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Showing results for tags 'PPE (personal Protective Equipment)'.
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Content Article
COVID-19: what are you wearing? Working in a soup of droplets
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Blogs
Blog series from Claire, a critical care outreach nurse, reflecting her experiences, thoughts and fears during the coronavirus pandemic.- Posted
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News Article
Coronavirus: GPs demand 'clarity' over protective gear guidance
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
GPs are demanding "urgent clarification" from the government on whether they should now wear protective equipment to examine all patients. Family doctors now wear it if they see a patient with suspected coronavirus. But the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has written to Health Secretary Matt Hancock to ask if GPs should wear it for all face-to-face consultations. It says patients with the virus but no symptoms could still infect staff. The BBC understands GPs in some surgeries have decided to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) for all face-to-face consultations, but this is not currently recommended by Public Health England. In the letter, Prof Martin Marshall, chairman of the RCGP, wrote: "GPs across the country have never been more concerned, not just for the safety of themselves and their teams, but for patients too. They are unsure as to whether they have enough supplies [of PPE], either now, or as the crisis deepens". "They are not confident that the current guidance provides the necessary clarity about whether GPs are using the right type of equipment, at the right times," he said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 26 March 2020- Posted
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News Article
'System failure' on personal protective equipment
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
If there is a public inquiry over the handling of the coronavirus, the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) to front-line staff could be a major theme. The government has been put under major pressure by staff over the past four days because of delays to the delivery of vital equipment. This left them at risk as they dealt with a flood of covid-19 cases described as “all-consuming” by one hospital chief executive (while another major trust declared a critical incident). The last two weeks have prompted a mammoth effort from local and national procurement teams to make sure clinicians have the PPE they need. But, sadly, the bigger picture was what the Health Care Supply Association called a “system” failure (although it did not blame staff). Numerous trusts, some of them very large, have turned to alternative suppliers to source this vital kit, in some cases spending hundreds of thousands of pounds. The situation has apparently been so dire in recent days that, over the weekend, the HCSA asked DIY shops to donate their PPE to local trusts. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 24 March 2020- Posted
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News Article
The three vital lessons Italian hospitals have learned in fighting COVID-19
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Protection for staff, clean covid-negative wards, and enforcing social isolation are the three take home messages from Italy’s fight against COVID-19, according to rapid findings shared exclusively with HSJ. By 6 March 2020, Italy had recorded 4,636 cases and 197 deaths attributable to COVID-19. On 20 March, two weeks later, the UK announced 3,983 cases and 177 deaths due to the novel coronavirus. Models put us two weeks behind Italy and on the same trajectory. PanSurg.org, an international collaborative created at Imperial College London, organised a series of webinars to rapidly share experiences and learning around the pandemic amongst the global healthcare community. Nearly 1,000 healthcare professionals from around the world took part in these events, and several important messages emerged. 1) Protect your staff: full PPE (including, FFP3 masks) for COVID-19 suspected or COVID-19 positive areas. This is both for them and to keep your workforce numbers intact. 2) Treat everyone as if they could haveCOVID-19, as they may do and “fear the covid negative ward”. 3) Enforce social isolation and contact tracing and place a significant focus on testing. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 25 March 2020- Posted
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Content ArticleUseful up to date information from Resuscitation Council UK on COVID-19 resuscitation guidelines.
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News Article
Government buys 3.5m tests and promises staff checks ‘online soon’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The government has bought 3.5 million coronavirus antibody tests — with more widespread testing of NHS workers coming “online soon”, the health secretary has said. Matt Hancock also told a press conference this evening that a new testing facility had been opened in Milton Keynes as the government aims to “ramp up” the number of antibody tests — which will determine whether people have had the virus and can therefore return to work. Mr Hancock also said the government had shipped 7.5 million pieces of personal protective equipment over the last 24 hours, following major shortages, and confirmed the conversion of east London’s Excel centre into a huge temporary hospital facility, with between 500 to 4,000 beds. Read full story Source: HSJ, 24 March 2020- Posted
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News Article
GP given masks with expiry dates that have passed
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A GP has criticised the practice of giving doctors surgical masks with expiry dates that have passed. Dr Kate Jack said doctors felt "like cannon fodder" after discovering the paper masks had expired in 2016. A box delivered to her Nottingham surgery had a 2021 label placed over the original date of 2016. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said equipment underwent "stringent tests" and was given a "new shelf-life" where appropriate. "I don't feel protected at the moment," said Dr Jack, a GP of 22 years. "They are really not designed for prevention of infection and are practically useless." Read full story Source: BBC News, 25 March 2020- Posted
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Content Article"My blood ran cold when I was instructed to conserve personal protective equipment in the fight against COVID-19. Masks and other supplies are severely limited. Rather than following deeply ingrained safety standards, healthcare providers across the country are switching to what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls “strategies that are not commensurate with U.S. standards of care.” In her blog published in the Washington Post, Dorothy Novick, a paediatrician in Philadelphia, highlights the lack of personal protective equipment in the US and why the shortage of protective equipment is not only a crisis for healthcare providers on the front lines but also a potential disaster for patients.
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News Article
Staff in ‘near revolt’ over protective gear crisis
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Lack of staff testing, workforce shortages and running out of personal protective equipment (PPE)are the three biggest concerns for trusts fighting the coronavirus outbreak, according to an HSJ chief executive survey conducted over the last 36 hours. Thirteen of the 34 trust chief executives who responded to the snap survey, who were from trusts across England, also warned they would run out of intensive care capacity by next week as the number of coronavirus cases continue to rise. The survey also revealed some trusts were already being forced to dilute safe staffing ratios and ration facilities. One chief warned: “We are preserving ventilation capacity by ensuring that only those who may survive are considered.” However, the majority of respondents were supportive of system leaders’ guidance so far. Several respondents praised the “impressive pace and detail of the advice." The three biggest areas of concern raised by the chiefs surveyed were: Lack of staff testing, raised by 26 of the 34 respondents (77%); Staff shortages, raised by 26 of the 34 respondents (77%); and PPE shortages, raised by 23 of the 34 respondents (68%. Read full story Source: HSJ, 24 March 2020- Posted
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News ArticleUK doctors fighting coronavirus still say they don't have personal protective equipment (PPE). Jon Snow spoke to Dr Jenny Vaughan, a leading member of the Doctors’ Association who have written to the government to demand better personal protective equipment for medical staff. He asked her whether the PPE equipment promised by the government was starting to reach the medical staff on the frontline, and what kinds of problems medical personnel had been encountering. Watch news story Source: Channel 4 News, 23 March 2020
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Content Article
‘Stably unstable’ – limitations with NEWS charting
Claire Cox posted an article in Blogs
In this blog, Claire discusses the use of NEWS2 in coronavirus patients and the importance of recognising, tracking and alerting the appropriate team that your patient has an increasing oxygen demand to ensure that the risk of more people being exposed to the virus is minimal.- Posted
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News ArticleA leading NHS doctor has warned frontline medical staff dealing with Britain’s coronavirus outbreak feel like “cannon fodder” and "lambs to the slaughter". Dr Rinesh Parmar, chairman of the Doctor's Association UK, is battling the disease on an intensive care ward at a city hospital in Birmingham. The Anaesthetic Registrar begged Boris Johnson to provide better Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), describing the current crisis the "calm before the storm" Doctors and nurses fear a lack of masks, gloves, aprons and protective suits is putting them at risk as they care for patients diagnosed with Covid-19. Speaking after a night shift on the ward, Dr Parmar told The BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "We have had doctors tell us they feel like lambs to the slaughter, that they feel like cannon fodder. GPs tell us that they feel absolutely abandoned." Read full story Source: The Sun, 23 March 2020
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News Article
Coronavirus: Hancock admits ‘challenges’ over NHS equipment
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The health secretary has acknowledged there have been "challenges" with the supply of personal protective equipment to NHS staff in England - but added he is determined to rise to them. Last week, NHS staff said the lack of protective gear was putting them at risk during the coronavirus outbreak. Matt Hancock said a million face masks had been bought over the weekend and he was taking the issue "very seriously". From this week, the Army will play a part in helping to distribute supplies. "I am determined to ensure that the right kit gets to the right hospital, the right ambulance service, the right doctors' surgery, right across the country," said Mr Hancock. "There have been challenges and I can see that. We're on it and trying to solve all the problems." Read full story Source: BBC News, 23 March 2020- Posted
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Content Article
COVID-19: Safe PPE poster (March 2020)
Claire Cox posted an article in Good practice and useful resources
This is an easy to understand infographic about correct PPE to wear during the Coronavirus crisis.- Posted
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