The government is being urged to launch a public inquiry into "systemic failings" at mental health hospitals across England.
Leading mental health charity Mind says "immediate political action" is needed as NHS mental health facilities are "at breaking point".
Mind claims "patients' human rights are being violated" and "wrongly restrained" across "run-down, understaffed" mental health wards.
Its Raise the Standard campaign argues that a "full statutory inquiry" is the "first step" into resolving widespread issues.
Dr Sarah Hughes, chief executive of Mind, said: "One case of abuse, neglect or unsafe care is too many, people are suffering because of the shocking state of care in mental health hospitals.
"People should go to hospital to get well, not to endure harm. This is wholly unacceptable and must be addressed urgently."
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Source: Sky News, 20 June 2023
Forty children were hospitalised for vaping last year, prompting NHS bosses to warn we risk “sleep-walking into a crisis”.
Amanda Pritchard, NHS England boss, said it was "right" for paediatricians to call for action on vaping among young people, as the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health called for an outright ban on disposable vapes.
She said the 40 children admitted to hospital in England in 2022 due to “vaping-related disorders” was up from 11 two years before.
The RCPCH’s call for action comes as NHS data revealed one in five 15-year-olds said they used e-cigarettes in 2021, while charity Action on Smoking (ASH) reported the experimental use of e-cigarettes among 11 to 17-year-olds had risen by 50 per cent compared to last year.
The college warned: “Youth vaping is fast becoming an epidemic among children, and I fear that if action is not taken, we will find ourselves sleep-walking into a crisis.”
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Source: The Independent, 16 June 2023
Antidepressants can cause severe, sometimes irreversible, sexual dysfunction that persists even after discontinuing the medication.
Sufferers have described it as ‘chemical castration’ – a type of genital mutilation caused by antidepressants, mainly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
The condition is known as post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD), a condition largely unrecognised, and the true incidence of which is unknown.
David Healy, psychiatrist and founder of RxISK.org said, “I saw my first patient with PSSD in 2000, a 35-year-old lady who told me that three months after stopping treatment, she could rub a hard-bristled brush across her genitals and feel nothing.”
David Healy, psychiatrist and founder of RxISK.org said, “I saw my first patient with PSSD in 2000, a 35-year-old lady who told me that three months after stopping treatment, she could rub a hard-bristled brush across her genitals and feel nothing.”
Josef Witt-Doerring, psychiatrist and former FDA medical officer said, “This condition is so devastating that it will cause serious changes to your life and to those around you.”
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Source: Maryanne Demasi, 13 June 2023
Police are investigating about 40 hospital deaths over allegations of medical negligence made by two consultant surgeons who lost their jobs after blowing the whistle about patient safety.
The allegedly botched operations took place at Royal Sussex County hospital (RSCH) in Brighton, part of University hospital Sussex NHS trust, when it was run by a management team hailed by Jeremy Hunt as the best in the NHS.
Last week, detectives from Sussex police wrote to the trust’s chief executive, George Findlay, confirming they had launched a formal investigation into “a number of deaths” at the RSCH. They were investigating allegations of “criminal culpability through medical negligence” made by “two separate clinical consultants” at the trust, the letter said.
It is understood about 40 deaths occurred between 2015 and 2020 after alleged errors in general surgery and neurosurgery departments. Both whistleblowers alleged the trust failed to properly investigate the deaths and learn from the mistakes made.
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Source: The Guardian, 9 June 2023
Inquests will be held into the deaths of at least 36 patients – and potentially dozens more – treated by the jailed former breast surgeon Ian Paterson.
As the fallout of one of the most horrific medical scandals in the history of the NHS continues, a pre-inquest review hearing at Birmingham and Solihull coroner’s court on Friday heard that 417 of Paterson’s cases where breast cancer was listed as the immediate cause of death had been examined.
Paterson, who attended the hearing remotely from prison, was sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2017, later increased to 20 years, for carrying out needless surgery on patients who were left traumatised and scarred.
Inquests have been confirmed in 36 cases, with a further 21 cases deemed likely to need an inquest after “preliminary” investigations. Another 36 cases are still to be reviewed.
The judge Richard Foster said a further 130 cases had been reported to the coroner where breast cancer was listed as contributing to death. A review of a selection of those cases was being carried out and a decision on whether they should all be reviewed would be made on its completion, he said.
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Source: The Guardian, 9 June 3023
A police investigation is under way into allegations of abuse at an NHS-run home for men with severe learning disabilities and autism, it has emerged.
Several staff from the home have already been “removed” from the site by Surrey and Borders Partnership Foundation Trust, although the trust would not comment on whether any disciplinary action has been taken against them.
The home – Oakwood, in Caterham, Surrey – will close at the end of the summer in response to the failings, the trust said. No one has been charged in relation to the allegations, which HSJ understands focus on coercive behaviour and unnecessary deprivation of liberty, with no allegations of violent or sexual behaviour.
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Source: HSJ, 9 June 2023
A blood test for more than 50 types of cancer has shown real promise in a major NHS trial, researchers say.
The test correctly revealed two out of every three cancers among 5,000 people who had visited their GP with suspected symptoms, in England or Wales.
In 85% of those positive cases, it also pinpointed the original site of cancer.
The Galleri test looks for distinct changes in bits of genetic code that leak from different cancers. Spotting treatable cancer early can save lives.
The test remains very much a "work in progress", the researchers, from Oxford University, say, but could increase the number of cancers identified.
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Source: BBS News, 2 June 2023
The mayor of London is independently reviewing NHS England plans to reconfigure children’s cancer services in the capital, which were triggered when the commissioner finally accepted the current arrangements are unsafe.
In a letter to NHSE London director Caroline Clarke, Sadiq Khan’s health adviser said the mayor would apply his six tests for major reconfigurations to both the options proposed for the “principal treatment centre” for paediatric cancer in south London.
NHSE London is currently running a process to decide the principal treatment centre's location. An earlier assessment put the bid from the Evelina Hospital, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust, ahead of the other bidder, St George’s University Hospitals FT.
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Source: HSJ, 5 June 2023
The mother of a seriously ill boy said she was "very alarmed" when a doctor at an under-fire children's ward admitted they were "out of their depth".
In October, Carys's five-year-old son Charlie was discharged from Kettering General, but she returned him the next day in a "sort of lifeless" state.
She said it seemed "quite chaotic" on Skylark ward before he was transferred to another hospital for further tests.
Since the BBC's report in February that highlighted the concerns of parents with children who died or became seriously ill at the hospital, dozens more have come forward.
In April, Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors rated the Northamptonshire hospital's children's and young people's services inadequate.
Among the findings, inspectors said "staff did not always effectively identify and quickly act upon patients at risk of deterioration".
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Source: BBC News, 6 June 2023
The world must urgently prepare for a global “tsunami” of millions of older cancer patients or risk healthcare systems being unable to cope, leading doctors have warned.
With life expectancy increasing and a rapidly soaring population of older people, a looming increase in elderly patients with cancer was now a “serious public health concern”, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) said in a report. Cancer centres must prepare for “the silver oncologic tsunami”, the experts added.
At ASCO’s annual meeting in Chicago, the world’s largest cancer conference, Dr Andrew Chapman, the director of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center-Jefferson Health and a specialist in geriatric oncology, said: “As the population expands and the incidence goes way up, are we really prepared to deal with those needs? I think globally, we’re not prepared.”
“We know cancer is a disease that is associated with ageing, and there are a number of biological mechanisms as to why that is,” Chapman said. “What is often times missed is that the older adults’ goals, wants, needs, preferences, and issues are much different than those of the average adult.
“Sometimes there’s a nihilism – ‘if you’re older we’re not going to bother’ – which is horrible,” he added.
Dr Julie Gralow, the chief medical officer and executive vice-president of ASCO, said healthcare systems should act immediately to avoid being overwhelmed by the dramatic rise in older cancer patients. “By 2040, the global burden is expected to grow to 27.5m new cancer cases and 16.3m cancer deaths simply due to the growth and ageing of the population.”
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Source: The Guardian, 5 June 2023
One of the NHS’ largest hospital trusts is being investigated over “possible gross negligence manslaughter” after a baby died 24 hours after her birth.
Polly Lindop died at St Mary’s Hospital on 13 March and Greater Manchester Police have now launched a probe into her death.
Police said its major incident team launched the investigation into “possible Gross Negligence manslaughter” after concerns were raised to the force and local coroner.
DCI Mark Davis of GMP’s major incident team said: “First, I want to express my condolences to the parents of Polly at what is an extremely difficult time for them. Our thoughts will remain with them as we carry out our investigation.
“A number of hospital staff have been spoken to as witnesses by officers and no arrests have been made at this time.
“The hospital trust has been fully cooperative with the police and all relevant authorities have been kept informed. The investigation into Polly’s death is on-going and her family will continue to be kept updated in relation to any significant developments.”
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Source: The Independent, 5 June 2023
Plans to procure more district nursing courses to start this September have been paused because of the merger of Health Education England into NHS England, HSJ understands.
An email sent last month from a commissioning officer at NHSE’s workforce, training and education directorate – the new HEE – said procurement of new district nursing courses from universities would be paused “until further notice”, due to the “ongoing merger”.
Since 2009, the number of district nurses working in the English NHS has fallen drastically, from around 7,000 to around 3,900.
Steph Lawrence, executive director of nursing and allied health professionals at Leeds Community Healthcare Trust, said the decision to pause the expansion of courses was a “huge concern” as numbers of district nurses need to grow “at a much faster rate”.
“This is a major safety issue for safe and effective care in the community if we don’t have the appropriate numbers of nurses trained. We may also lose nurses as well who want to progress and expand their knowledge,” Ms Lawrence said.
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Source: HSJ, 5 June 2023
Children's doctors are calling for a complete ban on disposable vapes because they are likely to damage young lungs and are bad for the environment.
But an anti-smoking campaign group says a ban would make it harder for some adults to give up smoking and increase the trade in illegal vapes.
UK governments are planning steps to reduce vaping among under-18s.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently said it was "ridiculous" that vapes were designed and promoted to appeal to children when they were supposed to be used by adults giving up smoking.
A BBC investigation found unsafe levels of lead, nickel and chromium in vapes confiscated from a secondary school, which could end up being inhaled into children's lungs. Scientists analysing the vapes said they were the worst lab test results of their kind they had ever seen.
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) now says the UK government should "without a doubt" ban disposable e-cigarettes.
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Source: BBC News, 6 June 2023
One in five cases in which patients attend A&E needing mental healthcare are spending more than 12 hours in the department – at least double the rate of patients with physical health problems.
Unpublished internal NHS data seen by HSJ also suggests the proportion of mental health patients suffering long waits in accident and emergency has almost tripled when compared to the situation before the pandemic.
According to the data, the proportion of attendances by patients with a mental health problem who waited more than 12 hours in A&E before being admitted or discharged increased from 7% (34,945 breaches) in 2019-20 to 20% (88,250 breaches) in 2022-23.
The situation has become so difficult, that some acute trusts are spot purchasing private sector mental health in order to discharge patients.
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Source: HSJ, 5 June 2023
Multiple problems have been highlighted with the leadership and governance of a much-vaunted integrated care system, including a lack of trust between organisations which often hide information that could weaken their position.
HSJ has seen an executive summary of the review of Greater Manchester ICS, which cited widespread concerns around the allocation of resources, confusion about the role of commissioning, and “muddled” governance, including:
a lack of transparency and trust between partners, with some only sharing a “partial overview” of performance and finances which drives choices likely to “bias” some organisations;
complex architecture of system boards, committees and forums, with “muddled” governance, unclear paths for critical decisions to be made, and unclear delegations to localities;
frustration at the quantum of meetings that take place at system, locality and provider level.
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Source: HSJ, 2 June 2023
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.
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Source: BBC News, 2 June 2023
Researchers have completed the first successful in-patient trial of liver dialysis.
The DIALIVE device, invented by researchers at UCL’s Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, was found to be safe and effective, research suggests.
According to a new study, the device is associated with substantial improvement in the severity of symptoms and organ function in a greater proportion of patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), when compared with patients receiving standard of care.
The next step would be a larger clinical trial, which if successful could see DIALIVE approved for clinical use within the next three years.
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Source: The Independent, 1 June 2023
Women are waiting too long for abortions, according to a major review into a leading UK provider.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) review of the leadership at the abortion provider the British Pregnancy Advisory Service found there were “delays” in “investigating incidents”.
The remains of some pregnancies were sometimes not stored properly and there were issues were record keeping, patient monitoring and safe care, the review found.
The watchdog also noted “women did not always receive care in a timely way to meet their needs”.
The health watchdog said: “In August 2021 we found significant concerns in we found that safe care was not being provided; ineffective safeguarding processes; incomplete risk assessments were not fully completed; observations were not monitored or recorded; records were not fully completed, clear or up to date.”
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Source: The Independent, 2 June 2023
An integrated care board (ICB) has advised its GP practices not to give patients automatic access to their records, contradicting NHS England national requirements.
Instead, North East London ICB has suggested practices only allow access where patients request it, and subject to conditions.
The national go-live date for patients to be allowed automatic access to future entries in their records has been repeatedly delayed since initially being set at December 2021. GPs have argued they needed more time to redact sensitive information, ensure records are not inappropriately shared, and train staff. They have cited workload and safeguarding concerns.
The ICB’s chief clinical information officer Osman Bhatti, who is a GP, told HSJ the ICB instead “wanted a process where patients could access both prospective and retrospective records safely, with less workload for GPs and so patients who actually want access can have it”.
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Source: HSJ. 1 June 2023
Patients diagnosed with cancer in 2020 had “significantly lower” survival rates in Scotland a year after having their cases confirmed compared with the previous year, a report has found.
The increase in deaths was an indirect result of the pandemic as coronavirus dissuaded people from getting check-ups or visiting physicians.
Many cancer screening programmes were also paused and infection control measures in healthcare settings caused delays in both diagnosis and treatment.
Andrew Elder, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said the government’s decision to pause screening programmes was “understandable in the extreme circumstances”, but added that the figures were “concerning”. He said: “Fewer and later presentations by patients who may have had more advanced disease clearly have had sometimes tragic consequences that are now being identified in the data.”
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Source: The Times, 31 May 2023
The Royal College of Midwives says the need for a maternity strategy in Northern Ireland has gone beyond urgent and is now critical.
The warning comes as the RCM is publishing a report on Northern Ireland's maternity services at Stormont on Tuesday.
The report will highlight growing challenges as more women across the country with additional health needs are being cared for by maternity services.
The RCM report will outline three steps to deliver high quality and safe services for women and families.
Develop, publish and fund the implementation of a new maternity and neonatal strategy for Northern Ireland.
Sustain the number of places for new student midwives at their recent, higher level.
Focus on retaining the midwives in the HSC.
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Source: ITV News, 30 May 2023
One of the first studies to examine the full lifespan of people living with Down syndrome (DS) has provided evidence in support of health guidelines specifically for people with the condition.
Life expectancy for people with DS had increased dramatically over the last 80 years or so, yet people with the condition still died at an earlier age than people in the general population or those with other intellectual disabilities, said the authors of a new study, published in The Lancet. This meant that there was an "opportunity to improve health outcomes for this minority", they said.
There continued to be disparities in surveillance, diagnosis, and treatment of common health conditions in people with intellectual disabilities, including those with DS, highlighted the authors, with ongoing premature mortality and excess morbidity identified in these groups.
In April 2022, the Down Syndrome Act was introduced in England, which stipulated that the Government must provide information to the NHS and local councils on how to provide the most appropriate care and support for people with DS.
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Source: Medscape, 26 May 2023
Patients are being urged to shop around on the NHS app and website to cut their waiting time for treatment in England.
IT systems have been updated to allow patients to more easily exercise their right to choose where they go for planned care, such as knee operations.
They will now be able to view up to five providers - filtered by distance, waiting times and quality of care.
But hospitals warned staffing shortages still needed to be tackled to make the biggest impact on waits.
The idea of choosing where to go for treatment has been in place since the early 2000s, but few use it.
Currently only1 in 10 exercises their right to choose, with patients reporting they are not always offered a choice of where to go or that it is hard to select different venues.
Ministers believe that by searching the list of different hospitals, patients will be able to reduce their waits - potentially by up to three months, research suggests.
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Source: BBC News, 25 May 2023
The health secretary is set to signal a major delay to one of the headline promises in the last Conservative manifesto by suggesting the delivery of 40 new hospitals in England is likely to be pushed back until after 2030.
In a move that will spark anger among MPs who wanted “spades in the ground” before the next election, government sources said Steve Barclay would make the announcement today.
The pledge to build and fund “40 new hospitals over the next 10 years” was one of the major headlines of Boris Johnson’s pitch to the electorate in 2019.
Sources indicated the government had been ready to make the announcement about the probable delay for some time, but it was repeatedly pushed back because of fears about a backlash from Tory MPs.
Rundown NHS hospitals have become a danger to patients, warn health chiefs
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Source: The Guardian, 25 May 2023
Extra beds squeezed into hospitals as part of winter planning are crowding out space for rehab, pushing up length of stay and knock-on costs, and increasing the chance of readmission, NHS leaders have been warned.
Systems and trusts were encouraged to staff thousands of additional ward beds in the run-up to last winter to try to ease emergency care pressures, and government and NHS England have since asked for many of them to be kept open through the year.
However, many of the additional beds are not in proper ward spaces, instead being located in gyms and other areas used for physiotherapy and other rehab. This followed on from some rehab areas already being lost during the pandemic, to be used for beds or storage.
NHSE has sent out a warning about the issue, following a commitment by ministers earlier this year. However, senior figures in physio and older people’s care remain concerned the spaces will not be restored without checks and enforcement, especially as acute trusts remain under pressure to increase general bed space.
