Search the hub
Showing results for tags 'Home'.
Found 148 results
-
News Article
Patients harmed after roll-out of new IT system
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Patients have come to avoidable harm after a large private provider failed to deliver thousands of medicine prescriptions, according to a report from the Care Quality Commission. Healthcare at Home, which is based in Staffordshire but provides NHS-funded care and medicine supplies to patients’ homes across the country, has been rated “inadequate” and placed in special measures. A report published today said inspectors found more than 10,000 patients missed a dose of their medicine between October and December 2020 due to problems caused by the introduction of a new information system. Reviews have found some suffered avoidable harm as a result. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 13 May 2021 -
News ArticleVirtual wards, at-home antibiotic kits and using artificial intelligence in GP surgeries are among new initiatives to be trialled as part £160m funding to tackle waiting lists in the NHS. NHS England announced the funding to aid in the health service’s recovery after the pandemic, after figures last month revealed the number of people waiting to begin hospital treatment in England had risen to a new record. A total of 4.7 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of February - the highest figure since records began in August 2007. But NHS England said indicators suggest operations and other elective activity were at four-fifths of pre-pandemic levels in April, which is "well ahead" of the 70% threshold set out in official guidance. It said it is working to speed up the health service's recovery by trialling new ways of working in 12 areas and five specialist children's hospitals. The so-called "elective accelerators" will each get some of the £160m as well as extra support for new ways to increase the number of elective operations, NHS England said. Tens of thousands of patients in the trial areas will be part of initiatives including a high-volume cataract service, one-stop testing facilities and pop-up clinics to allow patients to be seen and discharged closer to home. Other trials over the next three months include virtual wards and home assessments, 3D eye scanners, at-home antibiotic kits, "pre-hab" for patients ahead of surgery, artificial intelligence in GP surgeries and so-called "Super Saturday" clinics, bringing multi-disciplinary teams together at the weekend to offer more specialist appointments. Read full story Source: The Independent,
-
News Article
Eating disorders: families tube-feeding patients at home amid NHS bed shortage
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Extremely unwell eating disorder patients are having to be tube fed at home by their families owing to a lack of hospital beds, as the Royal College of Psychiatrists reports a rise in people being treated in units without specialist support. Leading psychiatrists are urging the government for an emergency cash investment as the pandemic has prompted a rise in demand for treatment for conditions such as anorexia, amid “desperate pressure in the system”. In interviews with the Guardian, a number of parents told of the struggles of helping a severely unwell person from home. A number of families said they had no choice but to tube feed their children at home daily. Other parents said their children had been admitted to general children’s wards, where they were being treated by staff who had no experience of eating disorders. It is unclear how many patients are being treated at home, but Agnes Ayton, the chair of the Eating Disorder Faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said she had heard of people being unable to find beds and being creative in the community: “There is desperate pressure in the system.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 22 April 2021 -
News Article
Influenza drug ‘good contender’ for at-home treatment against COVID-19
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
An antiviral typically used to treat influenza is a “good contender” for a drug that could be taken at home by people infected with COVID-19, according to a scientist who is trialling the medicine. Favipiravir, licensed as a flu treatment in Japan since 2014, has already shown potential in reducing lung damage in hospitalised Covid patients and speeding up the time taken to clear the virus from the body. But two UK trials, in Glasgow and London, are investigating whether the drug could be taken by people in the community before their disease has progressed, therefore keeping them out of hospital. The government has promised to “supercharge” the search for and development of a new generation of easy-to-take, at-home drugs that can reduce transmission and quicken recovery from COVID-19. A new taskforce, modelled on the team behind Britain’s vaccine procurement programme, is to oversee this work. It intends to deliver two effective treatments - offered in tablet form - to the public as early as autumn. Read full story Source: The Independent, 22 April 2021 -
News Article
Covid: Asthma drug 'speeds up recovery at home'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A cheap drug, commonly used to treat asthma, can help people at home recover more quickly from COVID-19, a UK trial has found. Two puffs of budesonide twice a day could benefit many over-50s with early symptoms around the world, said the University of Oxford research team. There are also early signs the drug could reduce hospital admissions. The NHS says it can now be prescribed by GPs to treat Covid on a case-by-case basis from today. At present, there are few options for treating people with Covid who are not in hospital, apart from paracetamol. This widely-available asthma drug works in the lungs, where coronavirus can do serious damage, and could improve the recovery of at-risk patients who are unwell with Covid at home. Prof Stephen Powis, national medical director of NHS England, said he was "delighted" by the trial results so far and he said GPs could prescribe it after "a shared decision conversation" with patients. Read full story Source: BBC News, 12 April 2021 -
Content ArticleUK guidelines recommend that assessment and monitoring of breathless, unwell, or high risk patients with suspected COVID-19 should include pulse oximetry. Guidance published in January 2021 by the World Health Organization includes a provisional recommendation for “use of pulse oximetry monitoring at home as part of a package of care, including patient and provider education and appropriate follow-up. In this BMJ Practice article, Tricia Greenhalgh and colleagues discuss the remote management of COVID-19 using home pulse oximetry.
-
News Article
Safety probe launched into NHS 111 Covid triage service
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Long delays for coronavirus patients to get through to NHS 111 call handlers while other seriously ill patients were told to stay at home have prompted a safety watchdog to launch an investigation of the phone triage service. The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) has launched an inquiry into the handling of coronavirus calls by NHS 111 – the first port of call for patients when they become unwell. During the pandemic the NHS 111 service set up a dedicated COVID-19 Clinical Assessment Service (CCAS) but concerns over the safety of advice given to patients saw nurses and non-medical staff stopped from taking patient calls in August last year. Now concerns from a number of patients and families have led the independent HSIB to launch a review of the service and to identify any learning and improvements. HSIB told The Independent the investigation was at an early stage and it was not yet certain of any direct link to patient harm. It said the number of patient cases could grow but that it had initial family concerns related to difficulties getting through to NHS 111, long delays in getting clinical call backs after an initial triage call and concerns that some patients were told to stay at home when they were seriously ill. Read full story Source: The Independent, 23 March 2021 -
News Article
Some housebound people in UK are yet to be given Covid vaccine
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Some of the country’s most clinically vulnerable people have yet to receive the coronavirus vaccination, Guardian analysis shows. Ministers had said all clinically extremely vulnerable adults would be offered a vaccination by 15 February, but more than a month later some people who are housebound because of health problems have yet to be offered a jab they can actually access. People whose disability or age means that they are unable to get to one of the mass vaccine centres around the country were meant to be visited by a “mobile health worker” at home, similar to that offered to care home residents. However, while government figures suggest that nearly nine in 10 people who are clinically extremely vulnerable have received a first dose, a number who are housebound are missing out, with some being expected to travel miles to a vaccine centre. Kim Liddell, 49, from Cheshire, is housebound because of the nerve condition cauda equina syndrome, and is still waiting for a home visit. “I’ve spoken to my GP practice and all I have been told is they are in the process of setting up clinics,” she said. “The worst part of this is my father died from Covid three weeks ago. And I am at massive risk as my son, who lives with me, is a teacher, doesn’t drive [and has gone] back to face-to-face teaching. I’m absolutely petrified. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 21 March 2021 -
News Article
Bowel cancer screening capsules the latest in at-home care trend
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
People will be able to check if they have bowel cancer by swallowing a tiny capsule containing miniature cameras, in an extension of patient self-care. In what experts described as a trend towards more NHS at-home care, hastened by the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of people in England will be able to avoid the discomfort of having a camera inserted into their bowel by instead swallowing a capsule the size of a cod liver oil tablet. Pictures transmitted from inside their body during the painless procedure will help doctors judge whether the person has bowel cancer, the second deadliest form of the disease in the UK. The boss of the NHS in England said the procedure, known as a colon capsule endoscopy, is an example of “sci-fi” medicine increasingly deployed to improve care. One of the country’s top doctors said the capsules illustrated a major shift of healthcare out of hospitals that will see more and more diagnosis and treatment of illness done at home. Prof Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “We’re aware that some patients are reluctant to seek help for certain cancers because the diagnostic tests available can be invasive, so this is a fascinating development and we will be very interested to see the results of the trial. “GPs are preparing for an upsurge in cases of suspected cancer cases post-Covid, and the capsule cameras and new test for cervical cancer are welcome developments that could enable more patients to monitor and manage their own health at home without embarrassment or discomfort.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 11 March 2021 -
News Article
Collapse of social care could force more elderly people out of their own homes
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Elderly and vulnerable people could be forced to move out of their own homes into institutional care unless the chancellor invests billions of pounds to shore up social services and reform England’s broken care model, The Independent has been told. In an exclusive interview ahead of Rishi Sunak’s Budget on Wednesday, James Bullion, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), warned the care system risked “catastrophic failure in some areas” without urgent changes to the way vulnerable people, including younger disabled people, are looked after. He warned the number of people needing care had doubled in some parts of the country since March, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Ministers are planning to bring forward reforms to social care later this year, but Mr Bullion, who leads social services in Norfolk, said the system needed at least £4bn over the next two years “just to keep the show on the road”. He warned the sector had been rocked by more than 30,000 deaths in care homes from Covid, with a 40% turnover in staff, higher sickness, and more than 100,000 vacancies on top of rising costs. “We’ve got social care providers who are very much more fragile and at risk than they were a year ago. We were able to pay premiums to providers to keep going, but we've now reached the point where the revenue consequences of the last year will come home to roost. And we're very worried about the impact on the social care market and whether it will still be there for us in a way that it’s been in the past year if we take that support away.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 1 March 2021 -
News Article
Smear tests: Women to trial 'do-it-at-home' kits for NHS
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
About 31,000 women in London are being offered "do-it-at-home" tests to check for early warnings of cervical cancer, as part of an NHS trial. It could be a way to encourage more women to get screened, experts hope. Embarrassment, cultural barriers and worries about Covid, along with many other factors, can stop women going for smear tests at a clinic or GP surgery. Smear-test delays during the pandemic prompted calls for home-screening kits from cervical cancer charities. The swabbing involves using a long, thin cotton bud to take a sample from inside the vagina, which is then sent by post for testing. If the results reveal an infection called human papillomavirus (HPV) they will be invited to their GP for a standard smear test to closely examine the cells of their cervix. Dr Anita Lim, from King's College London, who is leading the YouScreen trial, said: "Women who don't come for regular screening are at the highest risk of developing cervical cancer. "So it is crucial that we find ways like this to make screening easier and protect women from what is a largely preventable cancer. Self-sampling is a game-changer." Read full story Source: BBC News, 24 February 2021 -
News Article
Housebound people being missed for vaccination, NHS warned
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
People who need to receive their covid vaccinations at home are missing out because their eligibility is not being recognised by GPs, experts have warned. There have been numerous reports of housebound people being told they are ineligible for a home visit in recent weeks, with some home care providers saying only a minority of their elderly clients have been vaccinated so far. Chit Selvarajah, policy manager at the charity Independent Age, said: “We have heard from people who say they are housebound being told they weren’t considered as housebound and told to go to a vaccination centre as they are not eligible for a home visit." “We don’t know how many people have been vaccinated but it’s likely to be very small numbers at the moment.” Ruthe Isden, head of health and care influencing at Age UK, believes some older people have “slipped into being effectively housebound” over the last year, and are not yet registered as such on GP databases. She said: “The pandemic has hit the fast forward button on ageing for a lot of people. They’ve aged a long way in a short period and seen their health really deteriorate, and often they are not going to proactively identify themselves as needing more help." “It’s vital we are thinking systematically about reaching this group. At the moment, there seems to be considerable variation in how people are followed up.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 22 February 2021 -
News ArticleMore than 1 in 10 Covid patients died within five months of being discharged from hospital, while almost a third of those who survived the virus had to be readmitted, new research has warned. Papers released by the governments Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) also revealed half of patients in hospital with the virus suffered complications, with one in four struggling when they got back home. Younger patients under the age of 50 were more likely to suffer complications. The reports present the first substantial evidence that Covid could be the cause of significant long term ill-health, with the virus attacking the body’s organs and causing diseases of the liver, heart, lungs and kidneys. Read full story Source: The Independent, 20 February 2021
-
News ArticleAt home early abortions pose no greater risk and allow women to have the procedure much earlier on in their pregnancy, research has found. The findings have sparked calls from leading healthcare providers for the option, which was rolled out in the wake of lockdown measures last spring, to be made permanent. Researchers, who conducted the UK’s largest study into abortions, discovered there were no cases of significant infection which necessitated the woman to go to hospital or have major surgery. The study, conducted by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and MSI Reproductive Choices, drew attention to the fact that despite misinformation to the contrary, not one individual died from having an at home early abortion. Eight in ten women said at home abortions were their preferred choice and they would opt for it in the future, while waiting times from when the woman has her consultation to treatment improved from 11 days to 7 days. Dr Jonathan Lord, medical director for MSI Reproductive Choices UK, said: “Being able to access abortion care earlier in pregnancy has also reduced the low complication rate even further.” Dr Lord added: “Telemedicine has provided a lifeline for vulnerable women and girls who cannot attend consultations in-person. We have seen a major increase in safeguarding disclosures, including from survivors of domestic and sexual violence, as they can talk more freely about distressing and intimate details from the privacy of their own home at the beginning of the Covid emergency." Read full story Source: The Independent, 19 February 2021
-
News Article
Funding ‘cliff-edge’ threatens to ‘distress’ families and hamper NHS recovery
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Government plans to cut off funding for hospital discharge at the end of March will slow down the NHS recovery of planned care, and threatens ‘distress’ for families asked to quickly take over patients’ care. Since the pandemic began the Department of Health and Social Care has funded measures to smooth discharge from hospital, to help free up capacity. From September last year this was via a £588m national pot for up to six weeks’ funded care and support after discharge. But a letter from NHS England director of community health Matthew Winn last week confirmed the funding will cease at the end of March, with local NHS organisations or councils liable for the continued funding of discharge packages in the 2021-22 financial year. Jennifer Burns, president of the British Geriatrics Society (BGS), which has previously written to the government to urge an extension of the scheme, told HSJ: “The BGS is incredibly concerned… The disappearance of funding for care in the six-week period after discharge creates a cliff edge in the very near future. We urge the government to reconsider this decision and commit to recurrent discharge funding in the upcoming Budget.” Miriam Deakin, NHS Providers director of policy and strategy, said the government’s funding had “played a crucial role in freeing up hospital beds [and] managing capacity”, despite the delays caused by other parts of the system during the coronavirus winter surge. Ms Deakin warned: “Trust leaders are keen to see this funding continue in the longer term. This new way of working does not come without a financial cost, particularly for community services and their staff who are now much more thinly stretched, supporting patients with a wider range of more complex needs at home and in other community settings. We would therefore urge government to continue discharge to assess funding from April 2021.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 18 February 2021 -
News ArticleTens of thousands of coronavirus survivors needing long-term care are heaping pressure on Britain’s stretched community services, threatening a crisis that experts warn could dwarf that seen in hospitals over the past 12 months. As many as 100,000 intensive care patients, including up to 15,000 Covid-19 survivors, will need long-term community nursing care after being discharged from hospitals during the past 12 months, The Independent has been told. This will be on top of an as yet unknown number of Covid patients from the 350,000 treated on general wards since the pandemic began, as well as tens of thousands of people who were sick without going to hospital but have been left with debilitating symptoms of long Covid. Labour’s shadow health minister Liz Kendall warned: “There will be huge pressures on community services as people who need long-term support are discharged back into their own homes. “Ministers have got to put in place a proper workforce strategy for the NHS and community care otherwise we will see people struggling to recover and the burden of care could also fall on their families." “This is one of the long-term consequences of Covid that we haven’t begun to even think through yet.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 14 February 2021
-
News Article
Covid patients given early warning home oxygen monitors by paramedics
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Coronavirus patients who call an ambulance but are not yet sick enough to go to hospital are being given new home oxygen monitoring kits to help spot those who may deteriorate earlier. Across the Thames Valley region, thousands of patients will be given the kits which include a pulse oximeter device to monitor blood oxygen levels, a diary to track their symptoms and advice on what to do if they become sicker. South Central Ambulance Service Trust (SCAS) has become the first ambulance service in the country to launch the scheme after research showed a small drop in oxygen levels among some patients could be an early warning sign of serious complications. Patients with pneumonia and non-Covid lung conditions often experience shortness of breath before a drop in oxygen levels. But with coronavirus, patients can suffer what has been called ‘silent hypoxia’ where their oxygen levels can fall before the patient becomes breathless and calls for help. Read full story Source: The Independent, 2 February 2021 -
News ArticleNew advice on how to treat coronavirus has been issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as it also begins a wide-reaching study into the effects of so-called "long COVID". For COVID-19 patients at home, WHO is now suggesting the use of a pulse oximetry machine to measure oxygen levels in the blood - but warns that this should only be done after full patient education and with medical follow-up support if necessary. For hospitalised patients, WHO is recommending the use of low-dose anticoagulants to prevent clots forming in blood vessels, known as thrombosis. And for sufferers who are already using supplemental oxygen, the organisation is officially endorsing the positioning of patients on their stomachs to increase oxygen flow. This is known as "awake prone positioning". The new guidelines also include a recommendation that healthcare professionals favour "clinical judgement over models" in making decisions for individual patients. Read full story Source: Sky News, 26 January 2021
-
Content ArticleThe Queen’s Nursing Institute has published a resource for community nurses caring for people living with COVID-19. Commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement, ‘Living with COVID-19 (Long Covid) and Beyond’ provides information to support nurses working in community, care homes and primary care and also to the wider multi-disciplinary team including clinical knowledge, care responses and skills when caring for people during their recovery and rehabilitation. It is predicted that there will be a ‘new wave’ of physical, mental and emotional health challenges as individuals enter recovery from COVID-19 infection – and for some this is combined with issues resulting from the social and economic impact of lockdown, such as isolation and unemployment. The resource also aims to help nurses assist people, families, carers and employers to work towards managing post COVID-19 symptoms, regaining everyday life activities and returning to independent living wherever possible. It includes information on physical care, psychological and neuro-psychological care, social impact and features several case studies.
-
Content ArticleThe early identification of deterioration in suspected COVID-19 patients managed at home enables a more timely clinical intervention, which is likely to translate into improved outcomes. Dr Matt Inada Kim and team undertook an analysis of COVID-19 patients conveyed by ambulance to hospital to investigate how oxygen saturation and measurements of other vital signs correlate to patient outcomes, to ascertain if clinical deterioration can be predicted with simple community physiological monitoring.
-
Content ArticleNHS Pharmacy aseptic services in England provide sterile controlled environments for the preparation of injectable medicines into Ready to Administer (RtA) formats for patients. Although not highly visible to patients, £3.84 billion is spent on injectable medicines across the NHS in England each year. Services are subject to high levels of regulatory control and quality assurance. Products include chemotherapy, injectable nutrition and clinical trials for new medicines. This has the potential to release nursing time for care, improve patient safety and support more patient care closer to home. Pharmacy aseptic services are an essential cornerstone of many critical NHS services. They make the chemotherapy that treats cancer patients, the intravenous feed that keeps very sick children and those with intestinal failure alive and the innovative medicines that target complex diseases. The report was commissioned by the Minister of State for Health to provide advice to the government and NHS England and Improvement (NHSE-I), to regional, system, and trust pharmacy leads, as well as independent sector aseptic pharmacy providers.
-
Content ArticleNina Hemmings responds to the 'State of the adult social care workforce report' from Skills for Care.
-
News Article
South East sees ‘striking’ levels of excess deaths at home
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Parts of the South East saw “striking” levels of excess deaths occurring in people’s homes between July and October. Analysis of official data by HSJ shows the region, which excludes London, had almost 900 excess deaths in the 10 weeks to 2 October (around 10 per 100,000 population), which accounted for almost three-quarters of the national total in that period. Excess deaths means the number taking place above the seasonal average of previous years. Deaths in people’s homes — as opposed to in hospitals or care homes, for example — more than accounted for the total excess. Meanwhile, only 132 of the region’s deaths in this period mentioned COVID-19 on the death certificate. Experts have described the South East numbers as “very striking”, but said it is not immediately clear what was causing it to be such a significant outlier. Possible explanations for excess mortality during the pandemic have included disruptions to normal health services, as well as anxiety among patients about attending hospital or GP surgeries. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 20 October 2020 -
News Article
Deaths at home: More than 26,000 extra this year, ONS finds
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
More men than normal are dying at home from heart disease in England and Wales and more women are dying from dementia and Alzheimer's disease, figures show. More than 26,000 extra deaths occurred in private homes this year, an analysis by the Office for National Statistics found. In contrast, deaths in hospitals from these causes have been lower than usual. The Covid epidemic may have led to fewer people being treated in hospital or it may be that people in older age groups, who make up the majority of these deaths, may be choosing to stay at home – but the underlying reasons for the figures are still not clear. Read full story Source: BBC News, 19 October 2020 -
Content ArticleEverybody has a right to good care. Much attention is rightly focused on the occasions when people experience poor quality care, but it is also important to recognise where care is good and to celebrate the services that are getting it right. Some care providers do things well through innovative new ways of working, or by doing the basics well. Others can learn from them and solutions should be shared across the system. This publication from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is purposely focused on celebrating good and outstanding care that CQC's inspectors have seen.
