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News Article
NHS 24 warns of call delays over high festive demand
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS 24 is urging people to treat common illness at home as it faces its busiest period over the festive season. Helpline bosses have warned that it will take longer to answer calls as the service faces staffing pressures and increased demand caused by Covid. It expects 170,000 calls over Christmas and New year - including two four-day weekends with GP surgeries closed. The public have been advised to use the NHS Inform website to check symptoms before phoning NHS 24. Janice Houston, NHS 24 associate director of operations and nursing, said the spread of Omicron had left the service "missing key staff" with people required to self-isolate. "This year is exceptional and particularly busy," she said. "We plan within an inch of our life for our busiest period, so I would just ask the public to be patient with us. "We need to re-plan depending on who can't come to work from self-isolating. It might take a bit longer to answer the phone, but you will always get good care." Read full story Source: BBC News, 24 December 2021 -
News Article
We’re being asked to save the NHS again. But isn’t it supposed to save us?
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
“Protect the NHS” sounds like the team name for an illegal Downing Street quiz, but it won’t be winning any prizes for patient safety, writes Dr Phil Hammond in The Times. The fact is, the NHS, as was the case long before the pandemic, is woefully understaffed. Even more billions have been thrown at the system, but, as ever, so little of it finds its way to the frontline carers we all clapped for. The NHS is always fighting a losing battle. When the government first asked us to protect the NHS, it may as well have said: “Stay at home, die alone, protect the NHS.” Thousands of people have done just that since the pandemic started, for reasons not fully understood. They may have had Covid or non-Covid diseases, or both. They didn’t ask for, or couldn’t find, help when they were seriously ill. They followed their “stay at home” orders. Many died. "The NHS does some amazing things but the truth is it has never had the staff nor capacity — and sometimes not the culture — to provide safe, effective and timely care to all its citizens," says Hammond. "We also have appalling levels of public health inequality. The rich live a decade longer than the poor, and the poor suffer 20 more years of chronic disease and NHS dependency. No health service can cope with such high demands, many of them avoidable." Today, many people can’t even access care, never mind the quality of it. But we don’t need to dismantle the NHS, we need to staff it safely. We need to start with a proper, costed workforce plan for now and the future. If we put even more money into healthcare, we need to prove it’s being spent on frontline care that is proven to work. Just as we didn’t plan properly for Covid, we have never had a proper workforce plan for the NHS to estimate what staff increases we need to cope with an ageing, anxious and increasingly isolated population chock full of chronic diseases. How did we get in this mess? There is good evidence that safe staffing levels deliver better care, and that continuity of care and a long-standing relationship with your GP or nurse is hugely beneficial to your health. It’s much more rewarding for health professionals too. Alas, they don’t grow on trees and there’s a global shortage. There’s a limit to how many we can steal from countries who may need them more. No matter how much money we throw at the NHS in a pandemic panic, this tanker won’t be turned around quickly. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 18 December 2021 -
News ArticleEntire hospital units could be forced to shut because of staff quitting in protest at the government’s order that they must all be vaccinated against COVID-19, a senior NHS leader has warned. Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said that at one hospital trust in England, 40 midwives were refusing to get jabbed, raising fears that the maternity unit may have to close. “Trust leaders are acutely aware that, from April onwards, when Covid vaccinations will become mandatory, decisions by staff to remain unvaccinated could – in extreme circumstances – lead to patient services being put at risk,” said Hopson. “If sufficient numbers of unvaccinated staff in a particular service in a particular location choose not to get vaccinated, the viability and/or safety of that service could be at risk.” Hopson did not name the trust. But he cautioned that its maternity unit is “one representative example” of potential closures on grounds of patient safety that the government’s decision to compel NHS staff in England to be vaccinated or risk losing their job could lead to. Hopson said: “I was talking to a [trust] chief executive who said that 40 of the midwives on their midwifery service … were saying they were not prepared to be vaccinated. Those staff, given their skills and their expertise, are not easily redeployed but they’re also extremely difficult to replace." Read full story Source: The Guardian, 20 December 2021
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News ArticleLondon’s hospitals have been plunged into a “dangerous situation” as the Omicron wave has sent staff sickness levels soaring to around 10%, a top doctor has warned. Dr Katherine Henderson, a consultant at a central London hospital but speaking as President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said so many doctors and nurses are having to be off that it was already having an impact on patient safety. She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We are seeing increasingly that our staff are testing positive and that means that they have to go off." “Usually, staff sickness would last a couple of days but of course, if you test Covid positive, you are off for ten days. “People need to understand that this is a dangerous situation,” she added. “The acute problem is actually to do with staffing, with workforce. “Because there is so much in circulation, even if we are not seeing a big rise in hospitalisations yet, we are already seeing the effect on not having the staff to run shifts properly and safely." “So we are worried about patient harm coming about because we just don’t have the staff to keep the eye on the person on the trolley who is maybe a bit agitated.” Read full story Source: The Evening Standard, 16 December 2021
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News Article
NHS cannot be used as vaccination service every few months, jab chief warns
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The national chief for the Covid vaccination programme has warned that the NHS cannot become a vaccination service every few months. Emily Lawson also told healthcare staff in a briefing on Wednesday: “I have fed back to the Department of Health yesterday that I think realistically we don’t have the capacity to do anything else new over the next two-and-a-half weeks. “And that when we plan for things and have the right lead-up to them, we deliver them more effectively, which in the end is very critical for public confidence.” Her warning comes after the government announced plans on Sunday to rapidly accelerate the national Covid vaccination programme by offering all adults a booster jab by the new year. On Monday, NHS England sent letters to hospital chiefs, GPs and local healthcare leaders setting out plans to speed up the programme, and said the first priority for primary care would be delivering vaccines. Healthcare leaders were told they could drop non-urgent care in efforts to support the vaccine drive, however specific details on what treatments can be dropped are yet to be finalised. Read full story Source: The Independent, 15 December 2021 -
News ArticleEveryone over the age of 18 in England has been promised they can book their coronavirus booster appointment by the end of this year. In a televised address on Sunday evening, Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to deliver up to a million vaccine doses a day to ensure everyone eligible is offered a slot a month earlier than planned. As part of the "Omicron emergency national mission" he asked NHS staff "to make another extraordinary effort" to meet the new target. This will include more vaccine centres and walk-in sites with extended opening hours, "thousands" more volunteers to deliver jabs and help from the military to oversee operations. However, COVID ICU anaesthetist Dr Ed Patrick told Sky News there are already staff shortages "all over" the NHS, including intensive care, with boosters threatening to make them even worse. "It's a massive concern," he said. "You're taking a really scant resource and then you're pushing it elsewhere, which means that other services get cut." Pat Cullen, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said she is worried about the "scale and pace" of the new rollout, as the "same nurses are already facing huge demands under existing unsustainable pressures". While Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS providers, warned the health service is "already beyond full stretch" and the changes would see more procedures postponed in the coming days. Read full story Source: Sky News, 13 December 2021
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News Article
Mothers and babies at risk as vital health services in England stay shut
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Mothers and babies are being put at risk as vital health checks and support services remain shut months after lockdown was lifted, health professionals and charities have warned. Face-to-face services for new families stopped when lockdown began in March last year and have not come back in many parts of the country. Now experts fear the spread of the Omicron variant and the reintroduction of some restrictions means the reopening will be delayed further. Missing services include drop-in baby-weighing clinics, tongue-tie clinics, face-to-face breastfeeding support and council-run baby classes and playgroups. Experts have accused the government of failing to prioritise the needs of a generation of babies and their parents, with cost-cutting and a shortage of midwives and health visitors blamed for the closures. Health visitor drop-in clinics are “no longer running” in nearly a third of areas, and around 28% of newborn checks are being carried out via phone or video call, according to the No One Wants to See My Baby report by charities the Parent-Infant Foundation, Home-Start UK and Best Beginnings. The Institute of Health Visiting said different interpretations of government guidance meant some areas had brought back full services while others had not, creating a “postcode lottery of support for families”. It questioned official advice that routine checks could continue to be done via video and telephone calls, warning there was no evidence these were “safe or effective”. Executive director Alison Morton said: “Alongside the concerns of parents, there is a growing body of evidence that childhood conditions and disabilities are being missed, and vulnerable babies and young children are being harmed, as they are invisible to services when these assessments are not completed face to face.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 12 December 2021 -
News ArticleA hospital trust has been told to "immediately improve" its maternity and surgical services. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) made unannounced inspections in September and October at four of the hospitals run by University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust. Inspectors raised concerns about staff shortages, skills training and risk management. At the trust's four maternity services, inspectors found departments "did not have enough staff to keep women and babies safe" and staff were "not up to date" with training. Infection prevention measures in surgical services at the Royal Sussex County Hospital were "not consistently applied" and managers were not running services well, inspectors noted. The report also said morale was low and often staff "did not have time to report incidents". The trust said it has taken "urgent action" to make improvements. Read full story Source: BBC News, 10 December 2021
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News ArticleNHS bosses have warned the high prevalence of long Covid among staff is adding to rising healthcare pressures, amid growing concern that the new omicron variant could further drive infections and absences in the workforce. Some 40,000 (3.26%) of healthcare workers in the UK are estimated to have long Covid, according to the Office for National Statistics. This figure has risen by 5,000 since July. Many will be unable to work, though others are continuing to work despite their debilitating symptoms, experts say. “Trust leaders have told us they are concerned about the prevalence of long Covid amongst health and care staff,” said Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers. “Staff who are unwell need time to recover with support. But this may worsen unavoidable absences and sickness levels in the NHS at a time when pressures on the health service are mounting.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 9 December 2021
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News Article
Doctors and nurses vent anger as unvaccinated Covid cases delay vital operations
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The NHS has a backlog of 5.8 million waiting for surgery and specialists are increasingly frustrated at how the unvaccinated have left them unable to tackle it. Doctors and nurses have told of their anger and frustration at not being able to treat seriously ill patients as new figures show that more than 90% of Covid sufferers requiring the most specialist care are unvaccinated. While the success of the vaccination rollout has reduced the overall impact of COVID-19 on hospitals, intensive care clinicians from across England have spoken out over the continuing pressure they are under. Between 20% and 30% of critical care beds in England are occupied by Covid patients and three-quarters of those have not been vaccinated, according to the latest data up to July this year. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 4 December 2021 -
News Article
How hiring district nurses may reduce pressure in the NHS
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Is hiring more district nurses the smartest way to tackle the NHS care crisis as overstretched staff claim they are quitting hospitals due to intolerable pressure? District nurses are the unsung backbone of the NHS – going in to people’s homes to perform everything from wound dressings to support at the end of life. Yet what was once a thriving district nurse workforce has, over the past decade, been decimated. An ever-increasing caseload, limited resources and far more complex and challenging health needs have left them burnt out and fed up. As a result, they’re leaving in droves – at a time when we need them more than ever. The number of people dying at home is up by one third since before the pandemic, and those who do make it into hospital for care are discharged faster than ever to free up beds, long before they’ve made a full recovery. Ministers have tabled some ambitious ideas to address the vital need for at-home care, including a wave of new community health hubs, or more video appointments. But none are a quick fix, nor are they proven to solve the problem. Recruiting more district nurses could help alleviate these pressures, say experts, as well as tackling what threatens to be a spiralling crisis in community care. But this might be harder than it sounds. Read full story Source: Mail Online, 13 November 2021 -
News ArticleVacancies for nurses and midwives in Scotland have increased by almost 20% in just three months, new figures show. Official figures revealed that at the end of September the whole time equivalent (WTE) of 5,761.2 posts were unfilled across the NHS – a rise of 18.9% from the WTE total of 4,845.4 that was recorded at the end of June. The rise in vacancies comes at the same time as health service staffing reached a record high, with the NHS employing the equivalent of 154,307.8 full-time workers as of September 30 – 5.2% higher than a year ago. However, opposition leaders warned the health service, which is coming under ongoing pressure as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, is facing a “staffing crisis” this winter. Scottish Labour health spokeswoman and deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “Across our NHS services are on the brink of collapse, and things will only get worse as the cold weather bites. “This staffing crisis at the heart of this catastrophe has unfolded entirely on Nicola Sturgeon’s watch and will jeopardise the ability of services to remobilise and cope with demand. “Looking at the state of services in Scotland, we can all only hope we don’t get sick this winter.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 8 December 2021
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News ArticleIncidents including a cardiac arrest where an ambulance took more than an hour to arrive and the patient died have prompted trust chiefs to suggest they cannot prevent patient harm under their current funding levels. A report to the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) said patients suffering harm due to delayed ambulance response times “is a continuing theme due to the unprecedented demand the service is currently experiencing”. The report said the trust is trying to secure additional funding from commissioners, which would “reduce the likelihood of a similar incident for other patients in future”. NEAS has upheld several recent complaints made by families or patients about the harm being caused by delayed response times, but suggested the levels of demand on the service meant there was nothing it could have done differently. In one example, a woman in her 50s died from a cardiac arrest shortly after arrival to hospital after NEAS took 62 minutes to respond to a 999 call. NEAS had designated the woman, who had a history of heart attacks, a category two response – which should aim to arrive within 18 minutes on average. "All ambulance trusts have been seeing significant patient harm and the mainstream press have been strangely silent about this." "That it has got the stage where patients are routinely dying and being harmed while the resources are available, but tied up waiting outside hospitals, is truly maladministration on a grand scale." Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 9 December 2021
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News ArticleNearly 2,000 children and teenagers have been left waiting for specialist mental health care for at least a year in Scotland, according to official figures branded “damning” by psychiatrists. New NHS Scotland data has revealed that, at the end of September, there were 1,978 patients who had been waiting 52 weeks or more for a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) appointment. That is more than double the 959 young people who were waiting that long the previous September – despite efforts by Nicola Sturgeon’s government to meet its own 2023 target for 90% of young people to receive help within 18 weeks. Ahead of the Holyrood Budget on Thursday, the figures prompted calls from service providers for a “radical transformation of our mental health services” enacted with the same zeal as the response to the coronavirus pandemic and with a focus on earlier interventions to prevent young people “giving up on their futures”. According to the latest figures, there were a total of 11,816 young people waiting for an appointment by the end of September – just 78% of them who had been seen within 18 weeks. Dr Helen Smith, chair of the CAMHS faculty of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, said the long waits for help highlighted the “many problems” with these services “across the length and breadth of the country”. “The fact that our vulnerable children and young people are still waiting to be seen is, frankly, not good enough,” Dr Smith said. “We need them to be able to access the right support at the right time, from the correct services.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 8 December 2021
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News Article
Doctors report 13,000 cancelled operations in UK over two months
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
UK hospitals have cancelled at least 13,000 operations over the last two months as they struggle to cope with record demand for NHS care and people sick with Covid-19. Figures collected by A&E doctors showed that 13,061 planned surgeries had to be called off during October and November because of shortages of beds and staff. However, the cancellations occurred at just 40 of the several hundred NHS hospitals across the four home nations, so those 13,061 are likely to be a major underestimate of the scale of the problem. Dr Adrian Boyle, a vice-president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), which published the data, said the cancellations represented “a stark warning for the months ahead”. He also warned that A&E units across the NHS are “verging on crisis” because of their growing inability to provide timely care to the increasing numbers of patients seeking help. “Urgent and emergency care is verging on crisis and it is impacting and derailing elective care, meaning surgery for patients with serious conditions is delayed,” he added. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 7 December 2021 -
News ArticlePsychiatry is facing a ‘double whammy’ of chronic consultant shortages where patient care is being rationed and under-pressure doctors are working with ‘hands tied behind their backs’, a leading clinician has warned. As the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ official 2021 census reveals consultant vacancies are up by more than a third (35 per cent) since 2017 with nearly one in 10 posts going unfilled, current Dean Professor Subodh Dave told HSJ the current situation impacts “very adversely” on achieving NHS long-term plan goals. In an exclusive interview, the Derbyshire-based liaison psychiatrist told HSJ one in four (24%) of the country’s 7,782 consultant posts are not substantive and are currently dominated by locums, typically on shorter-term contracts. Professor Dave said current workforce gaps are having a knock-on effect with “inevitable rationing” of patient care to keep services running. “If you design a service that has to meet NICE standards then clearly you need the workforce to deliver that standard of care,” he added. “To do that with your hands tied behind your back is frankly impossible.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 6 November 2021
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News Article
‘Challenged’ trust plans to move patients to chairs to free up beds
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
An acute trust in the Midlands is planning to move patients to chairs on wards to free up beds for people waiting in its emergency department, following one of its “most challenged” days. In an email sent to staff at Nottingham University Hospitals on Tuesday, interim chief operating officer Rachel Eddie and chief medical officer Keith Girling wrote: “We are asking wards to transfer [patients confirmed as ready for discharge] to the discharge lounge, or if that isn’t possible, move them to a chair on the ward so that a patient waiting for a bed in ED or in an emergency pathway assessment area can be brought up.” “This is referred to as going ‘one over’,” the email added. “We will ensure that on each ward that has been designated as being able to go ‘one over’, a chair has been added to their Nervecentre ward layout so patients are all visible.” The email describes how Monday was one of the “most challenged Mondays we have seen” and confirmed the trust remains in ‘Opel 4’, the most severe level of operational pressure. It also said nursing staff have “shared concerns” about the amount of time they are able to spend with their patients. “This does mean that at times you will be asked to work at a higher patient to nurse ratio than we would like,” the email said. “We know this isn’t where any of us want to be, but it is unfortunately the reality of balancing risk.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 1 December 2021 -
News Article
Dental patients 'might never' get 6-month check-ups again
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Dentists may never catch up with the backlog of patients waiting for check-ups, a leading dentist has warned. Dr Russell Gidney said around 6,000 of his patients had not been given a routine check-up in the past year because of Covid restrictions. NHS Wales figures show courses of dental treatment dropped by over three quarters in 2020-21. The Welsh government said dental services would get an extra £3m this year to support pandemic recovery. Dr Gidney said fatigue among colleagues and recruitment problems threatened the return of regular appointments. At his practice in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, he said check-ups have not been going ahead because patients who need urgent treatment were prioritised. Dentists are limited in number of patients they treat because of increased safety measures - such as wearing more PPE and cleaning between patients. New operating procedures were announced last week, relaxing the safety measures for patients who show no signs of respiratory illness, such as colds and flu. But Dr Gidney said although new guidelines may increase patient volumes, they will "barely make a dent" into the "unprecedented backlogs". Wales' Health Minister Eluned Morgan said there have been "long-standing issues" with access to dentistry, due to practices experiencing difficulties with recruitment and retention of dentists. She said these issues were "impacting on the provision of NHS dental services". Read full story Source: BBC News, 2 December 2021 -
News Article
HSIB launches national investigation into ambulance delays
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The national patient safety watchdog has launched an investigation into the “significant patient harm” caused by ambulances being forced to wait with patients outside of A&E. The Health and Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) has confirmed it intends to launch an investigation after it received several alerts expressing concerns over the issue of ambulance delays this year. The investigation comes after The Independent revealed 160,000 patients had either died or come to harm as a result of delayed ambulance response times during 2020-21, which were being driven by delays in paramedics being able to hand over patients to hospitals. The damning report, from the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, included examples of severely ill patients not being treated properly, being forced to go to the toilet in ambulances, and being denied food and drink, as well as antibiotics and fluids. There have been multiple reports of patients dying while waiting for ambulances or while waiting outside of A&Es on the back of ambulances. In a statement to The Independent, HSIB said: “We recognise that handover delays pose a serious safety risk, potentially leading to significant patient harm and impacting on the wellbeing of NHS staff. We welcome the review by AACE as they have provided detailed insight and highlighted key safety concerns. HSIB has already received several referrals expressing similar concerns, which will be taken forward to a national investigation. We will work with AACE and others across the NHS to provide systemic safety learning to help address the challenges created by handover delays.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 2 December 2021 -
News ArticleThe NHS may be missing more than 9 million referrals, while patients face a “postcode lottery” for cancer treatment and routine operations, a parliament watchdog has warned. Millions of patients have either avoided or been unable to obtain healthcare during the pandemic leaving the NHS with a potential unknown backlog of operations, which could push the national waiting list to 12 million by 2025. A report from the government’s National Audit Office today also warned patients across England are facing a postcode lottery in terms of waits with some hospital waiting lists far larger than others following the pandemic. Eve Byrne, head of campaigns and public affairs, at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “This report confirms what we hear day in, day out from people living with cancer. Chronic staffing shortages are already having a devastating impact on cancer patients, and we have major concerns that is only set to worsen without urgent action. She said the government’s plan to tackle operations backlog must be backed up by steps to ensure enough nurses staff. “Without these critical pieces of the puzzle, we risk increasing numbers of people facing later diagnoses, poorer care and potentially worse chances of survival. This has to change,” she added. Read full story Source: The Independent, 1 December 2021
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News ArticleA watchdog is "very concerned" about the safety of people using the services of Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust. The damning report says inspectors found there was not always enough nursing staff and that permanent staff did not feel safe if bank or agency workers were used as they didn't have the relevant training. It follows an unannounced inspection in September by the Care Quality Commission "due to on-going concerns about the safety of services". Three young patients died in nine months at Prestwich Hospital, one of the Trust's units. A campaign group and the families are campaigning for a full investigation into those cases by NHS England. The CQC's two-day inspection of eight wards across five of the the Trust's seven sites found: The service did not always have enough nursing staff, who knew the patients or received basic and essential training to keep patients safe from avoidable harm. The environment on Poplar ward (Park House) was not clean on the first day of inspection and space on the ward was limited for patients. It was not clear that immediate concerns or learning from incidents was shared across the locations, although local learning and reviews were taking place. The wards did not all have up to date and recently reviewed ligature risk assessments. Staff on two wards could not locate the ligature risk assessments at the time of the inspection. Read full story Source: Greater Manchester News, 26 November 2021
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News ArticleDying patients are going without care in their own homes because of a collapse in community nursing services, new data shared with The Independent reveals. Across England a third of district nurses say they are now being forced to delay visits to end of life care patients because of surging demand and a lack of staff. This is up from just 2% in 2015. The situation means some patients may have to wait for essential care and pain medication to keep them comfortable. Other care being delayed includes patients with pressure ulcers, wounds which need treating and patients needing blocked catheters replaced. More than half of district nurses said they no longer have the capacity to do patient assessments and psychological care, in an investigation into the service. Professor Alison Leary, director of the International Community Nursing Observatory, said her study showed the country was “sleepwalking into a disaster,” with patients at real risk of harm. She said the situation was now so bad that nurses were being driven out of their jobs by what she called the “moral distress” they were suffering at not being able to provide the care they knew they should. “People are at the end of their tether. District nurses are reporting having to defer work much more often than they did two years ago. What they are telling us is that the workload is too high. This is care that people don’t have time to do.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 29 November 2021
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News Article
UK health trusts suspend home birth services as midwives shortage deepens
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A severe shortage of midwives has led to home birth services being closed or reduced by a number of hospital trusts across the UK, with pregnant women frequently left in limbo as to where they will be able to give birth. The Observer has found more than 20 trusts that have had disrupted home birth services in the past three months. Eight confirmed their services remain suspended due to staff shortages. They include East Kent Hospitals, Swansea Bay University Health Board and NHS Dumfries and Galloway – all of which report that the situation is under constant review. Home birth services at some trusts, such as Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and University Hospitals of Derby and Burton, have been closed since August. Others have reopened after short suspensions or have written to expectant parents to say they cannot guarantee sending a midwife when there is high demand or staff shortages. The findings come a week after midwives across Britain staged protests to call on the government to address the “crisis” in maternity care, with staff suffering from chronic burnout and stress. Midwives are being driven out of the NHS by understaffing and fears they cannot deliver safe care, according to a recent survey published by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM). Maria Booker, programmes director at the charity Birthrights, said: “Staffing pressures in maternity services are very real right now. But for many women the option to give birth at home is not a luxury but the only option that feels safe to them." “Some know they will labour better at home while some do not want to visit hospital during a pandemic. Others have a had a previous traumatic hospital birth. We cannot just accept that home birth and other choices go out the window every time a maternity service is squeezed.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 28 November 2021 -
News Article
Treasury’s dead hand over NHS policy is the biggest patient safety threat
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Patients are dying in the backs of ambulances or on trolleys in A&E while others languish in beds unable to be discharged due to the collapse in social care. Others waiting in pain are desperate to get a bed for much-needed surgery. While there are many ingredients mixing together to create the current NHS crisis, a widespread shortage of nurses, doctors and other essential staff is one of the major contributory factors. Many in the NHS reacted with disbelief on Tuesday after 280 MPs voted with the government to reject a bid to force through better workforce planning for the NHS. Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt had pulled together a coalition of health organisations and charities who backed his proposal which demanded ministers draw up and publish workforce plans every two years. Mr Hunt’s amendment fell victim to the fear of the cost of actually training enough doctors and nurses to work in the NHS. The Treasury’s dead hand over NHS policy has and continues to be one of the biggest patient safety threats in the UK. As Mr Hunt told MPs, the costs are borne not only from huge bills for locum doctors and nurses who earn incredible pay working alongside exhausted full-time staff, but also in the safety failures caused by staff shortages. Exhausted nurses will make mistakes. One nurse cannot safely look after a ward of 16 elderly patients. A doctor can only see one patient at a time in A&E. Speaking to MPs, Mr Hunt pleaded with the Commons to offer some hope to the NHS workforce. He said NHS staff were “exhausted” but also “daunted” by the challenges they were seeing. He added: “All they ask is one simple request, that they can be confident we are training enough of them for the future.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 23 November 2021 -
News ArticleWales' Health Minister has rejected a suggestion that the NHS is “harming patients” due to the severe levels of pressure on its services. Eluned Morgan MS acknowledged that the speed at which patients were receiving treatment was being impacted but said she would “not accept for a moment” that the NHS was harming its patients. ITV Cymru Wales has spoken to a number of NHS staff and health sector bodies and heard concerns over the sustainability of the health service in its present form. Ms Morgan said: “I don’t think the NHS is harming patients, no. “I think our ability to get to patients quickly, that is perhaps compromised by the pressures that we’re under at the moment but no, I would not accept for a moment that the NHS is harming patients. “I think the situation is that maybe people have to wait a bit longer for care because of the pressures that have grown as a result of the pandemic and let’s be clear about that, that we’re seeing about 20% more people going to their GPs, we’ve got hugely long waiting lists because, of course, we had to be very careful about who was able to go into hospitals during the height of the pandemic. “We’re trying to reign all that back at the same time as dealing with Covid, because that hasn’t finished yet.” Speaking to ITV Cymru Wales for Wales This Week, looking at the challenges facing the NHS, Dr Pete Williams, a consultant in emergency medicine and paediatric medicine at Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor, said he felt the current pressures on services were causing harm to patients. He said: “This is not sustainable. We, this department, other departments around the country and the wider NHS, are harming patients because they’re not getting timely care." Read full story Source: ITV News, 22 November 2021
