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Patient_Safety_Learning

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News posted by Patient_Safety_Learning

  1. 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
  2. Patient_Safety_Learning
    A hospital maternity service has dropped two ratings to ‘inadequate’ after the Care Quality Commission warned of a ‘chaotic environment’, where leaders normalised poor practices and failed to act on safety concerns.
    The Care Quality Commission inspected Hull Royal Infirmary’s maternity services earlier this year, and imposed urgent conditions on the service, requiring Hull University Teaching Hospitals Trust to make “rapid improvements” to keep people safe.
    The overall maternity rating fell from “good” to “inadequate”, the CQC announced today, although it only reviewed the “safe” and “well led” domains. The inspection was part of an ongoing national CQC maternity inspection programme, which has downgraded numerous services to “inadequate” over the last year. 
    The regulator said the antenatal day unit and triage department was a “chaotic environment which was not fit for purpose”, and found some staff described “unkindness” from peers. Women and service users waited long periods without an offer of food or water, it said.
    Significant concerns were raised about safeguarding, with staff unable to identify adults and children suffering or at risk of significant harm.
    Read full story
    Source: HSJ, 9 August 2023
  3. Patient_Safety_Learning
    A ‘disappointingly slow’ transformation of community services means thousands of mental health patients are still presenting at emergency departments within weeks of being discharged from an inpatient facility.
    Experts said an NHS England-led community transformation programme, launched in 2019 as part of a £2.3bn investment in mental health services, should have helped reduce readmission rates, but internal data seen by HSJ suggests the rates have actually increased since then.
    The data reveals for the first time the proportion of patients discharged from inpatient care who then present to accident and emergency within two months.
    The proportion of adult patients was 11 per cent in 2018-19, when the investment programme was launched, and had increased to 12 per cent by 2022-23, representing around 6,000 adult cases.
    The situation appears worse for children, with an 18 per cent readmission rate within two months, up from 17 per cent in 2018-19.
    Read full story
    Source: HSJ, 8 August 2023
  4. 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
  5. Patient_Safety_Learning
    The use of artificial intelligence in breast cancer screening is safe and can almost halve the workload of radiologists, according to the world’s most comprehensive trial of its kind.
    Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer globally, according to the World Health Organization, with more than 2.3 million women developing the disease every year.
    Screening can improve prognosis and reduce mortality by spotting breast cancer at an earlier, more treatable stage. Preliminary results from a large study suggest AI screening is as good as two radiologists working together, does not increase false positives and almost halves the workload.
    The interim safety analysis results of the first randomised controlled trial of its kind involving more than 80,000 women were published in the Lancet Oncology journal.
    Read full story
    Source: Guardian 2 August 2023
  6. Patient_Safety_Learning
    About one in seven people in the UK now take medication to treat depression but some say they are not being given appropriate advice about the potential side-effects of the drugs they have been prescribed.
    Seonaid Stallan's son Dylan was a teenager when he began receiving treatment for body dysmorphia and depression.
    "He was struggling with the way he felt about himself, the way he looked," Seonaid said.
    "He was extremely anxious. He would be physically sick. He would be unable to leave the house."
    Dylan, from Glasgow, was treated with the antidepressant Fluoxetine from the age of 16.
    But when he turned 18, his medication was changed to Sertraline.
    Within two months of his prescription change he had taken his own life.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC, 9 August 2023
  7. Patient_Safety_Learning
    One of the most serious complications of a DVT is when a part of the clot breaks off and travels through the bloodstream to the lungs, leading to a blockage called a pulmonary embolism — this can cause chest pain, breathing difficulties, a faster heartbeat, coughing up blood, and can be life-threatening if not treated quickly.
    Worryingly, research suggests 40 per cent of patients who die from a pulmonary embolism complained of nagging symptoms for weeks before their death.
    For every pulmonary embolism diagnosed in time, there are at least another two where the diagnosis was missed and resulted in sudden death, according to the charity Thrombosis UK.
    Read full story
    Source: Daily Mail, 25 September 2023
  8. Patient_Safety_Learning
    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention alerted doctors nationwide Monday about a limited availability of certain doses of a newly approved antibody drug given to infants to prevent RSV infection.
    Cases of RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, have started to rise as cold and flu season begins.
    "RSV season is here," said Dr. Buddy Creech, a pediatric infectious disease doctor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. "We are seeing a substantial increase in the amount of RSV such that in many areas, it has become the most commonly identified respiratory virus causing disease in children.
    "This is one of the reasons why there's probably a lot of scrambling going on," he said, "to identify those babies at highest risk and to try to prioritize them, since it's such a limited resource right now."
    Read full story
    Source: NBC News, 23 October 2023
  9. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Almost three-quarters of babies born with a rare muscle-wasting disease are living longer thanks to advances in NHS treatment.
    Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a genetic condition that causes muscle weakness, along with progressive loss of movement and paralysis.
    There are three types of this disease that impact children. SMA1 manifests in babies under the age of six months and is the most severe, while SMA2 and SMA3 are less severe. They develop between the ages of seven and 18 months, and after 18 months of age, respectively. According to the NHS, about 70 babies are born in the UK with SMA each year.
    The NHS began rolling out new treatments in 2019, starting with injectable drug nurinersen – marketed as Spinraza – which targets the SMN2 gene in patients. Before 2019 there were no effective drugs for this condition.
    A study by SMA Reach UK claims patients with untreated SMA1 historically had a 50% survival probability at eight to 10 months, reducing to 8% at 20 months of age. However, data from the SMA Reach UK database analysed by NHS England found 73% of babies with SMA1 are now living beyond two years and without permanent ventilatory support.
    Read full story
    Source: Independent, 7 August 2023
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. Patient_Safety_Learning
    GPs have raised concern about a new colorectal cancer pathway aimed at reducing referrals into one of England’s largest acute hospital trusts.
    The pathway was implemented in December 2022 to tackle long waiting lists at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (ULHT) by reducing the number of referrals from primary care. 
    But the Lincolnshire LMC and Primary Care Network Association both raised concerns about the pathway and its impact on general practice in a letter to their ICB earlier this month.
    Read full story
    Source: Pulse, 13 February 
  13. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Coroners have raised multiple warnings about the way a commonly-used medication is being prescribed to at-risk patients, HSJ has found.
    HSJ has identified at least nine ‘prevention of future deaths’ reports issued by coroners since 2017 which highlighted the way the deceased’s prescription for sertraline was handled, with two of these issued since the start of 2023.
    It comes as Open Prescribing data suggests sertraline prescriptions have increased by almost 40 per cent since 2019, which has led to concerns that GPs are struggling to meet the growing demand for follow-up checks.
    Read full story
    Source: HSJ, 9 August 2023
  14. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Coroners have warned of increasing numbers of deaths caused by problems in the emergency pathway, with some citing ‘severe’ staffing shortages.
    HSJ has identified that at least 24 “prevention of future death” reports were sent to NHS organisations in England and Wales in the first half of 2023, which noted shortcomings within emergency services.
    In six of the 24 cases, coroners found ambulance, emergency room and other delays caused or contributed to patient deaths.
    Read full story
    Source: HSJ 1 August 2023
  15. 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
  16. Patient_Safety_Learning
    A heart failure patient has become the first in the UK to be fitted with an early warning sensor the size of a pen lid which gives off an alert if their condition deteriorates.
    Consultant cardiologists Dr Andrew Flett and Dr Peter Cowburn have pioneered the procedure to fit the FIRE1 System during trials at University Hospital Southampton (UHS), Hampshire.
    Dr Flett said: “This innovative new device has the potential to improve patient safety and outcomes in the management of patients with chronic heart failure and we are delighted to be the first site in the UK to implant as part of this ground-breaking study".
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 12 February 2023
  17. Patient_Safety_Learning
    GPs are attempting to deal with up to 3,000 patients each, amid worsening staff shortages, according to new analysis.
    The research shows that the number of patients per GP has risen sharply, as rising numbers of doctors reduce their hours, or opt for early retirement.
    Daisy Cooper, spokeswoman for Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care, said:
    “This ever-worsening GP shortage is having a terrible human cost, as people face delayed or missed diagnoses and A&Es fill up with desperate patients looking for treatment."
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: Telegraph, 14 February 
  18. 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
  19. Patient_Safety_Learning
    A&E waiting times have deteriorated so much this winter that at some hospitals in England more than half of patients have had to wait more than four hours.
    BBC analysis of data for December and January shows Hull University Hospitals, Wye Valley and Shrewsbury and Telford were worst for A&E waits.
    The best trust out of the 107 providing data, Northumbria Healthcare, had fewer than 10% waiting more than four hours.
    NHS England said plans were being put in place to support struggling trusts.
    Source: BBC, 13 February 2023
    Read full story
  20. 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
  21. 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
  22. 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
     
  23. Patient_Safety_Learning
    An integrated care system has terminated a private provider’s contract to run four urgent treatment centres following performance concerns.
    Two local acute trusts were expected to take over from provider Greenbrook Healthcare this week, following the decision by North West London ICS.
    The impacted sites include Hillingdon UTC, which is co-located with the Hillingdon Hospitals Foundation Trust, as well as the Ealing, Central Middlesex and Northwick Park sites that are near to the respective hospitals run by London North West University Healthcare Trust.
    Read full article (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 24 January 2023
  24. 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
  25. 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
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