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Showing results for tags 'Organisational Performance'.
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News Article
World's Best Hospitals 2023
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
These are challenging times for hospitals. Covid-19 put unprecedented stress on health systems, as have inflation and global financial uncertainty. In the USA and around the world, leading hospitals are dealing with rising costs, aging populations and a medical workforce exhausted from battling a global pandemic. Among the hallmarks of great hospitals, however, are not just first-class care, first-class research and first-class innovation. The very best institutions also share another quality: consistency. The world's best hospitals consistently attract the best people and provide the best outcomes for patients as well as the most important new therapies and research. Of all the hospitals in the world, relatively few can do all those things year in and year out. To recognise them, Newsweek and global data firm Statista have put together their fifth annual listing of the World's Best Hospitals 2023. This year, they have ranked over 2,300 hospitals in 28 countries, including one that is new to the list, Taiwan. For the first time, they have ranked all top 250 global hospitals. They have listed the best hospitals by country; each country list also includes a listing of top specialty hospitals. Read full story Source: News Week -
News Article
ICSs most ‘off target’ on recovery named by NHS England
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Seven integrated care systems and one ambulance trust have been placed in ‘intensive support’ because of their performance against urgent and emergency care metrics. NHS England launched the new intervention regime for emergency care earlier this year to measure progress against the urgent and emergency care recovery plan. The most troubled systems and organisations are now placed in a first “tier” and will receive central support from NHSE. Other systems requiring support from NHSE regional teams are placed in a secondary tier. This tiered approach is already in place for cancer and elective performance. Support will include help with analytical and delivery capacity, “buddying” with leading systems and “targeted executive leadership”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 7 June 2023 -
News ArticleThe mother of a seriously ill boy said she was "very alarmed" when a doctor at an under-fire children's ward admitted they were "out of their depth". In October, Carys's five-year-old son Charlie was discharged from Kettering General, but she returned him the next day in a "sort of lifeless" state. She said it seemed "quite chaotic" on Skylark ward before he was transferred to another hospital for further tests. Since the BBC's report in February that highlighted the concerns of parents with children who died or became seriously ill at the hospital, dozens more have come forward. In April, Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors rated the Northamptonshire hospital's children's and young people's services inadequate. Among the findings, inspectors said "staff did not always effectively identify and quickly act upon patients at risk of deterioration". Read full story Source: BBC News, 6 June 2023
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News Article
Mental health services that fail to improve could be shut, says watchdog
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Failing mental health services that do not improve, whether run by private firms or the NHS, could be shut, a Care Quality Commission (CQC) chief has said. It follows the watchdog judging as "inadequate" three child wards at the Priory Group's biggest hospital. The wards at Cheadle Royal, near Manchester, "did not always provide safe care", the CQC found. The unannounced inspection of Cheadle Royal took place earlier this year "in response to concerns about safety". BBC News first reported in January three women had died at the hospital last year, although not in the wards inspected for this report. The CQC's new director of mental health services, Chris Dzikiti, said he was determined to drive up standards in all units and warned he will close services who fail to improve. Read full story Source: BBC News, 31 May 2023 -
News Article
East Kent: A decade of failure in maternity care
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
After health inspectors considered closing a maternity unit over safety fears, the BBC's Michael Buchanan looks at a near-decade of poor care at East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust. "I've been telling you for months. The place is getting worse." The message in February, which Michael received from a member of the maternity team, was stark but unsurprising. In a series of texts over the previous few months, the person had been getting increasingly concerned about what was happening at the East Kent trust. The leadership is "totally ineffective" read one message. "How long do we have to keep hearing this narrative - we accept bad things happened, we have learned and are putting it right. Nothing changes." Friday's report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is unfortunately just the latest marker in a near-decade of failure to improve maternity care at the trust. The revelation that inspectors considered closing the unit at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford comes nine years after the trust's head of midwifery made a similar recommendation for the same reasons - that it was a danger to women and babies. The failure to act decisively then allowed many poor practices to continue. Read full story Source: BBC News, 28 May 2023 -
News Article
Closing baby unit considered over safety concerns
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Health inspectors considered shutting down a maternity unit earlier this year over safety concerns. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) instead called for "immediate improvements" following a visit to the William Harvey hospital in Ashford, Kent. Helen Gittos, whose newborn daughter died in the care of the East Kent Hospitals Trust, said there were "fundamental" problems at the trust. The inspection of East Kent's William Harvey hospital laid bare multiple instances of inadequate practices at the unit, including staff failing to wash their hands after each patient, and life-saving equipment not being in the right place. Days after the visit, the watchdog raised safety concerns and threatened the trust with enforcement action to ensure patients are protected. Ms Gittos, whose baby Harriet was born at the East Kent trust's Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital (QEQM) in 2014 and died eight days later, said: "When my daughter Harriet was born, the then head of midwifery was so concerned about safety that she thought that the William Harvey in particular should be closed down." She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Here we are, almost nine years later, in a similar kind of situation. What has been happening has not worked. "I keep being surprised at how possible it is to keep being shocked about all of this, but I am shocked, that under so much scrutiny, and with so much external help, it's still the case that so much is not right. "The problems that are revealed are so fundamental that we have to do things differently." Read full story Source: BBC News, 26 May 2023 -
News ArticlePregnant women and new mothers are facing wide variation in access to mental health support, new figures suggest, as NHS England admits national performance on a key long-term plan goal to expand services is ‘over a year behind trajectory’. Analysis of access rates for perinatal mental health services from NHS Digital shows the rates of women accessing support within the past 12 months range from 3.7 per cent in Humber and North Yorkshire to 15 per cent in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICS. The long-term plan target is for 66,000 women per year to be accessing specialist perinatal services, which can help with conditions such as post-partum psychosis, by March 2024. NHSE admitted in its papers that “although access is increasing, performance remains over a year behind trajectory”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 25 May 2023
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News Article
'Multiple systemic failures' found at Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh A&E
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Patients spent up to 25 hours on trolleys in corridors waiting for treatment and in some cases were left lying on "urine-soaked sheets" and in another on a "blood-stained pillow for several hours" at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) inspectors also raised concerns over fire safety in the overcrowded A&E after two visits to the hospital - the first of which was carried out between February 20 to 22 and a further unannounced follow-up in March. The watchdog found "multiple systemic failures" in a report published on Thursday but NHS Lothian said a major improvement drive was already underway. The health board added that the hospital was had just endured its busiest winter on record ahead of the inspections. At the time of the inspection, the emergency department was on some days operating at over three times its capacity. The report described this as unsafe and a "fire safety risk" with the evacuation plan in place at the time not reflecting the "significant" impact of overcrowding. Read full story Source: The Herald, 18 May 2023 -
News ArticleAn ‘outstanding’ trust’s Care Quality Commission rating has been dropped to ‘requires improvement’, after inspectors found potential safety risks and a disconnect between board and ward. A highly critical report on University Hospitals Sussex Foundation Trust also downgraded its well-led rating to “inadequate” and recommended the trust be placed in segment four – the bottom tier – of NHS England’s system oversight framework. Its main tertiary centre – the Royal Sussex County Hospital – was also rated “inadequate”, including for safety. Deanna Westwood, Care Quality Commission’s director of operations in the South, said “staff and patients were being let down by senior leaders, especially the board, who often appeared out of touch with what was happening on the wards and clinical areas and it was affecting people’s care and treatment”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ,12 May 2023
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News Article
Regulator clears trust to bring back junior doctors
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Up to 10 junior doctor posts will be reinstated at a small district general hospital after regulators agreed it had improved its learning environment. In 2021, Health Education England removed 10 doctors from Weston Hospital over concerns they were being left without adequate supervision on understaffed wards. The unusual move prompted University Hospitals Bristol and Weston Foundation Trust to launch a “quality improvement approach” to improve its learner and clinical supervision environment. The regulator said the trust had made significant improvements that included: Better staff engagement with the trust leadership at all levels. Better clinical supervision, particularly around shift handovers and senior oversight of clinical decisions. Better learner experience in new training settings in rheumatology and intensive care medicine. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 10 May 2023 -
News ArticleMaternity services at a trust in Staffordshire have been rated as 'requires significant improvement' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust in Stoke-on-Trent must now make urgent changes by June 30th 2023, to ensure patients are cared for safely. It follows an inspection in March where inspectors said staff did not have enough effective systems in place to ensure patients were looked after to the standard they should be. Staff also failed to implement a prioritisation process to ensure delays in the induction of labour were monitored and effectively managed, according to the review of services. The CQC said midwives evaluating patients and handling triage processes did not effectively assess, document and respond to the ongoing risks associated with safety through triage. Read full story Source: ITV News, 28 April 2023
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News Article
Six systems pulled up by NHSE over poor cancer diagnosis performance
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS England has demanded recovery plans from six systems with a poor record on delivering urgent cancer checks. NHS England has told the chief executives of the six integrated care boards they must “present and deliver a plan” to make more use of their diagnostic facilities for patients who need urgent cancer checks. The “facilities” referred to are all community diagnostic centres. The six were selected because they diagnosed or ruled out fewer than 70% of urgent cancer referrals within 28 days during February. This benchmark is known as the “faster diagnostic standard”. A letter to the chief executives said: “improving waiting times for patients referred for urgent suspected cancer will be a critical priority for the NHS over the coming year”. It adds: “it is essential… our national investments in diagnostic capacity are more clearly prioritised for patients being investigated for urgent suspected cancer”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 28 April 2023 -
News Article
Forty trusts are set elective target less ambitious than last year
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS trusts have been given targets to increase elective activity that range from 103% of pre-pandemic levels to nearly 130%, internal data seen by HSJ reveals. The wide gap between the targets, which are based on past performance and reflect the value of activity carried out, indicate the slow pace of recovery at many trusts last year. Forty trusts have been set the least ambitious target, to deliver 103% of pre-covid activity levels in 2023-24, including Leeds Teaching Hospitals, Barts Health, and University Hospitals Birmingham. All providers were supposed to deliver at least 104% of pre-covid activity last year, but few managed to achieve this, with emergency pressures, the impact of covid and flu, and workforce problems hampering efforts to ramp up activity. Amanda Pritchard has previously admitted the health service would have to “re-profile” the trajectory to achieving 130% of pre-covid activity levels by 2025. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 20 April 2023 -
News Article
NHS England should scrap many of its national targets, review says
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The NHS should abolish many of its national targets while shifting its focus towards preventive healthcare, according to a review by a former Labour health secretary. The study by Patricia Hewitt, commissioned by the government said that, while targets can help concentrate the minds of those responsible for a service, having too many makes them less effective. It comes at a time when record numbers of people are on NHS waiting lists and as the health service in England continues to miss targets on A&E waits, the speed of ambulance responses, and cancer treatment times. The review sets out new targets and failing to provide adequate funding for new initiatives makes it far harder to plan new services and recruit staff. It adds that an excessive focus on hitting targets by managers can lead to “gaming” of the targets and a “disastrous neglect of patients themselves”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 3 April 2023 -
News Article
Trusts given five years to achieve safe midwife staffing
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS trusts have been given until 2027-28 to employ enough midwives to meet safe staffing requirements, NHS England’s new maternity delivery plan has said. The three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services sets out to “make maternity and neonatal care safer, more personalised and more equitable for women, babies and families”. It says: “Trusts will meet establishment [requirements] set by midwifery staffing tools and achieve fill rates by 2027-28, with new tools to guide safe staffing for other professions from 2023-24.” The plan follows a series of high-profile maternity scandals in the NHS at Shrewsbury and Telford, East Kent, Morecambe Bay and an ongoing independent review by Donna Ockenden into Nottingham University Hospitals Trust. The Care Quality Commission has highlighted a string of other concerns across the NHS. Read full story Source: HSJ, 31 March 2023 -
News Article
CQC’s ICS ratings put on hold
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Plans for integrated care systems (ICSs) to be given Care Quality Commission (CQC) ratings are on hold, and no ratings will be issued until summer 2024 at the earliest, HSJ understands. The government had previously said ICSs would be given ratings – after pressure from Jeremy Hunt, then Commons health committee chair and now chancellor – and there was an expectation the process would begin next month. However, while legislation says the CQC will review and assess ICSs, it does not require it to give ratings. HSJ understands the Department of Health and Social Care supports the CQC beginning early work on assessing ICSs shortly, but does not plan to sign off on ratings being issued, nor set any date for that to happen. It means that, at the very earliest, more detailed reviews leading to ratings could happen from spring/summer 2024. One source with knowledge of the decision said there was not strong support for ratings work to start, and the CQC still needed to do a lot of work to adapt its approach to ICSs. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 27 March 2023 -
News Article
USA: 83 best hospitals for patient experience, safety
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Healthgrades recognised 864 US hospitals with its 2023 Patient Safety Excellence Awards and Outstanding Patient Experience Award. Only 83 of those hospitals received both awards. The dual recipients spanned 28 states. Texas had the most dual recipients with 12 honorees — including three Baylor Scott and White Health hospitals. Read full story Source; Becker's Hospital Review, 14 March 2023 -
Content ArticleNHS England recently published its Delivery Plan for Recovering Urgent and Emergency Care Services, with goals and actions for the next two years. David Oliver, consultant in geriatrics and acute general medicine, gives his opinion on the plan.
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Content ArticleTo support recovery of the NHS by improving waiting times and patient experience, a joint Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England plan sets out a number of ambitions, including: Patients being seen more quickly in emergency departments: with the ambition to improve to 76% of patients being admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours by March 2024, with further improvement in 2024/25. Ambulances getting to patients quicker: with improved ambulance response times for Category 2 incidents to 30 minutes on average over 2023/24, with further improvement in 2024/25 towards pre-pandemic levels. NHS England has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to develop the plan, and it draws on a diverse range of opinion and experience, as well as views of patients and users. The Department of Health and Social Care, who produced the content on actions being taken in social care, have led on engagement with the sector.
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Content ArticleEmergency access to healthcare is in crisis. Unmet need in primary and community care and low capacity in hospitals and social care has left the emergency health services gridlocked and overwhelmed, unable to provide safe care. This Cross party House of Lords Public Services Committee report recommends that a COBR Committee be assigned the responsibility to address the crisis in emergency healthcare. In the long-term, it recommends a a substantial overhaul is needed, one which sets out a bold new operating model for the system as a whole, and which is backed by equally bold leadership.
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Content ArticleIn this article, HSJ's Annabelle Collins reflects on the increasing number of NHS staff quitting their jobs and the risk to patient safety of 'corridor care'.
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Content ArticleNHS England has published its planning guidance for 2023/2023. The 2023/24 priorities and operational planning guidance reconfirms the ongoing need to recover our core services and improve productivity, making progress in delivering the key NHS Long Term Plan ambitions and continuing to transform the NHS for the future.
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Content ArticleThis study, published in the Journal of Patient Safety, tells how Mackenzie Health responded to low safety culture scores by implementing a zero-harm strategy.
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Content ArticleIn the face of record high waiting times for elective care, The King's Fund undertook research to understand the strategies that have been used to reduce waiting times in England and elsewhere in the past 20 years. Elective care waiting lists and waiting times are a product of the fluctuations in and disparities between the demand for and available supply of healthcare. Understanding the root causes of these disparities and taking corrective action to restore balance between demand and supply and optimising the conditions within the health care system is therefore considered key to any strategy to reduce waiting times and sustain them at that level.
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Content ArticleThis is the first edition of the Patient safety assessment manual for primary care, which explains how to apply the Patient Safety Friendly Primary Care Framework. It comprises a set of standards that cover the different domains of patient safety. The Patient Safety Friendly Framework was developed by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean to assess patient safety at a system level. The framework provides a means to determine the level of patient safety for the purpose of initiating a patient safety or quality improvement programme. The evaluation is voluntary and is conducted through self-assessment and an external peer review survey. The standards in the Patient Safety Friendly Primary Care Framework are based on international research and evidenced-based practices in primary care. To ensure the standards remain current, revisions will be made every three to four years. In this edition, the total number of standards is 19, made up of 125 criteria. Standards have been developed with consideration for their alignment with all WHO initiatives to promote safer care.
