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Sam

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  1. News Article
    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), announced nine grant awards of $1 million each for up to 5 years to support existing multidisciplinary Long COVID clinics across the country to expand access to comprehensive, coordinated, and person-centered care for people with Long COVID, particularly underserved, rural, vulnerable, and minority populations that are disproportionately impacted by the effects of Long COVID. The grants are a first of their kind. They are designed to expand access and care, develop, and implement new or improved care delivery models, foster best practices for Long COVID management, and support the primary care community in Long COVID education. This initiative is part of the Biden-Harris Administration's whole-government effort to accelerate scientific progress and provide individuals with Long COVID the support and services they need. “The Biden-Harris Administration is supporting patients, doctors and caregivers by providing science-based best practices for treating long COVID, maintaining access to insurance coverage, and protecting the rights of workers as they return to jobs while coping with the uncertainties of their illness,” said Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Treatment of Long COVID is a major focus for HHS, and AHRQ is helping lead the way through grants to investigate best practices and get useful guidance to doctors, hospitals, and patients.” Read full story Source: AHRQ, 20 September 2023
  2. Event
    The Safe Anaesthesia Liaison Group (SALG) Patient Safety Conference will be held virtually this year on Thursday 23 November 2023. The first session will include engaging lectures around the current work of SALG, and the second session will focus on topical issues in relation to a selected group or society (yet to be announced). There will be a prize session for accepted abstracts, with a poster section and oral presentations. This online conference is being organised by SALG co-chairs, Dr Peter Young from the Association of Anaesthetists, Dr Felicity Platt, Royal College of Anaesthetists The day will provide valuable knowledge for doctors engaged in clinical anaesthesia, pain management and intensive care medicine, and who have an interest in improving patient safety. Register
  3. Event
    This conference focuses on patient involvement and partnership for patient safety including implementing the New National Framework for involving patients in patient safety, and developing the role of the Patient Safety Partner (PSP) in your organisation or service. The conference will also cover engagement of patients and families in serious incidents, and patient involvement under the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework published in August 2022. This conference will enable you to: Network with colleagues who are working to involve patients in improving patient safety. Reflect on patient perspective. Understand the practicalities of recruiting Patient Safety Partners. Improve the way you recruit, work with and support Patient Safety Partners. Develop your skills in embedding compassion and empathy into patient partnership. Examine the role of patients under the new Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF). Understand how you can improve patient partnership, family engagement and involvement after serious incidents. Identify key strategies for support patients, their families and carers to be directly involved in their own or their loved one’s safety. Learn from case studies demonstrating patient partnership for patients safety in action. Examine methods of involving patients to improve patient safety in high risk areas. Self assess and reflect on your own practice. Supports CPD professional development and acts as revalidation evidence. This course provides 5 Hrs training for CPD subject to peer group approval for revalidation purposes. Register **Five free places for hub members. Email info@pslhub.org for code**
  4. News Article
    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
  5. News Article
    Some patients in England are waiting up to two-and-a-half years for important diagnostic tests such as ultrasound, MRI and CT scans, according to figures seen by the Guardian. The longest waits were two-and-a-half years for an MRI scan, almost two years for an ultrasound and a year for a CT scan, responses to freedom of information requests by the Liberal Democrats show. People with heart problems are among the worst affected. Examples from NHS trusts included a 49-week wait for an echocardiogram and a 475-day wait for an angiography. Under the NHS constitution, patients should wait less than six weeks for diagnostic tests. The target is for only 1% to wait more than six weeks, but now 25% of all patients do so, according to research from the House of Commons library, commissioned by the Lib Dems. Ed Davey, the leader of the Lib Dems, said: “What this Conservative government has done to the NHS is nothing short of a national scandal. Millions are forced to wait in pain and discomfort, anxiously wondering when they will get a diagnosis, let alone treatment. “We cannot fix our economy without fixing our NHS. People can’t get back to work when they’re stuck waiting to see a GP, get a diagnosis or start treatment. The longer they wait, the worse their health gets and the greater the stress for themselves and their loved ones." Read full story Source: The Guardian, 24 September 2023
  6. News Article
    A rise in hip fractures last year could be a symptom of a wider increase in general physical deconditioning in older and vulnerable people following the pandemic, senior clinicians have warned. Around 72,000 hip fractures were recorded in 2022 compared to 66,000 in 2020 and 67,000 in 2021, according to the 2023 National Hip Fracture Database report, published this month. The report, published by the Royal College of Physicians, said: “These additional hip fractures happened despite a fall in the size of the ‘at risk’ older population over the preceding three years, as a result of Covid-19-related mortality among older people and those living in care homes.” “Our casemix run chart shows a slight increase in the proportion of hip fractures occurring in people aged under 80. “This is perhaps an early indication of Public Health England’s [now the UK Health Security Agency] predictions that physical deconditioning and increased risk of falling due to the pandemic may lead to an increase in the number of people who are at risk of fragility fracture.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ. 25 September 2023
  7. News Article
    The chief executive at a trust behind one of the UK’s first ‘virtual hospitals’ has said this model is the ‘new gold standard’ for care provision and the trust is looking at a significant expansion. West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals Trust boss Matthew Coats said the trust aimed to eventually have “hundreds” of virtual beds for patients to be monitored at home. The trust has been at the forefront of NHS England’s programme to significantly expand the use of virtual wards across the NHS. It was also among the first to launch a virtual ward to monitor Covid patients at home during the pandemic. Its virtual ward model has since evolved beyond covid, to what the trust calls its “virtual hospital”, providing remote care for patients across several different pathways and specialties, including heart failure, respiratory and frailty patients, who are admitted from either a hospital bed, the emergency department or by GPs. Mr Coats told HSJ its virtual hospital is not only supporting better flow through the hospital, but is also leading to better patient experience. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 25 September 2023
  8. News Article
    The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is reviving a programme to mail free rapid coronavirus tests to Americans. Starting 25 September, people can request four free tests per household through covidtests.gov. Officials say the tests are able to detect the latest variants and are intended to be used through the end of the year. The return of the free testing program comes after Americans navigated the latest uptick in covid cases with free testing no longer widely available. The largest insurance companies stopped reimbursing the costs of retail at-home testing once the requirement to do so ended with the public health emergency in May. The Biden administration stopped mailing free tests in June. The Department of Health and Human Services also announced Wednesday that it was awarding $600 million to a dozen coronavirus test manufacturers. Agency officials said the funding would improve domestic manufacturing capacity and provide the federal government with 200 million over-the-counter tests to use in the future. “These critical investments will strengthen our nation’s production levels of domestic at-home COVID-19 rapid tests and help mitigate the spread of the virus,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. Experts say free coronavirus testing proved to be an effective public health tool, allowing people to check their status before attending large gatherings or spending time with older or medically vulnerable people at risk of severe disease even after being vaccinated. It also enables people to start antiviral treatments in the early days of infection to prevent severe disease. Read full story (paywalled) Source: Washington Post, 20 September 2023
  9. Event
    AHSN are launching new resources to help patients participate fully in Structured Medication Reviews with Shared Decision Making. During this lunchtime webinar, you will learn about: The importance of shared decision making when undertaking Structured Medication Reviews with patients. How our new range of free, evidenced-based resources can support and help prepare patients invited for a Structured Medication Review with their GP, pharmacist or other healthcare professional. The resources are available in a range of formats and languages from the AHSN Network website: Resources to support patients having a Structured Medication Review – The AHSN Network. Event programme: Professor Tony Avery, GP and National Clinical Director for Prescribing, NHS England, will present on key strategic and policy drivers and highlight why Structured Medication Reviews and shared decision making are crucial in tackling problematic polypharmacy and unnecessary medicines and lead to better patient outcomes. Clare Howard, Clinical Lead AHSN National Polypharmacy Programme, will share findings from the AHSN pilot to test the patient-facing resources ahead of national rollout. Partner organisations showcasing co-creation and development of the resources with patients: David Alldred PhD, FHEA, FRPharmS, Professor of Medicines Use and Safety, Leeds University & NIHR Yorkshire and Humber Patient Safety Research Collaboration Daniel Okeowo, MPharm, MRPharmS, Doctoral Training Fellow, NIHR Yorkshire and Humber Patient Safety Translational Research Centre Graham Prestwich, Patient Representative and Innovator, Me and My Medicines Gemma Donovan, Medication Behaviours: Are Your Medicines Working? This will be followed by a panel discussion and Q&A Register
  10. Content Article
    The 15th annual HSJ Patient Safety Congress brings together more than 1000 attendees with the shared goal of advancing the national agenda for patient safety across health and social care. In this blog, Samantha Warne, the hub's Lead Editor, captures some of the key highlights and messages from day one of HSJ’s Patient Safety Congress.
  11. News Article
    A private healthcare provider has been ordered to pay more than £1.5m – the largest fine issued for such a case – after pleading guilty in a criminal prosecution brought by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) over the death of a young woman at Cygnet Hospital Ealing in July 2019. It is the highest ever fine issued to a mental health service following a prosecution by the CQC. The firm pleaded guilty to one offence of failing to provide safe care and treatment, acknowledging failures to: provide a safe ward environment to reduce the risk of people being able to use a ligature; ensure staff observed people intermittently in line with the company procedures; and train staff to be able to resuscitate patients in an emergency. The offences related to the case of a young woman who was admitted to a ward in Cygnet Hospital Ealing in November 2018. In July 2019, she took her own life while on the ward. CQC said Cygnet Ealing had been aware the young woman tried to harm herself in an almost identical way four months earlier, but had failed to mitigate the known environmental risk she was exposed to. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 21 September 2023
  12. News Article
    Senior doctors say female medics have felt pressured into sexual activity with colleagues. Four women who head up medical royal colleges in Wales have written an open letter describing misogyny, bullying and sexual harassment in the workplace. They told BBC Wales that female staff had been asked for sex by male colleagues while on shift. The Welsh government said: "Harassment and sexual violence is abhorrent and has no place in our NHS." Chairwoman of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Wales, Dr Maria Atkins, said: "I've heard from multiple women over the years that during night-time shifts, they've been propositioned by male colleagues and felt pressured to engage in sexual acts. "When they've refused they are penalised. "It can be very damaging to some less experienced or younger women, because they will be discouraged from engaging with a team, which might have been the specialty of medicine that they wanted to progress their career in." Read full story Source: BBC News, 22 September 2023
  13. News Article
    The national director for patient safety in England has cautioned against the ‘false hope’ of trying to achieve ‘zero harm’ from healthcare, describing it as unachievable. Speaking at HSJ’s Patient Safety Congress earlier this week Aidan Fowler told delegates: “The dream of zero harm is appealing. It’s what we all want. But it’s unachievable in reality, it’s unmeasurable [and] it carries risk.” Mr Fowler said what is really meant is eliminating “avoidable harm”, but also described this as “problematic”. He said: “I challenge any one of you to define ‘avoidable’. We start to define a complex system in simplistic terms. We hear, ‘we’ve had no avoidable harm for six hears in our hospital’. And you think, ‘is that real?’” Mr Fowler stressed the ambition should be to reduce harm to minimal levels, but said the notion that any provider could claim they had no harm for period of years was “hard to credit”. He said by pursuing the “zero harm” ambition, the NHS was also “setting unattainable goals to our staff”. “[We are] creating unrealistic expectations and burning them [staff] out and potentially creating moral distress when they’re not achieving something they’re told they should achieve,” he said. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 21 September 2023
  14. News Article
    A cancer patient with months to live has spoken of her fear and anger after chemotherapy was delayed by this week’s strikes. Flora White, 51, began chemotherapy last month, which is required fortnightly to shrink a tumour so it can be surgically removed. But it has now been set back, after the appointment she was due to have with her oncologist the day before was cancelled as a result of strikes. Ms White said that until she got the devastating news about her own delays she had thought cancer patients would be protected from the impact of industrial action. “It’s hard to deal with as it is, let alone the extra worry and stress,” she said. “Your treatment being cancelled and delayed, they don’t understand how they’re affecting some people.” Earlier this week, Prof Karol Sikora, a leading consultant oncologist, said it was “against the ethics of medicine” for doctors to strike, as he urged medics to think again. “If you miss cancer and someone goes for another two years without a diagnosis, it’s as good as leaving someone in the gutter bleeding ... people will die,” he said. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 21 September 2023
  15. News Article
    National leaders are looking to greatly reduce the number of direct hospital referrals made by GPs, by insisting that they first discuss cases with hospital consultants. The approach – known as “advice and guidance” or “A&G” – involves GPs sending a patient’s details to a consultant who specialises in their condition before making a referral. The consultant then advises on the best course of action. “A&G’ has been voluntarily adopted by many health systems, but HSJ has now learnt that a move to significantly increase its use of it is being discussed as part of a new national strategy for outpatient services, due to be published by December. Theresa Barnes, outpatients lead at the Royal College of Physicians, is part of a group of clinicians helping to develop the strategy in partnership with NHS England, and said there is a case for A&G to be used “in preference” to direct referrals in a vast number of cases where it is clinically appropriate. She told HSJ: “I think there should be a push to use advice and guidance in preference to direct referrals, so we can maximise that pre-referral interaction and deliver as much care as close to patients’ homes as they can get it and without the delay of potentially waiting for a secondary care appointment.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 20 September 2023
  16. News Article
    It is still unclear how unauthorised metal parts came to be implanted in a number of the 19 children with spina bifida who suffered significant complications after spinal surgery. But it has emerged that one child died and 18 others suffered a range of complications after surgery at Temple Street Children’s Hospital – with several needing further surgery, including the removal of metal parts which were not authorised for use. Parents of the children undergoing complex surgery were left distraught by the disclosures that emerged yesterday, after campaigning for years while the young patients in need of operations deteriorated on waiting lists. Gerry Maguire, of Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ireland, said “absolute horror is being visited on parents and their advocates”. He condemned as disturbing the information which is “being drip-fed to his group and “more alarmingly the families concerned”. One mother expressed concern about further delays in surgery and said children are too complex to be taken for care abroad. Read full story Source: Irish Independent, 19 September 2023
  17. Event
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    CORESS invites you to join their free educational webinar and hear from four speakers as they talk about their area of expertise in relation to patient safety. Programme overview: 14:00 - Introduction to CORESS and Welcome - Professor Frank Smith, Professor of Vascular Surgery & Surgical Education, University of Bristol and North Bristol NHS Trust and CORESS Past-Programme Director 14:03 - Symposium Programme Overview - Miss Harriet Corbett FRCS Paed Consultant Paediatric Urologist, Alder Hey Children’s Foundation NHS Trust, British Association of Paediatric Urologists and CORESS Programme Director 14:05 - SPOT Programme: The National inpatient PEWS Chart - Professor Damien Roland, Consultant in Paediatric Emergency Medicine, Head of Service Children's Emergency Department, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust 14:30 - Championing Patient Safety with Evidence Based Medicine - Robotically Assisted Surgery - Dr John Burke, Chief Medical Officer, AXA Health 14:55 - What’s new at HSIB - Saskia Fursland, National Investigator, HSIB 15:20 - Patient Safety in a Medico-legal Context - Dr Michael Devlin, LLM, MBA, FRCP, FRCGP, FFFLM , Head of Professional Standards and Liaison, MDU 15:45 - Symposium Summary and Close - Harriet Corbett, CORESS Programme Director Intended Audience: This session is for Consultant Surgeons, medics, students with a surgical healthcare background and those in healthcare and insurance sectors with an interest in surgical improvement and patient safety. Register
  18. News Article
    Regulation of managers must not lead to a disbarring process without also introducing ”developmental” and supportive measures, NHS England’s national patient safety director has said. Speaking at HSJ’s Patient Safety Congress, Aidan Fowler was asked whether NHS board members and managers should be regulated, amid calls for this in the wake of the Lucy Letby scandal. He said: “I think there are pros and cons to regulation… What I would say is that you just have to be cautious that you do not lead to a disbarring process without the developmental side of regulation, and the support side of regulation. For staff, to support them to do a good job. “We have seen that there is a gap in patient safety training for boards, which we need to work on, for them to understand and to encourage them to talk about it more. “I think there is a developmental part of regulation, which is really important… in any discussion. I know because we are already having discussions around it. That is a key part to pay attention to.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ,18 September 2023
  19. News Article
    Dozens more children than initially thought have come to “severe” harm following failings in audiology care, HSJ can reveal. Two more trusts have confirmed that, between them, 30 children suffered severe harm – which is defined as ”permanent or long-term harm” – after the failings. Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Foundation Trust said an external investigation had revealed 14 such cases, while Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust found 16 more after going through the same process. A total of 36 confirmed or suspected severe harm cases from paediatric audiology failings across six English trusts are now known about. I NHS England wrote to all 42 integrated care boards at the end of August, asking them to ensure the “approximately” 130 paediatric hearing services in England were running safely. Sir David Sloman, then-chief operating officer, and Dame Sue Hill, chief science officer, said the NHSE “review of these trusts has identified root causes that have led to poor service delivery and outcomes… [which include] lack of clinical governance and oversight, poor reporting of data, poor interpretation of results, poor retention of diagnostic data, and lack of accreditation.” The National Deaf Children’s Society called the speed of the NHS’s response “a scandal”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 19 September 2023
  20. News Article
    Derby and Burton’s maternity services are now among the “most challenged in England”, requiring national involvement to boost improvements. The University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust joins 31 other NHS trusts across England which are now under closer scrutiny aimed at improving the quality of maternity services. A report from the trust details that it asked to be added to the national NHS England Maternity Safety Support Programme (MSSP) "voluntarily". Midwifery and obstetric improvement advisors have now been allocated to the trust to spend two days a week on the trust’s sites and also to provide “virtual” assistance. A letter to Stephen Posey, the trust’s chief executive, sent by Sascha Wells-Munro, the deputy chief midwifery officer for NHS England, details that the organisation’s addition to the national support programme comes after a number of concerning reports – not just its request. It references the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch report, published in February, which highlighted the cases of seven women and their babies between January 2021 and May 2022, with three mothers and a baby dying and four mothers suffering extreme consequences. Read full story Source: Derbyshire Live, 13 September 2023
  21. News Article
    A police investigation into allegations of cover-up and medical negligence over dozens of deaths at the Royal Sussex county hospital (RSCH) in Brighton has been expanded to include more recent cases, amid internal claims about dangerous surgery. In June the Guardian revealed that Sussex police were investigating the deaths of about 40 patients in the general surgery and neurosurgery departments at the RSCH. The force initially said the investigation, since named Operation Bramber, related to allegations of medical negligence in these departments between 2015 and 2020. It has now extended the scope of the investigation to more recent cases, amid internal allegations that the departments continue to be unsafe and fail to properly review serious incidents. An insider said the police should review what was considered to be an avoidable death after a procedure in July. The source said some of the surgeons remained a danger to the public. “You would not want your family members touched by these people,” they said. They added: “This is not a historic issue, it is ongoing. The same surgeons that were involved in previous problems remain in place.” They cited a woman who lost the power of speech in April after an alleged mistake in surgery to remove a brain tumour led to a stroke, and a man who was left with a brain abscess in May after being operated on despite a heightened risk of infection. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 13 September 2023
  22. News Article
    More than a quarter of million people dipped into their savings or took a loan to pay for a private hospital operation or appointment last year — a record high. This year could exceed that. And who can blame them? With the NHS waiting list at a staggering 7.6 million and monthly strikes by doctors lengthening waiting times, patients are increasingly prepared to jump the queue and pay hard cash to do so. In an effort to cut waits and expand choice for patients, Rishi Sunak is funnelling thousands more NHS patients into the private sector. Yet private healthcare is not without risks, many of which are not fully understood. There is a difference between the NHS, which — for all its faults — has been a dependable, free at the point of use health service for more than 75 years, and the sometimes murky world of private doctors and hospital companies who use them. Can you trust your private doctor? When you look under the bonnet of private healthcare, beyond the glossy adverts, things can get a little uncertain. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 10 September 2023
  23. News Article
    A grandfather who went into hospital with stomach problems needed both of his legs and his left hand amputating after contracting a life-threatening infection. Stephen Hughes, from Edmondstown, had been admitted to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant, in March 2022, with gallstones and aggressive stomach inflammation. This led to pancreatitis corroding a hole in the duodenum which caused a significant bleed into his gut. The 56-year-old's condition deteriorated and he was transferred to the ICU at the University Hospital of Wales as a patient in critical condition. Whilst at UHW, his family said that the NHS staff worked tirelessly to stop the internal bleeding he was suffering. His gallbladder was removed on September 8th, 2022, and stents were placed along his arteries. Although these operations were successful, his family claims that Mr Hughes caught sepsis from the feeding tube in his neck on 11 September 2022 whilst recovering. Stephen’s body prioritised sending blood to his vital organs which resulted in his outer limbs being deprived of blood and oxygen. Stephen then had to have life-altering operations, which resulted in both of his legs being amputated towards the end of September, and his left hand being amputated at the start of October. He was later discharged on 31 October. A spokesperson for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said: “As a Health Board we are unable to comment on individual patient cases, however we appreciate how life altering operations are particularly distressing for the individual and also their loved ones. Read full story Source: Wales Online, 9 September 2023
  24. News Article
    The mother of Martha Mills, whose preventable death in hospital has led to calls for extra patients' rights, has said she is to meet the health secretary to discuss "Martha's Rule". If introduced, it would give families a statutory right to get a second opinion if they have concerns about care. Merope Mills said patients needed more clarity and to feel empowered. Her daughter, Martha, died two years ago after failures in treating her sepsis at King's College Hospital. She had entered hospital with an injury to her pancreas after falling off her bike. The injury was serious but should never have been fatal. Within days she had died of sepsis. In an interview on Radio 4's Today programme, Mrs Mills said she had raised concerns but doctors told her the extensive bleeding was "a normal side-effect of the infection, that her clotting abilities were slightly off". The King's College Hospital Trust said it remained "deeply sorry that we failed Martha when she needed us most" and her parents should have been listened to. Read full story Source: BBC News, 12 September 2023
  25. Content Article
    Report from HSJ, in association with Allocate Software, on why patient safety should be the core business of healthcare.
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