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Patient_Safety_Learning

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News posted by Patient_Safety_Learning

  1. Patient_Safety_Learning
    More than 150,000 patients had to wait a day in A&E before getting a hospital bed last year, according to new data.
    Freedom of information data compiled by the Liberal Democrats from 73 hospital trusts – about half the total – found that the number of patients forced to wait more than 24 hours in A&E before a bed could be found for them has increased by tenfold since 2019. The majority of those forced to wait were elderly or frail, with two-thirds of the patients over the age of 65.
    Read full story
    Source: Guardian 8 April 2024
  2. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Pre-eclampsia affects between 1% and 5% of pregnant women, but more can be done to inform people about its dangers.
    While pregnant with her son in 2015, Chipiliro Kalebe-Nyamongo’s pregnancy was generally smooth – until she reached about 33 weeks. She started to develop high blood pressure, and was admitted to hospital to be monitored. It was during this period that Kalebe-Nyamongo became concerned when she didn’t feel her baby’s movements as usual.
    Read full story
    Source: Guardian, 8 April 2024
  3. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Thousands of people who are unknowingly living with hepatitis C in England could be identified and treated due to an expanded NHS testing initiative.
    The initiative includes new liver scanning and portable testing units to be rolled out in communities where people may be at a higher risk of contracting the infection.
    Also included in the initiative are testing events happening at GP surgeries and community outreach at drug and alcohol support services.
    Read full story
    Source: Guardian 8 April 2024
  4. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Black women are up to six times more likely to experience some of the most serious birth complications during hospital delivery across England than their white counterparts, with the figures being described as “stark” and disheartening”, according to analysis.
    Black women made up 26% of women who experienced the birth complication pre-eclampsia superimposed on chronic hypertension during delivery, despite making up just 5% of all deliveries across England, according to a Guardian analysis of NHS figures for 2022-23.
    They were six times more likely to experience this pregnancy complication than their white counterparts, who made up 47.2% of these cases despite making up 70% of all deliveries.
    Read full story
    Source: Guardian, 8 April 2024
  5. Patient_Safety_Learning
    A woman died when a major private healthcare provider failed to transfer her to NHS intensive care quickly enough after she became critically ill.
    Sabrina Khan said Spire Healthcare staff "should have known something was wrong" with her mother, Nafisa.
    The BBC also obtained testimony from doctors - contracted by the company to work up to 168 hours a week - who say long hours could put patients at risk.
    Spire Healthcare has apologised for failings in Nafisa Khan's care.
    The death of Mrs Khan from east London is one of several deaths following surgery at Spire Healthcare, looked at by BBC Panorama.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 8 April 2024
  6. Patient_Safety_Learning
    The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) is leading a new project to examine the causes of the growing challenge of medicines shortages and help tackle their impact on patients and pharmacy practice.
    A new advisory group, convened by RPS and chaired by RPS Fellow Dr Bruce Warner, will meet later this month and bring together experts from primary and secondary care, patients, the pharmaceutical industry, suppliers, regulators, government and the NHS.
    Read full press release
    Source: The Royal Pharmaceutical Society, 13 March 2024
  7. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Covid vaccines have been linked to small increases in heart, blood, and neurological disorders, according to the largest global study of its kind.
    An international coalition of vaccine experts looked for 13 medical conditions among 99 million vaccine recipients across eight countries in order to identify higher rates of those conditions after receiving the shots.
    They confirmed that the shots made by Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca are linked to significantly higher risk of five medical conditions - including a nerve-wasting condition that leaves people struggling to walk or think.
    Read full story
    Source: Daily Mail, 19 February 2024
  8. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Another inquiry has been launched into the sudden death of a second teenage girl in the Accident and Emergency department of University Hospital Limerick three weeks ago.
    The 16-year-old girl died suddenly on January 29, hours after she was rushed to UHL suffering from breathing difficulties.
    The girl, a much-loved only child, died in front of her mother in what an informed source described as “deeply traumatic circumstances”.
    It is the latest tragedy under review at UHL following the death of Aoife Johnston (16) from Shannon, Co Clare,
    Read full story
    Source: Irish Independent, 20 February 2024
  9. Patient_Safety_Learning
    An inquest into the death of a baby has been adjourned after a whistleblower claimed hospital inspectors ignored safety concerns about a NHS trust.
    Ian Kemp has raised concerns the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust was "covering up" the death.
    The former health watchdog inspector said he had been asked to investigate maternity care at the trust in December 2019 after the death of Ida Lock.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 19 February 2024
  10. Patient_Safety_Learning
    The Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) was abolished in every hospital and hospice in the country just under a decade ago. This end-of-life-care protocol was scrapped by the Government as a “national disgrace”, in the words of Norman Lamb, then Care Services Minister, after a review by Baroness Neuberger found widespread failings and abuses.
    But troubling evidence since the scrapping suggests that the practises established under the LCP are in fact still continuing today in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).
    Read full story
    Source: Catholic Herald, 18 February 2024
  11. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Thousands of Australian women who had previously feared uncomfortable Pap smears and speculum examinations have now had cervical screening tests for the first time because of a new option to take their own swab in private.
    The federal government expanded eligibility for a new self-collected cervical screening test in July 2022, resulting in a 25-fold increase in people doing their own tests.
    In the past, some people have avoided a potentially life-saving cervical screening test with a doctor because they had suffered sexual violence or trauma, had cultural objections, or had a bad experience with a test in the past.
    Read full story
    Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
  12. Patient_Safety_Learning
    More than 1 million people in England died prematurely in the decade after 2011 owing to a combination of poverty, austerity and Covid, according to “shocking” new research by one of the UK’s leading public health experts.
    The figures are revealed in a study by the Institute of Health Equity at University College London led by Sir Michael Marmot. They demonstrate the extent to which stark economic and social inequalities are leading to poorer people dying early from cancer, heart problems and other diseases.
    Using Office for National Statistics figures, the report’s author Prof Peter Goldblatt looked at the life expectancy of people across England who do not live in the wealthiest 10% of areas.
    The report, titled Health Inequalities, Lives Cut Short, found that between 2011 and 2019, 1,062,334 people died earlier than they would have done if they lived in areas where the richest 10% of the population reside. A further 151,615 premature deaths were recorded in 2020, although this number was higher than expected because of the coronavirus pandemic.
    Read full story
    Source: Guardian, 8 January 2024
  13. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Portable X-ray machines "can literally be the difference between life and death", says radiographer Sam Pilkington.
    For most of us, if we need to be X-rayed the procedure is done in a hospital. But for acutely unwell patients, or for infection control, Ms Pilkington says that portable machines are very helpful.
    This is because "they remove the excess burden of transportation from the patients", says the final-year student at the University of the West of England in Bristol, who is also a member of the Institute of Physics. Instead the X-ray equipment goes to them.
    There are obvious advantages for remote locations, including battlefields, roadsides and disaster zones.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 8 January 2024
  14. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Open letter to government from experts and politicians says rising usage ‘is a clear example of over-medicalisation’.
    Medical experts and politicians have called for the amount of antidepressants being prescribed to people across the UK to be reduced in an open letter to the government.
    The letter coincides with the launch of the all-party parliamentary group Beyond Pills, which aims to reduce what it calls the UK healthcare system’s over-reliance on prescription medication.
    Read full story
    Source: Guardian, 5 December 2023
  15. Patient_Safety_Learning
    NHS figures obtained by Labour reveal 11,507 women sought care but did not get any last year.
    Almost 20,000 women a year living with mental health problems triggered by being pregnant or giving birth are being denied support by the NHS, the Guardian can reveal.
    Furthermore, those who do receive mental health help for their trauma are having to wait up to 19 months to start treatment in some parts of England because specialist services are so overstretched.
    The situation has been described as “an absolute scandal” and sparked warnings that “rationing” of such vital care could leave women who do not get it in a very vulnerable state and risk their children facing lifelong health problems and stop mothers bonding with their baby.
    Read full story
    Source: Guardian, 5 December 2023
  16. Patient_Safety_Learning
    MPs have backed a move to speed up compensation for victims of the NHS infected blood scandal, delivering the prime minister his first Commons defeat.
    Ministers will now have to set up a body to run the scheme within three months of a new bill becoming law.
    The vote was passed by 246 votes to 242 after 22 Conservatives rebelled.
    The Haemophilia Society said Rishi Sunak "should be ashamed" he had been forced "to do the right thing".
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 5 December 2023
  17. Patient_Safety_Learning
    A senior doctor who won a record £3.2m payout says her boss tried to "break" her after she raised concerns about how Covid was being handled.
    Rosalind Ranson, medical director on the Isle of Man during the pandemic, experienced months of humiliation, an employment tribunal found.
    Dr Ranson has given BBC News her first interview since the hearing.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 5 December 2023
     
  18. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Three patients died after delayed transfers from a private hospital within a nine-month period, coroner’s findings reveal.
    Three prevention of future deaths reports reviewed by HSJ raised concerns about the deaths of patients whose transfer from Spire’s Norwich facility to the NHS hospital in the same city was delayed.
    The sites, which are one mile apart, are run by £1bn-turnover private company Spire Healthcare and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals Foundation Trust respectively.
    Read full story
    Source: HSJ, 15 November 2023
    Prevention of Future Deaths reports:
    Geoffrey Hoad (13 September 2023) Prevention of Future Deaths report: Christina Ruse (3 October 2022) Prevention of Future Deaths report: Barbara Hollis (3 October 2022)
  19. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Large numbers of midwives report being left feeling undervalued and afraid to speak up due to bullying and widespread staffing shortages, which some say is putting mothers’ and babies’ lives at risk, according to a new publication shared with HSJ.
    The Say No to Bullying in Midwifery report comprises hundreds of accounts, ranging from students, newly qualified and senior midwives, heads of midwifery, maternity support workers and more. It aims to publicise and share concerns they have raised online.
    The report said: “Midwives have described their experiences of toxic cultures within their workplaces, with cliques, preferential treatment, unfounded allegations and poor working conditions leading to a negative impact on their health and wellbeing, including suicide attempts and midwives leaving their job or profession.
    Read full story
    Source: HSJ, 13 November 2023
    Order a copy of the report
  20. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Babylon Healthcare won NHS contracts after being championed by Matt Hancock but the company’s AI tech was oversold and it has now collapsed.
    The NHS spent millions of pounds on a flawed AI chatbot whose creator used aggressive sales techniques and overpromised what it could do, former staff have claimed.
    Babylon Health, a tech start-up championed by Matt Hancock and advised by Dominic Cummings, promised that its AI chatbot could keep patients who didn’t need to be seen by a health professional out of the overstretched NHS.
    But the technology was not as sophisticated as the company claimed, with former staff now claiming that what began as a crude tool based on “decision trees written by doctors, put into an Excel spreadsheet” never realised its promised potential. Concerns — including the fact the app missed clear signs of a heart attack or dangerous blood clots — were raised.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: The Times, 28 October 2023
  21. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Dr Martyn Pitman claimed retaliatory victimisation after raising morale concerns but tribunal says it was his manner that cost him his job.
    A doctor has said raising whistleblowing concerns about maternity care at his hospital “cost me very dearly” after he lost his employment tribunal.
    Consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Martyn Pitman was dismissed earlier this year from his job at the Royal Hampshire county hospital (RHCH) in Winchester, where he had worked for 20 years.
    He told the Southampton tribunal, which concluded earlier this month, that he had been “subjected to brutal retaliatory victimisation” after exercising his rights under the Public Interest Disclosure Act.
    A tribunal judgment released on Friday said there had been “unanimous” agreement that the arguments behind the whistleblowing claim “fail and are dismissed”.
    Read full story
    Source: Guardian, 29 October 2023
  22. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Soaring use of private healthcare for tests and treatments is piling pressure on overstretched GP surgeries, with family doctors warning that standard NHS care is being squeezed as a result.
    Record numbers of people are paying for private healthcare, with some having procedures such as cataract surgery and hip replacements, amid mounting frustration at NHS hospital waiting lists. Others are opting for private health checks, genetic testing or cosmetic surgery such as liposuction.
    But the surge in private healthcare use is increasing the workload of GPs, many of whom say they are increasingly having to interpret questionable health checks done privately, organise blood tests or scans and manage additional administration related to private care. Some say more of their hours are being taking up providing follow-up appointments after patients paid for treatment or surgery abroad.
    Read full story
    Source: Guardian, 29 October 2023
  23. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Trusts may be spared financial penalties if they fail to meet care quality standards under new proposals from NHS England. 
    NHSE is looking at “pausing” the financial element of the Commissioning for Quality and Innovation scheme from next year according to information seen by HSJ. This states “a wider review of incentives for quality” is also under way.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 30 October 2023
  24. Patient_Safety_Learning
    The government could ban unlicensed providers of cosmetic treatments in England, in what industry bodies say would be the biggest shake-up in a generation.
    Under the plans, anyone carrying out Botox, breast or butt lift injections would have to be trained and licensed, with their premises also inspected.
    The proposals have been have been opened up for public consultation.
    At present, healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurses and dentists carrying out non-surgical cosmetic procedures have to be trained and insured to do them as part of the requirements laid down by their regulatory bodies.
    But there is no set training for beauty therapists and other non-professionals.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 3 September 2023
  25. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Campaigners have expressed alarm at new analysis showing a sharp increase in new or expectant mothers waiting for mental health care, with one woman found to have waited 319 days for a first appointment.
    More than 30,000 women who are pregnant or have newly given birth are on waiting lists for mental health support, according to NHS England data analysed by Labour, with the party saying many of them were being left to “suffer in silence”.
    Amid rising demand for what are known as perinatal mental health services, during the period from August 2022 to March 2023 the numbers of women waiting rose by 40%. Over that same period, the numbers who accessed support also rose, but only by 8%.
    Read full story
    Source: Guardian, 4 September 2023
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