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PatientSafetyLearning Team

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  1. Content Article
    This blog, published in the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physiotherapy, is written by a group of rehabilitation professionals with personal experience of Long COVID. Professionally, they would often advocate for exercise as a first-line intervention. However, in their personal lives they have found themselves contradicting their professional recommendations. In this blog blog post, they share their: battle adapting to an altered lifereluctant acceptance of reduced function (even temporary) to balance rest and usual activities fear of permanent reductions in physical and cognitive abilities.
  2. Content Article
    On this site you will find information about the Transvaginal Mesh Case Record Review. This Review has been commissioned by the Scottish Government to address concerns raised by women about whether their case records accurately reflect the treatment they have received, specifically in relation to full and partial removal of mesh.
  3. Content Article
    In this blog Patient Safety Learning reflects on responses received from Robin Swann MLA, Minister of Health (Northern Ireland), Jeane Freeman MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport (Scotland) and Vaughan Gething MS, Minister for Health and Social Services (Wales), regarding concerns about painful hysteroscopy procedures in the NHS. In November, Patient Safety Learning published a blog outlining five calls to action to improve the safety of hysteroscopy procedures in the NHS.[1] This has been an issue raised by patients, campaign groups and politicians in recent years, highlighting concerns that women have been suffering avoidable harm from hysteroscopies. To raise awareness of this issue and call for urgent action to prevent future harm, we wrote to several key stakeholders in healthcare across the UK, including: Nadine Dorries MP, Minister of State for Mental Health, Suicide Prevention and Patient Safety (UK Government) Robin Swann MLA, Minister of Health (Northern Ireland Executive) Jeane Freeman MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport (Scottish Government) Vaughan Gething MS, Minister for Health and Social Services (Welsh Government) In January we published a blog reflecting on the response we received from Nadine Dorries on this issue.[2] Here we will consider responses we’ve received from Robin Swann in Northern Ireland, Jeane Freeman in Scotland and Vaughan Gething in Wales. We have included our correspondence with the ministers in full at the end of this blog. Concerns about painful hysteroscopy Hysteroscopy is a procedure used as a diagnostic tool to identify the cause of common problems, such as abnormal bleeding, unexplained pain or unusually heavy periods in women. It involves a long, thin tube being passed into the womb, often with little or no anaesthesia. Informed by insights from patients, researchers and clinicians, we have identified several key patient safety concerns relating to these procedures in the NHS around issues of informed consent, access to pain relief and the implementation of good practice guidance. When writing to healthcare stakeholders, we have been highlighting five calls for action to improve hysteroscopy safety: 1) National guidance for outpatient hysteroscopy to be consistently applied 2) Women to be provided with information and advice to inform their consent 3) Women to be offered and provided with pain relief 4) Significant pain to be consider an adverse event, and recorded and reported as such 5) Research to assess the scale of unsafe care and pain, the extent to which women are suffering, and to inform the implementation of national guidelines and the appropriateness of financial incentives without proper safeguards Response from the Northern Ireland Executive In his response Robin Swann provided an overview of guidance currently followed in Northern Ireland for hysteroscopy procedures, referring to information provided by National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the professional guidance produced by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the British Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy (BSGE). He acknowledges concerns about the provision of pain relief for patients having hysteroscopy procedures, advising that his department will: “write to the HSC Trusts in Northern Ireland to highlight this guidance and remind the service about the importance of the consistent application of the guidance” While we welcome this step, we believe more robust action will be required, given the concerns we have seen in cases where good practice guidance is simply not followed. We also reflect positively on the Minister’s comments, placing this issue within the wider context of his department’s response to the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review (also known as the Cumberlege Review).[3] He notes that this Review highlighted the wider importance of listening to patients’ voices and concerns, and advises that the issues we have raised on hysteroscopy procedures will be used to inform this work. Response from the Scottish Government We received a response on behalf of Jeane Freeman at the end of January which sets out the position of the Directorate for Healthcare Quality and Improvement. Their response initially focused on the importance of patient safety to the Scottish Government, emphasising they have put in place a number of policies to “promote the input of patients and the public to decisions about their care”. Their response notes their plans to establish a Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland, with proposals to be published for consultation shortly. On the issue of hysteroscopy procedures, the response refers to the guidance provided by NICE, RCOG and the BSGE, while noting that “ultimately decisions are for local clinicians, based on patients’ individual circumstances and clinical expertise”. It also acknowledges the importance of informed consent and shared decision-making, stating that: “we would expect that prior to attending an outpatient hysteroscopy appointment, women should be provided with patient information resources, such as the BSOG and BSGE ‘Information for you – Outpatient Hysteroscopy’ leaflet” While we welcome the Scottish Government’s stated support for the use of patient information resources, the issue remains that support at a policy level does not necessarily translate into the experience of patients undergoing this procedure. Response from the Welsh Government At the end of January, we also received a formal response from a representative from the Department of Health and Social Services on behalf of Vaughan Gething. The response gave a brief overview of the guidance form NICE and RCOG currently followed for hysteroscopy procedures in Wales, but disappointingly did not engage with any of the five calls to action we set out in November. While the response notes the Minister has been receiving an unprecedented amount of correspondence as a result of the pandemic, in our view this is not an adequate response when serious patient safety concerns relating to a healthcare procedure have been highlighted. More work is needed to ensure that patients’ voices are heard There are many examples of hysteroscopies being performed without women being fully informed beforehand. The high levels of pain experienced by a significant number of these women, coupled with the realisation they were not given the information to make a decision that was right for them, has left some feeling traumatised and violated. Recent testimonials from women show this is still happening today, highlighting that guidance is not being followed in practice. Considering responses we have now received from UK, Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh ministers, it appears clear that, at a departmental level, concerns around the safety of hysteroscopy procedures remain focused on overarching principles and guidance. Although most ministers accept that there is a significant safety concern, we believe that they do not look closely enough at the difference between the guidance and its practical implementation, which for many women results in severe pain and avoidable harm. There is also still much more work needed to make patients’ voices heard on hysteroscopy. Data needs to be collected through patient reported outcomes in order to understand the scale of harm, identify the barriers to safe care and to hear from those with lived experience. The cursory response received from the Welsh Government appears to suggest that patient safety concerns around hysteroscopy are not yet recognised as a significant issue by all healthcare leaders at a devolved level. Collaboration between clinicians and patients In addition to highlighting patients’ voices with politicians on painful hysteroscopies, we’re also seeking to work with healthcare professionals to further explore patient safety concerns, raise awareness and encourage best practice. At the end of last month, we published an interview with a Obstetrics and Gynaecology consultant, Dr Saira Sundar, who provided her clinical insight and highlighted some of the challenges involved when it comes to managing pain during hysteroscopies.[4] We will continue to work collaboratively with patients, researchers and clinicians to campaign for safer hysteroscopy care. If you have insights you would like to share around hysteroscopy procedures, please get in touch with the Patient Safety Learning team at [email protected] or share your thoughts with us on the hub here. References 1. Patient Safety Learning, Improving hysteroscopy safety, Patient Safety Learning’s the hub, 6 November 2020. 2. Patient Safety Learning, Minister acknowledges patients’ concerns about painful hysteroscopies; but will action be taken?, Patient Safety Learning’s the hub, 20 January 2021. 3. The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Review, First Do No Harm, 8 July 2020. 4. Patient Safety Learning, Through the hysteroscope: Reflections of a gynaecologist, Patient Safety Learning’s the hub, 26 January 2021.
  4. Content Article
    More information about "Midwifery Continuity of Carer: Frontline insights"
    'Continuity of carer' in midwifery is when a woman has consistency in who they see during their pregnancy, labour and postnatal period. In this video, three midwives share their experiences of working in this way and talk about the benefits they've seen for women, babies and their own practice. They provide examples of how this model can improve the safety of services and offer advice for teams and individuals embarking on the continuity of carer journey.  Note: Subtitles are available by turning on the caption mode in YouTube. Would you like to share your insight on the continuity of care model? Perhaps you know women and families who would like to share their experience? You can get in touch with Patient Safety Learning by emailing us at [email protected] Further reading: Measuring Continuity of Carer: A monitoring and evaluation framework (November 2018) NHS: Targeted and enhanced midwifery-led continuity of carer RCM: Can continuity work for us? A resource for midwives
  5. Content Article
    This article, published by the Journal of Clinical Nursing, argues there can be no healthy patient safety culture where Datix or other electronic incident reporting systems (EIRS) are trivialised and weaponised. Nurses at every level can support and enable the blame free culture where nurses use Datix to genuinely promote patient safety.  Follow the link below to download the full article. Other blogs you may also be interested in: “I’m going to Datix you” – a blog from Datix’s former chief executive and now chairman of Patient Safety Learning, Jonathan Hazan Silent witness: My experience when filing an incident report – newly qualified nurse describes what happened when she reported her first Datix for a serious incident. Marking your own homework – an anonymous blog
  6. Content Article
    This study, published in BMJ Quality and Safety, aimed to quantify the prevalence and nature of adverse events in acute Irish hospitals in 2015 and to assess the impact of the National Clinical Programmes and the National Clinical Guidelines on the prevalence of adverse events by comparing these results with the previously published data from 2009.Key findings:an estimated 54,000 patient safety or adverse incidents occurred in Irish public hospitals in 2015 this cost the health service an estimated €190m in additional costs for extended hospital stays and treatmentthe volume of adverse incidents in hospitals "remained stable" between 2009 and 201514% of all hospital admissions in 2015 involved an adverse incident compared to 12.2% in 2009.
  7. Content Article
    In this article, published by BMJ Opinion, James Titcombe and Joanne Hughes provide an overview of the Patient Safety Commissioner role and suggest it's remit should go beyond medicines and medical devices to wider patient safety issues.
  8. Content Article
    In this paper, published by the Tony Blair Institute, authors combine data from the Covid Symptom Study with emerging evidence from the broader scientific community to understand what we do and don’t know about those suffering with long-term symptoms of COVID-19. Properly understanding the scope and scale of the issue of Long COVID is critical in both communicating and balancing the overall risk of the virus.
  9. Content Article
    In this article, Valerie Iles, argues that we should hesitate before deciding to implement the recommendations of the Francis Inquiry. Instead, she states that we should consider whether Francis and his Inquiry are part of the system, part of the mindset, that is the problem.
  10. Content Article
    This webpage from Epilepsy Action, provides information about the possible risks in and outside the home if you have epilepsy. It describes how to do a safety check. It covers how you approach risk and how to help yourself feel more confident about going out. Finally it offers some practical tips on staying safe wherever you are.
  11. Content Article
    Many people with pain say they feel trapped or stuck in a persistent pain cycle. On good days they do more and on bad days less. The Pain Toolkit is for people who live with persistent pain and Healthcare teams who support them. This website hosts a range of resources including:Online workshopsPain ToolkitsResearchWebinarsPodcastsUnderstanding painHow to get the most out of your appointments.
  12. Content Article
    Ahead of a Parliamentary debate on long covid, over 1600 people shared their experiences of the condition, describing how it had affected their health and everyday lives.There were several common themes which emerged from the contributions:Many described how symptoms limited their ability to take care of themselves and complete basic tasks.Many described suffering mental health issues resulting from the condition, including anxieties about the future and prospects of recovery.Many reported issues with diagnosis and treatment due to a lack of medical understanding about the condition.Many feared how the condition had affected their children and family life.Follow the link below to find out more about the debate and the Government's response.
  13. Content Article
    As yet, no commonly agreed clinical definition of long term covid-19 exists, nor a clear definition of treatment pathway. To assist clinicians, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN), and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) have developed the COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing the long term effects of COVID-19. It covers care for people with signs and symptoms that continue for more than four weeks, and which developed during or after an infection consistent with covid-19, and which are not explained by alternative diagnoses. This guide, published by the BMJ, provides a summary of the NICE, SIGN, and RCGP rapid guideline.
  14. Content Article
    While improving over time, the outcomes for lung cancer patients were already dramatically below those with other cancers before the pandemic. This report from the World Economic Forum, is designed to help governments, health systems, healthcare professionals and others to come together to: understand the effect of the pandemic on lung cancer care address the immediate impact of the pandemic on lung cancer services ensure their resilience in the longer term so that we can go further than ever before to improve patients’ outcomes.
  15. Content Article
    Authors of this Lancet correspondence write following an international, multi-stakeholder forum, in which peoples' voices were central, to expand the call to action and to identify how we can prevent long COVID from becoming the long-lasting legacy of COVID-19.
  16. Content Article
    A few weeks into the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination programme, many health care workers across the US are less than eager to roll up their sleeves for this new shot, with roughly three in ten health care workers express hesitancy about getting the vaccine. To address these concerns, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement have worked with partners to develop a guide for conversations with nursing home staff about vaccine hesitancy. The suggestions can be easily modified for discussions with any health care workers.
  17. Content Article
    More information about "Long Covid Minister needed to respond to growing crisis (3 February 2021)"
    Official statistics indicate there are currently hundreds of thousands of people living with Long Covid in the UK. Many of those who contracted Covid-19 at the start of the pandemic are still experiencing significant symptoms almost a year on from their initial infection; some have already passed that grim milestone. Meanwhile, we can expect case numbers of Long Covid to rise significantly as people continue to become infected; recent data shows that at least 1 in 10 people still experience symptoms 12 weeks after initial infection.[1] The implications of Long Covid for individual patients, our health service and wider society are multifaceted, complex and likely to be long-term. There has been some progress to put in place support for people with Long Covid, but many are yet to receive help. Call to action Patient Safety Learning and patient group Long Covid Support are calling for an urgent and significant increase in the scale and pace of the response, and a coordinated, multi-stakeholder approach. We are calling for this to be set up and led by a dedicated Minister for Long Covid, responsible for: Assessment of the issues affecting people with Long Covid, whether or not they were hospitalised (physical and mental health, employment, welfare, education). Delivery plans for meeting the needs of people living with Long Covid. Cross-government coordination and communication. Public information and awareness raising around Long Covid. Data collection, measurement and reporting on the number of adults and children with Long Covid to inform service planning and funding. Identifying research needs, commissioning research and ensuring this informs service delivery. Delivery of a communication and engagement strategy to all key stakeholders. Concerns about patient safety and support Patients living with Long Covid have been left ‘joining the dots’ to try to understand how they can access safe, quality care and what they can do to improve their health. Their physical and mental health, employment and economic circumstances have, in many cases, been affected by the barriers they have faced. Those living with Long Covid have highlighted a number of concerns, from which we have identified eight key themes: 1. Inconsistent care and contradicting advice Serious clinical symptoms are not being investigated consistently or referred on to the appropriate specialties. There are concerns that failure to investigate could have a negative impact on health outcomes. In July 2020, the National Institute of Clinical Excellence cautioned against the use of graded exercise therapy (GET) for patients recovering from Covid-19.[2] However, contradictory advice is still being given around GET as a safe rehabilitation approach, with many raising concerns that it could be deeply harmful. [3] [4] [5] [6] Inconsistencies of access to Long Covid assessment centre services, particularly in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Huge variations in the medical support and care given. There is a risk that existing health inequalities may be widened as a result of this. 2. Employment and welfare There is a lack of wider understanding about the debilitating impact of Long Covid and how it affects people’s lives and ability to work. [7] [8] This can lead to inadequate support from employers and an inconsistent approach to benefits. Government benefits do not address the devastating economic impact that Long Covid has had for many people. 3. Children with Long Covid More work needs to be done to understand how Long Covid is presenting in children and to raise awareness of the profound impact Long Covid can have on young people.[9] The assessment services, which were part of the five-point plan laid out by the NHS to address Long Covid, do not include services for children.[10] There needs to be better information available to schools on how they can support children living with the effects of Long Covid and any reasonable adjustments that may be necessary to support their educational and health needs. 4. NHS workforce and resource planning Service provision must accurately reflect the vast number of people living with Long Covid in the UK who were and were not hospitalised. This is necessary for the NHS to understand the scale of the challenge and to effectively mitigate against a pandemic of chronic ill health. There are concerns that the wide-ranging needs of these patients may not be adequately reflected in NHS workforce planning, service delivery and funding. A large number of NHS staff are living with Long Covid, unable to work at all, or to their previous capacity. 5. Knowledge gaps among health professionals There is a poor understanding among some health professionals of Long Covid, how to diagnose it and how it can impact people’s lives. This can result in misdiagnosis or a disbelief that patients are still unwell. Some patients are finding they are unable to access further assessment or treatment due to their GPs not believing they have Long Covid, distance from clinics, not having been hospitalised or not having a confirmed positive test result (despite Royal College of GP’s guidance to the contrary).[11] Some GPs are unaware of the location of assessment clinics or how to refer patients to services (e.g. the ‘Your Covid Recovery’ tailored rehabilitation programme). There does not seem to be a clear strategy for training healthcare professionals on case recognition and referral pathways. 6. Data, research and insight gaps Including, but not limited to, the following: Currently there is insufficient understanding of the risk factors, mechanism or pathophysiology of Long Covid, appropriate diagnostic techniques as well as prevention or treatments. There is a lack of research into the debilitating impact Long Covid can have on children’s health, education and wellbeing.[12] 7. Public health messaging not reflective of Long Covid Public health messaging and reporting do not include the proportion of both adults and children who are experiencing Long Covid. Public health messaging (and the NHS website) does not reflect the range of initial acute symptoms of Covid-19 or those experienced by people living with Long Covid. Public health messaging does not reflect the severity and relapsing nature of Long Covid. 8. Communication and engagement gaps There is no patient and public involvement strategy for Long Covid. Assessment centres (previously referred to as Long Covid clinics) are being established but there is lack of information about the services they provide, where they are, how patients can access them and how clinicians can refer. It is unclear what treatments and support are available post-assessment, and what resources are needed to meet this growing need. There does not seem to be a clear strategy for providing health professionals with the necessary information to be able to support Long Covid patients. Currently there is no coordinating task group or Government body specifically working to understand the whole spectrum of issues relevant to Long Covid and how they intertwine. Long Covid Minister and cross-government task force We are calling on the Prime Minister to appoint a Minister for Long Covid. This role would be responsible for coordinating a UK Cross-government task force, accountable for broad oversight and action relating to the Long Covid crisis. This multi-stakeholder approach would go far beyond the remit of the current NHS England Task Force for Long Covid. Membership To respond to the broad spectrum of issues, we would anticipate that this Task Force would involve collaboration between officials from departments across the government, including: ● Department of Health and Social Care ● Department of Work and Pensions ● Public Health England ● HM Treasury ● Department for Education ● No 10/Cabinet Office C-19 Taskforce ● NHS England and NHS Improvement ● NHS England and NHS Improvement Long Covid Task Force ● Northern Ireland Executive ● Scottish Government ● Welsh Government Communication and engagement There is an urgent need for a Long Covid communication and engagement strategy, to include information and updates for patients, clinicians, relevant organisations and the public. This needs to be a genuine two-way process with proactive action to inform, support and educate, and to obtain feedback from all relevant parties. The effectiveness of these communications must be monitored to ensure that key stakeholders are receiving the information and guidance they need to support people living with Long Covid. Patient engagement is proven to be a key factor in designing effective services and improving clinical outcomes; it should never be viewed as ‘nice to have’ or applied in a tokenistic way. Those with lived experience of Long Covid must be seen as partners at every step of the response, with a clear involvement strategy to ensure that decisions ‘about them’ are not made ‘without them’. To undervalue this input would be incredibly short-sighted and would contravene NHS policy.[13] The task force should be responsible for delivering the communication and engagement strategy to help address the concerns we have outlined in the eight themes. Engaging with organisations outside of the cross-government task force will be essential and should include: ● Long Covid peer support groups and those with lived experience ● Patient information experts ● Occupational health experts ● Royal colleges ● Trade unions ● Citizens Advice Conclusion More must be done to ensure that people living with Long Covid are able to access safe, quality care and that every effort is made to empower those around them to support their recovery. We believe that a multi-stakeholder approach, led by a dedicated Minister, is key to responding to, and planning for, the growing challenges of Long Covid. The current absence of oversight and accountability poses a risk to patients and must be addressed urgently. References Office for National Statistics, The prevalence of long COVID symptoms and COVID-19 complications, 16 December 2020. Torjesen, Ingrid, NICE cautions against using graded exercise therapy for patients recovering from covid-19, BMJ 2020; 370:m2912. Health and Service Executive, Long Covid and the Workplace: What does the evidence support in terms of intervention, 13 January 2021. Torjesen, Ingrid, NICE backtracks on graded exercise therapy and CBT in draft revision to CFS guidance, BMJ 2020; 371:m4356. ME Action Network, Long COVID Patients Warned Of Damaging Exercise Programme, 3 November 2020. Tuller, David, Trial By Error: Professor Paul Garner’s BMJ Blog Post on His Powerful Cognitions, 28 January 2021. The Guardian, Many ‘long Covid’ sufferers unable to fully work six months later, 5 January 2021. People Management, Should HR be worried about long Covid? , 28 January 2021. University of Cambridge, Video: Long Covid Kids – 5 News, 24 November 2020. NHS England and NHS Improvement, NHS to offer ‘long covid’ sufferers help at specialist centres, 7 October 2020. Royal College of General Practitioners, Management of the long-term effects of COVID-19, 30 October 2020. The BMJ Opinion, Counting long covid in children, 16 October 2020. NHS England and NHS Improvement, NHS England Patient and Public Voice Partners Policy, July 2017.
  18. Content Article
    OxSTaR (Oxford Simulation, Teaching and Research) is based at the John Radcliffe Hospital. The centre provides a state of the art environment where medical students and multidisciplinary healthcare professionals can use adult and paediatric high fidelity patient simulators to rehearse a wide variety of medical scenarios. The information in the link below is designed for healthcare professionals caring for patients with COVID-19 and has been developed in collaboration with Oxford University Hospitals Foundation Trust (OUH FT). Contents of the OxSTaR website such as text, graphics, images, videos and other material contained in the webinars and online lectures are for educational purposes and information only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for face-to-face training. Whilst great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information provided on this website, please be advised that the contributors to the OxSTaR website are not responsible for the continued currency of the information, or any errors or omissions on the website that result from this rapidly evolving field.
  19. Content Article
    This guide, published by the Faculty of Occupational Medicine, aims to help healthcare workers understand how to approach the return to work process for patients with Long COVID.
  20. Content Article
    People are given this Guide when someone close to them has died and their death has been reported to the coroner or if they have been called as a witness at an inquest. The coroner is involved in the death because the coroner needs to make enquiries to find out what happened and how the person died. For most people, the inquest process is new. Preparing for an inquest can be difficult, and some find it hard to find their way through the legal processes on top of the distress caused by the death. This guide, from the Ministry of Justice, is designed to help bereaved families understand the coroner process.
  21. Content Article
    Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA) have created a set of guides to help patients raise concerns about a healthcare worker. Health professionals fitness to practise Raising concerns about doctors Raising concerns about nurses, midwives and nursing associates Raising concerns about dental professionals. Follow the link below to find out more.
  22. Content Article
    Germ Defence is a website that has been developed by health experts in UK universities to help you find out how to reduce this risk of catching coronavirus or passing it on to others. After a bit of practice the ideas and advice in Germ Defence will become habits and they will help protect you from coronavirus - and other germs in the future.A research study with 20,000 people found:People who read the advice in Germ Defence are less likely to catch virusesIf they do become ill, the illness is likely to be less severe.
  23. Content Article
    Independent SAGE is a group of scientists who are working together to provide independent scientific advice to the UK government and public on how to minimise deaths and support Britain’s recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.This report seeks to answer some of the more common questions that they are asked about Long COVID and sets out key recommendations. Key recommendations Data should be collected systematically on cases of Long COVID and presented alongside numbers of cases, hospitalisations and deaths from COVID-19. Building on the experience of the Post-Hospitalisation study, a national register of patients with Long COVID should be established, including those who have not required hospitalisation, to enable long-term follow-up and thus a better understanding of thenatural history of this condition. This should include specific codes for GPs to use so that patients can be followed up and tracked in research studies over the longer term. Further efforts should be undertaken to ensure that all health professionals likely to come into contact with patients who have Long COVID are fully aware of the existing NICE guidelines. Clinical commissioning groups and their equivalents in the devolved nations should ensure that there are appropriate models of care in place, including multi-disciplinary and multi-specialist teams, with clearly defined pathways through which patients can access them. Research studies funded so far will provide invaluable information, but there is a need for continuing review to identify emerging gaps in our knowledge, especially in relation to the impact of Long COVID on people’s lives and how they are overcomingthe challenges they face.Patients with Long COVID should be recognised as an extremely important resource in shaping research and policy in relation to this condition.
  24. Content Article
    Mothers and families whose baby was born at an NHS hospital after 1st April 2017 and who may be concerned that their baby sustained a brain injury at birth may be going through an investigation process. This guide, from Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA), provides mothers and families with information about the process.
  25. Content Article
    This self-help guide contains useful information for parents or guardians who are acting on behalf of babies or children who have been affected by avoidable harm in healthcare. If you have any further questions, please visit the Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA) website where you will find more advice and a range of specialised self-help guides. Or you can call their helpline on 0845 123 2352.

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