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Showing results for tags 'PPE (personal Protective Equipment)'.
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Content ArticleThe emergence of the omicron variant has raised concerns that the pandemic is not yet over. In this BMJ opinion piece, William et al. outline four key lessons that governments need to learn from to protect against future pandemics
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Content ArticleWearing face masks and maintaining social distance are familiar to many people around the world during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence suggests that these are effective ways to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection. However, it is not clear how exactly the risk of infection is affected by wearing a mask during close personal encounters or by social distancing without a mask. Results from a study by Bagheri et al. show that face masks significantly reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection compared to social distancing. We find a very low risk of infection when everyone wears a face mask, even if it doesn’t fit perfectly on the face.
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Content ArticleWhen Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge upgraded its face masks for staff working on COVID-19 wards to filtering face piece 3 (FFP3) respirators, it saw a dramatic fall – up to 100% – in hospital-acquired SARS-CoV-2 infections among these staff. Healthcare workers – particularly those working on COVID-19 wards – are much more likely to be exposed to coronavirus, so it’s important we understand the best ways of keeping them safe The findings are reported by a team at the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust. The research has not yet been peer-reviewed, but is being released early because of the urgent need to share information relating to the pandemic.
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Content ArticleUsing a number of analytical approaches, this working paper from the World Health Organization (WHO) attempts to estimate the global number of deaths in health and care workers due to Covid-19. It includes a breakdown of deaths by WHO region and country. It demonstrates that data reported to WHO has greatly underestimated the scale of infection and death among health and care workers, and calls for targeted approaches to increasing vaccination uptake in health and care workers worldwide.
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Content ArticleThis report by The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust identifies successes and areas for improvement in the Trust's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic resulted in rapid and large-scale changes to ways of working and this report recognises that staff were largely responsive and adaptable to these changes in challenging circumstances. The report looks at learning and recommendations from: the Duty of Candour exercise carried out for patients who contracted COVID-19 in hospital the Trust's clinical teams.
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Content ArticleThe purpose of wearing a type II fluid resistant surgical mask (FRSM) during surgical and invasive procedures is to minimise the transmission of pathogens in the nose, mouth and throat of staff to patients. They also protect staff from splash or spray of blood/body fluids onto their respiratory mucosa (nose and mouth). A wide range of FFP3 respirators have been used as protection by staff across healthcare settings during the COVID-19 pandemic, including FFP3 respirators with and without exhalation valves. The exhalation valves do not filter exhaled breath, even when of a ‘shrouded’ type. Current infection control guidance states that: “Valved respirators should not be worn by a healthcare worker/operator when sterility directly over the surgical field is required, eg in theatres/surgical settings or when undertaking a sterile procedure”. Powered hoods (also known as powered air purifying respirators or PAPRs) have been provided as respiratory protective equipment (RPE) for staff unable to achieve a tight fit with an FFP3 respirator(s). The air exiting PAPR hoods is not filtered. Incident reports received since March 2020 identified five incidents describing dripping of condensation from the exhalation valve of an FFP3 respirator, potentially compromising the sterile field; one cerebral abscess involving an oral bacterium linked to the use of a valved FFP3 respirator during brain surgery; and three cases of endocarditis linked to PAPR use during cardiac surgery. These incident reports and feedback from services suggest that the risks of valved respirators and PAPRs for surgical and invasive procedures is not well recognised, and that their use may have become routine in some theatre environments.
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Content ArticleIn this webinar discussion, an expert panel discusses the airborne nature of Covid-19, the lack of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic and continued concerns around unsafe PPE guidance and the impact on both staff and patient safety. The panel includes: Helen Hughes: Chief Executive of Patient Safety Learning Dr David Tomlinson: Consultant Cardiologist, NHS Rachael Moses OBE: Consultant Physiotherapist, NHS Hosted by Dr Asad Khan and produced by Gez Medinger.
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Content ArticleScientists around the world have warned of the airborne nature of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, but how does this impact on patient safety and what can be done to reduce risk? In this long read blog, GP trainee Lindsay Fraser-Moodie, describes how she witnessed the impact of poor ventilation and inadequate PPE on staff and patient safety while working on a hospital ward during the second UK Covid-19 wave. Lindsay describes how her CEO welcomed her concerns, and the changes that were put in place to reduce the risk of hospital acquired transmission. This article includes a comment from her CEO David Carter, who highlights the challenges of the situation and praises Lindsay for her approach to patient safety.
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News Article
PPE: Gateshead NHS Trust first to make its own masks
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Gateshead Health NHS Trust in the north-east of England are the first NHS body in the UK to manufacture its own protective face masks. This move comes after Filtering Face Piece 3 masks (FFP3), which are used widely in hospitals, were in short supply early in the pandemic. "It's taken us a lot of hard work and investment to get to this stage. Every part and stage has had to be precision-engineered to make sure that these masks meet the standard and are effective at filtration." Said Managing director Anthony Robson. Read full story. Source: BBC News, 6 August 2021- Posted
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Content ArticleIn this blog, James Perry a GP for Primary Care Wirral GP Federation, describes his experience of being a member of the UK's first multidisciplinary quarantine unit in 40 years. Starting from when 83 British nationals arrived in the UK from Wuhan, China and were transferred to Arrowe Park on the morning of 31st January, he details several operational and medical approaches, including how the multidisciplinary team had to create a strategic operational plan and how the mental health team aimed to promote a normalising, practical and human approach without medicalising people’s natural responses to a challenging and unusual circumstance.
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Content ArticleDo masks work? Why do some people claim they don’t work? Do they cause harm? What kinds of masks should we wear? How does masking need to change now we know that Covid is airborne? When can we stop wearing them? In this long-read Twitter thread Trisha Greenhalgh, Professor of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford, outlines the data.
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Content ArticleThis Lancet article argues that the UK Government's plan to lift almost all COVID-19 restrictions on 19 July 2021 is a mistake, setting out five main concerns in this regard.
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News Article
Warning issued for staff wearing PPE during warm weather
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
NHS hospitals have been advised to protect all staff wearing PPE during the warmer weather amid concerns the higher temperatures could increase the risk of heat stress. A letter from Public Health England sent across GP surgeries, pharmacies and hospitals, have recommended that staff wearing PPE should be given regular breaks and have a buddy system so that signs of heat stress can be spotted early on. The letter describes how PPE may need to be changed more frequently which may increase demand. Symptoms of heat stress are similar to heat exhaustion and the necessary actions should be taken to help avoid overheating. Read full story. Source: The Independent, 10 June 2021 -
Content ArticleIn addition to older individuals and those with underlying chronic health conditions, maternal and newborn populations have been identified as being at greater risk from COVID-19. It became critical for hospitals and clinicians to maintain the safety of individuals in the facility and minimise the transmission of COVID-19 while continuing to strive for optimised outcomes by providing family-centered care. Rapid change during the pandemic made it appropriate to use the plan–do–study–act (PDSA) cycle to continually evaluate proposed and standard practices. Patrick and Johnson describe how their team established an obstetric COVID-19 unit for women and newborns, developed guidelines for visitation and for the use of personal protective equipment, initiated universal COVID-19 testing, and provided health education to emphasize shared decision making.
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Content ArticleThis set of slides, developed by Dr Gillian Higgins for MedSupplyDrive UK, can be used by health and social care workers to advocate for better PPE protection locally.
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News ArticleMore than 20 healthcare organisations, including those representing nurses, doctors, surgeons and therapists, are calling for stricter UK guidelines to be introduced on face masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE). In a virtual meeting with officials, they will say existing rules leave them vulnerable to infection through the air, especially by new Covid variants. The unprecedented appeal will see them argue that other countries, such as the United States, protect their health workers with higher-grade equipment. It is thought to be the first time health and care organisations have united on a single issue in this way - a sign of the desperation many feel about the need for staff to be kept safe. The delegation will include representatives of the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Nursing and many other professional organisations and unions. On the government side will be about 20 of the most senior officials from all four UK nations, many involved in setting the guidelines on personal protective equipment (PPE). Read full story Source: BBC News, 3 June 2021
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News Article
Up to 8,700 patients died after catching Covid in English hospitals
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Up to 8,700 patients died after catching Covid-19 while in hospital being treated for another medical problem, according to official NHS data obtained by the Guardian. The figures, which were provided by the hospitals themselves, were described as “horrifying” by relatives of those who died. Jeremy Hunt, the former health secretary, said that hospital-acquired Covid “remains one of the silent scandals of this pandemic, causing many thousands of avoidable deaths”. NHS leaders and senior doctors have long claimed hospitals have struggled to stop Covid spreading because of shortages of single rooms, a lack of personal protective equipment and an inability to test staff and patients early in the pandemic. Now, official figures supplied by NHS trusts in England show that 32,307 people have probably or definitely contracted the disease while in hospital since March 2020 – and 8,747 of them died. That means that almost three in 10 (27.1%) of those infected that way lost their lives within 28 days. “The NHS has done us all proud over the past year, but these new figures are devastating and pose challenging questions on whether the right hospital infection controls were in place”, said Hunt, who chairs the Commons health and social care select committee. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 24 May 2021 -
Content ArticleThis pre-print study looks at the impact of using FFP3 Personal Protective Equipment on a Covid-19 ward. Authors estimated a 37% reduction in staff sick days when immunity (infection and vaccination) were factored in.
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News ArticlePressure is growing on the government to change its stance on coronavirus infection rules which it is feared may leave NHS staff and patients at risk from airborne transmission. Experts told The Independent the current guidance from Public Health England (PHE), which effectively says staff working on general wards can rely on just surgical masks for protection, was “outdated and potentially misleading” and put NHS staff at risk. At the start of the pandemic the emphasis on stopping infection was focused around droplets containing the virus both in the air over short distances and on surfaces. Increasingly scientists have begun to warn the virus can also spread through much smaller aerosols which can remain airborne for a lot longer and over further distances. On Friday, the World Health Organisation updated its information on how Covid spreads to acknowledge the risk of aerosols and last month papers released by the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said health workers may need to use better protection for longer. Read full story Source: The Independent, 6 May 2021
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Science advisers call for better PPE for healthcare workers
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Healthcare workers have welcomed a change in scientific advice on how to protect them from coronavirus. A document by the government's scientific advisory group (Sage) says higher grade masks may be needed when caring for Covid patients. Current guidance says that thinner surgical masks are adequate, outside of intensive care units. The Department of Health said guidance "is kept under constant review" and protecting NHS staff was a priority. Some doctors described it as a "crack of light" after more than a year of campaigning for improvements. A long list of healthcare unions and professional bodies has been making increasingly desperate appeals for what are called FFP3 respirators. These are designed to filter out infectious aerosols that may be lingering in the air, particularly in close proximity to patients. Growing evidence of the risks of airborne transmission has led the government to emphasise the importance of ventilation - with the words "fresh air" now added to the public messaging. And now a technical document released by Sage concludes that healthcare workers may need higher standards of respiratory protective equipment. Read full story Source: BBC News, 24 April 2021 -
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Personal protective equipment is sexist (BMJ Opinion)
PatientSafetyLearning Team posted an article in Staff safety
COVID-19 has highlighted concerns around shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE). Authors of this BMJ Opinion piece argue that in our healthcare system, where 77% of staff are women, PPE does not protect female staff as well as their males colleagues.- Posted
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Covid: Nurses condemn 'fundamentally flawed' PPE rules
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Nurse leaders are lobbying government to update "fundamentally flawed" guidance on personal protective equipment. The Royal College of Nursing says the existing recommendations are based on out-of-date evidence. One nurse told the BBC she had not been allowed to wear a higher-grade mask, despite having to go into the homes of patients with Covid. The nurse, who wishes to remain anonymous, wanted to use what's known as an FFP3 mask that filters out infectious aerosols. But she says her employers insisted on following national guidance, that most health staff should wear thinner surgical masks, instead. This comes at a time of mounting concern among many healthcare organisations that personal protective equipment (PPE) is inadequate. A new report for the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) criticises the official guidelines for PPE as "fundamentally flawed" because they're based on out-of-date evidence. It says that the risk of infection by aerosols is not given enough emphasis and that key research papers highlighting the possibility of airborne transmission have not been considered. The RCN's report concludes that key research papers on aerosols appear to have been ignored and that the terms used to search for new papers were likely to be "biased against" those on airborne transmission. The lead author of the study, Prof Dinah Gould, says she is "very disappointed" at the review for not taking into account the latest science. "A year into the pandemic, the review needs replacing. It needs updating and we should be able to offer healthcare workers and patients better than what we're offering them now." Read full story Source: BBC News, 7 March 2021- Posted
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PPE failings at care home posed infection risk, CQC says
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Care home residents and staff were put at risk of infection because personal protective equipment (PPE) was used wrongly, a health watchdog has said. Croft House, in Ossett, near Wakefield, has been put in special measures after being deemed "inadequate" by Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors. The home was "not well-led", according to the inspectors who visited last year. The CQC report, which was published last week, highlighted a number of measures had not been taken, meaning staff and residents were exposed to the risk of infection transmission, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. "Staff could not safely put on and take off PPE as this was stored in people's rooms. Staff needed to cross the room to collect the PPE," the report said. Meanwhile, there was no hand sanitiser in the corridors or bins to dispose of PPE and staff "were not effectively wearing PPE", it added. Residents at the home, which provides nursing and residential care for up to 68 people, were at "risk of missing medication or being given incorrect medication" because of how systems were managed, the report said. However, relatives spoke highly of staff at the home, with one family member describing an employee they knew as "accommodating and helpful", according to the report. Countrywide Care Homes, which runs the site, said improvements had been made since the inspection on 18 December. Read full story Source: BBC News, 2 March 2021 -
Content ArticleThis animation by the Rockefeller Foundation explains how the 'Swiss Cheese' model can be applied to containing the spread of COVID-19. Combining different methods of infection control such as wearing face masks, social distancing and vaccination, creates a more solid and resilient barrier to transmission.
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News Article
NHS pulls a million face masks from use after safety warning
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The NHS has been warned not to use or distribute a batch of high-grade face masks after government officials warned they may not meet safety standards. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it had “received urgent information” suggesting the items did not meet UK government specifications. Hospital bosses and others including GPs have been told to stop using the FT-045A FFP3 masks, quarantine any remaining supplies and then track down any they might have sent on to other health providers through mutual aid schemes. DHSC said it was pausing further distribution while a rapid review was carried out. Some 1.12 million masks are affected, the department said. DHSC’s warning document told health bosses: “Please be assured that we are working with regional teams and providers to fit-test staff to alternative models and provide of them with alternative masks in the quantities needed. We have a good supply of other FFP3 masks.” Rob Harwood, consultants committee chairman of the British Medical Association, told the BBC: “Healthcare staff working on the frontline do so facing the grave risk of contracting Covid, and deserve the best protection from this deadly virus." “Many will be incredibly concerned to learn that some masks designed to offer enhanced protection, as well as gloves, may not meet standards, potentially placing them at greater risk.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 24 February 2021