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Found 1,559 results
  1. News Article
    A tribunal which allowed a doctor's voluntary removal from the medical register was an "unlawful corner-cutting exercise", a judge has said. Neurologist Michael Watt was at the centre of Northern Ireland's biggest recall of patients. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) allowed him to voluntarily remove himself in 2021. It meant he would not face a public hearing about any fitness to practice issues. More 2,500 patients who were in his care had their cases reviewed - with around one in five having their diagnosis changed. Having already quashed the decision to grant removal, Mr Justice McAlinden delivered a scathing assessment of how the application was handled on Monday. In Belfast's High Court, he described the process where Dr Watt's request was heard without the necessary jurisdiction as a "fiasco". The court also heard how Dr Watt appeared to have a "get out of jail free card" where patients were denied public scrutiny of their medical care. Read full story Source: BBC News, 17 April 2023
  2. News Article
    The government is investigating reports that growing numbers of people are developing life-changing allergies to some gel nail products. Dermatologists say they are treating people for allergic reactions to acrylic and gel nails "most weeks". Dr Deirdre Buckley of the British Association of Dermatologists urged people to cut down on gel nail use and stick to "old-fashioned" polishes. Some people have reported nails loosening or falling off, skin rashes or, in rarer cases, breathing difficulties, she said. Although most gel polish manicures are safe and result in no problems, the British Association of Dermatologists is warning that the methacrylate chemicals - found in gel and acrylic nails - can cause allergic reactions in some people. It often occurs when gels and polishes are applied at home, or by untrained technicians. Dr Buckley said: "We're seeing it more and more because more people are buying DIY kits, developing an allergy and then going to a salon, and the allergy gets worse." The allergies can leave sufferers unable to have medical treatments like white dental fillings, joint replacement surgery and some diabetes medications. This is because once a person is sensitised, the body will no longer tolerate anything containing acrylates. Read full story Source: BBC News, 15 April 2023
  3. News Article
    The deaths of 650 patients treated by a breast cancer surgeon who was convicted of maiming hundreds are being investigated, it has been reported. Once one of the country’s leading doctors, Ian Paterson carried out thousands of operations before he was jailed for uneccesarily performing hundreds of life-changing surgeries. The Sunday Times has now revealed medical experts are sifting through the records of women who were cared for by the disgraced surgeon over more than twenty years. He is currently serving a 20-year jail term, having been found guilty of 17 counts of wounding with intent. Many of the procedures, which took place between 1997 and 2011, had “no medically justifiable reason”, a court heard. According to The Sunday Times, 27 inquests have been opened in cases where coroners “believe there is evidence to have reason to suspect that some of those deaths may be unnatural”. Read full story Source: The Independent, 16 April 2023
  4. News Article
    A company which ran children's homes where residents were systemically abused also failed to prevent adults being harmed, BBC News has learned. An investigation found 99 cases of abuse at a Doncaster home for vulnerable adults in 2010. One worker even ordered a Taser to use there. The care home company - Hesley - said improvements were made at the time. But children at other Hesley homes were later reported to have been punched, kicked and fed chillies. The BBC reported in January how more than 100 reports of appalling abuse and neglect - dating from 2018 to 2021 - were uncovered at sites run by the Hesley Group. They included children being locked outside in freezing temperatures while naked, and having vinegar poured on wounds. Now the BBC has obtained confidential reports from within Hesley and the local authority which reveal wider safeguarding failings spanning more than a decade at both children's homes and placements for vulnerable young adults. Read full story Source: BBC News, 14 April 2023
  5. News Article
    Staff in hospital emergency departments in England are struggling to spot when infants are being physically abused by their parents, raising the risk of further harm, an investigation has found. Clinicians often do not know what to do if they are concerned that a child’s injuries are not accidental because there is no guidance, according to a report from the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) that identifies several barriers to child safeguarding in emergency departments. Matt Mansbridge, a national investigator, said the report drew on case studies of three children who were abused by their parents, which he said were a “hard read” and a “stark reminder” of the importance of diagnosing non-accidental injuries quickly, since these are the warning sign in nearly a third of child protection cases for infants under the age of one. “For staff, these situations are fraught with complexity and exacerbated by the extreme pressure currently felt in emergency departments across the country,” Mansbridge said. He said the clinicians interviewed wanted to “see improvement and feel empowered” to ask difficult questions. “The evidence from our investigation echoes what staff and national leads told us – that emergency department staff should have access to all the relevant information about the child, their history and their level of risk, and that safeguarding support needs to be consistent and timely/ Gaps in information and long waits for advice will only create further barriers to care,” he said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 13 April 2023
  6. News Article
    A single children’s mental health hospital with just 59 beds reported more than 1,600 “sexual safety incidents” in four years, shocking NHS figures reveal. Huntercombe Hospital in Maidenhead was responsible for more than half of the sex investigations reported in the 209 children’s mental health units across the country. Despite warnings at a rate of more than one a day to the health service since 2019, no action was taken to stop vulnerable NHS patients being sent to the scandal-hit unit as a result of the 1,643 sexual incident reports. The private unit is now finally due to be closed after an investigation by The Independent revealed allegations of verbal and physical abuse, prompting the NHS to withdraw patients. The hospital since said it plans to reopen as an adult unit. Figures obtained from the NHS show Huntercombe’s Maidenhead unit, Taplow Manor, was behind 57% of the 2,875 reported sexual incidents and assaults reported at England’s child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) over the past four years. Reported incidents can range from sexually inappropriate language to serious sexual assault and rape. Read full story Source: The Independent, 11 April 2023
  7. News Article
    A scandal-hit children’s mental health hospital set to close after an investigation uncovered allegations of severe abuse could reopen within months due to a legal loophole, it can be revealed. Taplow Manor hospital, in Maidenhead, will shut in May after the Independent exposed claims of “systemic abuse” and poor care from more than 50 former patients. Police are currently carrying out two investigations into the hospital–one into a patient death and a second into the alleged rape of a child involving staff. Active Care Group, which runs the hospital, announced last week that would close but in letters sent to staff since then, it said it was looking to retrain them with plans to “reopen as an adult acute service” in a matter of months. A loophole in the regulations means that there is nothing to stop healthcare providers from applying to the watchdog, the Care Quality Commission, to reopen, even if serious concerns have been raised about the closed operation. Read full story Source: Independent, 4 April 2023
  8. News Article
    The government is actively considering whether to give full legal powers to an independent inquiry investigating the deaths of mental health patients. Roughly 2,000 deaths at the Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) are being examined. The BBC understands Conservative Health Secretary Stephen Barclay is minded to make the inquiry statutory, which would compel witnesses to come forward. Only 11 current and former trust staff have agreed to give live evidence. Melanie Leahy, whose son Matthew died aged 20 while an inpatient at the Linden Centre in Chelmsford, said families were "definitely" a step closer to what they had campaigned for. "We just need it converted [to a statutory inquiry] - it's just delay after delay after delay and we need those powers," she told BBC Essex. Read full story Source: BBC News, 3 April 2023
  9. News Article
    The care watchdog is investigating possible safeguarding failures at an NHS trust after a documentary uncovered figures showing there were 24 alleged rapes and 18 alleged sexual offences in just three years at one of its mental health hospitals. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) told Disability News Service (DNS) that it had suspended the trust’s ratings for wards for people with learning difficulties and autistic people while it carried out checks. The figures were secured by the team behind Locked Away: Our Autism Scandal, a film for Channel 4’s Dispatches, which revealed the poor and inappropriate treatment and abuse experienced by autistic people in mental health units. None of the alleged rapes at Littlebrook Hospital in Dartford, Kent, led to a prosecution, with allegations of 12 rapes and 15 further sexual offences dropped because of “evidential difficulties” and investigations into 12 other alleged rapes and two sexual offences failing to identify a suspect. A CQC spokesperson said: “Sexual offences are a matter for the police in the first instance. “However, we take reports of sexual offences seriously and review them all, and raise these issues directly with the trust. “We do this alongside involvement from police and local authority safeguarding teams’ own investigations and monitor any actions and outcomes taken by the trust to ensure people are kept safe." Read full story Source: 30 March 2023
  10. News Article
    The Care Quality Commission’s follow-up of whistleblowing concerns from health and care staff has been poor and inconsistent, and there is a “widespread lack of competence and confidence” on dealing with race and racism at the organisation, two reviews have found. A “Listening, learning, responding to concerns” review was published by the Care Quality Commission, alongside a linked independent review into how the regulator failed Shyam Kumar, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon in the North West, who was also a CQC specialist professional adviser. The wider review looked at a range of issues including how the CQC deals with racism; how well it listens to whistleblowers in providers; and how it deals with its own staff, including as part of a recent restructure, and its internal “Freedom to Speak Up” process. It followed concerns bring raised, in addition to Mr Kumar’s case, about these issues. Scott Durairaj, a CQC director who joined it last year and led the review work along with a panel of advisers, reported there was “clear evidence, during the scoping, design phase and throughout the review, of a widespread lack of competence and confidence within CQC in understanding, identifying and writing about race and racism”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 29 March 2023
  11. News Article
    A scandal-hit children’s mental health hospital will close months after an investigation by The Independent uncovered claims of poor care and systemic abuse. Taplow Manor hospital, in Maidenhead, was threatened with closure by the NHS safety watchdog, the Care Quality Commission, only last week if it failed to make improvements following a damning report. Active Care Group, which runs the hospital, confirmed it would close by the end of May, saying a decision by the NHS to stop admitting patients had rendered its “service untenable”. The move comes after an investigation by The Independent and Sky News heard from more than 50 patients who alleged “systemic abuse” by the provider, while Taplow Manor is facing two police probes – one into a patient death and a second into the alleged rape of a child involving staff. Read full story Source: The Independent, 29 March 2023
  12. News Article
    The leaders of University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) must acknowledge and seek to tackle the organisation’s pervasive bullying culture, and those who cannot may need to leave, the lead author of its patient safety review has warned. In an interview with HSJ, Mike Bewick said humility is required to address major cultural issues identified through conversations he had with senior medics and former employees. Professor Bewick’s overall view was that UHB was a “safe” place to receive care, but his team had been “disturbed” by consistent reporting of a bullying culture. Professor Bewick wrote in his report that even during his six-week review, initial goodwill from the trust had “dissipated”, adding his team has seen an organisation that is “culturally very reluctant to accept criticism”. Speaking to HSJ, he acknowledged there were people within UHB who do not accept cultural problems, adding: “I would hope they see the right thing to do is to accept [they] didn’t get everything right, to do a bit of mea culpa, have some humility, and move on. Because I don’t think there’s necessarily a place for people who can’t move on.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 28 March 2023
  13. News Article
    An inquest report into the death of a young boy who died at home in his sleep has called for health bodies to take action to prevent further deaths. Louis Rogers' death was initially categorised as Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC) but the report recorded febrile seizures contributed. The recommendations include: A greater emphasis on medical education, research and public information for sudden unexpected deaths associated with febrile seizures Referrals for assessment of febrile seizures should be undertaken earlier to exclude more severe underlying illnesses The NHS website and pamphlet given to parents and guardians following a child's febrile seizure should be updated to help assist them in picking up potential early indicators of a more severe illness "Robust national guidance" and education should be given to GPs so that timely referrals could be made A checklist should be provided for health practitioners so that a child was not given a misdiagnosis of a febrile seizure Records of all contact with health practitioners - including GPs and paramedics - should be available for all The recommendations were made to six health authorities: Royal College of Paediatricians, Joint Royal Colleges Ambulance Liaison Committee, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), Royal College of General Practice, Royal College of Emergency Medicine and NHS England. Read full story Source: BBC News, 29 March 2023
  14. News Article
    Repeated cases of bullying and a toxic environment at one of England's largest NHS trusts have been found in a review. The Bewick report was ordered after a BBC Newsnight investigation heard from staff at University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) saying a climate of fear had put patients at risk. A first phase of the rapid review, headed by independent consultants IQ4U and led by Prof Mike Bewick, was published Tuesday. It is one of three major reviews into the trust, commissioned following a series of reports by Newsnight and BBC West Midlands in which current and former staff raised concerns. Summarising the findings, Prof Bewick, a former NHS England deputy medical director, said: "Our overall view is that the trust is a safe place to receive care. "But any continuance of a culture that is corrosively affecting morale and in particular threatens long-term staff recruitment and retention will put at risk the care of patients across the organisation - particularly in the current nationwide NHS staffing crisis. "Because these concerns cover such a wide range of issues, from management organisation through to leadership and confidence, we believe there is much more work to be done in the next phases of review to assist the trust on its journey to recovery." The West Midlands trust said it fully accepted the report's recommendations. Read full story Source: BBC News, 28 March 2023
  15. News Article
    Two external reviews have been carried out into a trust’s general surgery services amid concerns about whether it is a ‘safe interpersonal working environment’. But University Hospitals Sussex Foundation Trust has refused to make the reviews – which were both completed last year – public, partly because of what it says are concerns that they could lead to “harassment” of doctors who spoke to the authors. Both reviews were into aspects of the general surgery services at the Royal Sussex County Hospitals in Brighton. The trust has had a series of highly critical Care Quality Commission reports into some of its surgical services and a “well led” report is expected to be released in the next few weeks. The trust has refused HSJ’s Freedom of Information Act request to release the reviews, arguing that those interviewed had been promised confidentiality, and the issues involved are “emotive and sensitive matters”. “Disclosure could cause those involved in the reviews damage, distress and upset and could even lead to harassment,” it said. Read full story Source: HSJ, 27 March 2023
  16. News Article
    A son has accepted a settlement and an apology from the north Wales health board nearly 10 years after his mother was a patient in a mental health unit. Jean Graves spent nine weeks at the Hergest unit in Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor in 2013 after struggling with anxiety and depression. Her son David said she was left "severely malnourished" and fell. He previously said his mother - who was 78 when she was treated at the unit - collapsed six times and, over the course of six weeks, lost 25% of her body mass. The health board also apologised for the "distress" the family experienced while seeking answers "over many years" and said it hopes to "learn and improve" from Mr Graves's experience. In a letter to him, executives said: "It is very clear to us that we have failed your mother and that she should have had a better care whilst in our services." It said her records were incomplete or were "amended without proper evidence" and she was placed on a ward with a mix of patients with both psychiatric illness and older organic mental illness, which was not "best practice". Read full story Source: BBC News, 26 March 2023
  17. News Article
    Police are investigating fresh allegations of sexual assault against a child patient by a care worker at a scandal-hit private mental health hospital group. It is the second time reports have been made about a former Huntercombe Group hospital after two care workers were quizzed over the alleged rape of a child at its Taplow Manor Hospital in Maidenhead last year. The latest allegations are from a patient at the group’s Ivetsy Bank Hospital, in Staffordshire, which was rated as inadequate last week. In a statement, Staffordshire Police confirmed it had received a report of sexual assault and said inquiries were ongoing. The news comes as the NHS’s safety watchdog has threatened to close Taplow Manor after hospital leaders failed to make improvements in care. The action comes after joint investigations by The Independent and Sky News found the private hospital had put the safety of young mental health patients at risk, with more than 50 patients and staff members alleging “systemic abuse” and poor care. Read full story Source: The Independent, 24 March 2023
  18. News Article
    The link between menopause and poor mental health should be reviewed, the health watchdog has said, after an inquiry into a woman’s suicide found staff lack training to spot the risks. Frances Wellburn, 56, took her own life in 2020 after she was incorrectly assessed as being a “medium risk” of suicide by Tees, Esk and Wear NHS Trust (TEWV). A national study by the Health and Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB), prompted by her death, warned that this was a national problem, with funding and capacity problems driving staff to use ineffective “checklist” tools when assessing suicidal patients. HSIB also found staff were not trained to spot mental health risks associated with menopause, and menopause is not routinely considered a contributing factor among women with low mood who need help. It said that women are often prescribed antidepressants when hormone replacement therapy (HRT) would be more appropriate. In Ms Wellburn’s case, HSIB found TEWV staff had failed to take into account that she was going through menopause when they assessed her as being at medium risk of self-harm. This went against national guidance, which states scales should not be used to predict future suicide or self-harm. Read full story Source: The Independent, 23 March 2023
  19. News Article
    Leaders at a mental health trust tolerated high levels of safety incidents and accepted verbal assurance with ‘insufficient professional curiosity’, a critical report has found. An NHS England-commissioned review into governance at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys Foundation Trust has been published, reviewing the organisation’s response to serious safety concerns flagged at the former West Lane Hospital in Middlesbrough. It follows separate reports identifying “systemic failures” over the deaths of inpatients Christie Harnett, Nadia Sharif and Emily Moore. The new report, conducted by Niche Consulting, criticises board and service leaders’ handling of concerns about the regular occurrence of restraint and self-harm. More than a dozen incidents of inappropriate restraint, some seeing patients dragged along the floor, were identified in November 2018, resulting in multiple staff suspensions and some dismissals. Niche found there was a “lack of accountable leadership at all levels” and lack of evidence for decisions in response to the November 2018 incidents. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 21 March 2023
  20. News Article
    A scandal-hit hospital group has been sanctioned by inspectors after The Independent revealed “systemic abuse” at a string of children’s mental health units. England’s safety watchdog issued an official warning to Ivetsey Bank Hospital in Staffordshire, run by The Huntercombe Group, after an extensive investigation by this newspaper found the private hospital had put the safety of young mental health patients at risk. The Care Quality Commission also downgraded the hospital’s rating to “inadequate”. If improvements are not made in line with the warning notice, the hospital could be forced to close. An inspection was carried out two weeks after The Independent revealed widespread allegations of abuse and excessive restraint across The Huntercombe Group’s hospitals. The investigation revealed the provider, which also runs Taplow Manor children’s hospital in Maidenhead, was facing allegations from more than 50 former patients as well as claims of poor care from staff whistleblowers and dozens of negligence claims. Read full Source: The Independent, 15 March 2023
  21. Content Article
    Twenty-six doctors were referred to the General Medical Council by a single hospital trust - no further action taken. BBC Newsnight investigated.
  22. Content Article
    The only NHS service in England to offer gender identity services to children announced it would be closing down last year - after years of whistleblowers who worked there trying to raise the alarm about a scandal in their midst: a failure to safeguard some of the country's most vulnerable young adults. What went wrong? And how much did the toxic political climate at the time over trans issues contribute to a work practice that was not fit for purpose. Investigative reporter Hannah Barnes reflects her years spent talking to those involved - the staff, the families and most importantly, the children themselves.
  23. Content Article
    This summary of how a National Patient Safety Board (NPSB) will benefit patients and families was coproduced by the NPSB Advocacy Board with Patients for Patient Safety US. It outlines how the NPSB would ensure more comprehensive learning from patient safety incidents, ensure patients and families have a core role in governance and priority setting and that data is used to better understand patient safety in the US.
  24. Content Article
    The MHRA is aware of cases of increased intraocular pressure in patients recently implanted with EyeCee One preloaded and EyeCee One Crystal preloaded intraocular lenses (IOLs), which are manufactured by NIDEK and distributed by Bausch + Lomb. The root cause has not been identified and further investigations are ongoing with the manufacturer.  Due to the potential risks for patient safety, you should stop using these IOLs and quarantine remaining stock immediately pending the results of further investigations. Additional communications will be issued shortly advising clinicians and affected patients on the next steps.
  25. Content Article
    Ten years ago today, a public inquiry concluded that patients were subject to shocking levels of neglect at Stafford Hospital - putting it among the worst care scandals in NHS history. A young local reporter, Shaun Lintern – now The Sunday Times' health editor – helped expose the scandal. With the NHS again under huge pressure, can we be sure the same failings won't happen again? In this podcast, part of the Stories of our Times podcast series, Shaun speaks to the barrister who chaired the inquiry.
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