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Showing results for tags 'Infection control'.
Found 641 results
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Content ArticleTools and resources to support the implementation of the WHO Guidelines on Core Components of Infection Prevention and Control Programmes.
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Content ArticleEditorial from Liam J Donaldson and Neelam Dhingra in the Journal of Patient Safety and Risk Management for World Patient Safety Day.
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Content ArticleThis survey, a collaboration between the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) and the International Hospital Federation (IHF) was designed to frame the WHO Global Consultation on Patient Safety, which was held from 24-26 February 2020 to kick off the development of the Global Patient Safety Action Plan. Already then, the pandemic-to-be was affecting various regions, before striking health systems worldwide. The question of patient safety is a critical one in the discussion about COVID-19: hygiene and hospital-acquired infections, non-suitable hospital architecture, delayed surgeries and procedures, lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) and much more affected the safety of patients as well as of health workers, to whom the World Patient Safety Day 2020 is dedicated. In February 2020, the IHF disseminated a short survey on national safety plans to its Full Members, hospitals’ national/regional representatives. At the same time, ISQua disseminated their survey asking how well incident reporting is in place, and if the outcomes improve the 'no blame no shame' approach to their Individual and Institutional Members. The surveys were repeated in July 2020 to see if the onset of COVID-19 had made any positive or negative changes to the responses.
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Content ArticleA framework has been developed by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), Royal College of Midwives and the Society and College of Radiographers, in partnership with NHS England and NHS Improvement, to support maternity services with the local reintroduction of hospital visitors and individuals accompanying women to appointments. This framework has been designed to assist NHS trusts to reintroduce access for partners, visitors and other supporters of pregnant women in English maternity services. It applies to inpatient and outpatient settings. Reintroducing visits is challenging during a pandemic, and the priority must be the safety of all service users (including pregnant women), staff and visitors.
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Content ArticleWith evidence of the impact of COVID-19 on BAME communities, on 15 April 2020 NHS England CEO Simon Stevens convened a meeting of leaders in healthcare and representative bodies such as the British Medical Association and Royal College of Nursing to agree a plan of action to support staff. The NHS response has since been underpinned by three principles of protecting, supporting, and engaging staff.
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Content ArticleThe Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) reiterates the importance of clear personal protective equipment (PPE) guidelines to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission when delivering care in people’s homes.
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Content ArticleThis is a report and survey analysis from Runnymede, the UK’s leading independent thinktank on race equality and race relations. Results show that black and minority ethnic (BME) people face greater barriers in shielding from coronavirus as a result of: the types of employment they hold (BME men and women are overrepresented among key worker roles)having to use public transport moreliving in overcrowded and multigenerational households morenot being given appropriate PPE (personal protective equipment) at work. In all of these areas, most BME groups are more likely to be over-exposed and under-protected compared with their white British counterparts.
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Content ArticleHospital-acquired pneumonia, whether device associated or not, is the number one hospital-acquired infection in the United States and a major threat to the safety of patients. This blog by Patient Safety Movement discusses how engaging nurses in quality improvement around mouth care reduces ventilator acquired pneumonias.
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Content ArticleThis update from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) provides the latest data and analysis related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its impact on deaths and health data.
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Content ArticleIn this briefing The Health Foundation provides an overview of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social care in England. In part 1 they describe how the pandemic unfolded in the social care sector from March until June 2020, and in part 2 they examine the factors that contributed to the scale and severity of outbreaks in care homes. In part 3 they attempt to quantify the disruption to health and social care access from February until the end of April 2020.
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The cost of uncoordinated responses to COVID-19
lzipperer posted an article in Data, research and statistics
This blog post from Aral and Eckles highlights a study done at the Social Analytics Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) examining the impact of the uncoordinated responses to COVID-19 across the United States. The blog links to the original study and other related materials. -
Content ArticleAntibiotics are key to modern medicine and treatment. Many procedures and treatments developed over recent years, such as chemotherapy, organ transplants and other major surgery, rely on antibiotics to prevent infections. They are also crucial in treating some forms of pneumonia and other illnesses. However, an increasing number of common infections are becoming resistant to the drugs designed to treat them. This is called antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) is part of the fight against AMR. The purpose of AMS is to ensure ‘the right antibiotic for the right patient, at the right time, with the right dose, and the right route, causing the least harm to the patient and future patients’. AMS programmes might include improving prescribing of antibiotics, promoting data collection and raising public awareness of AMR.
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The group B Strep i-learn module
PatientSafetyLearning Team posted an article in Maternity
Group B Strep can be a complex topic, with some confusion about what exactly is the latest guidelines on testing, risk factors, recommended antibiotics, and the impact (if any) of GBS on homebirths, waterbirths, breastfeeding, and much more.This is why Group B Strep Support and the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) have produced an evidence-based group B Strep i-learn module.The group B Strep i-learn module focuses on the current UK guidelines for preventing group B Strep infection in newborn babies and on signs of these infections in babies. It will refresh clinician knowledge of the national guidelines, and help you tackle the FAQs you get from expectant and new parents.Follow the link below to find out how to sign up. -
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Out-patient Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy (OPAT) is now a routine part of care in the UK following demonstration that it is safe and effective for patients and OPAT is now being actively promoted as part of the UK government’s stewardship initiatives. NHS North Tees and Hartlepool share their experience of redesigning their OPAT services. See the attachment below for details on the project. -
Content ArticleThe perspective of Megha Prasad, a New York cardiologist leading a COVID-19 infections disease service, discusses leadership qualities of being available, communication, adaptability, humility and gratitude as key to effective leadership during challenging times.
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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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COVID-19 has exposed the weak safety culture in medicine
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Blogs
"Many things will change as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of them has to be the safety culture in medicine. Those in positions of authority must stop paying lip service to it and instead treat frontline workers as equal partners in the drive to improve safety, not as expendable infantry who can be bullied over the top with impunity or scapegoated ‘pour encourager les autres'", says Dr David Berger, a remote hospital doctor in Northern Australia. In this blog, David discusses how a robust, modern safety culture involves the closest possible partnership between management and frontline workers, where concerns can be shared freely, cooperation is total and where all interested parties must agree that the best possible system is in place. -
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 ArticleThis interview is part of the hub's 'Frontline insights during the pandemic' series where Martin Hogan interviews healthcare professionals from various specialties to capture their experience and insight during the coronavirus pandemic. Here Martin interviews an oral surgeon who has been in the post for a year in a trust that covers two sites in the West Country.
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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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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. -
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'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 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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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 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.
