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Showing results for tags 'Infection control'.
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Content ArticleIf a nasogastric tube (NGT) has been misplaced into the respiratory tract and this is not detected before fluids, feed or medication are given, death or severe harm can be caused. The consequences are even more likely to be fatal for patients who are already critically ill. Most nasogastric ‘Never Events’ of feeding into the respiratory tract through a misplaced tube continue to arise from misinterpretation of x-rays by staff who had not been given training in the ‘four criteria’ technique and were unaware that relying on the position of the tube tip alone on a radiograph can be a fatal error.
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Content Article
CPSI: Keeping seniors safe (15 May 2020)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Older people
The goal of this virtual discussion is to explore practical solutions for keeping seniors safe. The ideas are drawn from real life experiences noting how COVID-19 impacted seniors, their loved ones as well as healthcare workers and leaders. The focus of the discussion is on identifying safety risks together with practical solutions for seniors who live at home, in residences and long-term care facilities. Watch the webinar on demand and download the slides. -
News Article
The NHS in the time of covid: what happens next
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
What will the next six months bring for the NHS? HSJ has spoken to the service’s most senior figures and makes a number of predictions. Read full story Source: HSJ, 8 June 2020 -
News ArticleThe head of NHS test and trace has refused to give MPs any data on the first six days of the new service, leading health committee chair Jeremy Hunt to warn that a lack of transparency could “destroy confidence” in its work. Baroness Dido Harding, who is leading the new effort, said she was working to validate performance data, which relies on people with COVID-19 symptoms isolating and being called by a team of tracers to identify others they have been in contact with. MPs had wanted to know how many patients had been contacted within 24 hours as well as how many were willing to share their contacts, and the compliance with self-isolation advice. But Baroness Harding said she would not share the information until the UK Statistics Authority was happy with the data and could ensure it can be trusted. The UKSA criticised the government earlier this week over its public use of test results data. Chair of the committee and former health secretary Jeremy Hunt said he was “disappointed” with her refusal and said it was hard for the committee to scrutinise services if it did not have the data, which she had been pre-warned it would ask for. Leaked information on Tuesday suggested only two-fifths of coronavirus patients and one-third of their contacts were identified and contacted by the tracing service. Read full story Source: The Independent, 3 June 2020
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News Article
Global healthcare needs infection control reform, say experts
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
World leaders in infection control and disease prevention convened online at the inaugural iClean 2020 conference on 28 May to discuss innovative infection control reform in hospitals and aged-care facilities in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Keynote speaker Professor Didier Pittet* said there has never been a more pertinent time to address infection control in our healthcare systems. “During this devastating COVID-19 pandemic, up to one in five people who contracted the virus globally are healthcare workers, and we saw similar numbers in the SARs and MERS outbreaks." “Furthermore, aged-care residents accounted for 29% of COVID-19-related deaths in Australia, and this rate is even higher in Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom, who have been hardest hit by the pandemic,” Professor Pittet said. “We are therefore calling for urgent reform in our approach to cleaning and disinfection in hospitals and aged-care homes.” Professor Pittet explained that Clean Hospitals — an initiative aiming to create better procedures, training, auditing and management processes — would allow cleaning and infection control managers around the world to improve quality and outcomes. Read more Source: Hospital Healthcare, 1 June 2020 -
News Article
Test and trace system kicks off in England and Scotland
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A team of 25,000 contact tracers are making their first phone calls to track down people who will be told to self-isolate under a new scheme in England. Tracers will text, email or call people who test positive with coronavirus and ask who they have had contact with. Any of those contacts deemed at risk of infection will be told to isolate for 14 days, even if they are not sick. A test and trace system is also launching in Scotland, where an easing of the lockdown is expected later. The aim of England's NHS Test and Trace system is to lift national lockdown restrictions and move towards more localised, targeted measures. The team will start by contacting the 2,013 people who tested positive for the virus on Wednesday. Read full story Source: BBC News, 28 May 2020 -
News Article
English retailers told to halt coronavirus home antibody test deliveries
Clive Flashman posted a news article in News
Retailers in England selling home antibody tests, including Superdrug and Babylon, have been told to stop sending them out, and labs must not process them, while the regulatory body (Public Health England) examines how well they work. Read story Source: The Guardian, 27 May 2020 -
News Article
NHS app paves the way for 'immunity passports'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Facial recognition has been added as a way of logging in to an NHS app that lets people order prescriptions, book appointments and find healthcare data. Initially, it will allow faster access to the services on the app, which is separate from the contact-tracing one, but its developers say it could also be used for COVID-19 "immunity passports". The NHS facial-recognition system, built by iProov and available for both Android devices and iOS, requires users to submit a photo of themselves from an official document such as their passport or driving license. They then scan their face using their phone and, following a short sequence of flashing colours, their identification will be verified and they will have access to all the services on the NHS app. Immunity passports need to link a person's identity to their coronavirus test results, so would require a robust way of allowing people to verify themselves. Those deemed clear of the virus could then prove their status via a code generated by an app. However, the idea is controversial, not least because there is no hard scientific evidence that having had the coronavirus provides people with long-lasting immunity. The World Health Organization has warned countries against implementing such passports, saying: "There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection." Dr Tom Fisher, a senior researcher at Privacy International, said the implementation of such measures needed to be "necessary, proportionate and based on the epidemiological evidence". "For the moment, immunity passports do not meet this test," he said. "We must be concerned about the broad societal impact of such immunity passports. They are essentially about limiting the rights of those who are not deemed to be immune. This is a route to exclusion and discrimination." Read full story Source: BBC News, 27 May 2020 -
Content ArticleData published in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrates that use of CareFusion’s patient preoperative skin preparation ChloraPrep® (2% chlorhexidine gluconate and 70% isopropyl alcohol) reduced total surgical site infections (SSIs) by 41%, from 16.1% to 9.5%, compared to use of povidone-iodine solution, the most commonly used preoperative skin preparation. In this prospective, randomised and well-controlled outcomes trial designed to compare the efficacy of skin antiseptics in reducing the risk of SSIs, ChloraPrep proved superior in clean-contaminated abdominal, urologic, gynecologic and thoracic surgery. “For nearly a decade, healthcare professionals have relied on the proven efficacy of ChloraPrep,” said Stephen R. Lewis, MD, chief medical officer of CareFusion. “This study is an example of our ongoing commitment to providing clinicians with evidence-based data that clinically differentiates our products in order to help improve patient care and lower costs.”
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Content ArticleAs the current coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to present significant challenges for healthcare providers both in the independent sector and the NHS, healthcare professionals who are involved in receiving patients confirmed positive for COVID-19 in the perioperative setting require the best evidence-based guidance on infection prevention control. The following published guidance seeks to ensure a consistent and resilient UK approach, as differences in operational details and organisational responsibilities may apply across the four UK countries.
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Content Article
COVID-19 tests: The safety implications of false negatives
PatientSafetyLearning Team posted an article in Blogs
The number of people accessing COVID-19 testing in the UK continues to increase. Health Secretary, Matt Hancock recently announced, that anyone over the age of five years old who is showing symptoms is eligible for a test [1]. However, there are concerns that the rate of ‘false negative’ test results could be as high as 30% and a significant number of people are wrongly being told they do not have the virus [2]. This could be due to the particularly difficult nature of obtaining the swab, which requires someone to take a sample from the very back of the mouth or deep from inside the nose. “Swabbing patients using the correct technique is paramount in ensuring an accurate result. Nasal swabs need to be taken from far back in the nasal pharynx and is often uncomfortable for the patient. By simply swabbing the inside of the nasal passage is not deep enough to verify that the virus is present. I am unsure that all clinical staff have been taught the correct way to swab patients.” Claire Cox, Intensive Care Outreach Nurse. Members of the public are now able to request self-testing kits to do at home if they are experiencing symptoms. If clinicians like Claire are finding the test challenging to perform on others, it is likely that patients could struggle to swab deep enough into their own nasal pharynx (7-8cm). There is a risk that as the number of people testing themselves increases, so too will the rate of false negative results. Testing is a key element of the UK’s COVID-19 infection control strategy [3]. A high, and potentially rising, rate of false negative results means that a significant number of people could be carrying the virus, wrongly reassured they are not infectious. In this blog, we look at some of the associated safety risks. -
Content Article
'False negative' and the impact on my mental health
Anonymous posted an article in Blogs
The following blog was shared by a patient who wished to remain anonymous. In this account, they explain why they felt they were treated differently when they presented with symptoms of Covid-19 due to their mental health difficulties. They also describe how receiving a false negative test result caused further harm to their mental health. -
Content ArticleThere is evidence of disproportionate mortality and morbidity amongst black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people, including NHS staff, who have contracted COVID-19. The authors of this blog argue that this is not just an equality, diversity and inclusion issue but an urgent medical emergency and we need to act now.They look at how the NHS can support BAME staff through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, focusing on: protection of staff engagement with staff representation in decision making rehabilitation and recovery communications and media.
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News Article
Lack of social distancing in NHS staff social areas alarms national chiefs
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
National leaders have said healthcare workers must do better on social distancing amid growing evidence that staff-to-staff transmission is the significant factor in the spread of coronavirus throughout hospitals. NHS England national clinical director for trauma Dr Chris Moran, said: “I’ve witnessed and I’m sure you’ve all witnessed that actually healthcare workers are not necessarily been the best at managing social distancing. We know when directly managing patients that it [social distancing] is impossible, that’s what PPE is for to protect both sides of the equation. But I think in the staff-only areas we could do quite a lot better in some of the places that I’ve visited.” National director for acute care Keith Willett added: “The evidence we’ve seen coming through suggests the infection risks from staff to patients or patients to staff seems very low but the risks to staff of infection, COVID-19 infection, within hospitals is much, much, much higher between staff and staff, and patients and patients.” The warning comes after NHS England’s patient safety director Dr Aidan Fowler said he was concerned about the rates of "nosocomial spread within our hospitals”. Following national guidance designed to facilitate an increase in elective operations and other routine work, NHS trusts have been asked to set up “covid free” green zones and blue zones with a higher COVID-19 risk. Read full story Source: HSJ, 21 May 2020 -
Content ArticleThe Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published the first of what will be a regular series of insight documents intended to highlight COVID-19 related pressures on the sectors that CQC regulates. This document draws on information gathered through direct feedback from staff and people receiving care, regular data collection from services who provide care for people in their own homes, and insight from providers and partners. The information collected from these sources is being used to understand the wider impact of COVID-19, to share regular updates with local, regional, and national system partners and the Department of Health and Social Care, and to highlight any emerging trends and issues.
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News Article
Coronavirus: Time running out on track and trace, NHS leaders warn
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Time is running out to finalise a track and trace strategy that would avoid a potential second surge in coronavirus cases, NHS leaders have said. The NHS Confederation warned of "severe" consequences to staff and patients if the right system was not established quickly and that lockdown measures should not be eased until a clear plan was in place. Contact tracing identifies those who may have come into contact with an infected person, either through an app or by phone and email, so they can avoid potentially passing the disease on. It follows the Prime Minister's pledge to introduce a "world-beating" contact tracing system in England from June. Niall Dickson, chief executive of the confederation, which represents health and care leaders, welcomed Boris Johnson's pledge made at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday. But in a letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, Mr Dickson said without a clear strategy the UK was at greater risk of a second peak of the virus. He said a strategy should have been in place sooner and if the right system was not instigated rapidly the ramifications for the NHS "could be severe". Speaking on the Today programme, Mr Dickson said: "We are absolutely clear that contact tracing is the right thing to do, it is absolutely critical, it has got to be in place to prevent any notion of a second surge if the lockdown is being further released." Read full story Source: 21 May 2020 -
News Article
Second more deadly wave of coronavirus 'to hit Europe this winter'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
European countries should brace themselves for a deadly second wave of coronavirus infections because the pandemic is not over, the World Health Organization’s top official in Europe has said. In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, Dr Hans Kluge, director for the WHO European region, delivered a stark warning to countries beginning to ease their lockdown restrictions, saying that now is the "time for preparation, not celebration". Dr Kluge stressed that, as the number of cases of COVID-19 in countries such as the UK, France and Italy was beginning to fall, it did not mean the pandemic was coming to an end. The epicentre of the European outbreak is now in the east, with the number of cases rising in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, he warned. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 20 May 2020 -
Content Article
My 'false negative' COVID-19 test put others at risk
PatientSafetyLearning Team posted an article in Blogs
The following account was shared with Patient Safety Learning by a patient called Sarah. She describes her experience of attending hospital with symptoms of COVID-19 and expresses concerns that she could have infected NHS staff due to a negative test result which later turned out to be inaccurate. -
Content ArticleOn 4 May 2020, a 13-strong committee convened by former UK government Chief Scientific Adviser Sir David King discussed some aspects of the science behind the UK strategy in a two and a half hour meeting. Leading experts in public health, epidemiology, primary care, virology, mathematical modelling, and social and health policy, raised ideas and issues for consideration which are shared in this report. The report does not aim to critique such work. Rather, it recognises that such solutions will take time and will still require an appropriate public health infrastructure to maximise their benefit. This is the focus of this first report and the meeting aimed to offer some constructive ideas to the governments of the UK and the devolved nations about how best to tackle this crisis, to save lives, suppress the coronavirus and get the economy moving again.
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News Article
Spread of COVID-19 in hospitals causing national ‘concern’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The leader of the NHS’ pandemic testing programme has highlighted concerns about the rate of COVID-19 transmissions in hospitals, HSJ can reveal. NHS England’s patient safety director Dr Aidan Fowler told an industry webinar that he and his team “are concerned about the rates of nosocomial spread within our hospitals”. Dr Fowler leads the NHS and Public Heath England testing programme (know as “pillar one”). He said the concerns had led to a focus on discovering where transmissions of covid-19 are occurring in hospitals, and how the NHS can reduce the rate of staff and patients becoming infected while on the NHS estate. His comments come as the NHS attempts to restart the provision of routine elective care and prepares for a significant increase in emergency admissions. The NHS has been told to create separate areas for covid positive and negative patients where possible, regardless of what they are being treated for. Patients are being to self-isolate at home for two weeks before attending hospital for treatment. Read full story Source: HSJ, 18 March 2020 -
News ArticleUp to a fifth of patients with COVID-19 in several hospitals contracted the disease over the course of the pandemic while already being treated there for another illness, NHS bosses have told senior doctors and nurses. Some of the infections were passed on by hospital staff who were unaware they had the virus and were displaying no symptoms, while patients with coronavirus were responsible for the others. The figures represent NHS England’s first estimate of the size of the problem of hospital-acquired COVID-19, which Boris Johnson last week said was causing an “epidemic” of deaths. In a national briefing last month on infection control and COVID-19, NHS England told the medical directors and chief nurses of all acute hospitals in England that it had found that 10%-20% of people in hospital with the disease had got it while they were inpatients. Senior doctors and hospital managers say that doctors, nurses and other staff have inadvertently passed on the virus to patients because they did not have adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) or could not get tested for the virus. Doctors say that hospital-acquired COVID-19 is a significant problem and that patients have died after becoming infected that way. One surgeon, who did not want to be named, said: “Multiple patients my department treated who were inpatients pre lockdown got the bug and died. Obviously the timeline supports that they acquired it from staff and other patients.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 17 May 2020
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Content ArticleThis document from the British Thoracic Society is intended to be used as a resource for pulmonary rehabilitation healthcare professionals conducting assessments remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Content ArticleIn the midst of the COVIS-19 lockdown, this article, published in Diagnosis, critically assesses the most important undesirable effects of prolonged homestay such as physical inactivity, weight gain, behavioral addiction disorders, insufficient sunlight exposure and social isolation. The authors also aim to provide some tentative recommendations for the alleviation of side effects.
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Content ArticleThis document “Resumption of hospital services after lockdown” provides a comprehensive set of action plans and key guidelines to be followed in the context of continuous hospital preparedness. It specifically addresses the action plan in India for resuming of services, in the safest and most effective manner to safeguard both patients and healthcare worker.
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Content ArticleThe government needs to set out a contingent exit plan, involving carefully specified levels of lockdown, and the thresholds at which they would be triggered. This will allow businesses and people to plan, and begin to look to the future. This report from the Institute of Global Changes puts forward suggestions for a lockdown exit plan.
