calorie restriction and dieting, even after it was told the user had an eating disorder.
    For patients already struggling with stigma around their weight, further encouragement to shed pounds can lead to disordered eating behaviours like bingeing, restricting or purging, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 2 June 2023
  5. Sam
    A mother who endured a botched surgery at the hands of a disgraced neurosurgeon claims NHS Tayside tried to silence her against making complaints.
    Professor Sam Eljamel removed Jules Rose's tear duct during a failed attempt to operate on a brain tumour - setting the 55-year-old on a path to becoming a prolific campaigner for patients' rights.
    Ms Rose, however, has received sight of documents that show NHS Tayside writing to the then-health minister Humza Yousaf to say she had been "aggressive" and "vulgar" and they would no longer communicate with her.
    In a letter in response, Mr Yousaf says he sees no evidence of any such conduct by the mother-of-two and tells the health board to enter into mediation with her.
    Ms Rose said: "In the letter I have been given, Humza Yousaf writes back and say, 'She's quite right to feel aggrieved at the treatment she's received.
    "'Therefore, I suggest that you continue liaising with Miss Rose and enter into mediation.'
    "This was last November but I've only just had copies of the letters sent to me and when I saw them I thought, 'They've tried to shut me down, they're tried to silence me'."
    The ongoing dispute with NHS Tayside is as a result of Ms Rose's long-running campaign for justice for patients - thought to be as many as 270 - harmed by Eljamel while he was in the health board's employ.
    Read full story
    Source: The Herald, 16 December 2023
  6. Sam
    The ceiling of an intensive care ward collapsed onto a patient on life support and hours later a falling lift broke a doctor’s leg in a 24-hour snapshot of Britain’s crumbling NHS hospitals last week.
    Staff rushed to evacuate the ten-bed unit at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, in Harlow, Essex, and the local trust declared a major incident on Thursday morning as engineers carried out urgent safety checks and patients were moved to other wards.
    The next day, a surgeon was in a lift at the Royal London Hospital, in Whitechapel, east London, when the lift plummeted four floors. His leg was broken when the lift’s emergency brakes activated. Hospital managers shut down four other lifts pending a safety investigation. The day before, another lift in the hospital had also fallen.
    The incidents signify that “chickens are coming home to roost” after years of underinvestment in NHS facilities, Dame Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the Commons public accounts committee, said.
    “It’s a sign of the crumbling infrastructure, not just of our hospitals but of the whole country,” she said. “These are not conditions that patients or hospital staff should have to work in.”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: The Times, 17 March 2024
  7. Sam
    Mylissa Farmer’s pregnancy was doomed. But no one would help her end it.
    Over the course of a few days in August 2022, Farmer visited two hospitals in Missouri and Kansas, where doctors agreed that because the 41-year-old’s water had broken just 18 weeks into her pregnancy, there was no chance that she would give birth to a healthy baby. Continuing the pregnancy could risk Farmer’s health and life – yet the doctors could not act.
    Weeks earlier, the US supreme court had overturned Roe v Wade and abolished the national right to abortion. It was, legal counsel at one hospital determined, “too risky in this heated political environment to intervene”, according to legal filings.
    In immense pain and anguish, Farmer ultimately traveled several hours to Illinois, where abortion is legal. There, doctors were able to end her pregnancy.
    Farmer’s account is detailed in a legal complaint she filed against the hospitals, arguing that they broke a federal law that requires hospitals to treat patients in medical emergencies. In a first-of-its-kind investigation, the US government sided with Farmer and declared that the two hospitals had broken the law.
    The future of the government’s ability to invoke that law to protect women seeking emergency abortions is now in question. The law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (Emtala), is at the heart of the US supreme court’s latest blockbuster abortion case, which comes out of Idaho.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 9 January 2024
  8. Sam
    Fewer people with mental illnesses would endure the trauma of being sectioned if advanced choice documents – setting out a treatment plan while they are well – were included in Mental Health Act reforms, a leading psychiatrist has said.
    Advanced choice documents are the only proven way to reduce the number of people detained under the Mental Health Act in England and Wales, which is one of the reforms’ core objectives, said Dr Lade Smith, the president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
    Research suggests that the use of these documents can reduce compulsory detention rates in psychiatric units, often known as sectioning, by 25%, minimising traumatic experiences for people with bipolar, schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses.
    “It’s high time there was reform of the Mental Health Act because the rates of detention are increasing, especially for marginalised groups, those who are poor or from a minoritised ethnic community, especially black Caribbean … Advanced choice docs were a recommendation of the review, I don’t know why they haven’t gone through,” said Smith.
    Advanced choice documents are especially effective in reducing the significantly higher detention rates for black people with mental illnesses, as they can help patients feel more autonomous and reduce unconscious bias.
    Advanced choice documents are similar to those used in palliative care. Patients work with a healthcare professional when they are well to outline the signs that they are experiencing a manic or psychotic episode, effective treatments, and their personal preferences.
    This could include background information and trigger questions to help healthcare practitioners establish delusional thought patterns; medications and doses which have been effective previously; and requests to be put in hospital for their own safety, or – more unusually – that of others.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 12 February 2024
  9. Sam
    World leaders, cervical cancer survivors, advocates, partners, and civil society came together last week to mark the third Cervical Cancer Elimination Day of Action. The Initiative, which marked the first time Member States adopted a resolution to eliminate a noncommunicable disease, has continued to gain momentum, and this year's commemoration promises to be a beacon of hope, progress, and renewed commitment from nations around the world.
    “In the last three years, we have witnessed significant progress, but women in poorer countries and poor and marginalized women in richer countries still suffer disproportionately from cervical cancer,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “With enhanced strategies to increase access to vaccination, screening and treatment, strong political and financial commitment from countries, and increased support from partners, we can realize our vision for eliminating cervical cancer.”
    Australia is on target to be among the first countries in the world to eliminate cervical cancer, which the country anticipates to achieve in the next 10 years. 
    In Norway, researchers have recently reported finding no cases of cervical cancer caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) in 25-year-olds, the first cohort of women who were offered the vaccine as children through the national vaccination programme.
    Indonesia announced this week a declaration committing to reach the 90-70-90 targets for cervical cancer elimination through the national cervical cancer elimination plan (2023 to 2030).
    In the United Kingdom, England’s National Health Service (NHS) pledged this week to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040.
    Read full story
    Source: WHO, 17 November 2023
  10. Sam
    Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson is scheduled to provide evidence at the Covid Inquiry on the 6 and 7 of December. Long Covid is one of the most catastrophic consequences of the pandemic and it deserves a prominent place in the discussions during this critical phase of the inquiry.
    The Long Covid Groups will be delivering a letter to No.10 Downing Street today, urging attention to the unique challenges faced by those with Long Covid. 
    Read the letter and sign the petition
  11. Sam
    NHS England’s drive to encourage patient-initiated appointments is only having a marginal impact on reducing overall outpatient follow-ups, a major study suggests.
    NHS England currently has a target to have 5% of outpatients on patient-initiated follow-up pathways, and hopes this can be increased substantially in future years.
    The headline finding in a study by the Nuffield Trust think tank, which analysed almost 60 million cases, was that for every 5% on PIFU pathways, this roughly corresponded to 2% fewer outpatient follow-up attendances overall.
    It suggests PIFU implementation would need to be dramatically expanded to get anywhere close to a 25% reduction in total follow-up activity, which NHSE had previously targeted by March 2023. As previously reported, there has been little to no reduction so far.
    Chris Sherlaw-Johnson, senior fellow at the Nuffield Trust, said: “As few patients are currently on PIFU pathways at present, it’s not going to have that noticeable impact on the overall number of follow ups.”
    He also stressed it was not clear whether the reduction was caused by the genuine elimination of unnecessary follow-ups or if patients were not returning for care despite needing it.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 25 January 2024
  12. Sam
    Hundreds more middle-aged adults have been dying each month since the end of the pandemic, as obesity and NHS backlogs drive a surge in excess deaths.
    New analysis of official statistics has revealed that there were an extra 28,000 deaths in the UK during the first six months of 2023, compared with levels in the previous five years.
    The biggest rise in unexpected deaths has been among adults aged 50 to 64, who are increasingly dying prematurely from preventable conditions including heart disease and diabetes.
    The Covid inquiry is now being urged to shift its focus from “tactical decisions made by politicians” and to examine the lasting disruption that has kept deaths persistently high since the virus peaked.
    Experts believe that difficulties in accessing GPs since lockdown and record NHS waiting lists mean that middle-aged patients are missing out on life-saving preventative treatment such as blood pressure medication. Unhealthy lifestyles, obesity and widening health inequalities are also contributing to a rise in avoidable deaths.
    Professor Yvonne Doyle, who led Public Health England during the pandemic, warned that the official Covid inquiry risks “missing the point” by focusing on the drama and WhatsApps of Westminster politicians. In an article for The Times, Doyle, who gave evidence to the inquiry six weeks ago, says that the tens of thousands of excess deaths since Covid “represent an underlying pandemic of ill health” that should be addressed.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: The Times, 13 December 2023
  13. Sam
    The head of the NHS has today announced the rollout of ‘Martha’s Rule’ in hospitals across England from April, enabling patients and families to seek an urgent review if their condition deteriorates.
    The patient safety initiative is set to be rolled out to at least 100 NHS sites and will give patients and their families round-the-clock access to a rapid review from an independent critical care team if they are worried about their or a loved one’s condition.
    This escalation process will be available 24/7 to patients, families and NHS staff, and will be advertised throughout hospitals, making it quickly and easily accessible.
    NHS chief Amanda Pritchard said the programme had the potential to “save many lives in the future” and thanked Martha’s family for their important campaigning and collaboration to help the NHS improve the care of patients experiencing acute deterioration.
    Thirteen-year-old Martha Mills died from sepsis at King’s College Hospital, London, in 2021, due to a failure to escalate her to intensive care and after her family’s concerns about her deteriorating condition were not responded to promptly.
    Extensive campaigning by her parents Merope and Paul, supported by the cross-party think tank Demos, has seen widespread support for a single system that allows patients or their families to trigger an urgent clinical review from a different team in the hospital if the patient’s condition is rapidly worsening and they feel they are not getting the care they need.
    Merope Mills and Paul Laity, Martha’s parents, said: “We are pleased that the implementation of Martha’s Rule will begin in April. We want it to be in place as quickly and as widely as possible, to prevent what happened to our daughter from happening to other patients in hospital.
    “We believe Martha’s Rule will save lives. In cases of deterioration, families and carers by the bedside can be aware of changes busy clinicians can’t; their knowledge should be recognised as a resource. We also look to Martha’s Rule to alter medical culture: to give patients a little more power, to encourage listening on the part of medical professionals, and to normalise the idea that even the grandest of doctors should welcome being challenged. We call on all NHS clinicians to back the initiative: we know that the large majority do listen, are open with patients and never complacent – but Martha’s doctors worked in a different culture, so some situations need to change.
    “Our daughter was quite something: fun and determined, with a vast appetite for life and so many plans and ambitions – we’ll never know what she would have achieved with all her talents. Hers was a preventable death, but Martha’s Rule will mean that she didn’t die completely in vain.”
    Read full story
    Source: NHS England, 21 February 2024
  14. Sam
    A man with Down’s Syndrome and dementia died in hospital after not being fed for nine days.
    The 56-year-old was admitted to Poole hospital with a hip fracture after falling over at a Bournemouth care home, where he had been receiving care.
    On admittance, he was taken to the trauma and orthopaedics ward, where he was listed as ‘nil by mouth’, as he had trouble swallowing.
    Nine days later, he died of pneumonia after a ‘series of errors’ at the hospital.
    Now, the man’s father has been given £22,500 in compensation, after an incident investigation at the hospital.
    Allegations made against the hospital included a failure to feed the patient for nine days, causing "his subsequent severe deterioration and death".
    The hospital failed to adequately monitor and investigate his condition, while failing to provide senior doctors, it was alleged.
    This left unsupervised junior doctors who did not have access to senior staff or any way to escalate their concerns, allegations said.
    This, it was claimed, was not done when the patient was still nil by mouth after nine days, despite the fact he was suffering from pneumonia.
    Read full story
    Source: Yahoo News, 9 February 2024
  15. Sam
    Nearly 70 healthcare workers with Long Covid will take their fight to the High Court later to sue the NHS and other employers for compensation.
    The staff, from England and Wales, believe they first caught Covid at work during the pandemic and say they were not properly protected from the virus.
    Many of them say they are left with life-changing disabilities and are likely to lose income as a result.
    The Department of Health said "there are lessons to be learnt" from Covid.
    The group believe they were not provided with adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) at work, which includes eye protection, gloves, gowns and aprons.
    In particular, they say they should have had access to high-grade masks, which help block droplets in the air from patient's coughs and sneezes which can contain the Covid virus.
    But the masks they were given tended to be in line with national guidance.
    Rachel Hext, who is 36, has always insisted that she caught Covid in her job as a nurse in a small community hospital in Devon.
    "It's devastating. I live an existence rather than a life. It prevents me doing so much of what I want to do. And it's been four years."
    Her list of long Covid symptoms includes everything from brain fog and extreme fatigue to nerve damage, and deafness in one ear.
    Solicitor Kevin Digby, who represents more than 60 members of the group, describes their case as "very important".
    He says: "It's quite harrowing. These people really have been abandoned, and they are really struggling to fight to get anything.
    "Now, they can take it to court and hope that they can get some compensation for the injuries that they've suffered."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 6 March 2024
    Related reading on the hub:
    Healthcare workers with Long Covid: Group litigation – a blog from David Osborn The pandemic – questions around Government governance: a blog from David Osborn  
  16. Sam
    An unprecedented number of women are being investigated by police on suspicion of illegally ending a pregnancy, the BBC has been told.
    Abortion provider MSI says it knows of up to 60 criminal inquiries in England and Wales since 2018, compared with almost zero before.
    Some investigations followed natural pregnancy loss, File on 4 found.
    Pregnancy loss is investigated only if credible evidence suggests a crime, the National Police Chiefs' Council says.
    File on 4 has spoken to women who say that they have been "traumatised" and left feeling "suicidal" following criminal investigations lasting years.
    Speaking for the first time, one woman described how she had been placed under investigation after giving birth prematurely, despite maintaining that she had never attempted an abortion.
    Dr Jonathan Lord, medical director at MSI, which is one of the UK's main abortion providers, believes the "unprecedented" number of women now falling under investigation may be linked to the police's increased awareness of the availability of the "pills by post" scheme - introduced in England and Wales during the Covid-19 lockdown. Scotland also introduced a similar programme.
    These "telemedicine" schemes, which allow pregnancies up to 10 weeks to be terminated at home, remain in effect. Campaigners are concerned that it is possible for women to knowingly or unknowingly use the pills after this point.
    MSI's Dr Lord says criminal investigations and prosecutions further "traumatise" women after abortions, and that women deserve "compassion" rather than "punishment".
    "These women are often vulnerable and in desperate situations - they need help, not investigation and punishment," he says.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 20 February 2024
  17. Sam
    The medical leaders of the maternity unit of a flagship hospital threatened with closure have written to their chief executive saying the downgrade would not be safe, HSJ has learned.
    Nineteen obstetric and gynaecological staff, including the clinical director, wrote to the chair and CEO of the Royal Free London Foundation Trust this week saying the proposals to shutter services at the trust’s main site in Hampstead would increase the risk of harm to mothers.
    Their letter said: “Whilst we accept, and support, the need to review provision of maternity and neonatal services across [north central London], aiming for care excellence and best outcomes, we have significant concerns about the current proposals.”
    The letter said the Royal Free was the only unit in NCL to offer a “range of supporting specialist services for complex maternity care”, including rheumatology and neurology and is the “only hospital in NCL to provide both 24-hour interventional radiology and on-site acute vascular surgery and urology support”.
    The medics’ letter said co-morbidities from cardiac, renal, haematological and neurological conditions had driven an increase in maternal mortality over the past decade and that RFH’s services were well-equipped to manage these complex cases.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 24 January 2024
  18. Sam
    A fresh inquest into the death of Raychel Ferguson has found she died of a cerebral oedema, or swelling in the brain, due to hyponatraemia.
    He said the "inappropriate infusion of hypertonic saline fluid" was the most significant factor.
    The nine-year-old died at the Royal Victoria Hospital for Sick Children in June 2001.
    Coroner Joe McCrisken said her death was due to a series of human errors and not systemic failure.
    He outlined three causes of the hyponatraemia but said he was satisfied the "inappropriate infusion of hypertonic saline fluid... played the most significant part".
    The new inquest into Raychel's death was first opened in January 2022 after being ordered by the attorney general but was postponed in October when new evidence came to light.
    Raychel was one of five children whose deaths over the course of eight years at the same hospital prompted a public inquiry.
    In 2018 the Hyponatraemia Inquiry - which examined the deaths of five children in Northern Ireland hospitals, including Raychel - found her death was avoidable.
    The 14-year-long inquiry was heavily critical of the "self-regulating and unmonitored" health service. In his report in 2018, Mr Justice O'Hara found there was a "reluctance among clinicians to openly acknowledge failings" in Raychel's death.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 11 December 2023
  19. Sam
    The expert tasked by government and NHS England to investigate maternity scandals has criticised ministers for failing to provide the funding necessary to address the problems.
    Donna Ockenden said the funding provided so far was “nowhere near good enough” and progress made to improve services had been “extremely disappointing”.
    After her investigation into the deaths and harm of 295 babies and nine mothers at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals Trust, the Department of Health and Social Care endorsed recommendations to invest an additional £200m to £350m per year into maternity services.
    IMs Ockenden suggests the recent impact of inflation, pay awards, and other rising costs means the full £350m is required.
    According to NHSE an additional £165m per year has been invested since 2021, and the DHSC said this would rise to £187m from April.
    Ms Ockenden, a senior midwife, told HSJ: “What I would like to say loud and clear to the government is that we are broadly 50 per cent of the way there in receiving the money we know is needed for maternity services. That is nowhere near good enough.
    “There are workforce issues across [the whole team], whether that’s midwives, obstetricians or neonatologists, and it’s hardly surprising.
    “The government must now do more – whilst we were grateful for the endorsement [of her report], the lack of progress in providing what is known to be the required funding is extremely disappointing.”
    Read more (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 11 December 2023
  20. Sam
    Thousands of lives could be saved if safe rooms were set up in UK cities where people could be supervised while they get high, the world’s largest review of the effectiveness of drug-consumption rooms and overdose-prevention centres (OPCs) has found.
    The part-government-funded study published on Thursday also found the facilities could slash the transmission of fatal diseases, as well as reduce drug litter, the pressure on ambulance callouts and the burden on hospitals.
    Similar facilities already operate in France, the US, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Greece, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Mexico, Iceland and Colombia.
    Each unit hosts from 20 to 400 users a day and is supposed to provide somewhere for people to take drugs in the presence of trained health workers who intervene if an overdose occurs.
    They also mean people don’t have to rush their drug taking, can access clean needles, and get help with other health issues, from testing for hepatitis B and HIV to accessing mental-health support.
    But none has yet been deployed officially in the UK, and the report warns the absence “costs lives”.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 11 January 2023
  21. Sam
    An inquest into the death of a baby boy who died two weeks after birth in a Sussex hospital has found there were missed opportunities in the care of his mother.
    Orlando Davis was born by emergency caesarian section at Worthing Hospital, part of University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, on 10 September 2021 following a normal and low risk pregnancy.
    He was born with no heartbeat and his parents were told he had suffered an irreversible brain injury after being starved of oxygen - after his mother Robyn Davis experienced seizures during labour, caused by a rare condition that went "completely unrecognised" by staff.
    Orlando died in Robyn and husband Jonny’s arms on 24 September 2021 at 14 days old due to his catastrophic brain injury.
    His mother had to be put in an induced coma, but has since recovered. But his parents say his death was avoidable.
    Today at the inquest into Orlando's death, senior coroner, Ms Penelope Schofield said a lack of understanding of hyponatremia contributed to neglect of Orlando.
    Mrs Davis had told the inquest: “I can’t explain the sadness, frustration, anger and complete heartbreak I felt and still feel towards the trust for not keeping us safe.
    Mrs Davis continued: “The thing I cannot process is that I have lost my healthy, full-term son. I feel as if my son was taken from me in a circumstance that, in my personal and professional opinion, was completely preventable.
    Read full story
    Source: ITVX, 14 March 2024
     
  22. Sam
    The number of people with norovirus in hospital in England is 179% higher than the average at this time of year, official data shows, as the NHS comes under mounting winter pressure.
    Admissions caused by the vomiting and diarrhoea-causing norovirus have surged and cases of other seasonal viruses are also rising, according to NHS England figures. Health chiefs said the impact on hospitals from seasonal viruses was likely to be worsened by the current cold weather.
    “We all know somebody who has had some kind of nasty winter virus in the last few weeks,” said Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s medical director.
    “Today’s data shows this is starting to trickle through to hospital admissions, with a much higher volume of norovirus cases compared to last year, and the continued impact of infections like flu and RSV in children on hospital capacity – all likely to be exacerbated by this week’s cold weather.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 30 November 2023
  23. Sam
    The NHS has been accused of putting patients' lives at risk after it allowed hundreds of staff, including senior consultants and managers, to work thousands of miles from the UK.
    A Mail on Sunday investigation has discovered that NHS staff at every level are working remotely in places as far flung as Australia and Japan.
    Critics last night warned that the 'unacceptable and dangerous' arrangements could threaten patient safety.
    Professor Karol Sikora, a former director of the World Health Organisation cancer programme, said: "Allowing staff to work from abroad is a huge mistake that can only undermine patient safety and the efficacy of treatment."
    At least 335 NHS staff from 33 trusts have been allowed to work abroad in the past two years, according to data from Freedom of Information requests.
    Until last year, Constantine Fragkoulakis, 42, was employed as a consultant radiologist at Sherwood Forest Hospitals Foundation Trust in Nottinghamshire. 
    The trust said its radiologists "routinely interpret images and write reports away from the hospitals where they are based". 
    But Mr Fragkoulakis admitted there had been "a lot of IT issues, so there was no patient care involved or clinical work'. He added: 'Essentially it was just meetings that I did."
    Another consultant radiologist, Branimir Klasic, 50, is being allowed to work two weeks each month in Croatia by the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board in South Wales. 
    It said recruitment was "increasingly challenging" and that it was "open to exploring ways of working that ensures we can provide the skills and expertise that our patients need". 
    A Department of Health spokesman said: "We are clear that ways of working, which are agreed between NHS employers and its staff, should never impact on NHS patients or services."
    Read full story
    Source: Daily Mail, 10 February 2024
  24. Sam
    The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has called on the UK government not to wait until after the upcoming general election to approve an infant immunisation programme against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), so that babies can be protected next winter.
    In June 2023 the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) recommended developing an RSV immunisation programme for infants and for older adults.1 It issued a fuller statement reiterating the advice in September 2023.2 But the government has yet to make a final decision on rolling out an RSV immunisation programme.
    A letter signed by more than 2000 paediatricians and healthcare professionals says that the sooner a full RSV vaccination programme is implemented the more effective it will be and that it “could save child health services reaching breaking point.”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: BMJ, 20 March 2024
  25. Sam
    Half of surgeons in England have considered leaving the NHS amid frustration over a lack of access to operating rooms, a new survey shows.
    More than 3,000 surgeons contemplated quitting the health service in the last year, with two-thirds reporting burn out and work-related stress to be their main challenge, a new survey by the Royal College of Surgeons England has revealed.
    As the NHS tries to reduce the 7.61 million waiting list backlog, the survey, covering one quarter of all UK surgeons, found that 56% believe that access to operating theatres is a major challenge.
    RCS England president, Mr Tim Mitchell, said: “At a time when record waiting lists persist across the UK, it is deeply concerning that NHS productivity has decreased.
    “The reasons for this are multifactorial, but access to operating theatres and staff wellbeing certainly play a major part. If surgical teams cannot get into operating theatres, patients will continue to endure unacceptably long waits for surgery.
    “There is an urgent need to increase theatre capacity and ensure existing theatre spaces are used to maximum capacity. There is also a lot of work to be done to retain staff at all levels by reducing burnout and improving morale.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 18 January 2024
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