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Found 575 results
  1. News Article
    A private healthcare provider has been ordered to pay more than £1.5m – the largest fine issued for such a case – after pleading guilty in a criminal prosecution brought by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) over the death of a young woman at Cygnet Hospital Ealing in July 2019. It is the highest ever fine issued to a mental health service following a prosecution by the CQC. The firm pleaded guilty to one offence of failing to provide safe care and treatment, acknowledging failures to: provide a safe ward environment to reduce the risk of people being able to use a ligature; ensure staff observed people intermittently in line with the company procedures; and train staff to be able to resuscitate patients in an emergency. The offences related to the case of a young woman who was admitted to a ward in Cygnet Hospital Ealing in November 2018. In July 2019, she took her own life while on the ward. CQC said Cygnet Ealing had been aware the young woman tried to harm herself in an almost identical way four months earlier, but had failed to mitigate the known environmental risk she was exposed to. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 21 September 2023
  2. Content Article
    The important issue of a patient’s right to a second medical opinion has recently hit the headlines with Martha’s Rule, which relates to the tragic death of 13-year-old Martha Mills in NHS care and the circumstances surrounding this. There is a groundswell of support for Martha’s Rule, with Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay committed to introducing the rule in England. This is excellent news, but development and implementation must not be rushed writes John Tingle, Dr Dita Wickins-Drazilova and Steve Gulati from the University of Birmingham.
  3. News Article
    The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent warning letters to pharmacy chains Walgreens and CVS accusing them of illegally marketing eye care products. The FDA’s warning letters said the products in question, which were falsely labelled as potential treatments for conditions like glaucoma, cataracts, and pink eye, should be modified if the companies and manufacturers that make and distribute them want to avoid legal action. “The FDA is committed to ensuring the medicines Americans take are safe, effective and of high quality,” Jill Furman, Director of the Office of Compliance at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. “When we identify illegally marketed, unapproved drugs and lapses in drug quality that pose potential risks, the FDA works to notify the companies involved of the violations.” Ms Furman wrote in the letter sent to Walgreens: “Your ‘Walgreens Allergy Eye Drops,’ ‘Walgreens Stye Eye Drops,’ and ‘Walgreens Pink Eye Drops’ products are especially concerning from a public health perspective. Ophthalmic drug products, which are intended for administration into the eyes … pose a greater risk of harm to users because the route of administration for these products bypasses some of the body’s natural defences.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 21 September 2023
  4. News Article
    A man claims he lost his sight in one eye after routine cataract surgery left him in "unbelievable" pain. John Stabler, from East Yorkshire, is set to sue the maker of an artificial lens he had fitted last year and which was later recalled over safety fears. The 63-year-old said he felt like he had been hit "with a sledgehammer" after the operation and had suffered "catastrophic" loss of income. Manufacturer Nidek said it "profoundly regrets" any patient suffering. Mr Stabler is one of 14 patients seeking compensation over the company's EyeCee One Preloaded lens. He said he had suffered permanent nerve damage to his left eye after having the lens fitted at Hull and East Yorkshire Eye Hospital in October last year. He told the BBC: "About two days after, I was getting really bad pain. It was unbelievable. It was like someone was hitting me with a sledgehammer." NHS England issued a safety alert in January 2023 after Nidek announced a "voluntary and precautionary" global product recall of its EyeCee One and EyeCee One Crystal intraocular lenses. UK distributor Bausch + Lomb said there has been "a limited number of reports of elevated intraocular pressure in patients". Read full story Source: BBC News, 19 September 2023
  5. Content Article
    In this webinar recording, Alex RK, a barrister, writer and educator, takes stock of the mental capacity and mental health law and policy landscape as at August 2023. It primarily focuses on England & Wales, but also includes developments in the UK and further afield, including thinking about the implications of the French language version of Article 19 CRPD providing not for ‘living independently’, but ‘autonomie de vie’.
  6. Content Article
    In rare cases, healthcare providers who have contributed to accidental patient harm may be criminally prosecuted to obtain justice for the patient and family or to set an example, which theoretically prevents other providers from making similar mistakes due to fear of punishment. This strategy was chosen in the recent case of RaDonda Vaught, who was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and impaired adult abuse after a medication error killed a patient in 2017. This article in the journal Human Factors in Healthcare discusses the case and its ramifications for healthcare staff and systems. The authors provide recommendations for actions that healthcare organisations should take to foster a safer and more resilient healthcare system, including: placing an emphasis on just culture. ensuring timely, systems-level investigations of all incidents. refining and bolstering participation in national reporting systems. incorporating Human Factors professionals at multiple levels of organisations. establishing a national safety board for medicine in the US.
  7. Content Article
    Most US healthcare organisations use staffing guidelines to decide a nurse's patient load on a given shift, but current staffing shortages are pushing nurse-to-patient ratios to the limit. In this article for Nurse Journal, registered nurse Alexa Davidson asks whether laws and regulations could prevent nursing workloads from getting out of control. She argues that mandated staffing ratios are a proven way to ensure patient safety. She describes the situation in Massachusetts and California, the two US states where laws have been passed mandating nurse-to-patient ratios, and outlines the implications of introducing ratios for nurses and patients.
  8. News Article
    Top boss of NHS complaints in England has told the BBC he wants Martha's rule to be introduced to give patients the power to get an automatic second medical opinion about hospital care, when they think things are going wrong. Rob Behrens said he had been moved by the plea of Merope Mills, who shared the story of her daughter's death. Martha was 13 when she died from sepsis. Merope Mills wants hospitals around the country to bring in Martha's rule, which would give parents, carers and patients the right to call for an urgent second clinical opinion from other experts at the same hospital, if they have concerns about their current care. It is something that Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Rob Behrens fully supports. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Along with many others, I was moved and in great admiration for what Merope has said and done and I give unambiguous support. "Unfortunately, as tragic as this case is, it's not the first and there have been many cases where patients have been failed by their doctors because they haven't been listened to." Read full story Source: BBC News, 5 September 2023
  9. News Article
    A not-for-profit health system in Maine has threatened legal action against a 15-year-old boy for shedding light on alleged patient safety issues in the paediatric ward of one of its hospitals. Samson Cournane, a student at the University of Maine, started a petition (Patient Safety in Maine Matters) advocating for an investigation into Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center last year, claiming conditions at the hospital were unsafe. Mr Cournane’s mother, Dr Anne Yered, had previously been fired from the hospital after reportedly voicing safety concerns to the hospital’s CEO and president in 2020. In the petition, Mr Cournane said his mother was threatened by hospital staff after raising concerns, with one hospital manager going so far as to show up in her backyard to confront her. Dr Yered subsequently claimed she was wrongfully terminated. Mr Cournane then began pushing for an investigation into the hospital, outlining problems in the petition, which was addressed to US Representative Jared Golden. He alleged that the medical director of the paediatric intensive care unit (ICU) — a former colleague of his mother’s — finished just one year of a three-year critical care fellowship, and implied other hospital employees may be scared to come forward with safety concerns. Read full story Source: The Independent, 4 September 2023
  10. News Article
    Two hundred women in the UK who claim they were left in pain after having a permanent contraception device fitted, can now take group legal action through the courts, against its manufacturer. The Essure coil "has caused irreparable damage physically and mentally", the women's lawyers say. German maker Bayer says it will defend itself vigorously against the claims. When Essure was withdrawn from sale, in 2017, the UK medicines regulator said there was no risk to safety. Lawyers in England began legal action in 2020 and now have permission to bring a group claim on behalf of 200 women. Other women wishing to join the group action have until 2024 to do so. The Essure device is a small metal coil inserted into a woman's fallopian tubes. Scar tissue forms around the coil, creating a barrier that keeps sperm from reaching the eggs. Launched in 2002, the device was marketed as a simpler alternative to sterilisation by surgery. But some women say they suffered constant pain and complications, including heavy bleeding, with some ending up having hysterectomies or the device removed altogether. Read full story Source: BBC News, 5 September 2023
  11. News Article
    NHS clinicians who were sacked after blowing the whistle about avoidable patient deaths say they fear lessons from the Lucy Letby murder trial have not been learned and the case will make no difference to their own claims for unfair dismissal. They say hospital bosses are still more concerned about reputation than patient safety, despite what emerged in the Letby case about the tragic consequences of ignoring consultants who first raised suspicions about her killing babies. Mansoor Foroughi is appealing against his dismissal by University Hospital Sussex NHS trust in December 2021 after raising concerns about patient deaths. Mansoor Foroughi, a consultant neurosurgeon, was sacked by University Hospital Sussex NHS trust (UHST) in December 2021 for allegedly acting in bad faith when he raised the alarm about 19 deaths and 23 cases of serious patient harm that he said had been covered up in the previous six years. Those deaths and at least 20 others are now being investigated by Sussex police after allegations of medical negligence. Foroughi, whose appeal against his dismissal is due to be held in the coming months, told the Guardian: “I don’t think mine or anyone’s chances of success has increased [after Letby], and only a change in the law will do that.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 1 September 2023
  12. News Article
    The inquiry into how nurse Lucy Letby was able to murder seven babies will now have greater powers to compel witnesses to give evidence. In a significant move, ministers upgraded the independent inquiry after criticism from families of the victims that it did not go far enough. The inquiry, ordered after Letby was found guilty this month, was not initially given full statutory powers. Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he had listened to the families. He said he had decided a statutory inquiry led by a judge was the best way forward and "respects the wishes" of the families. Mr Barclay said the key advantage was the power of compulsion. "My priority is to ensure the families get the answers they deserve and people are held to account where they need to be," he added. He said an announcement about who would chair the inquiry would be made in the coming days - ministers have already said it will be a judge. Richard Scorer, a lawyer who is representing two of the families, welcomed the government's announcement. "It is essential that the chair has the powers to compel witnesses to give evidence under oath, and to force disclosure of documents. Without these powers, the inquiry would have been ineffectual and our clients would have been deprived of the answers they need and deserve," he said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 30 August 2023
  13. Content Article
    Dr Chris Day has for the last ten years pursued a legal battle against Greenwich and Lewisham NHS Trust (GWT), claiming his whistleblowing action about unsafe staffing while working in ICU was used against him by the Trust and Health Education England. Following a 2022 employment tribunal involving Dr Day and GWT, consultancy firm KPMG was commissioned by the Trust to conduct an independent review of the Trust's governance and media strategy. In this LinkedIn blog, Dr Chris Day outlines the context of a Byline Times article that questions the independence of this review, due to director of corporate affairs at the Trust, Kate Anderson, being a former employee of KPMG.
  14. News Article
    Thirty families are starting legal action against the government, care homes and several hospitals in England over the deaths of their relatives in the early days of the Covid pandemic. The families argue not enough was done to protect their loved ones from the virus. They are claiming damages for loss of life and the distress caused. The government says it specifically sought to safeguard care home residents using the best evidence available. The legal claims focus on the decision in March 2020 to rapidly discharge hospital patients into care homes without testing or a requirement for them to isolate. The cases follow a 2022 High Court judgement that ruled the policy was unlawful - as it failed to take into account the risk to elderly and vulnerable care home residents of asymptomatic transmission of the virus. One of the cases is being brought by Liz Weager, whose 95-year-old mother Margaret tested positive for the virus in her care home in May 2020 and died later in hospital. "What was happening in the management of those care homes? What advice were they having?" Liz asks. "It goes back to the government. There was a lack of preparedness, which then translated down to the care home." Read full story Source: BBC News, 25 August 2023
  15. News Article
    The NHS could face a record compensation bill of more than £60m from civil claims lodged by the families of Lucy Letby’s victims, experts have said. Parents whose babies have disabilities caused by Letby’s attacks at the Countess of Chester hospital could each expect to receive a payout of more than £10m to fund their future care. Compensation paid by the NHS to parents whose babies died or were left with disabilities as a result of care at Shrewsbury hospital in Britain’s largest maternity scandal reportedly amounted to almost £50m. In a separate case, the health service had to pay £37m to a boy who was left brain damaged at birth. Stephen Jones, the head of Leigh Day’s medical negligence team in Manchester, said the trust could argue that by committing the offences, Letby breached the employer-employee relationship to an extent such that it was not responsible for her. But he added: “I think there would be outrage that the trust wouldn’t accept responsibility for babies in their care.” He said compensation could run into eight figures for a family whose baby was severely injured and had a long life expectancy. Emma Wray, a partner in Hodge Jones & Allen’s medical negligence department, suggested the NHS could set up a scheme for victims, as it has done with other scandals, to make claiming compensation easier. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 23 August 2023
  16. Content Article
    This annual report looks back at the work undertaken by NHS Resolution in 2022-23. NHS Resolution is an arm’s-length body of the Department of Health and Social Care, responsible for providing expertise to the NHS on resolving concerns and disputes fairly, sharing learning for improvement and preserving resources for patient care.
  17. News Article
    A trust breached its own internal illness policy when managers sacked a doctor who had PTSD and had been drunk at work, an employment tribunal has ruled. Judges criticised the move as a “complete failure” by East and North Hertfordshire Trust when Vladimir Filipovich was dismissed in July 2019. Dr Filipovich was summoned to a hearing following allegations he had been drunk at work, did not disclose a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder to his employer, and failed to take a recommended prescription of Citalopram. In a decision published this month, the tribunal sharply criticised how the trust’s investigator handled the Citalopram claim, concluding he “did nothing to investigate the matter whatsoever”, and found ENHT had “appeared to simply take legal advice” on how to dismiss Dr Filipovich. The tribunal also concluded ENHT “stopped following” its own illness policy, which aimed to get practitioners to return to work, and “abandoned” its requirement to obtain the latest occupational advice. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 21 July 2023
  18. News Article
    A coroner has criticised an NHS trust over the deaths of two new mothers with herpes. Kimberley Sampson, 29, and Samantha Mulcahy, 32, died in 2018 after having caesarean sections six weeks apart by the same surgeon at hospitals in Kent. Their families have been waiting five years for answers on how they came to be infected with the virus, which can cause sores around the mouth or genitals. Catherine Wood, Mid Kent and Medway coroner, said Sampson could have been given an anti-viral treatment sooner. Wood added that in Mulcahy’s case “suspicion should have been raised” given the knowledge among staff from Sampson’s earlier death. The coroner ruled out human culpability of any of the medical staff involved in the case and said it was “unlikely” for the surgeon to be the cause of the herpes infection found in both women. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 14 July 2023
  19. Content Article
    Generative AI is being heralded in the medical field for its potential to ease the burden of medical documentation by generating visit notes, treatment codes and medical summaries. Doctors and patients might also turn to generative AI to answer medical questions about symptoms, treatment recommendations or potential diagnoses. This article in JAMA Network looks at the liability implications of using AI to generate health information, highlighting that no court in the US has yet considered the question of liability for medical injuries caused by relying on AI-generated information.
  20. News Article
    A further 11 inquests are to be opened this week as part of an investigation into dozens of deaths linked to jailed breast surgeon Ian Paterson. Paterson is currently serving a 20-year sentence after he carried out unnecessary or unapproved procedures on more than 1,000 breast cancer patients. Judge Richard Foster said 417 cases of former patients had been reviewed. The inquests will open and be adjourned on Friday. More than 30 deaths are already the subject of an inquest. Paterson worked at Spire Parkway Hospital and Spire Little Aston Hospital in the West Midlands between 1997 and 2011, as well as NHS hospitals run by the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust. Paterson was jailed in 2017 after being convicted of 17 counts of wounding with intent. An independent inquiry found he had been free to perform harmful surgery in NHS and private hospitals due to "a culture of avoidance and denial" in a healthcare system where there was "wilful blindness" to his behaviour. Read full story Source: BBC News, 10 July 2023
  21. Content Article
    NHS Resolution has launched its first eLearning module that focuses on learning from the significant avoidable harm that can occur during antenatal and postnatal care and is seen in the cases notified to its Early Notification Scheme. This free resource is designed to support clinicians working in maternity services. The module uses three illustrative case stories to immerse learners into the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care provided to mothers and the neonatal care provided to their babies. It aims to deepen learners' understanding of NHS Resolution’s role within the healthcare system, develop their understanding of the law of negligence as applied to clinical claims and explore how clinical decisions and actions can lead to avoidable harm. The module takes approximately two-and-a-half hours to complete and can be used as evidence of CPD hours undertaken for revalidation.
  22. Content Article
    As a doctor, receiving a letter from the GMC confirming that a complaint has been raised against you by a patient, and the GMC are now investigating that complaint, can be a frightening experience. This blog by solicitor Nicola Wheater, looks at how communication failings can lead to GMC complaints and describes what to expect from the process. She also highlights support available for doctors facing a GMC complaint.
  23. News Article
    30,000 people believe they are victims of negligence each week in the UK, new research carried out by YouGov for Injury Awareness Week (26-30 June) has found. Participants were asked if they have suffered an injury or illness in the last year which was caused because of negligence, for example by another road user, an employer, a colleague, or a medic. “We need to shine a light on the impact these injuries can have on people who were doing nothing more than living their lives before they fell victim to the recklessness or carelessness of others,” said Mike Benner, chief executive of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) which commissioned the Injury Awareness Week study. “Often these injures are severe, some are life-changing, and some are life-ending,” he said. “The fact that the harm has been caused by negligence is significant, because negligence could and should be avoided,” said Mr Benner. “An accident is simply an incident which no-one could have reasonably foreseen. Negligence is doing something, or failing to do something, that could cause injury to others. Employers have a duty to make sure we return home from a day’s work unscathed, for example, and drivers need to take care to not harm fellow road users. “If someone were to take one thing away from this Injury Awareness Week, it’s the knowledge that any one of us could be among the 30,000 injured needlessly in a week. Avoidable injuries are an issue we should all be concerned about,” he said. Read full story Source: APIL, 22 June 2023
  24. News Article
    Maltese lawmakers have unanimously approved legislation to ease the strictest abortion laws in the EU, voting to allow terminations – but only in cases where a woman’s life is at risk. Ahead of the vote on Wednesday, pro-choice campaigners withdrew their support, saying last-minute changes make the legislation “vague, unworkable and even dangerous”. The original bill allowing access to abortion if a pregnant woman’s life or health is in danger was hailed as a step in the right direction for Malta, a majority-Catholic country. It was introduced last November after an American tourist who miscarried had to be airlifted off the Mediterranean island nation to be treated. Under the amendments, however, a risk to health is not enough. A woman must be at risk of death to access an abortion, and then only after three specialists consent. The new legislation allows a doctor to terminate a pregnancy without specialist consultation only if the mother’s life is at immediate risk. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 28 June 2023
  25. News Article
    An inquiry investigating deaths of mental health patients in Essex has been given extra powers, in a victory for campaigners. Health Secretary Steve Barclay told Parliament that the probe would be placed on a statutory footing. It means the inquiry can force witnesses to give evidence, including former staff who have previously worked for services within the county. Mr Barclay said he was committed to getting answers for the families. He told the Commons: "I hope today's announcement will come as some comfort to the brave families who have done so much to raise awareness." The Secretary of State added that under the new powers anyone refusing to give evidence could be fined. Melanie Leahy, whose son Matthew died while an inpatient at the Linden Centre in Chelmsford in 2012, is among those who have long campaigned for the inquiry to be upgraded. "Today's announcement marks the start of the next chapter in our mission to find out how our loved ones could be so badly failed by those who were meant to care for them," said Ms Leahy. "I welcome today's long overdue government announcement and I look forward to working with the inquiry team as they look to shape their terms of reference." Read full story Source: BBC News, 28 June 2023
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