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Found 176 results
  1. News Article
    Two drugs that combat superbugs are being introduced on the NHS, offering a lifeline to thousands of patients with deadly infections such as sepsis which fail to respond to antibiotics. About 65,000 people a year in the UK develop drug-resistant infections and 12,000 die, many after routine operations or from infections such as pneumonia or urinary tract infections. These superbugs such as MRSA have mutated to develop resistance to many different types of antibiotics as a result of overuse of the drugs. It means patients end up dying from common infections that would previously have been easily treatable with antibiotics. In a attempt to “turn the tide” on antibiotic resistance, the NHS has announced a deal for two drugs, cefiderocol and ceftazidime–avibactam, which can kill bacteria that is resistant to many other types of drugs. The drugs, manufactured by Shionogi and Pfizer respectively, will save the lives of about 1,700 patients a year. They will be offered to patients with conditions such as drug-resistant pneumonia, sepsis or tuberculosis who have run out of other treatment options. Amanda Pritchard, NHS chief executive, said this would make the UK a world leader in tackling “the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 15 June 2022
  2. News Article
    Pioneering new technology could help patients with non-healing wounds avoid infections and the need for antibiotics, scientists say. Wirelessly powered, environmentally friendly “smart bandages” have been developed by a team of scientists from the UK and France, with the University of Glasgow and the University of Southampton leading the research. The bandage could help improve the quality of life for people with chronic non-healing wounds as a result of conditions such as cancer, diabetes or damaged blood vessels, they said. Currently, wounds require painful cleaning and treatment. Researchers believe the technology could help to slow the rise of dangerous new strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria known as superbugs. Read full story Source: The Independent, 30 May 2023
  3. Content Article
    These guidelines (epic3) provide comprehensive recommendations for preventing healthcare associated infections in hospital and other acute care settings based on the best currently available evidence. National evidence-based guidelines are broad principles of best practice that need to be integrated into local practice guidelines and audited to reduce variation in practice and maintain patient safety. Clinically effective infection prevention and control practice is an essential feature of patient protection. By incorporating these guidelines into routine daily clinical practice, patient safety can be enhanced and the risk of patients acquiring an infection during episodes of healthcare in NHS hospitals in England can be minimised.
  4. Content Article
    Lilian Chiwera is an independent surgical site infection (SSI) surveillance and prevention (SSISP) expert with experience setting up and coordinating a very successful SSI surveillance service at Guys & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust from 2009–2022. Lilian shares the work she and her colleagues are doing around a surgical site infections patient safety initiative and explains why she wants to establish an annual Surgical Site Infections Prevention Day.
  5. Content Article
    Simple, and relatively inexpensive, steps to implement care bundles can have a dramatic impact on rates of surgical site infection. The Burden of Infection Symposium provided an insight into the latest evidence and guidance around best practice, as well as offering expert advice on ‘overcoming the challenges of change’. Read a summary of the symposium published in the Clinical Services Journal.
  6. Content Article
    Surgical site infections (SSIs) can have a significant impact on patients, their families and healthcare providers. With shortening inpatient periods, the post-discharge element of surveillance is becoming increasingly important. Proactive surveillance, including digital wound images using patient smartphones, may be an efficient alternative to traditional methods for collecting post-discharge surveillance (PDS). The aim of this study was to determine success in patient enrolment and engagement including reasons for non-response, the time for clinicians to respond to patients, SSI rates, and carbon emissions when conducting PDS using patient smartphones.
  7. Content Article
    Ensuring everyone has clean hands can protect patients from serious infections in healthcare facilities. However, studies show that on average, healthcare workers wash their hands less than half as many times as they should. This contributes to the spread of healthcare-associated infections, which affect 1 in 31 hospital patients in the US. This campaign by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) aims to improve healthcare provider adherence to hand hygiene recommendations, address myths and misperceptions about hand hygiene, and empower patients to play a role in their care by asking or reminding healthcare providers to clean their hands.
  8. Content Article
    This blog by Robert Otto Valdez, Director of the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), outlines the setbacks to patient safety and the healthcare workforce caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. He highlights areas of concern including workforce burnout and an increase in healthcare associated infections (HAIs) since 2020. The issues faced by the US healthcare system are not felt equally, and Valdez draws attention to a report that demonstrates worsening health inequalities. The blog includes links to evidence-based research and initiatives developed by AHRQ aimed at improving current patient safety priorities. Toolkits to improve antibiotic use. These resources are based on a “Four Moments of Antibiotic Decision Making” model that has shown success in hospitals, long-term care facilities, and ambulatory care practices. Tools to engage patients and families in making healthcare safer. Patients and families are powerful partners in improving quality and safety in hospital settings, during primary care visits, or whenever a diagnosis is made. These resources help ensure that patients’ voices are heard. Surveys on patient safety culture. This family of surveys asks healthcare providers and staff about the extent to which their organisational culture supports patient safety. Each survey is designed to assess patient safety culture in a specific setting. Diagnostic Centers of Excellence. These grants establishing 10 centres of excellence are aimed at developing systems, measures, and new technology solutions to improve diagnostic safety and quality.
  9. Content Article
    The Leapfrog Group is a non-profit watchdog organisation that serves as a voice for healthcare consumers in the US, using their collective influence to foster positive change in healthcare. It provides patient safety ratings for hospitals, grading them from A to E. This article in Becker's Hospital Review highlights the patient safety priorities for 2023 of eleven US hospitals that have consistently been awarded 'A' grades by Leapfrog. Key themes include a focus on reducing healthcare associated infections, increasing psychological safety for staff and improving communication between staff and patients.
  10. Content Article
    Healthcare-associated infection (HAI) prevention has been difficult for healthcare providers to maintain during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study summarises themes for maintaining infection prevention activities learnt from the implementation of a quality improvement (QI) programme in intensive care units (ICUs) during the pandemic. The authors of the study conducted qualitative analysis of participants’ semi-structured exit interviews, self-assessments on HAI prevention activities, participant-created action plans, chat-box discussions during webinars and informal correspondence. The study identified four themes for successful maintenance of infection prevention activities during the pandemic: the value of a pre-existing infection prevention infrastructure flexibility in approach broad buy-in for maintaining QI programmes the facilitation of idea-sharing.
  11. Content Article
    Keeping patients safe during their care and treatment should be at the heart of any health system, including the NHS. Yet avoidable harm still occurs every day, around the world. There have been major efforts to prioritise patient safety in England, but the pandemic has shone a light on areas of care where progress has stalled, or safety has deteriorated. This report by Imperial College London's Institute of Global Health Innovation, commissioned by Patient Safety Watch, brings together publicly available data to present a national picture of patient safety in England. 
  12. Content Article
    This Canadian study in the Journal of Patient Safety describes an initiative that introduced system-wide changes to practice and patient safety culture in a rapid time frame. it looks at the implementation of a 'zero harm' approach to eliminate preventable harm across a wide variety of clinical areas. In less than a year, the intervention increased patient safety incident reporting by 37% while decreasing falls with injury by 39%, pressure injury rates by 37% and central line–associated blood stream infections by 34%. 
  13. Content Article
    Physicians raised a concern to the Quality Department about patients who were diagnosed in the emergency department (ED) with a urinary tract infection (UTI) but who later were clinically reviewed and found to be without disease. These patients were often admitted and treated with potentially unnecessary antibiotics.
  14. Content Article
    NHS Wales has published a new report detailing the good progress being made to investigate and learn from hospital-acquired COVID-19 in Wales. Established in April 2022, the National Nosocomial COVID-19 Programme is supporting NHS Wales organisations to carry out a review of nosocomial (hospital acquired) COVID-19 patient safety incidents that occurred between March 2020 and April 2022. The programme has prioritised the investigation of the most complex cases, with an aim to provide as many answers as possible for service users, families, carers and staff impacted by nosocomial COVID-19. The programme also aims to maximise learning opportunities across NHS Wales, to drive quality and safety improvements.
  15. Content Article
    This practice recommendation offers practical recommendations to assist acute-care hospitals in prioritising and implementing strategies to prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) through hand hygiene. It updates Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections in Acute Care Hospitals through Hand Hygiene, published in 2014. This expert guidance document is sponsored by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology (SHEA) and is the product of a collaborative effort led by SHEA, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, the American Hospital Association and The Joint Commission.
  16. News Article
    A report commissioned by Jeremy Hunt before he became Chancellor has highlighted how the pandemic ’stopped progress on patient safety in its tracks’ and called for more accurate data to be published on a range of measures. The National State of Patient Safety was funded by Mr Hunt’s Patient Safety Watch charity and produced by Imperial College London’s Institute of Global Health Innovation. It highlights a rise in rates of MRSA and C. difficile since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, as well as an increase in deaths due to venous thromboembolism and hip fractures. The report said the pandemic had also exacerbated issues associated with staff wellbeing, claiming there had been “notable rises” in staff burnout and ill-health. The researchers described problems with the breadth and accuracy of available patient safety data and highlighted that only 44% of trusts currently fulfilled the obligation to report their own estimated number of avoidable deaths. Although the report added that “data on rates of avoidable deaths are not a panacea”, it described them as a “snapshot of safety and harm and are most usefully used to initiate further work to understand the causes of unwarranted variation”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 27 November 2022
  17. News Article
    A coroner has written to the health secretary warning a lack of guidance around a bacteria that could contaminate new hospitals' water supply may lead to future deaths. It follows inquests into the deaths of Anne Martinez, 65, and Karen Starling, 54, who died a year after undergoing double lung transplants at the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge in 2019. Both were exposed to Mycobacterium abscessus, likely to have come from the site's water supply. The coroner said there was evidence the risks of similar contamination was "especially acute for new hospitals". In a prevention of future deaths report, external, Keith Morton KC, assistant coroner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said 34 people had contracted the bacteria at the hospital since it opened at its new site in 2019. He said the bacteria "poses a risk of death to those who are immuno-suppressed" and there was a "lack of understanding" about how it entered the water system. There was "no guidance on the identification and control" of mycobacterium abscesses, the coroner said. Mr Morton said documentation on safe water in hospitals needed "urgent review and amendment". "Consideration needs to be given to whether special or additional measures are required in respect of the design, installation, commissioning and operation of hospital water systems in new hospitals," he said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 22 November 2022
  18. News Article
    Antibiotic resistance is an increasing challenge for modern medicine as more naturally occurring antimicrobials are needed to tackle infections capable of resisting treatments currently in use. New research from the University of Warwick has investigated natural remedies to fill the gap in the antibiotic market, taking their cue from a 1,000-year-old text known as Bald's Leechbook. Read the full article here.
  19. News Article
    Calls for immediate compensation for thousands of victims contaminated by infected NHS blood have been rejected by ministers at a meeting with campaigners and survivors – but more health support may be made available. Despite one person dying every four days on average from HIV, hepatitis C or other conditions, the government on Tuesday turned down a request for a national compensation scheme. There are estimated to be between 5,000 and 7,000 victims still alive who acquired viral infections through transfusions from the health service. Many are haemophiliacs who need regular transfusions to help their blood clot. Products supplied by the NHS in the 1970s and 1980s came from the US using blood obtained from prisoners and drug addicts who were paid for their donations. Imported products were inadequately screened. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 28 January 2020
  20. News Article
    One in five deaths around the world is caused by sepsis, also known as blood poisoning, shows the most comprehensive analysis of the condition. The report estimates 11 million people a year are dying from sepsis - more than are killed by cancer. The researchers at the University of Washington said the "alarming" figures were double previous estimates. Most cases were in poor and middle income countries, but even wealthier nations are dealing with sepsis. There has been a big push within the health service to identify the signs of sepsis more quickly and to begin treatment. The challenge is to get better at identifying patients with sepsis in order to treat them before it is too late. Early treatment with antibiotics or anti-virals to clear an infection can make a massive difference. Prof Mohsen Naghavi said: "We are alarmed to find sepsis deaths are much higher than previously estimated, especially as the condition is both preventable and treatable. We need renewed focus on sepsis prevention among newborns and on tackling antimicrobial resistance, an important driver of the condition." Read full story Source: BBC News, 17 January 2020
  21. News Article
    Hospital wards across the country are having to look after an unsafe number of patients, with hundreds of beds closed due to an outbreak of norovirus. NHS England has said that on average almost 900 beds were closed each day during the week to Sunday 15 December. Hospitals have reported fewer empty beds with bed-occupancy rates reaching as high as 95 per cent, 10 per cent higher than the recommended safe level. Read full story Source: The Independent, 20 December 2019
  22. News Article
    A hospital trust believes it is the first in the UK to introduce disposable sterile headscarves for staff to use in operating theatres. Junior doctor Farah Roslan, who is Muslim, had the idea during her training at the Royal Derby Hospital. She said it came following infection concerns related to her hijab that she had been wearing throughout the day. It is hoped the items can be introduced nationally but NHS England said it would be up to individual trusts. Ms Roslan looked to Malaysia, the country of her birth, for ideas before creating a design and testing fabrics. "I'm really happy and looking forward to seeing if we can endorse this nationally," she said. Consultant surgeon Gill Tierney, who mentored Ms Roslan, said the trust was the first to introduce the headscarves in the UK. "We know it's a quiet, silent, issue around theatres around the country and I don't think it has been formally addressed," she said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 19 December 2019
  23. Content Article
    This customisable, educational toolkit published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) aims to help ICUs reduce rates of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) and catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI). The materials can be used to assess current safety practice, implement new approaches and overcome particular challenges related to CLABSI and CAUTI in ICUs.
  24. Content Article
    This briefing examines the results of a US study which showed that 80% of patients that have an infection from a cardiac implant are not treated according to clinical practice guidelines, increasing their chances of death from infection. When patients with implantable cardiac devices have an infection, current guidelines state that these devices should be removed, however, this did not happen for the majority of the 1,065,549 Medicare patients included in the study that had a cardiac implant infection between 2006 and 2019.
  25. Content Article
    Between 2006 and 2009, WHO elaborated and issued the concept of ‘My Five Moments for Hand Hygiene’ in healthcare in collaboration with the pioneering infection prevention and control (IPC) research group at the University of Geneva. The primary objective of this approach is to facilitate behavioural change and prioritise hand hygiene action at the exact times needed to prevent the transmission of pathogens and avoid harm to patients and health workers during care delivery. Importantly, the Five Moments approach overcomes some relevant barriers to hand hygiene practices identified before its launch, such as long lists for hand hygiene action without any consideration of the dynamics of patient, health worker and environmental interactions The Five Moments approach is being constantly tailored to meet the challenges of care locations outside the traditional hospital setting, as well as across all countries and resource levels. The main thrust of the approach remains targeted at patient and health worker safety at the point of care where the risk of acquiring infection can be at its highest. Further work to help meet the Five Moments objectives through its adaptation and adoption worldwide is to be welcomed. WHO committed to further action and research on lessons learnt from field implementation, as well as the active dissemination of available tools to support countries to further understand and accept this proven approach.
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