Search the hub
Showing results for tags 'Doctor'.
-
Content ArticleWe need a public register to show if healthcare professionals are in the pay of industry – or more patients will suffer, writes Margaret McCartney following the publication of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review. Hospitals in England are meant to publish registers of interest of staff – but a 2016 study shows that only a minority give the details they should. A publicly accessible digital register, updated at least annually and compelled by the regulator, would create transparency and get rid of the huge amount of work that campaigners have had to do to untangle where conflicts lie. Declarations alone can’t sort the problems of conflicted medicine. But a public register would allow us to know whose advice isn’t independent. We will still need to be alert to the unintended consequences of a register, and research will be needed. The UK is lagging behind. Kath Sansom, a journalist who founded the Sling the Mesh campaign, told Margaret: “I had no idea that I couldn’t trust my doctor or surgeon to give the best advice. It is essential that medics declare industry funding.”
- Posted
-
- Medical device
- Doctor
- (and 5 more)
-
Content ArticleThe General Medical Council (GMC) commissioned this research to understand the decision-making processes of doctors leaving the UK workforce to practise medicine overseas. This research built on previous work by exploring migration ‘decision journeys’ and the practical steps and considerations involved at each stage of the process.
- Posted
-
- Doctor
- Recruitment
- (and 3 more)
-
News Article
Record number of trainee doctors for ‘under pressure’ NHS
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The largest expansion of medical training posts has been announced the day after Scotland’s health secretary warned that the NHS was facing up to its most challenging winter. Humza Yousaf yesterday confirmed that 152 more places for trainee doctors would be created next year. He hailed it as the “most significant increase in medical training places to date” and an increase on the 139 places created last year. The announcement comes after ministers were urged to fund the creation of additional training places in key specialities including general practice, core psychiatry, oncology, emergency medicine, intensive care medicine and anaesthetics. “These additional training places highlight the Scottish government’s continued commitment to ensure that our health service is resilient and can continue delivering high quality care to those who need it,” Yousaf said. “This record expansion will support a wide range of medical specialties, many of which are under increased pressure as a result of growing demand. “We will continue to monitor the number of available training places in collaboration with NHS Education for Scotland to help make sure the NHS is equipped to meet the country’s current and future needs.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 1 November 2022 -
Content ArticleEmer Joyce is a Cardiologist at Mater University Hospital in Dublin who developed myocarditis as a result of a Covid-19 infection. This article by Professor Joyce in the European Journal of Heart Failure aims to "give a birds-eye view of the physician as patient, the sub-specialist as sub-specialist condition sufferer, the one on the far side of the bed as the one in the bed." She also looks at the pattern of previously healthy, highly active healthcare professionals developing serious long-term health issues as a result of Covid-19.
-
Content ArticleThe aim of this paper is to raise awareness of the impact menopause is having on the workforce, as well as to issue recommendations and help healthcare organisations, managers, and employers to better support health care workers so that they do not leave the workforce or suffer in silence if they struggle with managing menopause symptoms.
- Posted
-
- Organisational culture
- Menopause
-
(and 4 more)
Tagged with:
-
Content ArticleWhile many physicians may avoid discussing the subject, a study showed that who gets addressed with the honorific “Dr.” may depend on gender, degree and specialty.
- Posted
-
- Doctor
- Health Disparities
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
-
News ArticleA Harley Street doctor suspended for working while testing positive for Covid at the height of the pandemic has said that his patient’s cancer treatment took priority. Dr Andrew Gaya was found to have “blatantly disregarded” the rules by going to work at a centre for patients with brain tumours after he tested positive for the disease. The “highly regarded” consultant oncologist “dishonestly” misled colleagues that he was safe to work by keeping his positive test secret, a tribunal found. Dr Gaya, whose work is at the forefront of tumour care and has been described as “world class”, said he defied Covid-19 rules because he believed “the risk of harm to his patient” in delaying treatment was “greater than the risk he posed”. Now, the doctor of 27 years has been suspended for three months at a Medical Practitioners’ Tribunal. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 20 Ocotober 2022
-
News Article
End rules stopping thousands of doctors working in GP surgeries, says GMC chief
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Thousands of doctors are being prevented from working in overstretched GP surgeries across the UK because of unnecessary “red tape”, leaving NHS patients experiencing “unprecedented” waits for care, the head of the doctors’ regulator in the UK has said. Charlie Massey, the chief executive of the General Medical Council, said barriers that stopped medics from being deployed to meet areas of high demand, such as in primary care, must be removed urgently if the NHS workforce crisis was to be resolved and access to care improved. “Red tape is stopping the UK from making the most of many of its skilled and experienced doctors,” he said. “Without action, patients will suffer.” The regulator will on Tuesday call for a relaxation of rules so the fastest-growing part of the medical workforce – skilled doctors in non-training roles – can undertake a wider range of work beyond hospitals, such as in GP surgeries. “There are no easy answers to the challenges facing the NHS. There is no army of new doctors coming over the horizon, so part of the solution must be to make sure that we have more doctors in the places that patients need them,” Massey said. “The government should make a start immediately by changing the performers list criteria so more doctors are allowed to work alongside GPs. That needs to be done urgently. “But beyond technical changes there is also a need for fresh thinking in the way our health services are structured and in how teams of health professionals work together. We can’t keep doing things the same way they have always been done, or nothing will change." Read full story Source: BBC News, 18 October 2022- Posted
-
- Workforce management
- Additional staff required
- (and 4 more)
-
News ArticleLong Covid clinics across Australia are being inundated with requests for assessments from patients struggling with ongoing symptoms, an inquiry has heard. Doctors told the federal parliamentary inquiry into long and repeated coronavirus infections that they were struggling to keep up with demand as waitlists increased. At least 10 million Australians have been infected with Covid and it is estimated 3-5% will develop Long Covid at some point. “Our waitlist is increasing because what we’ve observed is that it can take some time for the recognition of post-Covid conditions, particularly with the fatigue-predominant types, to reach us,” Royal Children’s hospital Associate Prof Shidan Tosif told the inquiry on Wednesday. Patients are usually referred to specialist clinics through a GP and while there is no official cure, symptoms can sometimes be treated on a case-by-case basis. The inquiry by the House of Representatives health committee is investigating the economic, social, educational and health impacts of long Covid and repeat infections. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 12 October 2022
-
News Article
‘Exploited’ foreign doctors worry about risk to UK patients
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Doctors recruited from some of the world's poorest countries to work in UK hospitals say they're being exploited - and believe they're so overworked they fear putting patients' health at risk. A BBC investigation has found evidence that doctors from Nigeria are being recruited by a British healthcare company and expected to work in private hospitals under conditions not allowed in the National Health Service. The British Medical Association (BMA) has described the situation as "shocking" and says the sector needs to be brought in line with NHS working practices. Dr Jenny Vaughan of the Doctors Association UK said, "This is a slave-type work with… excess hours, the like of which we thought had been gone 30 years ago. It is not acceptable for patients for patient-safety reasons. It is not acceptable for doctors. " Read full story Source: BBC News, 11 October 2022- Posted
-
- Doctor
- Private sector
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
-
News ArticleChildren’s doctors plan to help poor families cope with the cost of living crisis and its feared impact on health, amid concern that cold homes this winter will lead to serious ill health. In an unusual move, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) is issuing the UK’s paediatricians with detailed advice on how they can help households in poverty. It has drawn up a series of resources, including advice for doctors treating children to use appointments to talk sensitively to their parents about issues that can have a big impact on their offspring’s health. These include diet, local pollution levels, socio-economic circumstances and difficulties at home or school, which are closely linked to children’s risk of being overweight, asthmatic or stressed. “Don’t shy away from it,” the RCPCH’s 17-page manual says. “If we aren’t asking families about things which may impact on their children’s health, we are short-changing the children themselves.” However, it adds that paediatricians should “pick your timing carefully [as] parents can feel alienated if we are perceived as jumping in with two feet to ask about smoking when they are stressed about an acutely unwell child with pneumonia.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 22 September 2022
- Posted
-
- Paediatrics
- Doctor
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
News Article
Doctors in Ebola zone strike over safety fears
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Trainee medics battling Ebola in Uganda's virus epicentre accuse the government of putting their lives at risk. "Most times you come into contact with a patient and you use your bare hands," one worker told the BBC anonymously. All trainees at Mubende's regional hospital say they are on strike and are demanding to be moved somewhere safer. But Ugandan health ministry spokesman Emmanuel Ainebyoona told the BBC there was "no strike at the hospital". Yet all 34 of the hospital's interns - including doctors, pharmacists and nurses - have announced their decision to strike in a joint statement. They say they are being put at undue risk because they lack appropriate safety kit, risk allowances and health insurance. Six interns at the hospital have already been exposed to the virus, and are awaiting their test results in isolation. Read full story Source: BBC News, 26 September 2022- Posted
-
- Doctor
- Staff safety
- (and 4 more)
-
Content ArticleTherese Coffey, the new health and social care secretary, sets out the government’s plans for the NHS and social care to deliver for patients, this winter and next. The government's plan for patients sets out the priorities for health and care, delivering across four key areas: ambulances backlogs care doctors and dentists. Read her Ministerial foreword below.
- Posted
-
- Organisation / service factors
- Leadership
- (and 6 more)
-
Content ArticleThis letter from NHS Confederation to Thérèse Coffey MP, the new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, sets out what needs to be done to support the delivery of an emergency winter plan for health and social care services. It outlines the views of NHS Confederation members on what will be needed to deliver the ‘ABCD’ highlighted as priorities by the Secretary of State: ambulances, backlogs, care and doctors and dentists.
- Posted
-
- Lack of resources
- Ambulance
- (and 9 more)
-
News Article
Doctor appeals to government to rethink Covid drug
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A leading academic is calling on new Health Secretary Therese Coffey to reconsider rolling out a Covid drug for people with weakened immune systems. Last month the government decided it would not supply Evusheld in the UK. But Dr Lennard Lee, an academic medical oncologist from Oxford University who is backed by more than 120 leading scientists and clinicians, said a rethink was needed. The government said more data was required on the treatment. Evusheld was approved for use in March, but was reviewed after the Omicron variant emerged. The drug's manufacturer AstraZeneca said there was "ample real-world data" that it worked. It is currently available in 32 countries. Dr Lee told the BBC: "It's time for a re-review of the data, and to think about transparency in terms of why they decided not to do this, and also the pros and cons of doing this. "We do know that coronavirus cases are likely to go up in winter, and we do know there are people who face increased risks... "Therefore if there is anything we can do to protect... anyone immunosuppressed I think this is something that does need to be reconsidered." Research from the US and Israel suggests Evusheld reduces the risk of infection by about 50%, and cuts the risk of serious illness by 90%. Read full story Source: BBC News, 21 September 2022 -
Content ArticleHappy Patient is a three-year project co-funded by the European Union, that seeks to reduce the impact of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by decreasing the inappropriate use of antibiotics for the management of common community-acquired infection. Up to 25,000 people die every year in Europe as a direct consequence of the misuse of antibiotics, a figure that rises up to 30,000 in the United States (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control). The Happy Patient Website offers a variety of communication tools for healthcare professionals and patients, including: Leaflet - Viruses or bacteria: What caused your infection? Urinary tract infections: A leaflet for older adults and their families Antibiotics prescription pad 5 myths about urinary tract infections (UTIs) in nursing home residents What you need to know if you have been prescribed an antibiotic
- Posted
-
- Medication
- Europe
- (and 6 more)
-
News Article
Burnout in doctors doubles chances of patient safety problems, study finds
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Doctors suffering from burnout are far more likely to be involved in incidents where patients’ safety is compromised, a global study has found. Burned-out medics are also much more likely to consider quitting, regret choosing medicine as their career, be dissatisfied with their job and receive low satisfaction ratings from patients. The findings, published in the BMJ, have raised fresh concern over the welfare and pressures on doctors in the NHS, given the extensive evidence that many are experiencing stress and exhaustion due to overwork. A joint team of British and Greek researchers analysed 170 previous observational studies of the links between burnout among doctors, their career engagement and quality of patient care. Those papers were based on the views and experience of 239,246 doctors in countries including the US, UK and others in Africa, Asia and elsewhere globally. They found that burned-out medics were twice as likely as their peers to have been involved in patient safety incidents, to show low levels of professionalism and to have been rated poorly by patients for the quality of the care they have provided. Doctors aged 20 to 30 and those working in A&E or intensive care were most likely to have burnout. It was defined as comprising emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation – a “negative, callous” detachment from their job – and a sense of reduced personal accomplishment. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 14 September 2022- Posted
-
- Fatigue / exhaustion
- Doctor
- (and 6 more)
-
Content ArticleA systematic review and meta-analysis from Hodkinson et al. examines the association of physician burnout with the career engagement and the quality of patient care globally. A joint team of British and Greek researchers analysed 170 previous observational studies of the links between burnout among doctors, their career engagement and quality of patient care. Those papers were based on the views and experience of 239,246 doctors in countries including the US, UK and others in Africa, Asia and elsewhere globally. This meta-analysis provides compelling evidence that physician burnout is associated with poor function and sustainability of healthcare organisations primarily by contributing to the career disengagement and turnover of physicians and secondarily by reducing the quality of patient care. Healthcare organisations should invest more time and effort in implementing evidence-based strategies to mitigate physician burnout across specialties, and particularly in emergency medicine and for physicians in training or residency. Read accompanying BMJ editorial here.
- Posted
-
- Patient
- Staff safety
- (and 8 more)
-
Content ArticlePatient safety culture is a vital component in ensuring high-quality and safe patient care. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess doctors’ and nurses’ perceptions of patient safety culture in five public general hospitals in Hanoi, Vietnam. The study found that the mean scores among nurses were significantly higher than that among physicians for several categories: supervisor/manager expectations staffing management support for patient safety teamwork across units handoffs and transitions Nurses reported significantly higher patient grades than physicians (75% vs 67.1%) and around two-thirds of physicians and nurses reported no event in the past 12 months (62.8 and 71.7% respectively). The authors recommend that hospitals develop and implement intervention programs to improve patient safety, including around teamwork and communication, encouraging staff to notify incidents and avoiding punitive responses.
- Posted
-
- Asia
- Safety culture
-
(and 4 more)
Tagged with:
-
Content ArticleEverybody makes mistakes at work but what if you're a doctor and you ruin a patient's life - or even end it? Doctor-turned-writer Jed Mercurio recalls a catalogue of errors from his years as a medical student.
- Posted
-
- Doctor
- Whistleblowing
- (and 6 more)
-
Content ArticleThe non-profit Patient Information Forum (PIF) has published a new one-page guide to Body Mass Index (BMI). The poster was developed following user engagement sessions with patients and healthcare professionals which highlighted the amount of misinformation surrounding BMI. It is free to download and share and can be used directly by patients or a resource for healthcare professionals. Welcoming the publication of 'BMI – What you need to know', Dr Juhi Tandon said: “As a GP for more than a decade, I still struggle to have the BMI conversation with patients. Discussing someone’s BMI can easily make them feel uncomfortable as they feel like they are being judged. It will be very helpful to share a clear fact sheet to help patients understand more about BMI in a non-judgemental way.”
-
Content ArticleIn order to become competent clinicians, doctors need to appropriately calibrate their clinical reasoning, but lack of follow-up after transitions of care can present a barrier to this. This study in the Journal of Hospital Medicine aimed to implement structured feedback about clinical reasoning for residents performing overnight admissions, measure the frequency of diagnostic changes, and determine how feedback impacts learners' self-efficacy. The authors concluded that structured feedback for overnight admissions is a promising approach to improve residents' diagnostic calibration, particularly given how often diagnostic changes occur.
- Posted
-
- Handover
- Transfer of care
-
(and 6 more)
Tagged with:
-
News Article
California approves bill to punish doctors who spread false information
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Trying to strike a balance between free speech and public health, California’s Legislature on Monday approved a bill that would allow regulators to punish doctors for spreading false information about Covid-19 vaccinations and treatments. The legislation, if signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, would make the state the first to try to legislate a remedy to a problem that the American Medical Association, among other medical groups and experts, says has worsened the impact of the pandemic, resulting in thousands of unnecessary hospitalisations and deaths. The law would designate spreading false or misleading medical information to patients as “unprofessional conduct,” subject to punishment by the agency that licenses doctors, the Medical Board of California. That could include suspending or revoking a doctor’s license to practice medicine in the state. While the legislation has raised concerns over freedom of speech, the bill’s sponsors said the extensive harm caused by false information required holding incompetent or ill-intentioned doctors accountable. “In order for a patient to give informed consent, they have to be well informed,” said State Senator Richard Pan, a Democrat from Sacramento and a co-author of the bill. A paediatrician himself and a prominent proponent of stronger vaccination requirements, he said the law was intended to address “the most egregious cases” of deliberately misleading patients. Read full story (paywalled) Source: New York Times, 29 August 2022- Posted
-
- Communication
- Communication problems
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
-
News Article
Northern Ireland: Doctors considering quitting health service over pay, says BMA
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
A proposed pay settlement is making doctors consider leaving the health service, the British Medical Association (BMA) in Northern Ireland has said. In a BMA survey of more than 1,000 doctors, 85% of respondents said the proposed uplift of 4.5% was too low. The representative body said discontent was very high among junior doctors with 93% of them saying it was too low. "When asked about their intentions as to the likelihood of them continuing to work in Northern Ireland, junior doctors said they were now more likely to leave because of the low pay award," said the BMA. Read full story Source: BBC News (31 August 2022) -
News Article
Liz Truss: I’ll halt NHS doctor exodus
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Liz Truss has pledged to halt the exodus of doctors from the NHS to tackle the Covid backlog and surging waiting lists. The frontrunner in the Conservative leadership race is planning to unveil a series of radical reforms that will stop doctors from retiring early and entice retirees to return. One in 10 consultants and GPs is expected to retire in the next 18 months because of pension rules that mean they are "paying to work". A source close to her said she would deal with it by “cutting red tape and dealing with issues in the pension and tax system that currently act as barriers for people wanting to return”. It comes amid concerns that the NHS backlog after lockdown is causing more than 1,000 excess deaths per week - more than the figure now killed each week by coronavirus. A source close to Liz Truss also said: “The Covid pandemic put unprecedented strain on our NHS, and the resulting backlog is seeing people struggling to get appointments and treatments. We must act to tackle it, and we will. We will make it easier for doctors and nurses who have recently left or are planning to leave the NHS but want to return or stay to do so.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph (20 August 2022)- Posted
-
- Workforce management
- Leadership
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with: