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Showing results for tags 'Obstetrics and gynaecology/ Maternity'.
Found 399 results
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News Article
Hundreds of UK women can now take legal action over Essure device
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
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 When Essure was withdrawn from sale, in 2017, the UK medicines regulator said there was no risk to safety.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 -
News ArticleA woman who suffered chronic abdominal pain for 18 months after undergoing a caesarean section was found to have a surgical instrument the size of a dinner plate inside her abdomen. The Alexis retractor, or AWR, was left inside the New Zealand mother after her baby was delivered at Auckland City Hospital in 2020. Following initial investigations into the case, Te Whatu Ora Auckland, formerly Auckland District Health Board, claimed it had not failed to exercise reasonable skill and care towards the patient, who was in her 20s. But on Monday, New Zealand’s Health and Disability Commissioner, Morag McDowell, found Te Whatu Ora Auckland in breach of the code of patient rights. Read full story Source: Guardian, 4 September 2023
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Content Article.As healthcare organisations continually strive to improve, there is a growing recognition of the importance of establishing a culture of safety. This handbook was published by Healthcare Improvement Scotland to support NHS board maternity services to: understand the importance of safety culture. undertake a patient safety climate survey. understand what the survey results are telling them. develop an improvement plan to address areas that have been highlighted. It includes: the Maternity Services Patient Safety Survey. template letters for NHS boards to adapt for local use. an example improvement plan template.
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News Article
‘It’s really only the beginning’: are we on the cusp of a breakthrough in endometriosis?
Clive Flashman posted a news article in News
After generations of inaction and very few novel ideas, researchers and activists are hopeful a new path is being charted in understanding and treating the crippling chronic condition “There’s an excitement at the moment,” says Andrew Horne. After decades of inaction, something is happening in endometriosis. Now, says the professor of gynaecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Edinburgh, “I do think things are changing. There are more people working on it, so it’s bringing in people from different disciplines with new ideas.” In the space of a few months, from gatherings in Edinburgh and Washington DC, labs in Sydney and Japan, there is a sense that new ideas are bubbling to the surface, including a fundamental rethinking of endometriosis not as a disease of the pelvis, but rather, says Horne, “a whole-body disease”. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment when despair turned to hope in the research and patient community. There was no single breakthrough. No one person responsible. In March, the largest ever study on the genetics of endometriosis was published in Nature Genetics, which found genetic links to 11 other pain conditions as well as other inflammatory conditions. The study, involving DNA from more than 760,000 women, found ovarian endometriosis is genetically distinct from other types and indicated there may be a genetic predisposition to excessive inflammation in people with the condition. One of the researchers, Dr Nilufer Rahmioglu from the University of Oxford, described the data as a “treasure trove of new information”. Weeks later on the other side of the world, researchers from Sydney’s Royal Hospital for Women attracted international attention after they grew tissue from different types of endometriosis and compared how each responded differently to treatments. Jason Abbott, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the hospital, likened the development to those made in the treatment of breast cancer three decades ago. Two weeks on from the Australian discovery, Japanese researchers found a common form of bacteria may be contributing to the growth of endometriosis via inflammation. The frisson was, by then, hard to miss. Read the full article here: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/aug/10/its-really-only-the-beginning-are-we-on-the-cusp-of-a-breakthrough-in-endometriosis -
Content Article
A vision for improving the care and support available to families when baby loss occurs before 24 weeks' gestation. -
News ArticleThe trust at the centre of a maternity scandal insists it has been providing immediate anaesthetic cover for obstetric emergencies, contrary to an NHS England report suggesting it had not and had been potentially breaching safety standards. Health Education England – now part of NHSE – visited William Harvey Hospital in March and was told senior doctors in training who were covering obstetrics could also be covering the cath lab – which deals with patients who have had a heart attack, and could receive trauma, paediatric emergency and cardiac arrest calls. This suggested the trust was in conflict with Royal College guidelines which state an anaesthetist should always be “immediately available” for obstetrics. East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, originally told HSJ its rota had very recently been changed and that an anaesthetist with primary responsibility for maternity could leave any other work to attend to a maternity emergency immediately. However, it has since said it has been the case for a long time that an anaesthetist is available to return to maternity in case of an emergency. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 17 June 2023
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Content ArticleThe New Zealand Ministry of Health has released its first Women’s Health Strategy, which sets the direction for improving the health and wellbeing of women over the next 10 years. It outlines long-term priorities which will guide health system progress towards equity and healthy futures for women. The vision of the strategy is pae ora (healthy futures) for women. All women will: live longer in good health have improved wellbeing and quality of life be part of healthy, and resilient whānau and communities, within healthy environments that sustain their health and wellbeing. A key priority is equitable health outcomes for wāhine Māori, a commitment under Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi). The strategy also aims to help achieve equity of health outcomes between men and women, and between all groups of women.
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Content Article
Jane Plumb is the Co-Founder of Group B Strep Support and the Women's Voices Lead for the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists. In this interview, she emphasises the importance of actively involving patients and families in patient safety discussions so that improvements can be informed by their insights and experiences. Jane also talks about her campaigning and advocacy work, reflecting on the challenges and achievements to date as well as looking ahead to future aims and activity. -
Content ArticleThis story is part one of a series by AP News, examining the health disparities experienced by Black Americans across a lifetime.
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Content ArticleDavina McCall’s documentary Pill Revolution missed an opportunity to validate painful experiences of intrauterine devices and promote better practice, writes Stephanie O'Donohue, Patient Safety Learning's Content and Engagement Manager, in an opinion piece for the BMJ.
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Content ArticleWhat health condition affects some 200 million people around the world, yet remains woefully misunderstood, underfunded, and barely addressed in medical-school curricula? Endometriosis is a disease that the World Health Organization estimates affects 1 in 10 women and girls globally. And yet the National Institute of Health allocates a whopping 0.038% of its research resources to the disorder. Endometriosis, which involves tissue similar to uterine tissue growing elsewhere in the body, has myriad symptoms, including GI distress, migraines, discomfort during sex and abdominal pain that can range from debilitating to excruciating. Countless women miss days of school and work, lose their jobs, and suffer depression as a result of the illness. Experts say endometriosis could be the underlying cause of 50% of infertility cases. L Despite efforts to raise awareness, it persists as an underground topic, and many doctors are ill equipped to help those afflicted or don’t even believe their patients. “It’s a perfect storm of undervaluing women and women’s health, inequities in health care, menstrual taboo, gender bias, racial bias, and financial barriers to healthcare,” said Shannon Cohn, the director of Below the Belt: The Last Health Taboo, a searing one-hour documentary set to premiere on PBS.
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Content Article
Symptoms of group B Strep infection in babies
Patient_Safety_Learning posted an article in Maternity
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In the UK, up to two-thirds of GBS infection in babies are of early onset (showing within the first 6 days of life). Read more about the symptoms and download an awareness poster via the link below to the Group B Strep Support website. -
Content ArticleDelays in the detection or treatment of postpartum haemorrhage can result in complications or death. A blood-collection drape can help provide objective, accurate, and early diagnosis of postpartum haemorrhage, and delayed or inconsistent use of effective interventions may be able to be addressed by a treatment bundle. Authors of this study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, conducted an international, cluster-randomized trial to assess a multicomponent clinical intervention for postpartum haemorrhage in patients having vaginal delivery. The intervention included a calibrated blood-collection drape for early detection of postpartum haemorrhage and a bundle of first-response treatments (uterine massage, oxytocic drugs, tranexamic acid, intravenous fluids, examination, and escalation), supported by an implementation strategy (intervention group).
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Content ArticlePostpartum haemorrhage is a leading cause of maternal deaths. Now a new study points to a surprisingly simple and inexpensive solution. If the woman lies on a plastic sheet with a small transparent pouch at the other end to collect the blood, the medical team has an immediate sense of how much danger she's in and can take swift action. Read the full article, published by NPR, via the link below.
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Content ArticleNew research showed how a national quality improvement programme called PReCePT (Preventing Cerebral Palsy in Pre Term labour) accelerated maternity units’ use of Magnesium sulphate for pre-term labour. The programme could serve as a blueprint for future efforts to get clinical guidelines into practice in other areas of care. The quality improvement programme involved training staff on the benefits of magnesium sulphate, and having a local midwife dedicated to encouraging and monitoring use of the medicine at their maternity unit. The programme was supported by Academic Health Science Networks (a regional and national organisation that encourages improvement and innovation in healthcare). This article from the National Institute for Health and Care Research provides a plain English summary and short film about the project.
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Content ArticleThis is a plain English summary from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Many women who have an assisted vaginal birth (using forceps or a vacuum cup) develop infections. A previous study showed that a single dose of preventive antibiotics protected women; this research led to a change in UK and WHO guidelines. However, most women in the study had an episiotomy (surgical cut), so it was unclear if antibiotics also protected those with a tear of the perineum (the area between vagina and anus). To address this uncertainty, researchers re-analysed the ANODE study data. They found that preventive antibiotics reduced infections after an assisted vaginal birth, irrespective of whether women had a perineal tear, an episiotomy, or both. Read the article in full and access the research via the link below.
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Content ArticleThis report was prepared by the Endometriosis Task and Finish Group and submitted to the Welsh Government on 16 April 2018. Authors propose a robust care pathway based on NICE guidance using a life course approach to ensure that symptoms are recognised and responded to promptly and appropriately, as they emerge.
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News Article
Adenomyosis: NHS failing women, health ambassador says
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The NHS in England is "failing women", the government's women's health ambassador has said. Prof Dame Lesley Regan, appointed to support the Women's Health Strategy implementation, was speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live's Naga Munchetty. Last month, Munchetty, 48, revealed she had been diagnosed with the womb condition adenomyosis, after waiting years in severe pain. Dame Lesley said she wanted women to be able to self-refer to specialists. Women and girls should not have to seek "permission [to] go and have your crippling menstrual pain sorted out", she said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 6 June 2023 -
Content ArticleThe Women's Health Strategy for England was developed and published in 2022 in response to the growing recognition of the unique health needs and challenges faced by women in England (and the U.K.) and was brought forward to address longstanding gaps in women's healthcare and to promote better health outcomes for women across the country. This Forbes article looks at why women’s health should be included in every government’s agenda. The author speaks to Professor Dame Lesley Regan, Women's Health Ambassador for England about the progress of the strategy and Dr. Ranee Thakar, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists about the need to ensure underrepresented groups are included in the strategy.
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Content ArticlePublished in BMC Health Services Research, this is the first review to theorise how open disclosure (OD) works, for whom, in what circumstances, and why. Authors identify and examine from the secondary data the five key mechanisms for successful OD and the three contextual factors that influence this. The next study stage will use interview and ethnographic data to test, deepen, or overturn their five hypothesised programme theories to explain what is required to strengthen OD in maternity services.
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News Article
Access to contraception has got harder in England, top doctor says
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Women are finding it harder to access contraception than they did a decade ago, resulting in more unplanned pregnancies, the women’s health ambassador has said. They have been discouraged by bad experiences, a confusingly disjointed system and long delays for procedures such as the coil or implant insertion, according to Prof Lesley Regan, a leading gynaecologist who was appointed women’s health ambassador for England last year. She said that “destructive” changes made to the NHS commissioning system in England in 2012, which siloed GP surgeries from hospitals, were failing women. “If you’re not commissioned to deal with the problem, there’s no incentive to do a job properly … Contraception has got to be everybody’s business and up until this moment it’s been nobody’s responsibility and no one’s been accountable for it.” She added that the NHS preoccupation with cost was counterproductive as “contraception is the single most cost-effective intervention in healthcare”. She is pushing to get the progesterone-only pill, which took a decade to become available over the counter, made free in pharmacies so fewer women “fall through the cracks”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 5 June 2023 -
News Article
'Appalling' gynaecology waiting times in NI under rapid review
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Waiting times for gynaecology services in Northern Ireland are so bad that an independent and rapid review is taking place, BBC News NI has learned. It is being conducted by the Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) programme which helps improve the quality of care within the NHS. A GIRFT team spent a week this month visiting all five health and social care trusts. In October 2022, 36,900 women in NI were on a gynaecology waiting list. A report from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said that figure was a 42% increase since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and that Northern Ireland had the longest gynaecological waiting lists in the UK. While waiting lists show that some women are waiting about 110 weeks to see a consultant gynaecologist for the first time, consultants have told BBC News NI that the reality is women depending on their medical issue are waiting much longer. Read full story Source: 31 May 2023 -
Content ArticleIn this blog Paul Whiteing, Chief Executive of AvMA, reflects on the recent report by the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee on Black maternal health. Paul questions why these racial health disparities, that have long been reported on, have been allowed to continue over many decades and highlights the need for more challenging conversations as to wider root causes.
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News Article
Intervention at major trust as junior doctors flag patient safety risks
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Trainee medics in a troubled maternity department have flagged concerns with national regulators over the safety of patients, it has emerged. Last year the General Medical Council said it had concerns about the treatment of obstetric and gynaecology trainees at University Hospitals Birmingham and placed medics at Good Hope Hospital and Heartlands Hospital under intensive support known as “enhanced monitoring”. The GMC’s review flagged serious concerns about emergency gynaecology cover arrangements and said there was a real risk trainees would become hesitant and reluctant to call on consultant support. In September it placed additional restrictions on training, due to “ongoing significant concerns about the learning environment and patient safety”. Now it has emerged in board papers for Birmingham and Solihull integrated care board that Health Education England, now part of NHS England, and the GMC carried out a follow-up visit to UHB in late March to review progress. Board documents state that “several patient safety concerns [were] reported by postgraduate doctors in training to the visiting team”, with a subsequent feedback letter from HEE urging immediate changes to dedicated consultant time and job plans. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 17 May 2023 -
Content Article
Aortic Dissection is a catastrophic tear in the main artery carrying blood from the heart to the brain, limbs and vital organs. In this webinar, hosted by THINK AORTA, Dr Stephanie Curtis presents on aortic dissection in pregnancy. We also hear from Haleema Saadia, survivor of an aortic dissection, awareness campaigner and Vice-Chair of the National Patient Association for Aortic Dissection.
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