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News Article
Messages revealed healthcare workers were drugging patients
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Two healthcare workers who exchanged vile texts while needless drugging sick people to ‘keep them quiet’ have been found guilty of ill-treating patients. Senior nurse Catherine Hudson, 54, was found to have regularly tranquillised patients unnecessarily for her own amusement and to have an ‘easy’ shift. While Charlotte Wilmot, 48, an assistant practitioner, wrote vile texts encouraging her to carry out the dangerous acts, with complete disregard for the consequences. Preston Crown Court heard the pair worked on the stroke unit at Blackpool Victoria Hospital and had carried out needless sedations between 2017 and 2018. Restrictions on prescription drugs were so lax in the stroke unit that staff would help themselves and self-medicate or steal drugs to supply to others, the court heard. Drugs such as Zopiclone, a powerful medicine used to treat insomnia, were often stolen and used to drug multiple patients. Police launched an investigation in November 2018 after a student nurse raised concerns about the treatment of patients in the stroke unit. A number of staff members were arrested during the course of the investigation and their mobile devices were seized. Read full story Source: The Independent, 6 October 2023 -
News Article
NHS ombudsman calls on trust chief to withdraw ‘not accurate’ remarks
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The NHS ombudsman has told a health trust chief to withdraw “not accurate” remarks about him amid an alleged attempt to play down up to 1,000 avoidable patient deaths. Rob Behrens wrote to Stuart Richardson, the head of the Norfolk and Suffolk mental health NHS trust, over remarks he made about him to Norfolk county council’s health scrutiny committee. The councillors on the committee were questioning Richardson over claims reported by the BBC’s Newsnight programme that his trust had “watered down” a report into what are thought to be the avoidable deaths of up to 1,000 patients. The changes between different versions of the document toned down criticism of the trust’s leadership, a move that drew criticism from Behrens and bereaved relatives. For example, the auditors, Grant Thornton, removed references included in the first version to the trust’s governance being “poor, … weak [and] inadequate”, after discussions with trust bosses. The trust and Grant Thornton said the changes were part of a normal factchecking process. Referring to the changes, Behrens had told Newsnight that “the differences in the texts at key points are so huge that this is not just a bureaucratic drafting issue”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 5 October 2023 -
Content ArticleWalkthrough analysis is a structured approach to collecting and analysing information about a task or process or a future development (for example, designing a new protocol). It is used to help understand how work is performed and aims to close the gap between work as imagined and work as done to better support human performance. Walkthrough analysis is one of the tools included in the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF). This guide by NHS England provides information on how to carry out walkthrough analysis. It covers: Getting started System considerations Task and tool matrix View further PSIRF content and resources on the hub.
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EventThe Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) arguably represents the most significant change to investigating and managing patient safety incidents in the history of the NHS. To embed PSIRF effectively within organisations, healthcare teams need to understand and utilise a range of new techniques and disciplines. Clinical audit is an established quality improvement methodology that is often overlooked by patient safety teams, but will play an increasingly important role in ensuring that PSIRF fully delivers its stated objectives. CQC reports often highlight the importance of clinical audit as a measurement and assurance tool that can raise red flags if used appropriately. Indeed, both the Ockenden and Kirkup reports highlighted the importance of clinical audit in identifying and quantifying substandard care. While SEIPS, After Action Reviews, more in-depth interviewing techniques, etc. are all receiving much fanfare in relation to PSIRF, the importance of clinical audit needs to be better understood. This short course will explain how organisations who use clinical audit effectively will increase patient safety and better understand why incidents take place. We will look at the key role of audit in understanding work as imagined and works as done and show why national audits can assist with creating patient safety plans. Change analysis and the effective implementation of safety actions are keys to PSIRF delivery and clinical audit will assist in the delivery of both. We will also demonstrate the important, but often under-appreciated role, clinical audit staff will have in the successful delivery of PSIRF. Key learning outcomes: Why clinical audit is an integral element of PSIRF. Why clinical audit staff have a vital role to play in PSIRF. How clinical audit data can help raise red flags and spot risks. Using clinical audit to better understand your incidents. Ensuring your safety actions are working. Using audit to assess your patient safety incident investigations. Register hub members will receive 20% discount. Email info@pslhub.org for a discount code.
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EventThe Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) was published on 16th August 2022 and replaces the Serious incident Framework. This national conference looks at the practicalities of Serious Incident Investigation and how this has changed with the publication of PSIRF. The conference will also update delegates on best practice in serious incident investigation under PSIRF and ensuring the focus is on safety actions for improvement. There will also be an extended focus on learning, including mortality governance and learning from deaths ensuring insight and investigation findings lead to improvement. The conference will include updates from PSIRF early adopter sites. The conference update delegates on the new Patient Safety Incident Response Standards and how to review your current practice against these standards. For further information and to book your place visit https://www.healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk/virtual-online-courses/serious-incident-investigation-patient-safety or email kerry@hc-uk.org.uk Follow this conference on Twitter @HCUK_Clare #NHSSeriousIncidents hub members receive a 20% discount. Email info@pslhub.org for a discount code.
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Event
HSIB: Investigative interviewing
Patient Safety Learning posted an event in Community Calendar
This practical course offers an overview of the principles that underpin a professional safety investigation interview with either a member of staff, a patient or a family. The course aligns to the PSIRF guidance on a systems approach to interviews. The course includes: Planning and preparing for an interview Using a structured hierarchy of questions to facilitate comprehensive, accurate information Asking system-focused questions Closing an interview Register -
Event
HSIB: Investigative interviewing
Patient Safety Learning posted an event in Community Calendar
This practical course offers an overview of the principles that underpin a professional safety investigation interview with either a member of staff, a patient or a family. The course aligns to the PSIRF guidance on a systems approach to interviews. The course includes: Planning and preparing for an interview Using a structured hierarchy of questions to facilitate comprehensive, accurate information Asking system-focused questions Closing an interview Register -
Event
HSIB: Investigative interviewing
Patient Safety Learning posted an event in Community Calendar
This practical course offers an overview of the principles that underpin a professional safety investigation interview with either a member of staff, a patient or a family. The course aligns to the PSIRF guidance on a systems approach to interviews. The course includes: Planning and preparing for an interview Using a structured hierarchy of questions to facilitate comprehensive, accurate information Asking system-focused questions Closing an interview Register -
Event
HSIB: Demystifying thematic analysis
Patient Safety Learning posted an event in Community Calendar
This session will provide an opportunity to ‘have a go’ and discuss some of the challenges and practical aspects of using thematic analysis for the purpose of learning from patient safety issues. This course is 3 hours long. On completion of the course you will receive a certificate of attendance, and as this course is CPD accredited you are awarded 3 CPD points. Register -
Event
HSIB: Demystifying thematic analysis
Patient Safety Learning posted an event in Community Calendar
untilThis session will provide an opportunity to ‘have a go’ and discuss some of the challenges and practical aspects of using thematic analysis for the purpose of learning from patient safety issues. This course is 3 hours long. On completion of the course you will receive a certificate of attendance, and as this course is CPD accredited you are awarded 3 CPD points. Register -
Event
HSIB: Demystifying thematic analysis
Patient Safety Learning posted an event in Community Calendar
untilThis session will provide an opportunity to ‘have a go’ and discuss some of the challenges and practical aspects of using thematic analysis for the purpose of learning from patient safety issues. This course is 3 hours long. On completion of the course you will receive a certificate of attendance, and as this course is CPD accredited you are awarded 3 CPD points. Register -
Event
HSIB: Demystifying thematic analysis
Patient Safety Learning posted an event in Community Calendar
untilThis session will provide an opportunity to ‘have a go’ and discuss some of the challenges and practical aspects of using thematic analysis for the purpose of learning from patient safety issues. This course is 3 hours long. On completion of the course you will receive a certificate of attendance, and as this course is CPD accredited you are awarded 3 CPD points. -
Content Article
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Healthcare often uses the experience of aviation to set its patient safety agenda, and the benefits of a ‘safety management system’ (SMS) are currently being espoused, possibly because the former chief investigator for HSIB, Keith Conradi, had an aviation background. So, what does an SMS look like and would it be beneficial in healthcare? In this blog, Norman MacLeod discusses aviation's SMS, its many component parts, the four pillars of an SMS, just culture and its role in healthcare.- Posted
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News Article
NHS can’t prepare for pandemic surge due to lack of staff, NHSE warns
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The NHS has too few staff to prepare for a pandemic surge, while its ageing buildings and social care’s weak ‘resilience and capacity’ would also undermine its response, NHS England has warned. A new NHSE submission to the Covid-19 public inquiry says funding pressure from 2010 has undermined the health service’s “resilience” and that “resilience and capacity issues in social care are national issues which must be addressed from the centre”. The document was posted unnoticed on the inquiry website last month. No current or former NHSE leaders have so far given evidence to the inquiry. It is the first time NHSE has clearly set out that understaffing and underinvestment compromised the service’s readiness to deal with the pandemic. Referring to the NHS’s ability to create “surge capacity [with] flexible staff and equipment which can be pivoted into different roles”, it goes on: “It is only possible to train staff to work more flexibly into different roles/environments if they can be freed up to attend training and refreshers. “This requires ‘surplus’ staff numbers on rotas, which is not currently possible in relation to many staffing groups across the NHS.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 3 October 2023 -
Event
Clinical negligence update 2023
Patient Safety Learning posted an event in Community Calendar
untilAn online half day conference from the Legal Training Consultancy with a panel of seven speakers, including five KCs. Who should attend? The conference will appeal to solicitors, barristers, medical professionals, expert witnesses, NHS Trusts and Private Health Providers, insurers and associations. Topics Causation and divisible vs indivisible injuries. Scope of the Duty of Care. The law on consent to medical treatment following McCullough v Forth Valley Health Board in the Supreme Court. A medical perspective on proposals for reform of medical litigation. Case law update. CCC v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and “lost years” compensation. Early investigation of cerebral palsy claims: The lessons learned. Speakers: Alexander Hutton KC, Hailsham Chambers Ben Collins KC Old Square Chambers Richard Booth KC, 1 Crown Office Row Richard Baker KC, 7BR Owain Thomas KC 1 Crown Office Row Jeremy Pendlebury, 7BR Hugh Whitfield , Consultant Urological Surgeon Register -
Content Article
The truth for Gaia Young
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Patient stories
Previously well, Gaia died aged 25 years of an unexplained brain condition hours after admission to University College Hospital London. Her death has been the subject of hospital investigations and an inquest. Over one year later her death remains unexplained. Why? This is her mother’s (Dorit) search for the truth: information is provided to stimulate medical crowd thinking – to ask the right questions and to get the right answers. Read the narrative of Gaia’s final illness in her mother’s story and in the memorandum from the link below. See also: Serious Incident Report: Unexpected deterioration of a young woman on the Acute Medical Unit: updated report (February 2022) -
News ArticleFormer police officers, including a murder detective, have been hired by NHS hospitals in a move that campaigners have warned risks discouraging whistleblowers. The Sunday Telegraph has revealted that retired officers have been employed by a trust currently under scrutiny for its treatment of doctors who raise patient safety concerns. One of them has taken up a patient safety incident investigator role worth up to £57,349 a year. Meanwhile a senior detective has been called into multiple trusts on an ad hoc basis to conduct investigations. Last night a leading patient group called on the NHS to be transparent about exactly how such personnel are being used, “given the ongoing concerns about how such roles interact with whistleblowers”. Paul Whiteing, chief executive of the charity Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA), said: “We at AvMA welcome any steps taken by Trusts to professionalise the investigation of patient safety incidents. This is long overdue. “But given the on-going concerns about how such roles interact with whistleblowers, to maintain trust and confidence of all of the staff, trusts need to be clear, open and transparent about why they are making such appointments and the role and duties of those they employ to fulfil them, whatever their backgrounds.” Campaigners have warned that some NHS trusts deliberately seek to conflate patient safety issues with staff workplace investigations. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 30 September 2023
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News ArticleMore than 1 in 10 sexual harassment complaints against doctors are not investigated by the General Medical Council because of an “arbitary” rule, the Observer has revealed. According to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, 13% of sexual misconduct complaints made between the years 2017-18 and 2021-22 were closed without investigation because the GMC is prevented from considering alleged incidents more than five years after the event. As part of the council’s remit to protect patient safety and improve medical education and practice across the UK it investigates any kind of complaint against doctors. The figures show the GMC refused to investigate 170 complaints relating to sexual assault, attempted rape, and rape in the period analysed. In 22 of those cases the five-year rule was cited. It received 566 sexual harassment complaints in the same period. Anthony Omo, the GMC’s general counsel and director of fitness to practise, told the Observer: “We can and do waive the five-year rule where there are grave allegations involving sexual assault or rape. In many cases involving sexual allegations, the GMC’s position will be that such serious misconduct is incompatible with continued registration.” A government consultation in February heard that the five-year-rule was “arbitrary” and “a barrier to public protection” as it allowed doctors who may be guilty of inappropriate behaviour to continue practising. However, despite commitments from the Department of Health and Social Care to scrap the limitation as a “top priority”, no date has been set. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 30 September 2023
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Content ArticleCHIRP was formed in 1982 as a result of a joint initiative between the Chief Scientific Officer Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the Chief Medical Officer CAA and the Commandant Royal Air Force Institute of Aviation Medicine (IAM). The programme was based on the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) that had been formed in the United States of America in 1976 under the management of National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA).
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Content ArticleIncident investigation remains a cornerstone of patient safety management and improvement, with recommendations meant to drive action and improvement. However, there is little empirical evidence about how—in real-world hospital settings—recommendations are generated or judged for effectiveness.
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News Article
University Hospitals Birmingham: Half of staff felt bullied
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
More than half of staff at a hospital trust that has been under fire for its "toxic culture" have said they felt bullied or harassed. The findings come from an independent review commissioned by University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) NHS Trust. It has been at the centre of NHS scrutiny after a culture of fear was uncovered in a BBC Newsnight investigation. UHB has apologised for "unacceptable behaviours". It added it was committed to changing the working environment. Of 2,884 respondents to a staff survey, 53% said they had felt bullied or harassed at work, while only 16% believed their concerns would be taken up by their employer. Many said they were fearful to complain "as they believed it could worsen the situation," the review team found. Read full story Source: BBC News, 27 September 2023 -
Content ArticleThe Culture Review report was published following an independent external review of the organisational culture at University Hospitals Birmingham Trust. The external review was carried out by consultancy firm The Value Circle following a series of investigations into problems at University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust over the last year.
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News ArticleHospitals are still promoting a “natural birth is best” philosophy – despite a succession of maternity scandals highlighting the dangers of the approach. A Telegraph investigation has found a number of trusts continuing to push women towards “normal” births – meaning that caesarean sections and other interventions are discouraged. On Saturday, the Health Secretary has expressed concern about the revelation, vowing to raise the matter with senior officials. Guidelines for the NHS make it categorically clear that a woman seeking a caesarean section should be supported in her choice, after “an informed discussion about the options”. Maternity services were last year warned by health chiefs to take care in the language they used, amid concern about “bias” towards natural births. The warning from maternity officials followed concern that women were being left in pain and fear, with their preferences routinely ignored. The findings come 18 months after Dame Donna Ockenden published a scathing report into maternity care at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust, which warned that a focus on natural birth put women in danger. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 23 September 2023
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Content Article
In October, the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch will tweak its name, become independent from NHS England and the UK government, and gain new powers to strengthen investigations. With the announcement of the change in status, Health Secretary, Steven Barclay, reported it would be leading an investigation into inpatient mental health. This follows swiftly on the heels of the Strathdee rapid review into data on mental health inpatient settings, which itself was launched in response to well-documented failures in these settings. The aim of this new investigation into mental health is simple: to improve safety. In this blog, Karen West, Head of Transformation (Mental health) at Oxehealth, and Professor Dan Joyce from the University of Liverpool, discuss the importance of data in patient safety improvement and explain why inpatient mental health data is so difficult to collect and what can be done to improve this. -
Content Article
The 15th annual HSJ Patient Safety Congress brings together more than 1000 attendees with the shared goal of advancing the national agenda for patient safety across health and social care. In this blog, Samantha Warne, the hub's Lead Editor, captures some of the key highlights and messages from day one of HSJ’s Patient Safety Congress.
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