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Sam

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  1. Sam
    Dr Ted Baker has been named as the government’s preferred candidate for chair of the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB).
    Steve Barclay, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has today (26 August 2022) invited the Health and Social Care Committee to hold a pre-appointment scrutiny hearing with Dr Baker.
    Ted Baker was Chief Inspector of Hospitals at the Care Quality Commission between 2017 and 2022. He trained as a paediatric cardiologist. He was in clinical practice for 35 years and has held a range of clinical and academic leadership roles including medical director at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
    He was selected following an open public appointment process.
    Following the select committee hearing, the committee will set out its views on the candidate’s suitability for the role. The Secretary of State will then consider the committee’s report before making a final decision on the appointment.
    Read full story
    Source: HSIB, 26 August 2022
  2. Sam
    A shortage of some medicines is putting patients at risk, pharmacists have warned.
    A poll of 1,562 UK pharmacists for the Pharmaceutical Journal found more than half (54%) believed patients had been put at risk in the past six months due to shortages.
    A number of patients have been facing difficulties accessing some medicines in recent months, sometimes having to go to multiple pharmacies to find their prescription or needing to go back to their GP to be prescribed an alternative.
    Since June, the government has issued a number of "medicine supply notifications", which highlight shortages.
    Some of these include: pain relief drugs used in childbirth; mouth ulcer medication; migraine treatment; an antihistamine; a drug used by prostate cancer and endomitosis patients; an antipsychotic drug used among bipolar disorder and schizophrenia patients; a type of inhaler and a certain brand of insulin.
    Read full story
    Source Sky News, 11August 2022
  3. Sam
    Last month saw the highest number of ambulance callouts for life-threatening conditions since records began, NHS England officials say.
    There were more than 85,000 category one calls, for situations like cardiac arrests and people stopping breathing.
    The heatwave could have been one reason for increased demand, but experts say hospitals already face immense pressures.
    Nearly 30,000 patients waited more than 12 hours to be admitted to hospital.
    The number is up 33% on the previous month and the highest since records began in 2010.
    Richard Murray, chief executive of The King's Fund said the pressure on hospitals was also being felt right across the health and social care system.
    He added: "At the end of July, 13,014 people were still in hospital beds despite being medically fit to be discharged, often due to a lack of available social care support. The challenges affecting the NHS cannot be solved without addressing the issues in social care."
    Read full story
    Source BBC News, 12 August 2022
  4. Sam
    Criminals have issued ‘demands’ to an NHS IT supplier targeted by a cyber attack, leading health chiefs to fear they have accessed confidential patient data, HSJ has learned. 
    IT firm Advanced was targeted last week. The company provides electronic patient records to several trusts and most NHS 111 providers.
    Multiple government agencies – including the National Crime Agency and GCHQ – are now working to identify the extent of the damage caused by the attackers, while leaders of affected mental health trusts have warned of a “pretty desperate” situation as staff are unable to access vital patient records. 
    In a statement issued last night, Advanced said: “With respect to potentially impacted data, our investigation is under way, and when we have more information about potential data access or exfiltration, we will update customers as appropriate.”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source HSJ, 11 August 2022
  5. Sam
    NHS England has revealed plans to crack down on poor care being provided by mental health service providers. 
    There will be a particular focus on independent units treating NHS patients, as just over a quarter of these providers are failing to meet quality standards. 
    Official data shared with HSJ shows that of the 238 independent NHS mental health providers licensed by the Care Quality Commission in England, 174 (73 per cent) are classed as “good” or “outstanding”. The remaining 64 (27 per cent) either “require improvement” or are considered “inadequate”. 
    There have been been national concerns about repeated service failures within the sector. Independent units are often used by NHS trusts for out of area placements – a practice it is trying to end – or to cope with the lack of acute mental health beds.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 11 August 2022
  6. Sam
    NHS England patients with Type 1 diabetes will now be eligible for life-changing continuous glucose monitors after the health service secured a new cut-price deal.
    The wearable arm gadget sends information to a mobile app and allows diabetes patients to keep track of their glucose levels at all times without having to scan or take a finger prick test.
    Traditionally, continuous glucose monitors are more expensive than their flash monitor counterparts – which record glucose levels by scanning a sensor – but thanks to the NHS agreeing on a new cost-effective deal with manufacturers DEXCOM, they will now be available for NHS patients on prescription at a similar price.
    The monitor, called Dexcom ONE Real Time-Continuous Glucose Monitoring, uses a sensor no bigger than a bottle cap that attaches to the arm for up to 10 days and measures glucose levels from just under the skin.
    Patients will receive their starter pack – which will include information on the product and usage, a sensor and transmitter – from the hospital or GP surgery once prescribed, after which they can go to the pharmacy for their repeat prescription.
    Dr Partha Kar, national speciality advisor for diabetes and obesity said: “This is a huge step forward for Type 1 diabetes care and these monitors will be life-changing for anyone with the illness – giving them more choice to manage their condition in the most convenient way possible – as well as the best chance at living healthier lives, reducing their risk of hospitalisation and illnesses associated with diabetes, which in turn reduces pressure on wider NHS services.
    “The new deal also delivers on our commitment to get patients the latest cutting-edge medical technology at the best value for taxpayer money – saving the NHS millions over the coming years”.
    Read full story
    Source: NHS England, 2 August 2022
    You may also be interested in:
    “I felt lucky to get out alive”: why we must improve hospital safety for people with diabetes Peer support makes a big difference to living with type 1 diabetes Improving safety for diabetic inpatients: 4 key steps - Interview with Dr Partha Kar
  7. Sam
    The monkeypox outbreak has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization.
    According to the UK Health Security Agency, early symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes and chills, as well as other features such as exhaustion.
    Monkeypox does not spread easily between humans, and requires close contact. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is thought that human-to-human transmission primarily occurs through large respiratory droplets.
    Globally, there have so far been 16,016 monkeypox cases – 4,132 of which were in the past week, according to WHO data. It is now in 75 countries and territories and there have been five deaths.
    The European region has the highest number of total cases, at 11,865, and the highest increase in the past seven days, with 2,705.
    The west African strain of monkeypox is generally a mild infection for most people, but it is important those infected and their contacts are identified. The virus is more of a concern among vulnerable people such as those with weakened immune systems or who are pregnant.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 23 July 2022
  8. Sam
    A pilot scheme to reduce infections following catheter insertions has shown a 100% fall within a hospital trust.
    NHS Supply Chain is now encouraging acute trusts in England to take advantage of the scheme which has shown to not only reduce infection rates but shorten patient length of stay and save clinicians’ time.
    Catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) are not uncommon and can cause patients significant pain, discomfort, confusion and anxiety for family and friends. They further impact healthcare with increased antibiotic use, prolonged hospital stays, increased clinical activity and risk of complaints and litigation. 
    University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust had audited its urethral catheterisation practice, and the way catheterised patients w19 July ere cared for in clinical areas. The audit highlighted a wide variation in care delivery leading to inconsistent outcomes for patients and staff.
    After reviewing the available options, the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust decided to pilot the BARD® Tray which contains all the essential items to catheterise or re-catheterise a patient in one pack and includes the catheter with a pre-connected urine drainage bag. This unique ‘closed system’ prevents ingress of bacteria and helps avoid catheter related infection. 
    NHS Supply Chain: Rehabilitation, Disabled Services, Women’s Health and Associated Consumables worked alongside supplier Beckton Dickinson to provide the tray products required by the trust.
    During the three-month pilot, catheter related infection rates fell by 100% at the trust which coincided with a reduction in complaints and a reduced length of hospital stay for patients. Clinicians reported that the pack was intuitive and saved around five minutes per catheterisation, which during the pilot process meant saving 83 hours from 1,000 catheterisation procedures.
    While the BARD® Tray was more expensive than the individual components that were currently purchased, the pilot study demonstrated the clinical and financial value that was delivered by the tray being implemented across an organisation. The overall cost of components is slightly cheaper, but due to reduced catheterisations, consumables spend fell by 24%.
    Read full story
    Source: NHS Supply Chain, 19 July 2022
  9. Sam
    A quarter of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) non-executive directors of NHS trusts have seen or experienced discrimination in the course of their work, a report reveals.
    While almost four out of five (79%) of these BAME non-executives said they challenged such behaviour when they encountered it, only half (50%) said that led to a change of policy or behaviour.
    The other half felt they had been ‘fobbed off’ or subjected to actively hostile behaviour for having spoken up,” says a report commissioned by the Seacole Group, which represents most of the BAME non-executive board members of NHS trusts in England.
    It adds: “This level of discrimination is unacceptable anywhere and even more so in the boardrooms of NHS organisations. Too many Black, Asian and other ethnic NEDs (non-executive directors) are being subjected to it and left to deal with it on their own.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 21 July 2022
  10. Sam
    Hormone replacement therapy is to be offered over the counter for the first time in the UK after the medicines watchdog gave the green light.
    Millions of women go through the menopause every year, with the majority experiencing some symptoms that can be severe and have a negative impact on everyday life.
    In a landmark move hailed as a “huge step forward” for women’s health, the first type of HRT to become available at pharmacies without a prescription will be Gina 10 microgram vaginal tablets (containing estradiol).
    The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the vaginal tablets would be available for post-menopausal women from September after a safety review.
    Maria Caulfield, the minister for women’s health, said: “Menopause affects hundreds of thousands of women every year, but for some its symptoms can be debilitating and for many they can be misunderstood or ignored.
    “Making Gina available over the counter is a huge step forward in enabling women to access HRT as easily as possible, ensuring they can continue living their life as they navigate the menopause.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 20 July 2022
     
     
  11. Sam
    Roy Cairns, 58, was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2019. Twelve months later a tumour was found on his lung.
    Mr Cairns said taking part in the cancer prehab programme piloted by the Northern Ireland's South Eastern Health Trust after his second diagnosis was a "win-win", not only for himself but also his surgeons.
    "I think when you get that diagnosis you are left floundering and with prehab the support you get gives you focus and a little bit of control back in your life," he said.
    Prehabilitation (prehab) means getting ready for cancer treatment in whatever time you have before it starts.
    Mr Cairns is one of 175 patients referred to the programme which involves the Belfast City Council and Macmillan Cancer Support.
    Dr Cherith Semple said the point of the programme is to " improve people's physical well-being as much as possible before treatment and to offer emotional support at a time that can be traumatic".
    Dr Semple, who is a leader in clinical cancer nursing, said this new approach to getting patients fit prior to their surgery was proving a success, both in the short and long-term.
    She said: "We know that it can reduce a patient's hospital stay post-surgery and it can reduce your return to hospital with complications directly afterwards."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 20 July 2022
  12. Sam
    A nurse who recorded she had given medication to care home residents when in fact she had delegated the task to unqualified staff has been struck off.
    Adelaide Maloane was working a night shift at Somerleigh Court in Dorchester, Dorset, in August 2019 when the incident took place.
    Ms Maloane delegated giving 16 medicines to residents to an unqualified healthcare assistant at the home.
    The Nursing and Midwifery Council said Ms Maloane had "failed to acknowledge the seriousness of her misconduct and dishonesty and the implications of her actions for residents, colleagues and the reputation of the nursing profession".
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 21 July 2022
  13. Sam
    Physicians must continue to offer abortions in cases of medical emergencies without exception, Joe Biden’s administration said on Monday, as it insisted federal law would overrule any total state bans on abortion.
    In a letter to healthcare providers, the president’s health and human services secretary, Xavier Becerra, said the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) protects providers from any purported state restrictions should they be required to perform emergency abortions.
    “Under the law, no matter where you live, women have the right to emergency care – including abortion care,” Becerra said. “Today, in no uncertain terms, we are reinforcing that we expect providers to continue offering these services, and that federal law preempts state abortion bans when needed for emergency care.”
    Becerra said medical emergencies include ectopic pregnancies, complications arising from miscarriages, and pre-eclampsia, NBC News reported.
    Becerra said in his letter to medical providers: “If a physician believes that a pregnant patient presenting at an emergency department, including certain labor and delivery departments, is experiencing an emergency medical condition as defined by EMTALA, and that abortion is the stabilizing treatment necessary to resolve that condition, the physician must provide that treatment.
    “And when a state law prohibits abortion and does not include an exception for the life and health of the pregnant person – or draws the exception more narrowly than EMTALA’s emergency medical condition definition – that state law is preempted.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 12 July 2022
  14. Sam
    Hospital inspectors have uncovered repeated maternity failings and expressed serious concern about the safety of mothers and babies in Sheffield just days after a damning report warned there had been hundreds of avoidable baby deaths in Shrewsbury.
    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found Sheffield teaching hospitals NHS foundation trust, one of the largest NHS trusts in England, had failed to make the required improvements to services when it visited in October and November, despite receiving previous warnings from the watchdog.
    As well as concerns across the wider trust, a focused inspection on maternity raised significant issues about the way its service is run. When it came to medical staff at the Sheffield trust, the “service did not have enough medical staff with the right qualifications, skills, and experience to keep women and babies safe from avoidable harm and to provide the right care and treatment”, the report said.
    Inspectors found that staff were not interpreting, classifying or escalating measures of a baby’s heart rate properly, an issue that was raised by Donna Ockenden in her review of the Shrewsbury scandal.
    Despite fetal monitoring being highlighted as an area needing attention in 2015 and 2021, the most recent inspection “highlighted that the service continued to lack urgency and pace in implementing actions and recommendations to mitigate these risks, therefore exposing patients to risk of harm”.

    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 5 April 2022
  15. Sam
    New figures leaked to HSJ show the true volume of 12-hour waiters in emergency departments is more than four times higher than official statistics suggest.
    Internal NHS England figures for February and March show around one in five admissions through ED waited more than 12 hours from arriving until being admitted to a ward – equating to around 158,000 cases.
    The official stats published by NHSE record a slightly different, and shorter, time period, from ‘decision to admit’ to admission. There were around 39,000 of these cases in the same two months, which equates to 4 per cent of admissions through ED, and 5.4 per cent of total emergency admissions.
    The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has long called for the official stats to reflect the total time spent from arrival in ED (as per the internal data), and for trusts to be measured and regulated on this.
    Senior medics have for some time been warning about the patient safety risks of long waiting in EDs and have appealed to NHS England and the government for plans to tackle the crisis.
    Adrian Boyle, vice president of RCEM, said: “This data show the scale of long waiting times in emergency departments and the scale of the patient safety crisis. Performance continues to deteriorate across multiple metrics meaning we are documenting a failing urgent and emergency care system without any system transformation or improvement."
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 13 May 2022
  16. Sam
    More than half of people hospitalised with Covid-19 still have at least one symptom two years after they were first infected, according to the longest follow-up study of its kind.
    While physical and mental health generally improve over time, the analysis suggests that coronavirus patients discharged from hospital still tend to experience poorer health and quality of life than the general population. The research was published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
    “Our findings indicate that for a certain proportion of hospitalised Covid-19 survivors, while they may have cleared the initial infection, more than two years is needed to recover fully,” said the lead author, Prof Bin Cao, of the China-Japan Friendship hospital in China.
    Until now, the long-term health effects of Covid-19 have remained largely unknown, as the longest follow-up studies to date have spanned about a year. The absence of pre-Covid-19 health status data and comparisons with the general population in most studies also made it difficult to determine how well patients with Covid-19 have recovered.
    “Ongoing follow-up of Covid-19 survivors, particularly those with symptoms of long Covid, is essential to understand the longer course of the illness, as is further exploration of the benefits of rehabilitation programmes for recovery,” said Cao. “There is a clear need to provide continued support to a significant proportion of people who’ve had Covid-19, and to understand how vaccines, emerging treatments and variants affect long-term health outcomes.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 11 May 2022
  17. Sam
    Women and babies in the UK are “dying needlessly” because of a lack of suitable medicines to use in pregnancy, according to a report that calls for a radical overhaul of maternal health.
    A “profound” shortage of research and the widespread exclusion of pregnant and breastfeeding women from clinical trials means hardly any new drugs are approved for common medical problems in pregnancy or soon after childbirth, the report finds.
    Meanwhile, scarce or contradictory information about the safety of existing medicines women may be taking for continuing conditions can make it impossible to reach a confident decision on whether or not to continue them in pregnancy, the experts add.
    “While pregnancy in the UK is generally considered safe, women and babies are still dying needlessly as a direct result of preventable pregnancy complications,” the authors say. Each year, 5,000 babies in the UK are either stillborn or die shortly after birth, while about 70 women die of complications in pregnancy.
    The Healthy Mum, Healthy Baby, Healthy Future report draws on evidence from patient groups, clinicians, researchers, lawyers, insurance specialists and the pharmaceutical industry, it proposes “urgent” changes to transform women’s access to modern medicine.
    The report highlights the “profound lack of research activity” and up-to-date information that leaves pregnant women and their physicians in the dark about whether to continue with certain medicines in pregnancy. Some epilepsy drugs, for example, can increase the risk of birth defects, but coming off them can put the woman at risk of severe seizures, which can also harm the baby.
    Lady Manningham-Buller said the situation “urgently needs to change”, with the report setting out eight recommendations to prevent needless deaths.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 12 May 2022
     
  18. Sam
    An NHS boss who had a stroke was taken to A&E by her husband rather than calling for an ambulance because of concerns over long waits.
    In a series of tweets, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust chief executive Deborah Lee praised his swift actions.
    She said he had "bundled her into his car", last week, after she had showed the signs of a stroke because he had heard her "lamenting ambulance delays".
    She is recovering but says it may have been different if they had called 999.
    Waits for an ambulance in England are the longest since new targets were introduced, in 2017.
    And Ms Lee's regional service - the South West - has the longest waits in the country, with category-two calls, which include strokes, taking nearly two hours, on average, to reach patients in March.
    The target is 18 minutes.
    In the tweets, Ms Lee said: "Naturally, I am eternally grateful to my husband for his swift actions… but I can't get one thing out of my head.
    "What if my husband hadn't been there and my daughter had called for an ambulance and I'd been put in the cat[egory]-two stack?"
    She went on to say it was not the fault of the ambulance service and the whole system was "working unrelentingly to this but to no great avail".
    Ms Lee said hospitals were struggling to discharge patients, because of a lack of social care, and so delays were building up in the rest of the system.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 28 April 2022
  19. Sam
    In an ongoing effort to improve care and support for elderly women and women’s health satisfaction and outcomes in general, the government have published their report summarising written responses from 436 organisations and experts from the Women’s Health Strategy call for evidence.
    The organisations that contributed to the report included participants from the charity sector, academia, professional bodies, clinicians, royal colleges and other general experts in women’s health.
    The topics highlighted in the report include:
    Menstrual health and gynaecological conditions, including the impact of premenstrual syndrome on someone’s quality of life. Fertility, pregnancy, pregnancy loss and maternal health, including women not feeling listened to during and after pregnancy and the provision of bereavement support services. Menopause, including suggestions for improvements in training and guidelines for healthcare professionals. Gynaecological and other cancers, including barriers to accessing high-quality, up to date information on risk factors for female cancers. Mental health, including its interaction with other health conditions across women’s life course. Healthy ageing, including the need to increase focus on the health needs of older women and emphasise women may experience the same conditions as men in different ways. Violence against women and girls, including the complications associated with hymenoplasty and barriers to accessing healthcare support for those who’ve been subject to years of violence and abuse. Minister for Women’s Health Maria Caulfield said: “For generations, women have lived in a healthcare system primarily designed by men, for men. We are committed to tackling the gender health gap, and the publication of our strategy later this year will mark a significant step forward.”
    She added: “I want to thank the expert individuals and organisations who took the time to respond to our call for evidence. The insights you have provided have been stark and sobering but will be pivotal to ensuring our strategy represents the first-hand experiences of the health care system.”
    Read full story
    Source: NHE, 13 April 2022
  20. Sam
    Exhausted after three sleepless days in labour, Jane O’Hara, then 34, screamed and burst into tears when the midwives and doctors at Harrogate District Hospital told her the natural birth she wanted was not going to happen.
    She ended up needing life-saving surgery and 11 pints of blood after a severe haemorrhage. Mercifully, Ivy was fine and is now a healthy 12-year-old. 
    In recent weeks, the NHS has been rocked by the conclusions of an inquiry into the worst maternity disaster in its history: 201 babies and nine mothers died and another 94 babies suffered brain damage as a result of avoidable poor care at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust. This has been linked to a culture of promoting natural — that is, vaginal — birth and avoiding caesarean sections. 
    Blame thus far has been aimed largely at the NHS — but parents have started speaking out online about what they believe has been the role of the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), a leading provider of antenatal classes in Britain, in promoting vaginal births.
    “I can absolutely point to key decisions that I made that were influenced by the NCT’s mantra. I was led into a position where I believed I had more control over my birth than I actually did,” says O’Hara, who is now a professor of healthcare quality and safety at the University of Leeds. She believes she was a victim of a “normal birth” ideology that was heavily promoted at the NCT classes she attended.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: The Times, 10 April 2022
  21. Sam
    Pregnancy-related deaths among US mothers climbed higher in the pandemic’s first year, continuing a decades-long trend that disproportionately affects Black people, according to a new government report.
    Overall in 2020, there were almost 24 deaths per 100,000 births, or 861 deaths total, numbers that reflect mothers dying during pregnancy, childbirth or the year after. The rate was 20 per 100,000 in 2019.
    Among Black people, there were 55 maternal deaths per 100,000 births, almost triple the rate for white people.
    The report from the National Center for Health Statistics does not include reasons for the trend and researchers said they have not fully examined how Covid-19, which increases risks for severe illness in pregnancy, might have contributed.
    The coronavirus could have had an indirect effect. Many people put off medical care early in the pandemic for fear of catching the virus, and virus surges strained the healthcare system, which could have had an impact on pregnancy-related deaths, said Eugene Declercq, a professor and maternal death researcher at Boston University School of Public Health.
    He called the high rates “terrible news” and noted that the US has continually fared worse in maternal mortality than many other developed countries.
    Reasons for those disparities are not included in the data, but experts have blamed many factors including differences in rates of underlying health conditions, poor access to quality healthcare and structural racism.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 23 February 2022
  22. Sam
    Diabetes is killing an increasing number of Americans and has accounted for more than 100 000 US deaths in each of the past two years. A national commission has called on the federal government to take a broad approach to the problem, similar to the fight against AIDS.
    Lisa Murdock of the American Diabetes Association told The BMJ that diabetes was the most common underlying condition in the US and that Covid-19 was an exacerbating factor. Some 40% of Americans who died from Covid-19 had diabetes, she said.
    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that 37.3 million Americans—11.3% of the US population—have diabetes, including 8.3 million who have not had it diagnosed.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: BMJ, 3 February 2022
  23. Sam
    A Liverpool NHS trust has been rated as "requires improvement" by the health service watchdog due to concerns over care and safety.
    The moves comes following inspections at Aintree University Hospital and Royal Liverpool University Hospital.
    Inspectors said Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust required improvement in safety while it was classed as inadequate for leadership.
    The trust said "immediate action" had been taken to address the concerns.
    Ted Baker, chief inspector of hospitals at the Care Quality Commission, said the inspections in June and July highlighted concerns that the trust's leadership team "had a lack of oversight of what was happening on the frontline".
    Mr Baker said "lengthy delays" and "poor monitoring" were putting patients at serious risk of harm, and the trust was rated as requires improvement overall.
    He added: "We were particularly concerned about how long people were waiting to be admitted onto medical wards and by the absence of effective processes to prioritise patients for treatment based on their conditions.
    "There weren't always the right number of staff with the right skills and training to treat people effectively or keep them safe in the trust's emergency departments and on medical wards."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 27 October 2021
  24. Sam
    Sickle cell patients have begun receiving the first new treatment for the blood disorder in over 20 years.
    The inherited condition can cause severe pain and organ failure, often requiring hospital admissions.
    Crizanlizumab is given as a monthly infusion and is thought to cut visits to A&E by 40%. Loury Mooruth, 62, received the treatment at Birmingham City Hospital, having suffered repeated periods of intense pain for decades.
    During a crisis, patients often need powerful opioid painkillers but Loury, like many others, has faced suspicion when at A&E.
    "You know the protocol when you go in, which needles and so on. They think straight away you are a drug addict - they don't believe you," she says.
    She has refused to go to hospital during a crisis for the past two years because of her negative experiences.
    A report from MPs last year found "serious failings" in sickle cell care with some evidence of discrimination against patients.
    Dr Shivan Pancham, a consultant haematologist at Birmingham City Hospital, told the BBC: "Our patients often find the experience in emergency departments challenging with a lack of understanding of the severity of pain.
    "It is hoped with these new therapies if we reduce the likelihood of attending emergency departments, ultimately this will be much better for the patients."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 24 February 2022
  25. Sam
    Cases of monkeypox are being investigated in European countries, including the UK as well as the US, Canada and Australia.
    Monkeypox is caused by the monkeypox virus, a member of the same family of viruses as smallpox, although it is much less severe and experts say chances of infection are low.
    It occurs mostly in remote parts of central and west African countries, near tropical rainforests.
    There are two main strains of virus - west African and central African.
    Two of the infected patients in the UK travelled from Nigeria, so it is likely that they are suffering from the West African strain of the virus, which is generally mild, but this is as yet unconfirmed.
    Another case was a healthcare worker who picked up the virus from one of the patients.
    More recent cases do not have any known links with each other, or any history of travel. It appears they caught it in the UK from spread in the community.
    The UKHSA says anyone with concerns that they could be infected should see a health professional, but make contact with the clinic or surgery ahead of a visit.
    Initial symptoms include fever, headaches, swellings, back pain, aching muscles and a general listlessness.
    Once the fever breaks a rash can develop, often beginning on the face, then spreading to other parts of the body, most commonly the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.
    The infection usually clears up on its own and lasts between 14 and 21 days.
    Experts say we are not on the brink of a national outbreak and, according to Public Health England, the risk to the public is low.
    Prof Jonathan Ball, professor of molecular virology, University of Nottingham, said: "The fact that only one of the 50 contacts of the initial monkeypox-infected patient has been infected shows how poorly infectious the virus is.
    "It is wrong to think that we are on the brink of a nationwide outbreak."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 20 May 2022
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