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Found 272 results
  1. Content Article
    Barbara Young fell downstairs at her home at 11.30am on 15 July 2021, sustaining multiple injuries including fractures of her ribs, spine and skull. Her family immediately called the emergency services and informed the ambulance call handlers that she had fallen downstairs, was not fully conscious and had sustained an apparently severe head injury. An ambulance subsequently arrived at 2.26pm and she was taken to hospital where, due to her reduced mobility, she developed pneumonia. Mrs Young’s conditioned worsened over the coming days and she died on 24 July 2021.  In her report, the Coroner raises concerns about the ambulance waiting time in this case, and more generally about ambulance response times in cases where elderly patients experience falls.
  2. Content Article
    The pandemic has shone a stark spotlight on so many inequities and inconsistencies in access to health and social care. Unfortunately, many of these inequities were already there and so, in some respects, its nothing new. In this blog, I want to draw attention to how visiting restrictions can result in worse outcomes for patients and their families. I will focus mainly on the needs of older adults in hospital or care, and those with dementia, because that has been my own experience. But these restrictive practices have affected so many groups: among them, those with mental health conditions and those with learning and behavioural difficulties. 
  3. Content Article
    Elizabeth Beech's presentation at the Royal Society of Medicine's Improving Patient Safety & Care Conference.
  4. Event
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    NHS Confederation are bringing together organisations working to treat people closer to home. This conference will offer an opportunity for senior leaders across health and care to come together and explore health beyond the hospital. Health beyond the hospital is a chance to come together with others working in this space to explore how we can work collaboratively to support people in their homes and the community. It will focus on three key themes: people with health conditions (older people; people with multiple and complex conditions; and children and young people); data and digital; and innovation. This will be a key opportunity for members and non-members to network with peers, to share knowledge and experience, as well as listen to experts from across healthcare. By focusing on what we can do together and uniting around patients we can shift the conversation to focus on treating people where they live and keeping them well at home. Register
  5. Event
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    Around 10% of people aged 65 and over live with frailty, with this figure rising to between 25%-50% for those over 85. It's estimated that 300,000 people living with frailty undergo surgery each year. Frailty is recognised as a significant risk factor for complications in both elective and emergency surgical patients and has a direct correlation to postoperative outcomes. This study day will review frailty in relation to surgery, the many aspects of risk to the frail patient, risk scoring and what we as perioperative practitioners can do to mitigate the risk of surgery. Topics will include: Recognising frailty and frailty scoring. Perioperative anaesthetic management. Hypothermia and venous thromboembolism. Skin integrity and managing continence. Intercurrent infections impacting on emergency surgery. Cognitive function and considerations for patients with dementia. Register
  6. Content Article
    9.1 million people will be living with major illness by 2040, 2.5 million more than in 2019, according to this new report published by the Health Foundation. The analysis is part of a four-year project led by the Health Foundation’s Real Centre in partnership with the University of Liverpool, focusing on levels of ill health in the adult population in England up to 2040. It lays out the scale and impact of the growth in the number of people living with major illness as the population ages.
  7. Content Article
    The Safe Care at Home Review is an important reminder that people with care and support needs may experience abuse and neglect, sometimes under the guise of ‘care’. Older people, or people with disabilities, may be particularly vulnerable to harm because of their dependence on others and the complexity of their care needs. They might rely on other people for physical, mental or financial support, and may face difficulties recognising or reporting harm. The review draws on a range of evidence, including the Home Office funded Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme, which has highlighted that one in six domestic homicides involved people who were cared for by, or caring for, the suspect.
  8. Content Article
    Increasing numbers of people are at risk of developing frailty. People living with frailty are experiencing unwarranted variationin their care. This toolkit will provide you with expert practical advice and guidance on how to commission and provide the best system wide care for people living with frailty.
  9. Content Article
    A key piece of guidance aiming to support hospital teams in their work to improve care of older people living with frailty is now available, in a collaboration between Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) and the British Geriatrics Society (BGS). The guidance is designed to accompany the new GIRFT Hospital Acute Care Frailty Pathway, and offers detailed measures teams should take to improve care and reduce hospital-acquired dependency for those living with frailty, as well as stressing that interventions should be monitored and linked more widely to community-based services.
  10. Content Article
    Paul Brand investigates why 6,000 people have been given "notices to quit" by care homes across England, and why so many people are being kicked out of them.
  11. Content Article
    Age-Friendly Health Systems (AFHS) is an initiative that aims to follow evidence-based practices while minimising harm in older patients. The evidence-based elements of high-quality care are known as the 4Ms: What Matters Medication Mentation Mobility During the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, a team from the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) decided to examine the equity of their care for older adults. The resulting study published about the age-friendly work at OHSU is the first to include data about health equity as part of AFHS outcomes and illustrates the importance of creating equitable care at clinical and institutional policy levels. This blog looks at the process the team went through to assess and collect data about age-related equity.
  12. Content Article
    The MindEd all-age eating disorders hub is aimed at all professionals, from universal to specialist. It contains key trusted evidence-based learning, curated and approved by an expert panel. The hub contains the following information:NHS policy guidanceProfessional bodies' guidanceProfessional associations' reportsCharitiesNHS learning and good practiceLegislation and reportsKey and influential textsUnder-served populations
  13. Content Article
    Guidance needs to be applied in a careful, caring and person-centred way to ensure that patients benefit from, and are not harmed by, healthcare. In this blog, Dr Sam Finnikin, an academic GP in Sutton Coldfield, uses the story of 86 year-old Joan to illustrate the importance of shared decision-making in ensuring patients receive the most appropriate care. Joan was prescribed multiple medications by the hospital cardiology team after being diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome and a severely impaired left ventricle, but the medications made her feel very unwell and inhibited her quality of life. Joan then reached out to her GP surgery as she wanted to stop taking them, and Dr Finnikin realised that she and her family were unaware of the the reason each medication had been prescribed and the potential benefits and side effects of each one. After a long conversation about her priorities, Joan stopped the medications that were not benefitting her symptoms and died in peace and comfort at home a few weeks later. Dr Finnikin argues that shared decision-making is not an optional extra, but must be considered a vital part of healthcare, stating that "omitting shared decision making can be just as harmful to patients as being ignorant of clinical recommendations."
  14. Content Article
    The Relatives and Residents Association (R&RA) is conducting a survey which aims to gather evidence on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on access to healthcare services for those living in care homes. R&RA is seeking responses from people who were living in care homes at any point during the pandemic, or from their relatives and friends. Our analysis of the responses will be shared with the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, including anonymised examples. The survey should take around 10-15 mins to complete.
  15. News Article
    Over-50s and younger adults with underlying health conditions are being urged to participate in a study of life-saving treatments for COVID-19. The study is open to those who test positive for Covid and had symptoms develop in the previous five days. Volunteers will be given pills to take at home. The study will help decide how antiviral drugs will be used, Prof Sir Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer for England, said. Health Secretary Sajid Javid asked everyone eligible to "step forward" and "help us to learn more about medicines which could save thousands of lives". Antivirals were "part of our approach as we learn to live with Covid, by preventing the most vulnerable from being hospitalised", he said. The UK regulator has licensed both for treating Covid, with molnupiravir the first to be given the green light, in November. Both have completed clinical trials and shown promising results at reducing the risk of serious illness or death. Launched in December, it already has 4,500 people signed up but needs 6,000 more as soon as possible. You can sign up at the study website now or your GP may contact you to ask you to participate if you test positive for Covid. Read full story Source: BBC News, 25 January 2022
  16. News Article
    New data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revealed that unvaccinated adults infected with Covid-19 who are 65 and older are 49 times more likely to need hospitalisation compared to those who have received booster doses. The CDC also found that in December, unvaccinated adults in that same age group experienced a rate of Covid-related hospitalisation 17 times higher than those who are fully vaccinated. For unvaccinated adults between 50 and 64, they are 44 times more likely to require hospitalisation compared with those who are immunised. In that same age group, unvaccinated adults were also 17 times more likely to experience Covid-related hospitalisation. According to the CDC, adults who are 65 and older and have received both doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine showed a 94% reduced risk of Covid-related hospitalisations. “Getting very sick means that older adults with Covid-19 might need hospitalization, intensive care, or a ventilator to help them breathe, or they might even die. The risk increases for people in their 50s and increases in 60s, 70s, and 80s. People 85 and older are the most likely to get very sick,” the CDC said on its website. “Get vaccinated as soon as possible,” the agency added. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 21 January 2022
  17. News Article
    The pandemic has disproportionately affected people living in care homes, who accounted for an estimated 30% of all deaths from covid-19 across 25 countries despite making up only 1% of the world’s population, a report has estimated. The analysis was carried out by Collateral Global, a research group that says it is dedicated to reporting on the effects of governments’ mandatory COVID-19 mitigation measures. The report said the pandemic had exacerbated long running problems in the care sector, such as chronic underfunding, poor structural organisation, staff undertraining, underskilling, and underequipping, and a “lack of humanity in dealing with the most vulnerable members of society.” “Neglect, thirst, and hunger were—and possibly still are—the biggest killers,” the group said. They also said that care home residents faced barriers in access to emergency treatments during the pandemic. The study authors suggested that undiagnosed COVID-19, poor testing, and inadequate staffing and infection control were the likely factors contributing to the excess deaths in care homes. Martin Green, chief executive officer of Care England, said, “Adult social care and the NHS are two sides of the same coin and need to be treated as such. The government shouldn’t have placed such a myopic focus on the NHS without due consideration for social care too.” He said that he was “phenomenally” proud of the care workforce and wanted to ensure that they were recognised as professionals with proper career pathways and commensurate funding. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The BMJ, 22 December 2021
  18. News Article
    A watchdog found there were safety concerns at a south-east London care home weeks after a resident killed a woman in her bedroom, it has emerged. Alexander Rawson, 63, beat 93-year-old Eileen Dean to death at Fieldside Care Home in Catford on 3 January. Inspectors visited the care home on 26 January after the murder of the grandmother-of-five triggered alarm about patient safety. Inspectors concluded that the home failed to record dangers properly and residents "were not always safe". Mrs Dean suffered catastrophic injuries after she was attacked by Rawson with a walking stick, about two weeks after he had been moved into the home from a mental health unit. According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the report said: "People were not always safe. The provider had not ensured risks to people were always documented and mitigated. "Risk assessments and care plans contained conflicting information which could potentially lead to people being exposed to harm." Specific concerns were also raised to the watchdog about the home's "risk management processes." The 63-year-old was sentenced to indefinite detention in a secure psychiatric unit on Monday. Read full story Source: BBC News, 22 November 2021
  19. News Article
    England has the highest death rates of frail and older hospitalised patients in the western world, a landmark global study has found. Harvard University, the London School of Economics (LSE) and the thinktank Health Foundation, all part of the International Collaborative on Costs, Outcomes and Needs in Care (Icconic), a global network of healthcare researchers, used thousands of official medical records to compare the cost and quality of care in 10 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. Patient deaths are commonly used measures of performance in healthcare systems but until now there have been few sources of comparable death rates across countries. In order to assess outcomes in frail and older patients, researchers focused on two groups that represent priority areas for the NHS and other healthcare systems: those in hospital with a hip fracture and those admitted with heart failure who have diabetes. On both measures, England had higher mortality rates than all the other countries, which included the US, Germany, France, Sweden and Spain. Dr Jennifer Dixon, the chief executive of the Health Foundation, said: “The findings of the Icconic study warrant urgent further investigation, particularly the finding of higher mortality among patients with hip fracture in the year after their admission for emergency treatment." “That patients in England with hip fracture spend far longer in hospital after surgery than they would in other countries also highlights an opportunity to improve efficiency by reducing the avoidable use of hospital care. Less avoidably long stays would mean existing capacity could be better used to address the backlogs in hospital care as a result of the pandemic. This could contribute to both better outcomes for patients and, as hip fracture is the most common reason for emergency surgery, significantly improved productivity for hospitals across the country.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 10 November 2021
  20. News Article
    Over-55s are not being recommended useful health technology as GPs presume they cannot use a smartphone, say researchers Older patients are being excluded from beneficial health technology because “ageist” doctors presume they cannot work a smartphone, research has suggested. Experts have accused doctors of “stereotyping” older people as being incapable of using technology and warned patient safety was being put at risk by a failure to support them in using appropriate online health tools. GPs typically recommend NHS-approved health apps to about one in 10 patients aged under 35 to help them manage their conditions between appointments, such as by reminding them to take medications or monitoring their symptoms. However, doctors recommend the same apps to just one in 25 patients over 55 and one in 50 patients over 65, according to research by the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps (ORCHA), which assesses apps for the health service. The same research found 55 per cent of over-55s would be happy to try using a health app if it was recommended, while nine in 10 over-55s and eight in 10 over-65s who have used a health app felt satisfied or very satisfied with the experience. The NHS Long Term Plan states that patients should have access to “digital tools” to manage their health and studies have shown NHS-approved health apps can have clinical benefits. Older people ‘will benefit from digital products’ However, Helen Hughes, the chief executive of the charity Patient Safety Learning, suggested ageist assumptions about older people’s technological ability meant they were missing out. “The data suggests that older people maybe being stereotyped, with assumptions they won’t be computer literate,” she said. “Plenty of older people are tech savvy – or at least willing to learn – and will really benefit from being able to manage their health from home, using digital products. Older patients need to be offered technology solutions with support on how best to use them, if this is needed.” She warned there was also “a significant patient safety issue” with the failure to advise patients about NHS-approved apps, as it left older patients at risk of inadvertently downloading one of the thousands of unreliable health apps available. To read the full article (paywalled), click here Original Source: The Telegraph
  21. News Article
    Elderly people who suffer falls are having to wait up to six hours for an ambulance because of rising Covid pressures, a medical body has warned. The delays are due to paramedics having to prioritise 999 calls from people suffering from coronavirus related breathing difficulties. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 1 January 2021
  22. News Article
    Older women could be less likely to receive ovarian cancer treatment. A new report analysed data from more than 17,000 cases of ovarian cancer diagnosed across England between 2016 and 2018. Three in five (60%) of women with ovarian cancer over the age of 79 did not receive either chemotherapy or surgery, while 37% of women over the age of 70 did not receive any treatment. The nature of ovarian cancer means surgery is essential in the large majority of cases to remove the tumour. The researchers cautioned that with an ageing population it is vital that women of all ages have access to the best possible treatments. Researchers also examined the various rates of treatments for ovarian cancer among women in different parts of England. They found the probability of receiving any treatment fell below the average in the East Midlands, the East of England, Greater Manchester and Kent and Medway. The report was jointly funded by The British Gynaecological Cancer Society, Ovarian Cancer Action, Target Ovarian Cancer and delivered by analysts at the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service. Commenting on the report, Cary Wakefield, chief executive of Ovarian Cancer Action, said: "Neither your age nor location should decide your chance of survival if you are diagnosed with ovarian cancer." "Our audit is the first step in addressing the health inequalities women across England face, so we can begin to dismantle them." Read full story Source: The Independent, 11 November 2020
  23. News Article
    The government is facing criticism over its guidance on safe visits to care homes in England. Labour and a number of charities have described the suggestions, including floor-to-ceiling screens, designated visitor pods and window visits, as impractical. Alzheimer's Society has said it "completely misses the point". Justice Secretary Robert Buckland told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the guidance was "non-exhaustive". The updated government advice, which came into effect on Thursday, says care homes - especially those which have not allowed visits since March - "will be encouraged and supported to provide safe visiting opportunities". Labour's shadow care minister Liz Kendall said many care homes would not be able to comply with the government's requirements which meant "in reality thousands of families are likely to be banned from visiting their loved ones". She said instead of suggesting measures such as screens, the government should "designate a single family member as a key worker - making them a priority for weekly testing and proper PPE". Kate Lee, chief executive at Alzheimer's Society, said: "We're devastated by today's new care home visitor guidance - it completely misses the point: this attempt to protect people will kill them." She said the pandemic had left people with dementia isolated and thousands had died. The guidelines "completely ignore the vital role of family carers in providing the care for their loved ones with dementia that no one else can", she added. She said the "prison-style screens" proposed by the government with people speaking through phones were "frankly ridiculous when you consider someone with advanced dementia can often be bed-bound and struggling to speak". That view was echoed by Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, who said she was "acutely aware" that the methods being sanctioned were "unlikely to be useable by many older people with dementia, or indeed sensory loss". Read full story Source: BBC News, 5 November 2020
  24. News Article
    NHS bosses have denied claims that thousands of frail elderly people were denied potentially life-saving care at the peak of the pandemic in order to stop the health service being overrun. NHS England took the unusual step on Sunday of issuing a 12-page rebuttal to allegations in the Sunday Times that patients deemed unlikely to survive were “written off” by being refused intensive care. Prof Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, said: “These untrue claims will be deeply offensive to NHS doctors, nurses, therapists and paramedics, who have together cared for more than 110,000 severely ill hospitalised Covid-19 patients during the first wave of the pandemic, as they continue to do today." “The Sunday Times’ assertions are simply not borne out by the facts. It was older patients who disproportionately received NHS care. Over two-thirds of our COVID-19 inpatients were aged over 65. “The NHS repeatedly instructed staff that no patient who could benefit from treatment should be denied it and, thanks to people following government guidance, even at the height of the pandemic there was no shortage of ventilators and intensive care.” The newspaper claimed the high coronavirus infection rate in the UK before lockdown began on 23 March and the NHS’s limited supply of mechanical ventilators going into the pandemic meant that “the government, the NHS and many doctors were forced into taking controversial decisions – choosing which lives to save, which patients to treat and who to prioritise – in order to protect hospitals”. The Sunday Times said its claims were the result of a three-month investigation that involved speaking to more than 50 sources in the NHS and the government about the health service’s response to the pandemic. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 25 October 2020
  25. News Article
    n the day Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital with COVID-19, Vivien Morrison received a phone call from a doctor at East Surrey Hospital in Redhill. Stricken by the virus, her father, Raymond Austin, had taken a decisive turn for the worse. The spritely grandfather, who still worked as a computer analyst at the age of 82, was not expected to survive the day. His oxygen levels had fallen to 70% rather than the normally healthy levels of at least 94%. Vivien says she was told by the doctor that her father would not be given intensive care treatment or mechanical ventilation because he “ticked too many boxes” under the guidelines the hospital was using. While ministers delayed lockdown, soaring cases were putting immense pressure on hospitals. This investigation from The Times shows officials devised a brutal ‘triage tool’ to keep the elderly and frail away. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Sunday Times, 25 October 2020)
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