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Content ArticleThe majority of safety failures in the NHS are caused by bad systems not by malicious or incompetent staff, writes Steve Black in this HSJ opinion piece. The Letby case has provoked plenty of discussion of the way the NHS handles safety critical issues. But there were some hints that the way the case was handled was too typical of how the NHS thinks about safety issues both culturally and procedurally. One part of the issue is how the system resists ideas that work elsewhere, the other is how the standard approach to problems makes learning hard and vastly increases the expense of handling safety errors.
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News ArticleWhistleblowers who first revealed a toxic environment at one of England's largest NHS trusts say they do not believe crucial changes will be made. In a letter, they said families who suffered due to management failings at University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) "have every reason to feel let down". Investigations have been examining UHB after staff told the BBC a climate of fear put patients at risk. The letter was written by three doctors to the Labour MP For Birmingham Edgbaston, Preet Gill, who is heading a cross-party reference group on the trust. In their letter, the consultants raise concerns about the appointment from within the trust of new chief executive Jonathan Brotherton and feel the management team remains largely unchanged. "More than six months have elapsed since we spoke to you of the need to repay the debt owed to those UHB staff, patients and their families who have suffered as a result of the board's serious failings," they wrote. "They now have every reason to feel let down." Read full story Source: BBC News, 29 August 2023
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News Article
NHSE calls urgent meeting over powers to strike off managers
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Amanda Pritchard has said it is time to ‘look again’ at whether NHS England should be given formal powers to disbar managers for ‘serious misconduct’. In an email to regional leaders and some national bodies yesterday, seen by HSJ, the chief executive officer of NHS England said the murder trial of neonatal nurse Lucy Letby has brought the issue of professional regulation for managers back into focus. She has planned an urgent meeting next week to discuss the options. Ms Pritchard said she wanted the meeting to explore; the feasibility of NHSE being given the powers and resources to act as a regulator; who this could apply to and how it could operate; and how a dedicated regulatory body for NHS leaders might fulfil the role. She stressed any new powers would need to be determined by the government, but said the NHS “should contribute proactively and fully, and with an open mind, to this decision-making process”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 25 August 2023 -
News ArticleMore than half of NHS staff believe bosses would ignore whistleblowers amid fresh concerns hospitals could be covering up potential scandals following the Lucy Letby case. New national figures seen by the The Independent reveal that in the majority of hospitals, most doctors and nurses do not believe their concerns would be acted upon if they were raised with senior managers. It comes after The Independent revealed that NHS bosses accused of ignoring complaints about Letby were the very same people later appointed to act on whistleblower concerns at the hospital where she murdered seven babies and tried to kill six more. Several doctors who worked alongside her during the killing spree say they attempted to raise the alarm with hospital managers – only to have their pleas ignored. They believe the lack of action by bosses resulted in more babies being killed, stating managers who failed to act were “grossly negligent” and “facilitated a mass murderer”. In nearly three-quarters of general hospitals – such as the Countess of Chester where Letby worked – fewer than half of staff believed their trust would act on a concern, according to results from the latest NHS staff survey. Read full story Source: The Independent, 27 August 2023
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Content ArticleEven those at the top admit the NHS can’t do what is being asked of it today. But it is far from unsalvageable – we just need serious politicians who will commit to funding it, writes Gavin Francis, who shares his experience as a GP in this Guardian long read.
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Content Article
National Health Executive Podcast
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Leadership
The National Health Executive Podcast brings you closer to the leaders, influencers and decision makers responsible for building, shaping and delivering transformational health and social care services across the UK. Covering everything from the net-zero, digital transformation, mental health, pharma, estates, workforce and training, our hosts brings you unique and exclusive podcast episodes packed full of news, views and insight from healthcare professionals and experts responsible for shaping the future of the UK health sector. -
Content ArticleIn June 2022, General Sir Gordon Messenger and Dame Linda Pollard published their final report on the review of leadership and management in the health and social care sector, as commissioned by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in October 2021. This briefing by NHS Providers summarises the key areas covered by the report, grouping recommendations under the following headings: Training Development Equality, diversity and inclusion Challenged trusts, regulation and oversight
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Content Article
On 18 August 2023, Lucy Letby was found guilty of murdering seven babies and convicted of trying to kill six other infants at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Looking ahead to the forthcoming independent inquiry into this case, Patient Safety Learning, reflecting on the inquiries of the past, sets out some key patient safety themes and issues that should be considered as part of this.- Posted
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Content Article
A Kind Life website
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Suggest a useful website
A Kind Life works with NHS organisations to help them shape a culture that cultivates kindness and nurtures high performance. The company offers a range of training courses and programmes focused on areas such as recruitment, leadership, feedback and conflict resolution. -
Content ArticleThis is the report of a review into how the executive leadership of the NHS could be better supported and empowered to ensure the best possible service is delivered for patients. Sir Ron Kerr was commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to conduct the review, which focused on three issues in particular: The expectations and support available for leaders - particularly those in challenging organisations and systems The scope for further alignment of performance management expectations at the organisational and system level The options for reducing the administrative burden placed on executive leaders The report describes the methodology of the review, outlines its findings and makes a number of recommendations around these issues.
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Content ArticleWe now know that Lucy Letby is a murderer, responsible for the deaths of seven babies and the attempted murders of six more. But as unimaginable as her crimes were, this verdict raises as many questions as it answers. Letby was not working in a vacuum. Could the killings at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust have been stopped sooner? Did organisational failures cost the lives of babies who could have been protected? The timeline gives us a clue, writes Minh Alexander, a retired consultant psychiatrist and NHS whistleblower, in this Guardian opinion piece. In June 2016, Letby’s hospital trust commissioned a review of neonatal care by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health after “concerns about increasing neonatal mortality”, which oddly did not feature a case-note review. This prevented detailed examination of the deaths, which should have been the prime objective. The college reported “extremely positive relationships” among staff but “remote” relationships with executives. Astonishingly, the college’s report seemingly did not explicitly acknowledge a possibility of deliberate harm. Nevertheless, the college raised concern that not all deaths were followed by postmortem investigations – as they should have been, according to guidelines – and that where postmortems did take place, they did not include systematic blood tests and toxicology. It noted concerns from obstetrics staff about four unexpected deaths. In the coming days, there will be many questions. Why did it take so long for the hospital to refer matters to the police? Were doctors pressured not to persist with their concerns about Letby? How many trust board members knew there was a possibility of deliberate harm but failed to act?
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Content ArticleIncreasing adverse events, hospital-associated infections, and other harm to patients have compounded and now fuel the call for the formation of a national patient safety board in the USA. But, with so many established health entities already within the government, will adding one create more complexities than it will oversight? A bill introduced in the House in December 2022 proposes such a body loosely modelled off the National Transportation Safety Board. The group behind the efforts for the board's creation note in a document that it still would not be the "sole solution" needed to properly address patient safety issues nationally, but rather is designed to "augment" the work of other federal agencies and patient safety organisations. The bill proposes that it would not be necessary to identify providers in reports that the board would investigate, and some patient safety experts say this is not the right approach, noting that it would not provide the accountability necessary — particularly since the board would be nonpunitive to begin with. But others argue that this structure could help promote voluntary reporting for more data collection. Three patient safety professionals shared their takes in Becker's Hospital Review.
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Content Article
My last blog, "Forgotten heroes" – the sequel, built upon a very moving BBC Panorama programme Forgotten heroes of the Covid front line. The BBC documentary told the sad story of healthcare workers (HCWs) who had bravely and knowingly put themselves in harm's way to care for their patients during the darkest days of the pandemic. Many lost their lives, while many more were rendered so severely injured by the disease (Long Covid) that they were (and remain) unable to work and have been unceremoniously sacked by their NHS Health Trusts/Boards. The way that an organisation manages its activities is known as 'governance'. Good governance will lead to high standards of ethics, morality, care and compassion for the people who work within it and those who may be affected by its acts and omissions. Hence, when applied to a whole country, it is known as 'Government', its departments and agencies. In this blog, I propose a possible hypothetical scenario that may have led to the tragic situation revealed by the BBC documentary. I hope this will lead you to consider the standards of 'governance' that apply to the 'duty of care' which a Government owes to its HCWs during a pandemic and what, morally and ethically, should be done to support those "forgotten heroes" if the Government’s governance should be found to be severely lacking. But is the scenario I am asking you to imagine hypothetical or is it real? I shall leave that to your judgement – and that of the Covid-19 Public Inquiry. -
Content ArticleThe State of Integrated Care Systems 2022/23 examines the progress that local systems have made, and opportunities for further development. The NHS Confederation’s ICS network collected the views of 47 integrated care board chairs and chief executives, and integrated care partnership chairs, in the spring, as well as holding roundtables. The results found they are generally positive about relationships – with 88% agreeing that “partners within my ICS are working collaboratively”. However, when asked about whether a range of organisations in their area “have the requisite level of resourcing and maturity to deliver the ambitions outlined in your integrated care strategy”, there were signs of concerns about primary care networks, provider collaboratives and place-based partnerships, all of which saw less than 50% of leaders agree.
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Content ArticleSome of the same people that noted surgical masks were useless for airborne viruses also made decisions to limit the use of effective respirator masks: a decision that had devastating ramifications when the pandemic struck. In this article in the Byline Times, Josiah Mortimer delves deeper into a hub blog written by David Osborn: 'The pandemic – questions around Government governance' and questions the decisions made by the Government during the pandemic.
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News Article
Staff ‘let down by leaders’ as ‘chaotic’ service gets double downgrade
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A teaching trust has had its maternity services downgraded to ‘inadequate’ after inspectors found stillbirths and massive haemorrhages were not being treated as ‘serious incidents’. Maternity services at St George’s University Hospitals Foundation Trust in south London were previously inspected in 2016, when they were assessed as “good”. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said serious incident declaration meetings at St George’s were regularly classing serious incidents as “adverse incidents”, meaning executives were not informed and there were missed opportunities for learning and development. Inspectors also found incidents such as severe perineal tears, emergency hysterectomy, and birth injuries were rated as causing low or no harm when a higher level would have been appropriate, or and sometimes downgraded from a higher rating. Carolyn Jenkinson, CQC’s deputy director of secondary and specialist healthcare, said: “We saw areas where significant and urgent improvements are needed to ensure safe care is provided to women, people using this service, and their babies. “Both staff and people using the service were being let down by leaders who failed to respond quickly, resulting in care that was unsafe, and in the delivery suite, also chaotic.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 17 August 2023 -
EventuntilThe Patient's Association is delighted to welcome back Dr Henrietta Hughes, Patient Safety Commissioner, to Patient Partnership Week. Her conversation with Chief Executive Rachel Power during last year's Patient Partnership Week was one of the week's most popular events. If you missed last year's webinar, then the event on Monday 25th September at 2.30pm is your chance to hear from Dr Hughes about her first year as Patient Safety Commissioner for England. It's free to sign up to the webinar, which will be held on Zoom.
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EventuntilProfessor Bola Owolabi, Director of the National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme at NHS England, will be kicking off Patient Partnership Week 2023 on Monday 25th September. Prof Owolabi, who also works as GP in the Midlands, will be in conversation with Rachel Power, Chief Executive of the Patients Association. They'll be talking about the vital role partnerships with patients and communities play in tackling health inequalities. Sign up for this free event which will be held on Zoom About CORE20PLUS5 Prof Owolabi has spearheaded NHS England’s Core20PLUS5 approach to narrowing healthcare inequalities. Core20PLUS5 is a national approach to reducing healthcare inequalities. It defines a target population – the ‘Core20PLUS’ – and identifies ‘5’ clinical areas that require improvement. The Core20 refers to the most deprived 20% of the population. The PLUS are groups identified in a local area such as ethnic minority communities or people with multiple long-term health conditions. The 5 are these clinical areas: maternity, severe mental illness, chronic respiratory disease, early cancer diagnosis, and hypertension.
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News Article
‘Warts and all’ references for NHS leaders ‘may be attacked’
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
NHS England could have gone further to insist that errors and failures by senior NHS leaders are disclosed to future employers, according to the leading barrister who reviewed the NHS’s fit and proper person test (FPPT). Tom Kark KC’s review of the FPPT was delivered to government five years ago and made public the following year, and changes were finally proposed by NHSE earlier this month. In an interview with HSJ, Mr Kark said he broadly welcomed the plans, and that the revised framework should provide greater consistency across NHS boards “if applied correctly”; and could “strengthen the hand” of chairs and chief executives. Part of the purpose of the regime is to prevent senior managers and other board members who make big errors in one role, from keeping this secret from a future employer. Mr Kark told HSJ he had heard evidence that when “someone leaves under a cloud, they pop up somewhere else, and the information is lost.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 16 August 2023 -
Content ArticleThis NHS dentistry and oral health update has a special focus on patient safety. It includes an introduction by newly appointed Interim Chief Dental Officer (CDO) for England, Jason Wong and covers the following topics: Quality and safety in dental care Contributing to patient safety learning Using the Learning from Patient Safety Events (LFPSE) service Patient safety incidents and harm Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) Spotlight on Project Sphere Regulatory support Clinical leadership in patient safety
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Content Article
This is part of our series of Patient Safety Spotlight interviews, where we talk to people working for patient safety about their role and what motivates them. Judi talks to us about her experience of managing patient safety for a large healthcare provider, the importance of ensuring implemented safety standards are sustained and how crucial it is to professionalise patient safety. -
Content ArticleThis paper attached clarifies what statutory duties, accountabilities and responsibilities providers, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and NHS England hold for quality. Please note this is a working document and will be updated.
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Content ArticleIn her first blog as Interim Director of People with a Learning Disability and Autistic People, Rebecca Bauers talks about the importance of listening to the voices of people with lived experience; about how we have been gathering insight to shape our priorities, and how we intend to use our new powers to assess integrated care systems and local authorities.
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News Article
Directors to be judged on their ability to create ‘compassionate’ cultures
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS England has announced the first details of its ‘Leadership Competency Framework’, and revealed it will be launched this September. The LCF will underpin the annual appraisal of NHS board directors and, in turn, adherence to the revamped Fit and Proper Person Test. NHSE also revealed that leaders, including senior clinicians, who hold “significant roles” but are not board members may be subject to the FPPT in the near future. The new FPPT framework said the LCF would contain “six competency domains which should be incorporated into all senior leader job descriptions and recruitment processes”. Read full story Source: HSJ, 3 August 2023 -
Content ArticleThe Fit and Proper Person Test (FPPT) Framework has been developed by NHS England in response to recommendations made by Tom Kark KC in his 2019 review of the FPPT (the Kark Revew). This framework introduces a means of retaining information relating to testing the requirements of the FPPT for individual directors, a set of standard competencies for all board directors, a new way of completing references with additional content whenever a director leaves an NHS board, and extension of the applicability to some other organisations, including NHS England and the CQC. It will help prevent directors who have been involved in or enabled serious misconduct or mismanagement from joining a new NHS organisation.
