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News Article
NHS and care homes in England to pause routine Covid testing
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Most hospital patients and care home residents in England will no longer be tested for Covid unless they have symptoms, the government has said. From 31 August, NHS and social care staff will also not be offered lateral flow tests unless they fall sick. Free testing for the general public ended in April in England, but continued in some high-risk settings. Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: "This reflects the fact case rates have fallen and the risk of transmission has reduced, though we will continue to closely monitor the situation and work with sectors to resume testing should it be needed." Read full story Source: BBC News (25 August 2022) -
Content ArticleThe Health and Care Act 2022 and reforms to the public health system have introduced a range of changes and some simplifications to the landscape of national bodies in the health and care system. This blog explains the core functions of the national bodies with the most significant role in setting policy for and shaping the operation of the health and care system. It also looks at how these organisations are held accountable for carrying out those functions and the extent to which central government can direct them.
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News Article
No new London hospitals until at least 2027
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Two new London hospitals will not open until 2027 at the earliest, the BBC has been told. In 2019, the government pledged to build a new hospital in Sutton and another at Whipps Cross in east London. The St Helier complex in Sutton in south London dates back to the 1930s and much of the Epsom site is about 40 years old. But Dr Ruth Charlton, chief medical officer at Epsom and St Helier Hospital, said: "Our working conditions... are not fit for 21st century healthcare. We really feel that our patients and or staff deserve facilities that would allow them to deliver the quality of healthcare that we all wish to receive." A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We have committed to deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030, backed by an initial £3.7bn. We are working closely with all the schemes in the programme and providing funding to develop their plans - final funding allocations are only confirmed once business cases have been fully reviewed and agreed. By taking a more centralised approach, we will reduce the overall time taken to build the hospitals and provide better value for money for the taxpayer." Read full story Source: BBC News (25 August 2022) -
News Article
Alarm over Liz Truss raid on NHS
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Hospital bosses have warned that they face “impossible choices” under Liz Truss’s plan to divert £10 billion a year from the NHS to social care. They say that her pledge to remove cash earmarked for the health service will “slam the brakes” on efforts to tackle record waiting lists, with patients bearing the brunt. An extra £36 billion has been ring-fenced for health and care spending over the next three years, of which less than £2 billion a year is due to go towards social care. Truss, the frontrunner in the Conservative leadership contest, has announced that as prime minister she will divert the entire amount to local authorities to pay for older people’s care. This would create a £10 billion shortfall in annual NHS spending, the equivalent of imposing a 7 per cent budget cut on the service. NHS bosses say that they would have no choice but to cut services as they face the worst winter crisis in living memory, forcing patients to wait longer for treatment. There are already 6.7 million people on waiting lists, while patients are dying because of a sharp increase in ambulance response times and accident and emergency waiting times are the worst on record. Truss told a Times Radio hustings: “I still would spend the money. I would just take it out of general taxation rather than raising national insurance. But I would spend that money in social care. Quite a lot has gone to the NHS. I would give it to local authorities.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times (25 August 2022) -
Content ArticleLouise Greenwood is joined by: Sarah Kay, GP Clinical Lead for Patient Safety at NHS Dorset Jaydee Swarbrick, Patient Safety Specialist at NHS Dorset to discuss the importance of patient safety at this time of significant pressure across the NHS. Patient safety is about maximising the things that go right and minimising the things that go wrong. It is integral to the NHS’ definition of quality in healthcare, alongside effectiveness and patient experience.
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News Article
Covid-19 'unmasked' existing problems in Irish healthcare
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The Irish health services did “relatively well” during Covid-19 but, as in other countries, the pandemic unmasked existing problems, a renowned patient safety expert has said. Peter Lachman of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI), was one of nine international experts who consulted on a new World Health Organization (WHO) report on the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic for patient safety. Dr Lachman said the impact is only starting to be understood. “Ireland did very well early on [in the pandemic], then opened up over Christmas [2020] which led to our numbers going sky-high, then we clamped down again,” he said. "We did well on some things and not so well on others. We have done relatively well when compared with other countries." “Covid-19 was an event which around the world unmasked problems which were there already rather than creating them necessarily,” he said. “The findings start with safety problems — we’ve had safety problems in Ireland but things are getting better. There is a good strategy coming on. I’ve worked with hospitals around the country on this. It’s no worse than other countries.” Read full story Source: The Irish Examiner, 12 August 2022 -
Content ArticleThis download is the first of three chapters of a book which complements the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors' Healthcare Learning Pathway and is intended as a practical resource for students
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News Article
Birmingham: 'Action not reports' needed on healthcare racism
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Action rather than reports is needed to tackle healthcare inequalities faced by black people in Birmingham, a charity says. It follows a report which found people from black communities continued to face racism and discrimination when accessing treatment. The city's director of public health said he was "horrified" by the finding. Dr Justin Varney said the system must be adapted to meet the needs of all. Charity The First Class Foundation wants to see implementation of changes and says among the healthcare problems in need of tackling are "microaggressions" faced by communities. The publication of the Birmingham and Lewisham African Health Inequalities Review followed an 18-month study commissioned by the areas' local authorities. It found disadvantages among the communities in housing, pollution and availability of green space had "all contributed to worse health". The report additionally highlighted how the communities were "exposed to structural racism and discrimination which leads to... chronic stress and trauma". Read full story Source: BBC News, 10 August 2022 -
Content ArticleHealth inequalities are not inevitable and are unfair. Many people from different backgrounds across our society suffer health inequalities which can negatively impact the whole community, not just those directly affected. Birmingham and Lewisham African Caribbean Health Inequalities Review (BLACHIR) set out to urgently reveal and explore the background to health inequalities experienced by the Black African and Black Caribbean communities. Birmingham is home to 8% of the Black African and Black Caribbean populations in England and 23% of Lewisham’s population is Black African or Black Caribbean (ONS 2011). The main aim of the Review is to improve the health of Black African and Black Caribbean people in the communities by listening to them, recognising their priorities, discussing, and reflecting on the findings and coproducing recommended solutions for the Health and Wellbeing Board and NHS Integrated Care Systems to consider and respond to.
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Content Article
Research shows that poor handover in hospitals puts patients at risk of severe harm
Anonymous posted an article in Handover
Research undertaken by digital health platform, CAREFUL shows that handover in hospitals is the cause of frequent and severe harm to patients. -
Content ArticleM R Rajagopal (known to all as Raj) is an internationally renowned Indian anaesthetist and palliative care physician who is one of the founders of a system of palliative care in Kerala that is admired the world over. The Lancet Commission on the Value of Death said that societies everywhere could learn from the Kerala innovation, which is a system led by the community with health professionals as supporters rather than leaders. Raj has now published his readable, insightful—and at times funny—autobiography, Walk with the Weary: Lessons in humanity in healthcare, which is both a severe critique of modern healthcare and a prescription for transformation and highlighted by Richard Smith in this BMJ article.
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News Article
Steve Barclay: What will new health secretary tackle first?
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Steve Barclay has been named as the new health secretary following the resignation of Sajid Javid, who stepped down after saying he had lost faith in Boris Johnson's leadership. He starts as secretary of state at a time when the NHS and social care in England are under serious pressure. Amanda Pritchard, the head of NHS England, has warned that the next two years could be even tougher for the health service than the two years since the start of the pandemic. NHS Providers, which represents hospitals and other NHS trusts, described the problems Mr Barclay faces on his first day in the job as "big and pressing". At the very top of that list is a record backlog for planned operations. Read full story Source: BBC News, 6 July 2022 -
News Article
Police role ‘blurred’ with healthcare staff, reviews find
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The controversial ‘SIM’ mental healthcare model sometimes ‘blurred’ the role of police with healthcare staff, according to results of local reviews seen by HSJ. Following a whirlwind of concerns last summer, national clinical director Professor Tim Kendall wrote to mental health trust medical directors urging them to review use of the controversial Serenity Integrated Mentoring (SIM) programme. Pressure to investigate the model, which has been used by at least 22 NHS trusts in recent years, came from patient groups and clinicians alike. One year on and results of local reviews, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, have revealed a varying picture of SIM’s use across English mental health trusts. Professor Kendall’s letters, seen by HSJ, asked trusts to investigate five key areas of concern. These included: a lack of patient reported outcomes; adherence to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on self-harm and personality disorders; the principle of police involvement in case management; the legal basis for sharing patient records; and human rights/equalities implications. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 7 July 2022 -
Content ArticleThe 2022 conference returned to Parliament on Thursday 19 May and was hosted by Taiwo Owatemi MP. Entitled “The Road to Resilience”, it explored the steps that will need to be taken in the years to come to continue the momentum seen during the pandemic around the key role of HealthTech and make the healthcare system more resilient for its staff and patients. Featuring keynote speakers Sam Roberts, CEO at NICE & Lord Kamall, Minister for Technology, Innovation and Life Sciences, the conference brought together key health sector stakeholders, providing insights into the direction of UK health care, its recovery following the pandemic & how technology can play a vital role in enhancing the health system moving forward. View the recording of the conference below.
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Content ArticleAngela Hayes discusses the global impact healthcare has on climate change and the effect it has on our health.
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Content ArticleDespite an increased focus in maternity services on ethnic and racial inequalities resulting in poorer outcomes, the experience of migrant women is often hidden from these data, research and improvement programmes. To understand these inequalities and their impact further, Doctors of the World UK (DOTW UK) analysed data collected through provision of health support to 257 pregnant women accessing their service between 2017 and 2021
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Content ArticleBenjamin King lived 5-days before parents, Jamie Thomas King and Tamara Podemski, had to pull him off life support. Benjamin's parents share their experience, the value of sharing their story with the media and what changes have happened in UK hospitals since to ensure this won't happen to any other family. The panel discusses the role of human factors and system design and how it can be embraced to ramp up patient safety improvement. Human factors experts across healthcare and aviation will discuss this issue alongside patient advocates who have lost loved ones where the application of principles and methodologies of human factors engineering may have saved their loved ones lives. Hear from the leadership at Christus Muguerza Hospital Sur in Monterrey, Mexico, about their work to become an HRO Champion.
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Content ArticleThis strategy sets out the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s vision for how data will be used to improve the health and care of the population in a safe, trusted and transparent way. It: provides an overarching narrative and action plan to address the current cultural, behavioural and structural barriers in the system, with the ultimate goal of having a health and care system that is underpinned by high-quality and readily available data marks the next steps of the discussion about how we can best utilise data for the benefit of patients, service users, and the health and care system This strategy applies to England only. The strategy shows how data will be used to bring benefits to all parts of health and social care – from patients and care users to staff on the frontline and pioneers driving the most cutting-edge research. It is backed by a series of concrete commitments, including: investing in secure data environments to power life-saving research and treatments using technology to allow staff to spend more quality time with patients giving people better access to their own data through shared care records and the NHS App.
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Content ArticleA new multinational survey, on more than 1,300 patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals in 10 countries, shines a needed light on the misunderstood realities, unseen burden and care challenges of sickle cell disease. The Sickle Cell Health Awareness, Perspectives and Experiences (SHAPE) survey, one of the largest global burden of disease surveys conducted in sickle cell disease, identified long-term health complications of sickle cell disease as a key concern among 1,300 patients and healthcare professionals surveyed from 10 countries The survey also revealed that sickle cell disease patients' caregivers face profound physical, psychosocial, and economic burdens resulting from taking care of people living with the disease. The findings of the survey were presented during a poster presentation at the European Hematology Association (EHA) 2022 Hybrid Congress. “Sickle cell disease is a lifelong condition that causes damage in the body and has a profound impact on the quality of life of those who suffer from it and their caregivers. The SHAPE survey is important because it illustrates how vital it is that we understand our patients’ needs, and it suggests what we within the medical community can do to help change perspectives, increase education and awareness, and improve care,” said Dr. Baba Inusa, professor and consultant of paediatric haematology, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London and chair of the National Haemoglobinopathy Panel in England. “These results are a wake-up call, and I believe that the actions that follow can enable us to help drive a better dialogue and improved conversations around the management and care of this long-neglected and devastating disease.”
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EventuntilThis free webinar will explore near misses in three different sectors and how controls can, or cannot, be developed to prevent future events. It will start with an introduction to the concept of near misses in healthcare and the challenges faced in learning from these near misses to improve safety. You will then hear how near misses are approached in rail and nuclear and how controls are developed in their processes. At this event, you’ll: Gain valuable insights from all three sectors: healthcare, rail and nuclear. Hear discussion about defining near misses with respect to controls. Learn how to build barriers in systems. Who will this be of interest to? This webinar will be of interest to anyone involved in the management of safety events in their industry/ organisation, and especially human factors practitioners, safety investigators, policy leads and regulators. Register
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Event
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Content ArticleA locally engaged health service can lead to a more open, dynamic and pluralist model of NHS governance and accountability. In weighing up the hopes for better integration and collaboration against concerns around operational pressures, Matthew Taylor, Chief executive of the NHS Confederation, discusses the potential positive impact that local government can have in health service decision-making.
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Content ArticleThis report explores the factors influencing healthcare workers’ confidence in AI-driven technologies. A second report will detail how their confidence can be developed through education and training.
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News Article
Healthcare services in Northern Ireland 'on its knees'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Waiting times for outpatient appointments, hospital procedures, emergency care, GPs and community health services have all hit record levels in Northern Ireland, with health care staff and patients declaring it the "worst ever" crisis to hit health services in the region. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, ever-growing patient demand, staff shortages, and the failure to put together a new Executive government following the recent Northern Ireland elections are being cited as the key drivers of the crisis, with health care staff now at breaking point. Speaking to Medscape UK, British Medical Association Northern Ireland (BMA NI) council chair Dr Tom Black said the current crisis in Northern Ireland's health services essentially boils down to "workload and workforce" issues. Waiting lists to access hospital appointments in Northern Ireland were already long before COVID-19, but the pandemic has significantly exacerbated the situation, he noted. Northern Ireland has the worst waiting lists in the UK, with more than 350,000 people currently waiting for a consultant-led appointment – more than half of them waiting over a year, with many waiting two, three, and even more years for an appointment. "We're now heading towards nearly 400,000 on hospital waiting lists, which is a huge number when you consider that is one-in-five of the total population," Dr Black commented. This week a judicial review is due to get underway at the High Court in Belfast after two patients initiated a legal case against the health services over excessive waiting times for access to care. One of the women has been waiting over five years to see a neurologist after being referred by her GP for suspected multiple sclerosis. The case is seeking a judicial declaration that the length of the waiting lists are unlawful and breached their human rights. Read full story Source: Medscape UK, 24 May 2022 -
Content ArticleThis analysis from the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies provides a review of developments in financing, governance, organisation and delivery, health reforms and performance of the health systems in the United Kingdom.
