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Showing results for tags 'Mental health'.
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News Article
Priory Group whistleblowers 'concerned for patient safety'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Two former senior managers at a large mental healthcare provider have told the BBC they had concerns about the safety of patients and staff. The whistleblowers claim they felt pressure to cut costs and fill beds. The Priory Group, which receives more than £600m of public money each year, is the biggest single private provider of mental health services to the NHS. The company denies the claims and says it successfully treats tens of thousands of patients each year. It adds its services "remain amongst the safest in the UK". The former members of the Priory Group's senior management said that, when they were working for the company, they found it difficult to recruit or retain staff, due to poor pay and conditions. They believe this resulted in patients being placed on wards that did not have staff equipped with the right skills to handle their conditions. Read full story Source: BBC News, 26 April 2023 -
News ArticleUnannounced and out-of-hours spot-checks on mental health services are set to ramp up following a string of abuse scandals, The Independent can reveal. The Care Quality Commission’s new mental health chief Chris Dzikiti said he was “saddened” by “unacceptable” scandals in the last six months, warning the regulator “will use the powers [it has] to hold people to account.” He said the organisation will be carrying out more unannounced inspections of providers, including inspections launched out of normal hours, with the aim to have the “majority” of spot-checks carried out this way. In his first interview since joining the regulator in November Mr Dzikiti, who is mental health nurse by background, said: “I talk to chief execs of mental health services, I talk about [how] as a regulator, we will use the power we have, when [we] see poor practice, we will definitely hold people to account. “In our inspection programmes, we are also increasing the unannounced inspections out of hours inspections, because we need to try and get really deep into the culture of mental health services, especially those areas where we think there’s a higher risk of poor practice. “I will not rest until we get people safe.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 24 April 2023
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News Article
‘Buckling’ NHS fails to treat 250,000 children with mental health problems
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A quarter of a million children in the UK with mental health problems have been denied help by the NHS as it struggles to manage surging case loads against a backdrop of a crisis in child mental health. Some NHS trusts are failing to offer treatment to 60% of those referred by GPs, the research based on freedom of information request responses has found. The research carried out by the House magazine and shared with the Guardian also revealed a postcode lottery, with spending per child four times higher in some parts of the country than others, while average waits for a first appointment vary by trust from 10 days to three years. Olly Parker, head of external affairs at YoungMinds, said the freedom of information findings showed a “system is in total shutdown” with “no clear government plan to rescue it”, after the 10-year mental health plan was scrapped. “In the meantime, young people are self-harming and attempting suicide as they wait months and even years for help after being referred by doctors,” he said. “This is not children saying ‘I’m unhappy.’ They are ill, they are desperate and they need urgent help.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 16 April 2023 -
News Article
Children's hospital forced to close may reopen due to legal loophole
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
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 -
News Article
Thousands of children in England facing ‘unacceptable’ NHS delays
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Thousands of children experiencing “unacceptable” long waits for NHS treatment face a “lifelong” impact on their health, a senior doctor has warned, as shocking figures reveal that nearly 15,000 paediatric operations were cancelled over the last year. Dr Camilla Kingdon, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said the mounting treatment backlog in England risked “serious” and “devastating” physical and mental consequences for children and their families. She sounded the alarm as data obtained under freedom of information laws by the Liberal Democrats showed that a record high 14,628 children’s operations were postponed in 2022, up from 11,870 the year before and the highest in five years of data examined. Some children have now waited several years for surgery, according to the data. Delaying a child’s operation risks having a “lifelong impact” on their development, Kingdon said, and also “seriously impact” their mental health, with knock-on effects on their ability to socialise, go to school and reach their full potential. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 3 April 2023 -
News Article
Apologies for 2013 mental health failings over mum
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
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 -
News ArticleThe 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
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News Article
Self-harm hospital admissions up 22% for children aged eight to 17
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Self-harm hospital admissions for children aged eight to 17 in the UK jumped 22% in one year. The age group is now the largest for self-harm admissions, with all others seeing a drop, according to NHS data. Charities say early access to support is vital, but high thresholds and long waiting lists mean more young people are ending up in hospital. Emily Nuttal, 29, first struggled with self-harm when she was 12. At 13, she was first admitted to A&E. At that time, she was struggling with changes at school, bullying and troubles at home. Over the years, she said she had had varied experiences in accident and emergency departments. "It's been times where it's been really empathetic and passionate people, understanding, supportive. And there's been times where there's been that stigma and judgement." She said being labelled as "attention-seeking" was really difficult and made it harder to reach out for help again. "I would then only go if I was forced upon by the crisis service, or if somebody else noticed, and they got people involved," she said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 23 March 2023 -
News Article
UK GPs have the highest stress levels, finds survey of 10 countries’ doctors
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
GPs in the UK have some of the highest stress levels and lowest job satisfaction among family doctors, a 10-country survey has found. British GPs suffer from high levels of burnout, have a worse work/life balance and spend less time with patients during appointments than their peers in many other places. Heavy workloads, seemingly endless paperwork and feelings of emotional distress are prompting many GPs to stop seeing patients regularly or even retire altogether, the research found. Seven in 10 (71%) NHS family doctors find their job “extremely” or “very stressful”, the joint-highest number alongside GPs in Germany among the countries analysed. The Health Foundation, which undertook the survey, said its “grim” findings showed that the “unsustainable” pressures on GPs and number of them quitting pose a threat to the NHS’s future. -
News Article
‘Insufficiently curious’ leaders ‘tolerated’ safety failures
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
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 -
News Article
USA: Top 10 patient safety concerns for 2023
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The US Emergency Care Research Institute (ECRI) has said the paediatric mental health crisis is the most pressing patient safety concern in 2023. ECRI, which conducts independent medical device evaluations, annually compiles scientific literature and patient safety events, concerns reported to or investigated by the organization, and other data sources to create its top 10 list. Here are the 10 patient safety concerns for 2023, according to the report: 1. The pediatric mental health crisis 2. Physical and verbal violence against healthcare staff 3. Clinician needs in times of uncertainty surrounding maternal-fetal medicine 4. Impact on clinicians expected to work outside their scope of practice and competencies 5. Delayed identification and treatment of sepsis 6. Consequences of poor care coordination for patients with complex medical conditions 7. Risks of not looking beyond the "five rights" to achieve medication safety 8. Medication errors resulting from inaccurate patient medication lists 9. Accidental administration of neuromuscular blocking agents 10. Preventable harm due to omitted care or treatment For the number one spot, ECRI said the COVID-19 pandemic raised the situation, which includes high rates of depression and anxiety among children, to crisis levels. ECRI President and CEO Marcus Schabacker, MD, PhD, said social media, gun violence and other socioeconomic factors were fueling the issue, but COVID-19 pushed it into a crisis. "We're approaching a national public health emergency," Dr. Schabacker said in a statement. Read full story Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 13 March 2023 -
News Article
Three in four patients not seen within new target time
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Data revealed for the first time shows nearly three-quarters of adult patients needing community mental health care are waiting more than four weeks for treatment to start, which is the timeframe that NHS England wants to introduce as a national standard. Figures shared with HSJ also show two-thirds of children needing community care are waiting more than four weeks from referral to treatment. In 2021, NHS England proposed a series of new waiting time standards in mental health, including a four-week standard for non-urgent community care. A lack of new funding, as well as data recording problems, mean the new standards have not so far been introduced, and no timeline set for implementation. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 14 March 2023 -
Content ArticleThis report includes findings from a two-month-long study of data brokers and data on U.S. individuals’ mental health conditions. The report aims to make more transparent the data broker industry and its processes for selling and exchanging mental health data about depressed and anxious individuals. The research is critical as more depressed and anxious individuals utilise personal devices and software-based health-tracking applications (many of which are not protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), often unknowingly putting their sensitive mental health data at risk.
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Content ArticleLast year we published a blog from Dr Chelcie Jewitt on the Surviving in Scrubs campaign. The campaign was created by Dr Becky Cox and Dr Chelcie Jewitt to give a voice to women in healthcare to raise awareness and end sexism, sexual harassment and sexual assault in healthcare. On their Surviving in Scrubs website they share the awful stories from women working in healthcare of sexism, sexual harassment and sexual assault.
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Content Article
A Black woman is 3.7 times more likely to die in pregnancy than a white woman. [1] They are more likely to experience postnatal depression.[2] and less likely to seek support.[3]. Mental ill-health in pregnancy and beyond is an increasing cause of maternal death,[1] making it more important than ever to understand and address racial inequality. In this interview, we talk to Sandra Igwe, CEO of The Motherhood Group, and Author of My Black Motherhood: Mental Health, Stigma, Racism and the System, about the Black Maternal Health Conference UK, taking place on 20 March 2023. Sandra, who is hosting the event, explains how the day has been designed to support the rebuilding of trust between Black mothers and the healthcare system. She introduces us to the rich and interactive agenda and explains how it will provide opportunity for deeper exploration and collaboration. Sandra welcomes everyone to sign up to the event, from mothers and healthcare professionals to researchers and journalists. Event hashtag - #BMHCUK -
Content Article
Patient Safety Commissioner: 100 Days Report (2 February 2023)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in England
In this report, Dr Henrietta Hughes, Patient Safety Commissioner for England, reflects on her first 100 days in this new role. She sets out what she has heard, what she has done and her priorities for the year ahead. -
Content ArticleThis is a brief summary of a Westminster Hall debate in the House of Commons on the 31 January 2023 concerning the Essex Mental Health Independent Inquiry.
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Content ArticleElectroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a technique that has been used since 1938 to treat several psychiatric disorders as a replacement for chemically induced seizures. Despite its history of stigma, controversy and low accessibility, ECT is found to be beneficial and efficient in severe cases of depression where medication fails to bring results. This article in Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine aimed to summarise the research conducted on the efficacy of ECT on major depressive disorder and variables studied such as technique, comorbidities and medication as well as the effects and outcomes of this procedure.
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Content ArticleYoung people from across the UK reflect on how the pandemic is still affecting their lives and their plans for the future, 18 months after the end of the third national lockdown.
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Content ArticleWhether it is the waiting lists for mental health support or the inadequacies of long-Covid clinics, millions of patients with long-term health conditions have been struggling for years to get basic healthcare. The chaotic decline that has befallen acute care in A&E has hit day-to-day services, with effects from delayed consultant appointments and year-long clinic waiting lists to slashed community care. Mental health bed shortages mean young people need now to have “attempted suicide several times” before they get a place in an inpatient unit in England. Record delays for cancer treatment are leaving patients facing lethal waits. Thousands of people with neurological conditions are waiting up to two years to even see a consultant. For them, the ground has long been shaking. It is just that no one else noticed. The Guardian has spoken to disabled people the length and breadth of England and Wales about their wait for care. For them, the NHS is not an “in case of emergency” service but the engine they rely on to keep their day-to-day life running.
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Content ArticleOn 4 March 2020 an investigation into the death of Yvonne Eaves was opened. The inquest came to a narrative conclusion that "The Deceased suffered from a chronic mental disorder and serious self-neglect. After compulsory admission to hospital under the Mental Health Act there was a gross failure to provide her with basic medical care which contributed to her death and it was possible that if she had received that care and VTE prophylaxis treatment she would not have developed a pulmonary thromboembolism and died."
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Content Article
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Nicole McCarthy tells us about the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Quality Network for Inpatient Working Age Mental Health Services (QNWA), how it supports and engages mental health inpatient wards in a process of quality improvement, its accreditation and developmental processes and how you can become a member. -
Content ArticleSarah Woolf shares the impact her cancer treatment had on her mental health and describes why it is important to see each patient as a whole person, understanding that their body has meaning for them
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Content ArticleYoung people and expert mental healthcare staff say patients are unlikely to receive in-patient mental health care unless they “have attempted suicide multiple times”, according to a new report published by Look Ahead Care and Support. Launched in the House of Lords, the report – funded by Wates Family Enterprise Trust and produced by experts Care Research – argues Accident and Emergency departments have become an ‘accidental hub’ for children and young people experiencing crisis but are ill-equipped to offer the treatment required. Based on in-depth interviews with service users, parents and carers, and NHS and social care staff from across England, the findings from the Look Ahead Care and Support report draws on experience of treating depression, anxiety, self-harm, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, eating disorders, addiction and psychosis.
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Content ArticleThis PowerPoint presentation looks at Solent NHS Trust's approach to reducing barriers faced by minority ethnic people to accessing and using mental health services. It highlights: the conclusions of a 2019 audit the work of the patient engagement and experience team recommendations from service users wider recommendations for mental health services next steps for community engagement training plans community engagement and patient experience future plans key lessons for services.
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