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Patient_Safety_Learning

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News posted by Patient_Safety_Learning

  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. Patient_Safety_Learning
    A ransomware group has carried out its threat to NHS Dumfries and Galloway and released a "large volume" of patients' data on the dark web.
    A small amount of details were released in March as "proof" that the cyber criminals had accessed confidential information, with a warning that more would be published if a payment was not made to stop it.
    The new chief executive of NHS Dumfries and Galloway health board, Julie White, called the release an "utterly abhorrent criminal act".
    She said work was now beginning to with other national agencies including the Scottish government, police and National Cyber Security Centre to assess what has been published.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 7 May 2024
  4. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Ministers are preparing to announce a compensation package of at least £10 billion for contaminated blood victims after a Sunday Times campaign for justice was backed across the political divide.
    The announcement is expected to be made within hours of the public inquiry’s report into the scandal later this month and will establish a hierarchy of payments, with priority given to those with infectious diseases, including hepatitis C and HIV.
    The money, promised to be “northwards of £10 billion”, is yet to be signed off by Rishi Sunak but has the support of the Treasury and the Cabinet Office. It is expected to be funded through government borrowing.
    Read full story
    Source: The Times, 5 May 2024
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. Patient_Safety_Learning
    A 999 call handler incorrectly categorised a call made by the wife of a man who died from a heart attack, an inquest has heard. The Welsh Ambulance Service Trust (WAST) handler should have escalated the call for Robert Weekley, 75, who died in his flat in Barry, to the most urgent level of 'red', which requires an ambulance to be sent within eight minutes.
    Instead they wrongly categorised it as the second-highest level, 'amber one', which has no set response time, an inquest into Mr Weekley's death at Pontypridd Coroners' Court was told. 
    Read full story
    Source: Wales Online, 3 May 2024
  8. 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
  9. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Perinatal mental illness affects more than a quarter (27%) of new and expectant mothers across England and covers a range of conditions including postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. A Guardian analysis of NHS figures has shown that for instances of perinatal mental illness that result in hospital admissions, black patients are more than twice as likely to be admitted than their white counterparts.
    Part of the reason why black mothers are more at risk of perinatal mental illness is because black people are more at risk of experiencing mental illness in general.
    Read full story
    Source: Guardian, 6 May 2024
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. 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
  13. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Hospitals are being forced to cut medical staff, threatening their ability to care for patients, senior health leaders have warned.
    NHS trusts are reporting budget deficits after the chancellor Jeremy Hunt gave England’s health service £2.5bn extra funding, which only covers inflation and pay increases.
    The UK’s ageing population and the impact of having more than 6 million patients waiting for more than 7.5m treatments means that demand on the health service has increased substantially.
    Read full story
    Source: Guardian, 5 May 2024
  14. 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
  15. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Before Sara Smythe began to disappear, she was thriving.
    The youngest of four sisters, Sara was born with Down syndrome and lived the life of an active teen. At 13, the Toledo student was heading to middle school and loved soccer and swim practice, took dance and karate classes, and was a Girl Scout.
    But in 2011, everything changed in a matter of weeks. Sara morphed from a sociable teen to a person who stopped talking and engaging with other people, and, at her worst, had full-blown catatonia.
    Sara’s doctors were at a loss, but her mother, Eileen Quinn, wasn’t giving up. She embarked on what would become a 13-year quest, harnessing the power of a mother’s love to push the scientific community to pay attention to the mysterious regressions that some young people with Down syndrome were experiencing.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: Washington Post, 12 May 2024
  16. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Parts of ceilings have fallen in at two key units of a decrepit NHS hospital, forcing it to evacuate patients and cancel X-rays and scans, the Guardian can reveal.
    The problems at Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport, which is plagued by leaks and major structural defects, have prompted claims it is “dangerous for both patients and staff”.
    Read full story
    Source: Guardian, 3 May
  17. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Sajid Javid has revealed details of his young relative’s “brave battle” against myalgic encephalomyelitis, warning that patients with the condition are being “dismissed entirely” by doctors.
    During a debate held in Westminster Hall on Wednesday, the former health secretary spoke of the distressing experience of his cousin’s “amazing” daughter who developed the debilitating illness seven years ago, aged 13.
    ME is a complex neurological disorder that affects about 250,000 people in the UK and leads to symptoms including exhaustion and pain. Severe cases can be fatal, with patients bedridden and unable to eat or drink, and care held back by a lack of specialist NHS services.
    Read full story
    Source: The Times, 2 May 2024
  18. Patient_Safety_Learning
    An inquiry into traumatic childbirths has called for an overhaul of the UK's maternity and postnatal care after hearing "harrowing" stories from parents.
    The Birth Trauma Inquiry heard evidence from more than 1,300 women - some said they were left in blood-soaked sheets while others said their children had suffered life-changing injuries due to medical negligence.
    A new maternity commissioner who would report directly to the prime minister is a key recommendation in the group's report, along with ensuring safe levels of staffing.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 13 May 2024
  19. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Patients in part of the East of England are choosing to begin palliative care over cancer treatment because of prohibitive travel times and costs to get to the nearest specialist centre, a local system leader has warned.
    The Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board CEO said delays to a proposed £400m project, which includes creating “satellite” treatment centres on its patch, was therefore putting lives at risk and widening inequalities.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 13 May 2024
  20. Patient_Safety_Learning
    The chair of the major inquiry into rogue surgeon Ian Paterson has raised concerns over a separate patient recall process conducted by Salford Royal Hospital, and suggested NHS England should intervene.
    Leaders in Salford have been resisting pressure to expand a review of patients treated by the former head of its spinal division, John Williamson, over his 23-year career at the hospital.
    A review of his last five years established clear problems with his surgical techniques and found multiple cases of avoidable harm.
    Read full story
    Source: HSJ, 7 May 2024
  21. Patient_Safety_Learning
    A coroner has issued a warning over a hospital’s new computer system after the death of a 31-year-old woman.
    Emily Harkleroad collapsed on 18 December 2022 and was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham, where she died the next morning from a pulmonary embolism – a clot on the lung.
    The assistant coroner for County Durham and Darlington concluded, on balance, that Ms Harkleroad’s death could have been prevented, external. She also noted computer system concerns had been raised by a number of clinicians.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 24 February 2024
  22. Patient_Safety_Learning
    Dementia could cost the UK almost £91bn a year by 2040, as the number of people affected rises inexorably, a study has found.
    The “colossal” costs of the disease are likely to more than double from an already “staggering” £42.5bn today to £90.6bn, according to research undertaken for the Alzheimer’s Society.
    That projected rise will happen in line with an expected increase in the number of diagnosed cases from 981,575 to 1,402,010, related to an ageing and growing population.
    Read full story
    Source: Guardian, 13 May 2024
  23. Patient_Safety_Learning
    An NHS England review has found the proportion of ‘low acuity’ patients attending emergency departments is far smaller than expected.
    During a trial of new acuity measures at 17 accident and emergency sites, NHSE found the proportion of patients with low acuity was just 4 per cent, when it had expected the figure to be between 20 and 40 per cent.
    Low acuity cases are those which could often be seen by less specialist services, such as urgent treatment centres.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 13 May 2024
  24. Patient_Safety_Learning
    A weight loss injection could reduce the risk of heart attacks and benefit the cardiovascular health of millions of adults across the UK, in what could be the largest medical breakthrough since statins, according to a study.
    It found that participants taking the medication semaglutide, the active ingredient in brands including Wegovy and Ozempic, had a 20% lower risk of heart attack, stroke, or death due to cardiovascular disease.
    Read full story
    Source: Guardian, 14 May 2024
  25. Patient_Safety_Learning
    The government is spending £5.5bn less on health in England than it suggested it would be at this stage, the Institute for Fiscal Studies says.
    Plans set out in the 2019 election campaign indicated the budget would increase by 3.3% a year above inflation during this Parliament, the IFS said.
    But despite extra being put in to cover the high inflation seen, spending had risen by only 2.7% a year on average.
    Read full story
    Source. BBC News, 14 May 2024
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