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Content ArticleFor patients living at home with advanced illness, deterioration in health can happen at any time of the day or night. This research report funded by the charity Marie Curie looks at issues faced by people with advanced illness and their informal carers in accessing out-of-hours care. The report highlights new evidence on out-of-hours care, based on: UK data on out-of-hours emergency department attendance among people who are in the last year of life. interviews with health professionals about out-of-hours services across the UK. a patient and public involvement (PPI) workshop.
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- End of life care
- Medicine - Palliative
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News Article
Social care ‘on its knees’ as vacancies hit record high
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Social care services face an “absolute crisis” over record vacancies as unfilled jobs have risen by more than 50% in a year, a new analysis reveals. New data on social care workers shows at least 165,000 vacancies across adult social care providers at the end of 2021-22. This is the highest on record according to the charity Skills for Care, which has collected the data since 2012. Leading think tanks have warned the figures to point to the “absolute crisis” facing social care with the “system on its knees”. At the same time the demand for care has risen, highlighting that social care is facing a complex challenge with recruitment and retention which will be impacting on the lives of people who need social care. The annual report by Skills for Care predicts social care services will need an extra 480,000 workers by 2035 to meet the demand but could be set to lose 430,000 staff to retirement over the next decade. Simon Bottery, senior fellow at The King’s Fund, said the report was evidence “of the absolute crisis social care faces when trying to recruit staff, a crisis that has profound consequences for people needing care”. He added: “A key reason for that is pay, which continues to lag behind other sectors including retail and hospitality, as well as similar roles in the NHS. Our recent analysis found that nearly 400,000 care workers would be better paid to work in most supermarkets." Read full story Source: The Independent, 11 October 2022- Posted
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News Article
Social care: 'Jo's care will cost £1.5k a week - the system is broken'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
It was only a year ago that Boris Johnson stood up in Parliament and said he was going to fix the long-term problems in social care. He announced a new tax - to raise about £12bn a year - would be spent on health and social care costs only. But the UK's new prime minister, Liz Truss, has already scrapped the plan. Families, carers and care providers have been left asking where the funding will now come from to fix a system, which they say is broken. Dr Jo Wilson was a high-flying international executive before she was diagnosed with dementia two years ago, aged 66. Her husband, Bill, insists he's her husband, not her carer. But he now sees to Jo's every need. Bill has had to find fight and persistence to navigate the world of dementia care. "It took me two years to get a care package in place for Jo," he explains. "And I only got that because Jo had a collapse at home and was taken into hospital." Even after it was confirmed Jo could have carers come to their home to help, Bill found the variety of staff, unreliable time keeping, and a lack of understanding of dementia, left him questioning whether it was worth it. He's now permanently exhausted, and frustrated. Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, says without a complete restructure of the social care system "thousands, if not millions, will be left without support, and the NHS will be on its knees". It is a warning heeded by others. A new poll by Ipsos Mori for BBC News, suggests more than 70% of those over 55 are not confident that social care services will provide care to those in need. More than half of responses cited staff shortages and limited public funding as their main concerns. Care providers say it's these issues that are putting them under extreme pressure. "We know currently that three in five people with dementia do not get the support that they need once they have that diagnosis. And that leads to crisis in care", says Fiona Carragher, director of policy at the Alzheimer's Society." Read full story Source: BBC News, 7 October 2022- Posted
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News Article
‘Perilous’ shortage of homecare workers leaves patients trapped in hospitals
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A “perilous” shortage of homecare workers is the biggest reason thousands of people are languishing longer in hospital than needed, driving up waiting lists and making people sicker, figures reveal. Almost one in four people unable to be discharged – sometimes for weeks – were trapped in hospital because they were waiting for home care, as agencies hand back contracts because staff are quitting owing to low pay, leaving 15% of jobs vacant. A fifth of people unable to be discharged were also waiting for short-term rehabilitation and 15% were waiting for a bed in a care home, according to analysis of data obtained using freedom of information requests and public records by Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation. It estimated that in April this year, one in six patients were in hospital because of delayed discharge, and the discharge of patients with a hospital stay of more than three weeks was delayed by 14 days on average. “People are ending up in hospital for malnutrition and dehydration, problems which, even if you supported people a little bit at home, would stop,” said Jane Townson, the director of the Homecare Association. “More providers are having to turn down work than usual and some are having to hand back people because they can’t do it.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 3 October 2022- Posted
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- Recruitment
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Content ArticleUnpaid carers play a substantial and vital role in meeting social care needs. The care they provide has enormous value, both for the people they care for and for wider society. Many carers experience great satisfaction from their role, and through the help and support they provide to friends and family members they may also reduce the costs of formal social care provision. At the same time, caring responsibilities can come at a high personal and financial cost, despite the 2014 Care Act giving carers the right to receive support. 1 in 5 carers report feeling socially isolated and 4 in 10 report financial difficulties because of their caring role. This report by The Health Foundation aims to explore national data on the number of unpaid carers and trends over time, as well as which groups are more likely to have caring responsibilities and who they provide care for. It gives an overview of the types of support available to carers, and what we know–and don’t know–about how many carers are accessing support.
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Content ArticleThis is part of our series of Patient Safety Spotlight interviews, where we talk to people working for patient safety about their role and what motivates them. Lesley talks to us about how personal stories enrich our understanding of data, drive real quality improvement and remind us that healthcare is all about people. She also explains how her own personal experience drives her work to improve healthcare experiences for patients and their families.
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Content ArticleHospital at Home is a short-term, targeted intervention that provides a level of acute hospital care in an individual’s own home, or homely setting that is equivalent to that provided within a hospital. In mid-2020, the ihub within Healthcare Improvement Scotland began working with a number of NHS boards and health and social care partnerships to support the implementation of Hospital at Home services across Scotland. This toolkit was created as part of that work, providing a range of tools and resources to support areas to implement and expand Hospital at Home services.
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- Virtual ward
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Content ArticleA repository of resources aimed at patients and carers which have been co-produced by the Falls and Fragility Fracture Audit Programme (FFFAP) patient and carer panel.
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- Falls
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Content Article
The King's Fund: Social care 360 (2 March 2023)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Social care
The King's Fund has launched the latest edition of their annual Social Care 360 report analysing the 12 key trends in adult social care in England. The year’s report paints a picture of a worsening crisis in adult social care with more requests for publicly funded social care in England than ever before, while the number of people receiving it continues to fall.- Posted
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Content ArticleMore and more people are dying at home, rather than in a hospital or hospice. With this trend set to continue, how can commissioners ensure that end-of-life care reflects this and meets the needs of people approaching the end of their lives and their loved ones? This new report from the King's Fund explores what we know about commissioning end-of-life care, the inequalities experienced by particular groups, and how NHS and social care commissioners in England are measuring and assuring the quality of care people receive. Drawing on interviews with commissioners, stakeholders and experts in end-of-life care, as well as recently bereaved carers and family members, this report offers reflections and recommendations for those wanting to improve end-of-life care for those dying at home.
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- End of life care
- Patient death
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News Article
Devon carer who murdered woman had violent crime history
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A carer who murdered the elderly woman he was employed to look after had a history of violent crime including actual bodily harm, a report found. A safeguarding adults review over the death of a 77-year-old Devon woman in 2021 criticised working practices among organisations involved in her care. Devon and Cornwall Police did not disclose information about domestic abuse callouts involving the killer in a DBS check by the care provider. He was jailed for life in July 2022. The woman had seen her killer as "a grandson" figure, it said. The 35-year-old killer attacked his victim after she discovered he had stolen several thousand pounds from her. The had no previous employment experience of care before being taken on as her sole carer by Complete Quality Care Ltd, an independent care provider. Read full story Source: BBC News, 24 November 2022- Posted
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News Article
Northern Ireland carers 'suffer shocking levels of poor health'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Unpaid carers in Northern Ireland are suffering from "shocking levels of poor health", according to the charity Carers NI. In a survey of more than 1,600 unpaid carers across Northern Ireland, more than a quarter of respondents described their mental health as bad or very bad. One in five carers said the same about their physical health. The survey also found some 40% had not had a break from caring during the previous year and 23% said support services in their area did not meet their needs. Tracey Gililand, from Portadown, cares for her two disabled sons and said families like hers have been all but forgotten since the beginning of the pandemic. "Carers are still having to ask for the full return of much-needed day care and respite services and it feels like we've been left to paddle our own canoes with no help," she said. "No one knows our struggles, the many sleepless nights and exhaustion during the day. The impact on carers' mental health. The isolation that families like us experience that no one else sees," Ms Gililand explained. Carers NI said it has called for a legal right to social care support for all unpaid carers, the appointment of an independent carers' champion to advocate for carers to government, and wider transformation of the health system. Craig Harrison from the charity said carers had been "driving themselves into the ground", and were physically exhausted and in a state of constant anxiety. Read full story Source: BBC News, 8 November 2022- Posted
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News Article
State of social care in England ‘never been so bad’, social services boss warns
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The state of social care in England has “never been so bad”, the country’s leading social services chief has said, with half a million people now waiting for help. Sarah McClinton, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), told a conference of council care bosses in Manchester: “The shocking situation is that we have more people requesting help from councils, more older and disabled with complex needs, yet social care capacity has reduced and we have 50,000 fewer paid carers.” Over 400,000 people rely on care homes in England and more than 800,000 receive care at home. But care services are struggling with 160,000 staff vacancies, rising demand and already tight funding for social care that is being squeezed by soaring food and energy inflation. About a third of care providers report that inability to recruit staff has negatively affected their service and many have stopped admitting new residents as a result. Last month the Care Quality Commission warned of a “tsunami of unmet care” and said England’s health and social care system was “gridlocked”. Problems in social care make it harder to free up beds in hospitals, slowing down the delivery of elective care. “The scale of how many people are either not getting the care and support they need, or are getting the wrong kind of help, at the wrong time and in the wrong place is staggering,” said McClinton, who is also director for health and adult services in Greenwich. “It is also adding to the endless pressures we see with ambulances and hospitals, and adding to the pressures we see in our communities, more people requesting help with mental health and domestic abuse.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 2 November 2022- Posted
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- Social care
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News Article
Over 170 carers call UK whistleblower helpline during COVID-19 crisis
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
More than 170 carers have called a whistleblowing helpline since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a report that highlights the voices of frontline workers and lays bare a catalogue of safety concerns. Compassion in Care, which operates the helpline for care workers, says it is seeing the whistleblowing process move at “unprecedented speed” as the coronavirus crisis unfolds, with many concerns being ignored. With the coronavirus death toll mounting in care homes, the charity’s report flags the “horrendous” unsafe conditions workers are facing amid concerns over lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as the impact on carers’ mental health. One whistleblower likens the situation to a “war zone” with people struggling to breathe, while another describes the pain of not having the time, because of the overwhelming workload, to even hold distressed residents’ hands. In a new report, titled When the Silence Wins, Compassion in Care’s founder, Eileen Chubb, who is herself a former care whistleblower, writes: “During this crisis I have experienced the whistleblowing process moving at unprecedented speed, at such a high-volume and involving whistleblowing issues that are without exception extremely serious." “What is emerging from these cases is a lack of action by employers in response to genuine concerns." Read full story Source: The Guardian, 6 May 2020- Posted
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News ArticleHundreds of people are dying in care homes from confirmed or suspected coronavirus without yet being officially counted, the Guardian has learned. More than 120 residents of the UK’s largest charitable provider of care homes are thought to have died from the virus in the last three weeks, while another network of care homes is reported to have recorded 88 deaths. Care England, the industry body, estimated that the death toll is likely to be close to 1,000, despite the only available official figure for care home fatalities being dramatically lower. The gulf in the figures has prompted warnings that ministers are underestimating the impact of Covid-19 on society’s most frail, and are failing to sufficiently help besieged care homes and workers. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 7 April 2020
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News Article
Residential homes 'desperate' for PPE, as two care workers die
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The first two coronavirus deaths among care workers in England were announced, as industry leaders hit out at chronic shortages of protective equipment and urged the government to start treating social care as “a second front line”. Carol Jamabo, 56, a community carer for Cherish Elderly Care in Bury in Greater Manchester, died last Wednesday. Another carer died in a home run by MHA, the UK’s largest charitable social care provider, which said it was unclear where she contracted the virus. The death of a West Dumbartonshire care worker that emerged on Sunday was also confirmed by the Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon. The fatalities came amid rising concern that those working in social care still do not have the protection they need amid the Covid-19 pandemic and that, without testing for the virus, staff risk contaminating care homes where elderly people are supposed to be “shielded”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 6 April 2020- Posted
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News Article
Oak Springs: Third fatality at Liverpool care home where 52 have symptoms
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
On any normal day the Oak Springs Care home in Liverpool is a hive of activity, laughter ringing out as its elderly residents enjoy dancing, creative crafts and bingo. Yesterday it was quiet, the inhabitants confined to their bedrooms and stark notices on the door warning visitors against entering, as word spread that a third resident had died in hospital that morning after a corona-virus diagnosis. Of the 66 remaining residents, 52 are exhibiting symptoms. Four were put on end-of-life care plans this week, a situation described by Andrea Lyons, the general manager, as “our absolute worst nightmare”. She said: “These are people who we love, who we spend more time with than our families. It has been difficult beyond the worst you can imagine”. Read full story Source: The Times, 2 April 2020 -
News Article
Coronavirus: Special needs parents in 'survival mode'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A father has described the "huge impact" of losing respite care for his young daughter who has complex special needs. Tim Clarke and his wife Ana look after their six-year-old daughter Molly at home in Worcester. The family normally receives a few hours of outside care and educational help a week, but that ended with the coronavirus pandemic. Molly has been diagnosed with autism and also has medical issues including a cyst on her brain. One charity worker from the Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) Society, a condition which is on the autism spectrum, described parents of children with special needs as being in "survival mode". Watch video Source: BBC News, 1 April 2020 -
News Article
Nurses treating coronavirus spat at and called ‘disease spreaders’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Nurses caring for patients in the community have been spat at and called ‘disease spreaders’ by members of the public, according to England’s chief nurse and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). The nursing union urged members of the public to support the UK’s “socially critical” nursing workforce during the coronavirus outbreak. The RCN said it had received anecdotal reports of community nurses receiving abuse while working in uniform. Separately, England’s Chief Nurse Ruth May said she had heard reports of nurses being spat at. Susan Masters, the RCN’s director of policy, said abuse of nurses was “abhorrent behaviour”. She said a number of nurses had raised concerns about abuse on forums used by members to talk confidentially. Describing one incident she told The Independent: “These were community nurses who had to go into people’s homes and were in uniform. Members of the public who saw them called out to them and said they were ‘disease spreaders’.” She added: “We don’t know how big this problem is, it is anecdotal, but it is absolutely unacceptable. Read full story Source: The Independent, 21 March 2020- Posted
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News ArticleA police investigation has been launched into an alleged assault against an elderly patient with Alzheimer’s by NHS staff at the troubled East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust. The Independent can reveal nurses and carers at the William Harvey Hospital have been suspended after being filmed by hospital security staff for eight minutes allegedly holding down the man’s arms and legs as well as his face while they inserted a catheter. The trust has confirmed it has launched an investigation and alerted police after the incident on 15 December on the Cambridge J ward at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford. A spokesperson “apologised unreservedly” for the incident and said it was being treated with the “utmost seriousness”. A whistleblower spoke out to The Independent about the incident, fearing it was being covered up by the trust after staff were told “don’t discuss it, don’t refer to it at all”. The senior clinician said they had decided to go public after the “horrific” incident because of the trust’s toxic culture and concerns for the welfare of other patients on wards. Read full story Source: The Independent, 7 February 2020
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Content ArticleIn patient experience research, participants frequently report the impact that mesothelioma has on their mental health yet there have been very few studies specifically focused on mental health and mesothelioma. In patient experience research, participants frequently report the impact that mesothelioma has on their mental health yet there have been very few studies specifically focused on mental health and mesothelioma. This new study from the Mesothelioma UK research centre aims to create an understanding of the impact of mesothelioma on the mental health of patients, their families and close friends, and what people do to improve their mental health and well-being.
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Content Article
It’s time to rename the ‘visitor’: reflections from a relative
Anonymous posted an article in By patients and public
In my first blog, ‘Visiting restrictions and the impact on patients and their families’, I highlighted how the pandemic has shone a stark spotlight on so many inequities and inconsistencies in access to health and social care. I wanted to draw attention to how visiting restrictions can result in worse outcomes for patients and their families. In my second blog I want to focus on the terms ‘visiting’ and ‘visitor’ and discuss what defines a visitor and why, in my opinion, it requires redefining and renaming.- Posted
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Content ArticleThis white paper sets out the UK Government's 10-year vision for adult social care, and provides information on funded proposals that they will implement over the next three years. It highlights the factors that will cause an increase in demand for social care over the next decade and identifies stakeholders who the proposed changes to social care will affect. A key proposal in this white paper is the cap on how much individuals in England will contribute to their care costs from October 2023, which aims to make care costs predictable and limited.
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Content ArticleIn this interview with Dr. Robert Mentz, Editor-in-Chief and Dr. Anu Lala, Deputy Editor at the Journal of Cardiac Failure, Kristin and Will Flanary (AKA Lady and Dr. Glaucomflecken) share their experience as co-patient and patient. Will suffered a cardiac arrest in May 2020 and the experience of discovering her husband, having to perform CPR and waiting in isolation for news left his wife Kristin with significant trauma. The interview explores the experience of those involved in medical trauma who are not the patient themselves, the 'co-patient', and the ways in which healthcare professionals can support them to process their experience.
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- Coronary heart disease
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Content ArticleIn his account in the Journal of Cardiac Failure, Kristin Flanary describes her experience of discovering her husband having a cardiac arrest, giving him CPR and the subsequent wait for information on his condition. She then describes the trauma she experienced in the weeks and months following the incident. She highlights that healthcare providers can play an important role in helping relatives or non-patients who have been part of a medical emergency process their experiences.
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- Patient / family support
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