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News Article
‘Computer error’ removed 1,800 patients from trust’s elective waiting list
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A trust has discovered 1,800 patients who were removed by mistake from its elective waiting list. Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust chief executive Matthew Trainer wrote to colleagues in the east London health system today to “apologise for the stress this will have caused those experiencing a delay”. Of the 1,800 patients involved, 600 have been waiting more than a year and roughly 200 have been waiting for more than two years. Mr Trainer’s note explained: “The patients have been waiting to see our specialists in routine clinics in gynaecology, neurology, neurosurgery and ophthalmology.” It continued: “As we have been working through our waiting lists, we have discovered a problem with one of them that was used to deal with the backlog created by the pandemic. “It contained routine referrals that were submitted by GPs who wanted their patients to be seen by a specialist, but for whom there were no appointments available due to covid-19. Unfortunately, these patients were removed automatically from this list before they had been seen.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 26 April 2022 -
Content ArticleNew data from the Office for National Statistics demonstrates that people with severe and potentially terminal health conditions are more than twice as likely to take their own lives than the general population. This press release by the Campaign for Dignity in Dying highlights the patient safety issues caused by current laws around assisted dying in the UK, including patients dying alone by suicide, without loved ones to support them.
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News ArticlePatients who have “lost hope” of ever seeing a doctor are falling off NHS waiting lists due to poor record-keeping by the SNP government, Scotland’s public spending watchdog has revealed. Stephen Boyle, the auditor-general, said there was no record of patients who drop off the waiting list to go private or who simply give up. Humza Yousaf, the health secretary, said he was aware of “a small number of people” who had gone abroad for transplants, including one of his own constituents. He admitted there was no way of knowing the scale of the issue, or whether the organs were obtained legally. Boyle said: “I don’t wish to be blasé and say it is straightforward, but it really should not be an insurmountable problem to have a clear vision and strategy, reviewed and commented on, with an annual transparent plan to track progress. “The government themselves don’t have the complete data we think they should have to make some of the decisions about the delivery of health and social care services and reform.” Gillian Mackay, an SNP MSP, said some constituents told her that they have been put on a waiting list and “they hear nothing more about when they will be seen, or how they will be prioritised”. Boyle said the NHS needs to “manage patients’ expectations about how long they will have to wait”. He said: “Everybody who is waiting for services needs to have a clear expectation of when they will receive those services, whether it is [for] cancer, or other treatments on clinical prioritisation. There is clear missing part in transparency.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 19 April 2022
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Content ArticleThis study in the British Journal of General Practice aimed to examine trends in prescribing for anxiety in UK primary care between 2003 and 2018. Anxiolytic drugs are a group of medications used to relieve anxiety. The authors analysed data from 2.5 million adults to determine prevalence, incidence rates and treatment duration for prescriptions of any anxiolytic, and also for each drug class. The authors found that, between 2003 and 2018: prevalence of any anxiolytic prescription increased, driven by increases in those starting treatment, rather than more long-term use. incident beta-blocker prescribing increased over the 16 years, whereas incident benzodiazepine prescriptions decreased. long-term prescribing of benzodiazepines declined, yet 44% of prescriptions in 2017 were longer than the recommended four weeks. incident prescriptions in each drug class have risen substantially in young adults in recent years. They conclude that increases in incident prescribing may reflect better detection of anxiety or increasing acceptability of medication. However, they also caution that prescribing approaches may cause unintended harm, as some prescribing is not based on robust evidence of effectiveness and may contradict guidelines. They highlight that there is limited evidence on the overall impact of taking antidepressants long term.
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Content ArticleThis is the report of Professor Ben Goldacre’s review into how the efficient and safe use of health data for research and analysis can benefit patients and the healthcare sector. It sets out a practical vision of how the Department of Health and the NHS can curate, manage and analyse the huge volume of health data available in the UK, and then communicate and use that data to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of health services.
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Content ArticleThis analysis by the King's Fund looks at the latest British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey, which revealed that public satisfaction with the NHS fell by 17 percent between 2020 and 2021. It discusses the 'halo effect' that affected public attitudes to the NHS at the beginning of the pandemic, and why this has faded since 2021. The article highlights the importance of addressing workforce issues, but states that returning the NHS to an 'even keel' will take a long period of time. In the meantime, the Government should prioritise managing public expectations of the NHS. It also highlights that although the survey shows great dissatisfaction with the care currently provided, the public appears to have upheld its faith in the core principles of the NHS.
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News Article
New algorithm will improve bowel-cancer patient care
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
An algorithm which can predict how long a patient might spend in hospital if they’re diagnosed with bowel cancer could save the NHS millions of pounds and help patients feel better prepared. Experts from the University of Portsmouth and the Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust have used artificial intelligence and data analytics to predict the length of hospital stay for bowel cancer patients, whether they will be readmitted after surgery, and their likelihood of death over a one or three-month period. The intelligent model will allow healthcare providers to design the best patient care and prioritise resources. Bowel cancer is one of the most common types of cancer diagnosed in the UK, with more than 42,000 people diagnosed every year. Professor of Intelligent Systems, Adrian Hopgood, from the University of Portsmouth, is one of the lead authors on the new paper. He said: “It is estimated that by 2035 there will be around 2.4 million new cases of bowel cancer annually worldwide. This is a staggering figure and one that can’t be ignored. We need to act now to improve patient outcomes. “This technology can give patients insight into what they’re likely to experience. They can not only be given a good indication of what their longer-term prognosis is, but also what to expect in the shorter term. “If a patient isn’t expecting to find themselves in hospital for two weeks and suddenly they are, that can be quite distressing. However, if they have a predicted length of stay, they have useful information to help them prepare. “Or indeed if a patient is given a prognosis that isn’t good or they have other illnesses, they might decide they don’t want a surgical option resulting in a long stay in hospital.” Read full story Source: University of Plymouth, 30 March 2022 -
Content ArticleThis Health Foundation long read explores how the NHS in England can better use routine health data to help address current challenges, including winter pressures, the ongoing coronavirus response and the growing elective care backlog. It examines the longstanding barriers to widespread use of data and data science, consider what actions might help to overcome these, and explore whether the data strategy for health and social care will deliver the change needed.
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News Article
AI software predicting daily A&E admissions rolled out in 100 NHS hospitals
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
New artificial intelligence software being rolled-out in NHS hospitals will be able to predict daily A&E admissions weeks in advance. The software, which launched in 100 hospitals across England on Monday, analyses data, including Covid infections rates, 111 calls and traffic to predict the number of patients that will seek emergency care. It also takes into consideration public holidays, such as New Year’s Eve, when A&E is more likely to be busy. The AI software is being rolled after trials showed an “impressive” ability to forecast admissions up to three weeks in advance. The NHS believes it will help tackle the record waiting list and allow hospitals to more easily manage their patient and bed capacity, prepare for busier days and staff up when needed. Nine trusts were given the software to use during the pandemic which notified them of expected spikes in cases, staff levels and numbers of beds and equipment necessary. However, hospitals receiving the new equipment have also been warned uncertainties within the data mean the system should be used as a “starting point to consider an operational response, not as a definite signal for action.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 28 March 2022- Posted
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Content ArticleWearable devices are a modern marvel. They teach users exactly how many calories you can burn by running up a flight of stairs, record sleep patterns down to the minute a neighbour’s safety light wakes you up, monitor your heart rate and alert you if anything gets out of whack, and even control your music during a workout. And that’s not even touching on the medical wearables that patients use to manage chronic conditions. We’re living in a time when so much information is available on our wrists or in our palms, and these devices are improving the lives and health of users all over the world. And yet, they’re not perfect. Software Advice surveyed over 450 US patients who currently use medically-prescribed wearable devices to better understand their experiences.
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Content ArticleThis analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development provides the latest comparable data and trends on the performance of health systems in OECD countries and key emerging economies. It examines performance indicators that suggest the following trends: Overall health status in the United Kingdom is close to the OECD average Overweight/obesity and alcohol consumption are higher than the OECD average Population coverage is high, with high satisfaction and strong financial protection The United Kingdom performs well on many key indicators of care quality, though avoidable hospital admissions could be further reduced Health and long-term care spending are above average, though hospital beds and the number of doctors and nurses are slightly below the OECD average The analysis also looks at the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on deaths, health spending, life expectancy, healthcare activity and mental health.
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News ArticleDuring the peak of the omicron variant wave of the coronavirus this winter, Black adults in the United States were hospitalised at rates higher than at any moment in the pandemic, according to a report published last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Black adults were four times as likely to be hospitalised compared with White adults during the height of the omicron variant surge, which started in mid-December and continued through January, the report said. In January, the CDC found, hospitalisation rates for Black patients reached the highest level for any racial or ethnic group since the dawn of the pandemic. As the highly transmissible omicron variant usurped the delta variant’s dominance, people who were unvaccinated were 12 times more likely to be hospitalised than those who were vaccinated and boosted against the coronavirus, according to the report. And fewer Black adults had been immunised compared with White adults, said the report, which analysed hospitalization rates in 99 counties in 14 states. Teresa Y. Smith saw evidence of the phenomenon outlined in the CDC’s report as she treated patients as an emergency physician at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn. She has felt the crush of the pandemic’s unequal impact since the pre-vaccine waves but has contended with the consequences of health disparities for much longer. Her hospital sits in a heavily Black and Latino borough, where — as in so many communities of color across the country — social, political, economic and environmental factors erode health and shorten lives. In December, she watched as the number of cases and admissions resulting from the omicron variant “just exploded in a short, short amount of time,” saying then, “there is no subtlety to it.” And while the vaccinated patients she treated were less likely to be “lethally sick,” many still needed to be admitted to the hospital. Read full story Source: The Washington Post, 18 March 2022
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News ArticleThe number of people who have died from Covid in Britain during the pandemic is impossible to determine because of the inconsistent definitions of what is meant by a coronavirus death, researchers have concluded. Experts from Oxford University discovered that public health and statistics organisations across the UK are operating under 14 different definitions to classify a death from Covid. Freedom of Information (FOI) requests show that many people who died in the first wave never tested positive for the virus, particularly older people who died in care homes. Instead, their deaths were registered as Covid simply based on a statement of the care home provider, and because coronavirus was rife at the time. The authors also point out that it is unlikely that a Covid infection on its own could cause death in the absence of contributing factors, such as other illness, or the infection leading to a more deadly condition such as pneumonia. The report also found that in some trusts, up to 95% of Covid deaths were in people with Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders. The team said the confusion meant they were unable to separate deaths caused by Covid from those triggered by the pandemic response, and called for a proportion of deaths to be verified by post-mortem in future pandemics to determine the true reason. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 19 March 2022
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Content ArticleCOVID-19 has meant activity in general practice has changed dramatically over the last 2 years. Practices have moved rapidly towards remote triage and care delivery to reduce risk of infection. Many have also delivered a large proportion of the COVID-19 vaccination programme as part of Primary Care Networks (PCNs), alongside their usual patient care. Understanding the total workload of general practice is vital for planning, research and supporting practices under pressure. However, the data we have on activity in general practice are limited, especially compared with hospital data. This has made it challenging to accurately track the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on general practice. This short analysis from The Health Foundation uses data from different sources, some publicly available and some not, to explore recent trends in general practice activity in England. We also present data on the general practice workforce, to help contextualise activity levels. It highlights what the data can tell us – and importantly, what it can’t.
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Content ArticleEurocontrol’s HindSight magazine is a magazine on human and organisational factors in operations, in air traffic management and beyond. This issue has articles from front-line staff and specialists in safety, human factors, and human and organisational performance, in aviation and elsewhere. The articles cover all aspects of everyday work, including routine work, unwanted events, and excellence. The authors discuss a variety of ways to learn from everyday work, including observation, discussion, surveys, reflection, and data analysis. There are articles on specific topics to help learn from others’ experience, including from other sectors in ‘views from elsewhere’
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News Article
Javid ‘unconcerned’ as Covid admissions rise 46% in a fortnight
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Admissions of covid positive patients to English hospitals are once again rising steadily across England. The seven day total of new confirmed covid cases in hospitals on 12 March (the latest data available) stood at 9,642. This is 46% higher than the seven day total of 6,612 recorded on 25 February, the day before the current rise began. Asked on Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday about the rise in Covid infections, health and social care secretary Sajid Javid said there was “nothing in the [covid] data that gives us any cause for concern”. The Covid admissions figures used include patients who are already covid-positive when admitted, are diagnosed on admission, or are diagnosed while in hospital, so in some cases have caught Covid while in hospital. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 15 May 2022 -
EventThis webinar from The European Hospital and Healthcare Federation (HOPE) on 29 March at 14:00 BST (15.00 CEST) will look at the Flemish Institute for Quality of Care (VIKZ). VIKZ is a network organisation financed by the Flemish government that has as primary goal to measure, follow up and publicly report quality and safety of care in the Flemish healthcare sector for the purpose of quality improvement. The objectives of the webinar are to: present the methodology used. give an overview of preliminary results. discuss challenges and future objectives of the VIKZ. Speaker Svin Deneckere, director Flemish Institute for Quality of Care (VIKZ) Register
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News Article
Nearly quarter of all deaths in 2020 considered avoidable, says ONS
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Nearly a quarter of all deaths in Great Britain were considered avoidable in 2020, according to new analysis. The Office for National Statistics said 153,008 deaths out of 672,015 – or 22.8% – were avoidable, the highest rate since 2010. Of the avoidable deaths in 2020, 68.6% were attributed to conditions considered preventable, while 31.4% were attributed to treatable conditions, the ONS said. Coronavirus has been assigned as a preventable cause in the avoidable mortality definition. Wales had the highest avoidable mortality for deaths due to Covid-19, with 36.1 deaths per 100,000 people. Scotland had the lowest rate with, 28.5 deaths per 100,000 people, and England had 34.9 deaths per 100,000 people. Avoidable mortality rates increased for alcohol-related and drug-related deaths in 2020 in all countries, the ONS analysis showed. Across England, Scotland and Wales, the increase in ASMRs for alcohol-related and drug-related conditions in 2020 was driven by alcoholic liver disease, and poisoning by, and exposure to, other and unspecified drugs, medicaments and biological substances, the ONS said. Read full story Source: The Independent, 7 March 2022 -
Content Article
Ministry of Justice Annual Report and Accounts 2020‑21
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Legal matters
The Ministry of Justice and its agencies deliver prison, probation and youth custody services; administer criminal, civil and family courts and tribunals; and support victims, children, families and vulnerable adults.- Posted
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Content ArticleCancer Research UK’s latest analysis of NHS Digital cancer registration data uses the most complete recording to date of cancer rates by ethnicity in England, providing crucial data on how some cancer rates vary by ethnicity. The study found that although a small number of cancer sites have higher incidence rates in Asian, Black and Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups, for the majority of cancer sites these groups have a lower incidence than the White population. Differing prevalence of risk factors and access to/use of health services is likely to explain more of this variation than are genetic factors; if risk factor prevalence changes cancer rates may rise in minority ethnic groups, therefore action to address key risk factors and to improve the cancer experiences and outcomes of people in minority ethnic groups is vital. Improving the collection of ethnicity information in healthcare datasets will support a better understanding of differences in disease, as well as inequalities in cancer and where improvements in the health service can be made.
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- Cancer
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News Article
Study reveals stark disparities in cancer rates between ethnic groups
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Stark disparities in cancer rates between different ethnic groups have been laid bare in new research showing black people are twice as likely to get prostate cancer while white people have double the chance of getting skin and lung cancers. The analysis of NHS Digital cancer registration data by Cancer Research UK provides the most complete recording ever of cancer rates by ethnicity in England, offering crucial data on how some rates vary. The results are published in the British Journal of Cancer. White people in England are more than twice as likely to get some types of cancer, including melanoma skin cancer, oesophageal, bladder and lung cancers compared with people from black, Asian or mixed ethnic backgrounds, according to the research. Black people are almost three times more likely to get myeloma and almost twice as likely to get prostate cancer compared with white people. The study also found that black people are more likely to get stomach and liver cancers, and Asian people are more likely to get liver cancers. Genetics are thought to play a part in some of the findings, Cancer Research UK said. For example, white people are more likely to get skin cancer because they tend to burn more easily in the sun. Preventable risk factors also appear to be involved, the charity added, as white people are more likely than most minority ethnic groups to smoke or be overweight or obese. These are the two largest risk factors in developing cancer and help explain why white people are more likely to get some types of cancer than other ethnic groups. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 2 March 2022- Posted
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Content ArticleIt is critical the UK keeps the bones of its world leading data infrastructure so that we can protect ourselves from lingering and future threats, writes Jennifer Beam Dowd. While the UK’s perceived pandemic missteps abound, the country was truly “world beating” in at least one important arena—investment in crucial population data to help us understand the virus. Despite earlier reports that the Coronavirus Infection Survey carried out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) was at risk of being scrapped, the government's new “Living with covid” strategy has retained the scheme, although it's not yet clear to what extent. While these efforts could rightfully be scaled back from crisis levels, we need to carefully transition surveillance from pandemic to “endemic” to protect ourselves from lingering and future threats.
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Content ArticleIn this blog for BJGP Life, GP and Public Health Specialty Registrar Richard Armitage looks at the patient safety implications of changes made to gender markers on patient records. Patients in the UK are able to change the gender marker on their NHS patient record on request at any time. This action triggers the creation of a new NHS number and imports the patient’s medical information into a new patient record, without any reference to the patient's previous gender identity or original NHS number. The author highlights that failure to transfer this information could inhibit high quality care for trans patients, especially with regard to population screening programmes which invite patients according to age and gender markers on their patient record. He argues that public health officials, in collaboration with their primary care colleagues, should: respectfully communicate sex-specific health risks with their trans patients encourage them to consider requesting and accessing the appropriate population screening programmes support them in accessing screening in a dignified manner.
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Content ArticleThis report by the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London highlights the opportunities and barriers for artificial intelligence to improve the health of the UK’s minority ethnic groups. It outlines the urgent need to address issues such as biased algorithms, poor data collection and a lack of diversity in research and development, in order to prevent a worsening of health inequalities experienced by minority ethnic groups.
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- Health inequalities
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