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News Article
10,000 more deaths than usual occurred in UK homes since June
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Some 10,000 more deaths than usual have occurred in peoples’ private homes since mid June, long after the peak in Covid deaths, prompting fears that people may still be avoiding health services and delaying sending their loved ones to care homes. It brings to more than 30,000 the total number of excess deaths happening in people’s homes across the UK since the start of the pandemic. Excess deaths are a count of those deaths which are over and above a “normal” year, based on the average number of deaths that occurred in the past five years. In the past three months the number of excess deaths across all settings, has, in the main been lower than that of previous years. However, deaths in private homes buck the trend with an average of 824 excess deaths per week in people’s homes in the 13 weeks to mid-September. Experts are citing resistance from the public to enter hospitals or home care settings and “deconditioning” caused by decreased physical activity among older people shielding at home, for example not walking around a supermarket or garden centre as they might normally. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 24 September 2020 -
Content ArticleSarah Scobie, Deputy Director of Research at the Nuffield Trust, looks at the continued high numbers of people dying at home, even as hospital deaths return to close-to-average levels, and discusses what reasons might lie behind the continued high numbers of home deaths since the onset of the pandemic. Whatever the reasons for the greater number of deaths at home, a third more people are now dying at home than prior to the pandemic. Although it is widely thought that many people prefer to die at home, this shift presents a significant challenge for community health and care services to deliver high quality care for patients, and to support families at the end of life.
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News Article
All GP consultations should be remote by default, says Matt Hancock
Clive Flashman posted a news article in News
All GP appointments should be done remotely by default unless a patient needs to be seen in person, Matt Hancock has said, prompting doctors to warn of the risk of abandoning face-to-face consultations. In a speech setting out lessons for the NHS and care sector from the coronavirus pandemic, the health secretary claimed that while some errors were made, “so many things went right” in the response to Covid-19, and new ways of working should continue. He said it was patronising to claim that older patients were not able to handle technology. The plan for web-based GP appointments is set to become formal policy, and follows guidance already sent to GPs on having more online consultations. But the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) hit back, saying it would oppose a predominantly online system on the grounds that both doctors and patients benefited from proper contact. Read full article here -
News Article
Coronavirus drugs trial to begin at UK homes and GP clinics
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Drugs that could relieve the symptoms of coronavirus in vulnerable patients and help them avoid admission to hospital are to begin trials in homes across the UK. The experiment, led by a team at Oxford University, seeks to test pre-existing treatments for older people in the community who show signs of the disease. Known as Principle, or “Platform Randomised trial of interventions against Covid-19 in older People”, it is the first to take place in primary care settings such as health clinics. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Independent, 12 May 2020 -
News Article
Coronavirus: Special body recovery teams set up for those who die at home
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Special body recovery teams have begun work to deal with suspected coronavirus victims who die in their homes. Small units of police, fire and health service staff will confirm death and the identity of the dead and remove their bodies to a mortuary. Known as Pandemic Multi-Agency Response Teams, or PMART, they will be dispatched when victims die outside hospitals and there is a high probability they had COVID-19. The teams have been set up, initially in London, to relieve pressure on hospitals overwhelmed with coronavirus emergency cases. Read full story Source: Sky News, 1 April 2020 -
Content ArticleMaybe your blood pressure has been creeping up over time, or you’re starting treatment for hypertension. So your doctor suggests you buy a home blood pressure monitor to help keep track between office visits. Simple enough, right? But a quick check online reveals hundreds of different models — and even a bunch of apps for your smartphone. How do you even start to sort through all that without, well, spiking your blood pressure? This article highlights six things you need to know.
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Content Article
Chemotherapy safety - precautions for the public
Claire Cox posted an article in Cancers
Chemotherapy is strong medicine, so it is safest for people without cancer to avoid direct contact with the drugs. That’s why oncology nurses and doctors wear gloves, goggles, gowns and, sometimes, masks. When the treatment session is over, these items are disposed of in special bags or bins. After each chemotherapy session, the drugs may remain in your body for up to a week. This depends on the type of drugs used. The drugs are then released into urine, faeces and vomit. They could also be passed to other body fluids such as saliva, sweat, semen or vaginal discharge, and breast milk. Some people having chemotherapy worry about the safety of family and friends. There is little risk to visitors, including children, babies and pregnant women, because they aren’t likely to come into contact with any chemotherapy drugs or body fluids. -
Content ArticleIn 2018/19, ten people died each week following release from prison. Every two days, someone took their own life. In the same year, one woman died every week, and half of these deaths were self-inflicted. This report, co-authored by Dr Jake Phillips of Sheffield Hallam University and Rebecca Roberts of INQUEST, provides an overview of what is known about the deaths of people on post custody supervision following release from prison. It highlights the lack of visibility and policy attention given to this growing problem and calls for immediate action to ensure greater scrutiny, learning and prevention.
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Content ArticleThe Buurtzorg model of care, developed by a social enterprise in the Netherlands in 2006, involves small teams of nursing staff providing a range of personal, social and clinical care to people in their own homes in a particular neighbourhood. There’s an emphasis on one or two staff working with each individual and their informal carers to access all the resources available in their social networks and neighbourhood to support them to be more independent. The nursing teams have a flat management structure, working in ‘non-hierarchical self-managed' teams. This means they make all the clinical and operational decisions themselves. They can access support from a coach, whose focus is on enabling the team to learn to work constructively together, and a central back office.
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Content ArticleThe home care environment has a number of unique challenges for care providers, partially due to the high amount of variability between patients and their residences. It was identified that a mobile application used to coordinate some home care services in Alberta had opportunities for improvement in how patient specific safety critical information was provided to staff.
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Content Article
Falsified medicines and medical devices: MHRA campaign
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Medication
Fake medicines and medical devices bought online can lead to serious negative health consequences. Buying from dodgy websites also increases the risk of being ripped off through credit card fraud or having your identity stolen. The #FakeMeds campaign, run by Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), helps you protect your health and money by providing quick and easy tools so you can avoid fake medical products when you shop online. -
Content Article
Safer outcomes for people with psychosis
Dorit posted an article in By patients and public
Dorit describes the assessment and subsequent death of her much loved daughter-in-law who died during a psychotic episode having been discharged the previous evening. Her story raises a number of questions: How should families be included in making judgements and assessments about the patient and their well-being? What support do they need to care for a very distressed loved one? Why aren't written care and contingency plans provided to the patient and their family? What more needs to be done to ensure standard practices are in place to protect patients with psychosis? -
Content ArticleThis was one of Q Exhange's 2018 winning ideas. Testing the use of a tool to support domiciliary care staff in recognising the softer signs of deterioration. Improving response and communication to colleagues/health professionals (incorporating SBAR). The aim of this work is to reduce avoidable harm, enhance clinical outcomes and improve the experience of deteriorating individuals in the community.To achieve this, focus will be placed on improving recognition (softer signs and NEWS where appropriate), response and communication by domiciliary carers.
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Content Article
Time to Change: Our guide to asking twice
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Mental health
Time to Change is a growing social movement working to change the way we all think and act about mental health problems. They have five simple steps to encourage people to ask questions and to open up about mental health. They also provide sources of help and support. -
Content ArticleA report from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) calls for urgent investment in District Nursing, as new figures show the number of District Nurses working in the NHS has dropped by almost 43 percent in England alone in the last ten years.
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Content ArticlePharmacies in Cheshire and Merseyside are being notified by their local hospital when a patient is discharged who might need help with their medication. The initiative, called Transfer of Care Around Medicines, is improving patient safety and quality of care – and saved the NHS in Cheshire and Merseyside an estimated £9.5 million over the three years to Spring 2019.
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Content ArticleInfants born preterm or with complex congenital conditions are surviving to discharge in growing numbers and often require significant monitoring and coordination of care in the ambulatory setting. This toolkit, produced in the US, includes resources for hospitals that wish to improve safety when newborns transition home from their neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) by creating a Health Coach Program, tools for coaches, and information for parents and families of newborns who have spent time in the NICU.
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Content Article
Assistive technology: definitions, examples and safe use
Claire Cox posted an article in Equipment
The phrase ‘assistive technology’ is often used to describe products or systems that support and assist individuals with disabilities, restricted mobility or other impairments to perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or impossible. An assistive technology product can be classed either as a medical device, which needs a CE mark and is regulated by the applicable legislation, or it can be an ‘aid for daily living’. It depends on the claims made by the manufacturer. This guidance set out by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) helps manufacturers and healthcare professionals understand the definition of assistive technology and the difference between medical devices and aids to daily living. -
Content ArticleLiverpool is leading the way in the use of smartphone technology to deliver and monitor care in people’s homes. The city is the first to introduce a digital system with almost all domiciliary care providers – giving instant information about 9,000 vulnerable residents to their families and professionals. The use of an app allows care providers and families to see when a visit is carried out by a carer, for how long and how the person responded.The effect is better informed families and care managers and improved care. Liverpool is the only authority in Europe to be using the technology across its city, with all but one of its 18 domiciliary care providers using everyLIFE PASSsystem. It was made possible through a grant of one million Euros of European Union funding secured through the EU STOPandGO programme of which the Innovation Agency, the Academic Health Science Network for the North West Coast was a key partner.
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Content ArticleCaring for patients in their homes holds many potential benefits, yet the safety of care provided in the home has not received as much attention as patient safety in hospitals and other clinical settings. In this video, Chief Clinical and Safety Officer Tejal Gandhi provides an overview of the Institute of Healthcare Improvement report, No Place Like Home: Advancing the Safety of Care in the Home.
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Content Article
Sepsis screening tool telephone triage for the under 5s
Claire Cox posted an article in Paediatrics
This is a tool for telephone triage/out of hospital for sepsis in children under five years, devised by the Sepsis Trust, aimed at community healthcare workers or carers. -
Content ArticleWhich? magazine explores ways to keep people safe in their homes and outside by using electronic devices to alert others for assistance. Personal alarms allow people to call for assistance if they have an accident or a fall at home. They can help older and less abled people to feel safer at home, and to remain independent for longer. They can also offer peace of mind to family and friends.
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Content ArticleThis DIY Health model was co-created by Bromley by Bow Health Partnership (BBBHP, Tower Hamlets, London) in partnership with the community it serves in response to a need identifiable across most general practices across the country. Parents of children under the age of 5 were frequently re-attending St Andrew's Health Centre (one of three surgeries run by BBBHP) for support with managing self-limiting childhood problems. These repeat visits led to a recognition that health care professionals needed to work better with parents and carers to identify how to provide knowledge and skills that ensure they were more confident to manage their children’s health at home, and when to seek further help. The model which this article describes was inspired by Dr Khyati Bakhai’s work during her Darzi Fellowship in Clinical Leadership and was co-produced in partnership with local parents.
