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Patient_Safety_Learning

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News posted by Patient_Safety_Learning

  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. Patient_Safety_Learning
    A trust pressured into commissioning an external review of dozens of suicides faces fresh criticism and questions about the probe’s credibility after it emerged the investigation will not investigate each case but instead look to ‘identify themes’.
    Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation Trust originally said it would carry out the review of more than 60 patient suicides internally. But following criticism, it U-turned on this decision and last month agreed to an externally-led process.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ
  4. Patient_Safety_Learning
    A hospital trust has apologised to families after dozens of children suffered hearing loss following failures in their care.
    Croydon Health Services Trust had already revealed three children “may have been at risk of serious hearing loss or a delay to their speech development”, but it has now confirmed to HSJ that a further 49 “incurred mild to moderate hearing loss or impairment”.
    The south London trust would not disclose the results of its internal review that begun after it declared a serious incident in March 2021, saying it was “ongoing”, but said it had acted on all the “immediate recommendations”.
    The incident was declared after more than 1,400 children were found not to have been followed up by the trust. 
    There was also an external review carried out by an audiologist from Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust. It is unclear which review uncovered the incidents of harm. 
    Read full story
    Source: HSJ 1 August 2023
  5. 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
  6. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Racism is a significant issue affecting recruitment, retention, and patient care. With this in mind, the Royal College of Psychiatrists launched the Act Against Racism campaign, offering guidance and actions to combat racism in the workplace for better staff well-being and patient care, writes Adrian James
    In June, HSJ revealed that mental health trusts in England are among the biggest users of locum doctors in the NHS. With one in seven medical posts in mental health trusts vacant, many providers now rely on locum doctors to deliver essential services to patients.
    Read full story
    Source: HSJ, 9 August 2023
  7. 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
  8. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Families of people with complex medical needs are warning the NHS system that funds their care at home is struggling to provide sufficient support.
    Despite recent significant increases in spending on Continuing Healthcare, experts say staff shortages and rising prices mean families are lacking help.
    Some say at times they are so exhausted from providing care, they worry about the safety of their relatives.
    The government says it has invested billions into health and social care.
    The BBC followed 24-year-old Declan Spencer for 10 months, witnessing how the repeated breakdown of his care has left his mother having to provide it by herself, day and night.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC 7 August 2023
  9. 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
  10. 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
     
  11. 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
  12. 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
  13. 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
  14. Patient_Safety_Learning
    One of the UK's most secretive centres of scientific research - Porton Down - is aiming to stop the next pandemic "in its tracks".
    James Gallagher, Health and science correspondent, passed through the incredibly tight security at this remote facility to get rare access to its scientists.
    They are based in the shiny new Vaccine Development and Evaluation Centre.
    Their work builds on the response to Covid, and aims to save lives and minimise the need for lockdowns when a new disease next emerges.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC 7 August 2023
  15. 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
  16. 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
  17. 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
  18. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Thousands of patients in England and Northern Ireland are missing out on a life-extending prostate cancer drug that is more widely available on the NHS in Scotland and Wales, say experts.
    Charity Prostate Cancer UK said it was "unacceptable" that men in parts of the UK were facing a postcode lottery.
    Although not a cure, abiraterone can help stop prostate cancer spreading to other parts of the body.
    NHS England said it would review the drug's use for more men next year.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 23 October 2023
  19. 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
  20. 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
  21. 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
  22. Patient_Safety_Learning
    An ambulance spent 28 hours outside a hospital after an "extraordinary incident" was declared due to delays.
    The Welsh Ambulance Service said 16 ambulances had waited outside the emergency department at Morriston Hospital, Swansea, at one time.
    It said multiple sites across Wales were affected.
    The extraordinary incident, which asked people to only call 990 if their emergency was "life or limb threatening", is now over.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 23 October 2023
  23. 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
  24. 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
  25. 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
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