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Found 2,344 results
  1. News Article
    Care homes and hospitals will be forced to allow visitors under plans being drawn up by the government. Helen Whately, the care minister, said shutting out relatives showed a lack of humanity. Covid-19 rules mean some of the country’s most vulnerable people still cannot have loved ones at their bedside. Whately, who has told of her personal grief and frustration at being barred from visiting her critically ill mother, is now developing laws to give residents and patients a right to receive visitors. Although official visiting restrictions were dropped in the spring in England, there are still widespread reports of care homes and hospitals refusing to let in relatives or imposing stringent conditions that ministers do not believe are justified by public health guidance. Hundreds of care homes still refuse to accept visitors entirely, according to government figures, while others restrict residents to one relative at a time. Campaigners report residents losing weight because their relatives cannot go in to help them at mealtimes amid staff shortages. They also fear residents are being left in bed for long periods because staff know there will be no visitors to check on them. Whately said that she was “determined to fix” the issue, adding: “No one can be in any doubt now how much visits matter”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 11 November 2022 Related reading on the hub: Visiting restrictions and the impact on patients and their families: a relative's perspective It’s time to rename the ‘visitor’: reflections from a relative
  2. News Article
    The share of referrals waiting more than three months for a diagnostic test — one of the key problems behind long waits for cancer treatment — is worse than at any point since February 2021, during the second national covid lockdown. NHS England data released this morning for September shows 12.4% of the 1.6 million awaiting a test had been on the list longer than 13 weeks. At the peak of June 2020, 32% waited more than 13 weeks, but the proportion dropped back beneath 1 in 10, in May 2021, as services ramped up activity following the impact of the major winter 2020-21 Covid wave. Echocardiography patients and those needing endoscopies had the highest proportion of patients waiting more than six weeks – these specialties jointly comprise about a third of the total national waiting list and had 48 and 38%, respectively, of their lists over six weeks. Katharine Halliday, president of The Royal College of Radiologists, said: ”Today’s cancer waiting times data is alarming. We know the longer patients wait for a diagnosis or treatment, the less their chance of survival. “Our members are clinical radiologists and clinical oncologists, and much of their work involves diagnosing and treating cancer. Today’s figures show the NHS in England would have to employ 441 radiology consultants, the equivalent of a 16% increase in the current workforce, in order to clear the six-week wait for CT and MRI scans in one month.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 10 November 2022
  3. News Article
    The number of falls and bed sores recorded in Scotland's hospitals has increased since the Covid pandemic, new data shows. NHS staffing pressures and the deconditioning effect of the Covid lockdown creating more frail patients are being blamed for the rise. The Scottish government paused work on a national prevention strategy for falls when the pandemic started. The strategy has now been shelved and experts argue this is a mistake. Figures released by NHS Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) show that in 2018-19 - the last full year before the Covid pandemic - a total of 26,489 falls were recorded in hospitals. Dawn Skelton, a professor in ageing and health at Glasgow Caledonian University, said there was a "maelstrom" of problems fuelling the increase in hospital falls. She said: "You've got staffing issues definitely but you've also got people who are going in to hospital a step change frailer than they were pre-Covid because of what has happened with all the restrictions. "The people in these falls figures have got no reserves, blow on them and they will fall over, so they are at more risk when they go in." IProf Skelton said it was time to resurrect the Scottish government's falls and fracture prevention strategy as its "value now cannot be underestimated". She added: "Falls and frailty are one of the main causes of long hospital stays and demands on social care and without a spotlight on both the management, but also prevention, the financial and staffing demands on NHS and social care will only rise." Read full story Source: BBC News, 10 November 2022
  4. News Article
    A new report has highlighted for the first time an apparent rise in the suicide rate for pregnant or newly postpartum women in 2020, citing disruption to NHS services due to Covid-19 as a likely cause. According to the review of maternal deaths by MBRRACE-UK, 1.5 women per 100,000 who gave birth died by suicide during pregnancy or in the six weeks following the end of pregnancy in 2020, which is three times the rate of 0.46 per 100,000 between 2017 and 2019. The number of deaths by suicide within six weeks of pregnancy in 2020 was numerically small – 10 women – but this was the same as the total recorded across 2017 to 2019. This is also despite Office for National Statistics figures showing a year-on-year fall in suicides in the population overall in 2020. In relation to the rise in suicides during pregnancy and up to a year after birth, the report states: “During the first year of the covid-19 pandemic, very rapid changes were made to health services… Mental health services were not immune from this and there was a broad spectrum of changes from teams where some staff were redeployed to other roles, through to teams that were able to operate relatively normally… “All of this occurred on a background of a recent huge expansion in specialist perinatal mental health services." Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 11 November 2022
  5. News Article
    Patients are not always getting the care they deserve, says the head of NHS England. Amanda Pritchard told a conference the pressures on hospitals, maternity care and services caring for vulnerable people with learning disabilities were of concern. She even suggested the challenge facing the health service now was greater than it was at the height of the pandemic. Despite making savings, the NHS still needs extra money to cope, she said. Next year the budget will rise to more than £157bn, but NHS England believes it will still be short of £7bn. Ms Pritchard told the King's Fund annual conference in London that demand was rising more quickly than the NHS could cope with. "I thought that the pandemic would be the hardest thing any of us ever had to do," she said. "Over the last year, I've become really clear.... it's the months and years ahead that will bring the most complex challenges." Read full story Source: BBC News, 2 November 2022
  6. News Article
    Extreme disruption to NHS services has been driving a sharp spike in heart disease deaths since the start of the pandemic, a charity has warned. The British Heart Foundation (BHF) said ambulance delays, inaccessible care and waits for surgery are linked to 30,000 excess cardiac deaths in England. It has called for a new strategy to reduce "unacceptable" waiting times. Doctors and groups representing patients have become increasingly concerned about the high number of deaths of any cause recorded this year. New analysis of the mortality data by the BHF suggests heart disease is among the most common causes, responsible for 230 deaths a week above expected rates since February 2020. The charity said "significant and widespread" disruption to heart care services was driving the increase. Its analysis of NHS data showed that 346,129 people were waiting for time-sensitive cardiac care at the end of August 2022, up 49% since February 2020. It said 7,467 patients had been waiting more than a year for a heart procedure - 267 times higher than before the pandemic. At the same time, the average ambulance response time for a suspected heart attack has risen to 48 minutes in England against a target of 18 minutes, according to the latest NHS figures. The BHF said difficulty accessing face-to-face GP and hospital care may have also contributed to the rise. Read full story Source: BBC News, 3 November 2022
  7. News Article
    A leading health expert has suggested ministers have “lost control of the virus”, after the UK recorded it’s largest 24-hour spike in COVID-19 cases since 23 May. Government figures showed there have been a further 2,988 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK as of 9am on Sunday. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in the UK to 347,152. Sunday's figure is the highest since May 22 when 3,287 cases were recorded, and is also the first 24-hour period when cases passed 2,000 since the end of May. The tally was an increase on Saturday's figures of 1,813 new cases. Prof Gabriel Scally, a member of the Independent Sage group and a former NHS regional director of public health for the south-west, warned that government ministers had “lost control of the virus”. “It’s no longer small outbreaks they can stamp on,” he told The Guardian. “It’s become endemic in our poorest communities and this is the result. Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth called upon the government to respond to the sharp spike. He added that it was “a stark reminder that there is no room for complacency in tackling the spread of the virus”. “This increase, combined with the ongoing testing fiasco where ill people are told to drive for miles for tests, and the poor performance of the contact tracing system, needs an explanation from ministers,” he said on Sunday. Read full story Source: The Independent, 7 September 2020
  8. News Article
    Greater NHS support is needed for people chronically ill for months with COVID-19 symptoms, experts have told BBC Radio 4's File on 4. The Royal College of GPs is calling for a national network of "post-Covid" clinics to help such people. But less than 12% of 86 NHS care commissioning groups asked by the BBC said they were running such services. NHS England said it was "rapidly expanding new and strengthened rehab centres". Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King's College London and leader of the Covid Symptom Study app, said around 300,000 people in the UK have reported symptoms lasting for more than a month - so called "long Covid". He added that data from the app showed around 60,000 people have been ill for more than three months. However, many of these people may not have been tested for Covid. The government moved away from community testing on 12 March, instead only testing those admitted to hospital. That meant people who recovered from suspected coronavirus at home were unable to access tests. Elly MacDonald, 37, from Surbiton, was training for the London Marathon when she first developed what she believes were Covid symptoms on 21 March. More than five months on, she still suffers from breathlessness and extreme fatigue, but has not received a positive test result - because community testing was re-introduced too late for it to detect her illness. She changed her GP practice after initially feeling she was not being helped. Elly said: "Just knowing that I actually have people who are taking me seriously - that's been very important for my recovery. I just want my life back." Read full story Source: BBC News, 8 September 2020
  9. News Article
    Around 250,000 clear face masks are set to be delivered to frontline NHS and social care workers to allow for better care to be provided to those who use lip-reading and facial expressions to communicate, whilst still ensuring staff and patients remain safe during coronavirus. The clear face masks will allow for improved communication with people with certain conditions like hearing loss, autism and dementia. Designed with an anti-fogging barrier to ensure the face and mouth are always visible, the see-through masks will help doctors, nurses and carers get important messages across to all patients clearly. An estimated 12 million people in the UK are thought to have hearing loss, while those who rely on facial expressions to support communication – such as people with learning disabilities, autism or dementia, or foreign language speakers and their interpreters – will also see benefit from the government deal. Minister for Care Helen Whately said: “Everyone using our remarkable health and care system deserves the best care possible and communication is a vital part of that." “This pandemic has posed numerous challenges to the sector, so we are always on the hunt for simple solutions to support those giving and receiving care." Read full story Source: National Health Executive, 7 September 2020
  10. News Article
    Modelling being used by NHS officials forecasts that hospital admissions could peak at five times the level seen in April without additional measures to control the virus, HSJ can reveal. In all scenarios presented, covid hospital admissions would remain high for an extended period of many months, even if new lockdown actions were taken. However, putting multiple measures in place could contain them to a peak of less than that seen in the spring, according to the work. They were included in a document marked “confidential” and included, apparently by accident, in public papers for Thursday’s meeting of Medway Foundation Trust board. Within hours of HSJ asking for more information, they were removed. They were badged with Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group, the NHS body which oversees services for that area. The forecasts were marked as being “Kent and Medway level”, but were referred to as “regional scenarios”, indicating they may have been produced by regional teams of NHS England and Improvement. The trust’s board papers said its own planning for the coming months would make use of the three scenarios presented in the document. Read full story Source: HSJ, 7 September 2020
  11. News Article
    Over 1,000 doctors plan to quit the NHS because they are disillusioned with the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and frustrated about their pay, a new survey has found. The doctors either intend to move abroad, take a career break, switch to private hospitals or resign to work as locums instead, amid growing concern about mental health and stress levels in the profession. “NHS doctors have come out of this pandemic battered, bruised and burned out”, said Dr Samantha Batt-Rawden, president of the Doctors’ Association UK, which undertook the research. The large number of medics who say they will leave the NHS within three years is “a shocking indictment of the government’s failure to value our nation’s doctors,” she added. “These are dedicated professionals who have put their lives on the line time and time again to keep patients in the NHS safe, and we could be about to lose them.
  12. News Article
    Death rates among seriously ill COVID-19 patients dropped sharply as doctors rejected the use of mechanical ventilators, analysis has found. The chances of dying in an intensive care unit (ICU) went from 43% before the pandemic peaked to 34% in the period after. In a report, the Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre said that no new drugs nor changes to clinical guidelines were introduced in that period that could account for the improvement. However, the use of mechanical ventilators fell dramatically. Before the peak in admissions on 1 April, 75.9% of COVID-19 patients were intubated within 24 hours of getting to an ICU, a proportion which fell to 44.1% after the peak. Meanwhile, the proportion of ICU patients put on a ventilator at any point dropped 22 percentage points to 61% either side of the peak. Researchers suggested this could have been a result of “informal learning” among networks of doctors that patients on ventilators were faring worse than expected. Read full story Source: The Telegraph, 3 September 2020
  13. News Article
    Visiting A&E or relatives is considered much riskier than attending hospital for other reasons, according to the first in-depth piece of research into the subject. The research, authored by the University of Leicester and NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre Bioinformatics Hub, asked 400 participants how they felt about attending hospital across a range of scenarios during the pandemic. It also revealed that consistent staff use of PPE is seen as a top priority by patients, with staff testing receiving significant but much less support. Participants in the Leicester research were asked to rank how ”safe and confident” they felt coming into hospital for a number of reasons on a scale 1-100. The median score given to “visiting a friend or family member” was 49. The score for attending accident and emergency was 50. Attendance at A&E’s fell sharply during the pandemic peak. It is now rising, but has not reached pre-covid levels. The research suggests that fear could still be playing a significant part in the drop off. Attending hospital for elective care received a median score of 61. Participants were most confident in visiting hospital for essential surgery (median score 78), and clinical scans or x-ray (77). Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 3 September 2020
  14. News Article
    Hundreds of NHS patients have received personal, specialised care thanks to a new service set up during the coronavirus pandemic. Stroke Connect, a partnership with the NHS and the Stroke Association provides stroke survivors with support and advice in the early days following hospital discharge, without having to leave the house. Experts have said that the new offer is providing a ‘lifeline’ during the pandemic and has helped more than 500 people to rebuild their lives after having a stroke since it launched last month. Patients are contacted for an initial call within a few days of discharge from hospital, from a trained ‘Stroke Association Connector’, an expert in supporting people after stroke. The connector provides reassurance, support with immediate concerns and links the stroke survivor to support they can access in the long-term as part of their recovery journey as well as signposting them to other sources of support. A further call is offered within the month to check in on the stroke survivor’s progress and identify any further support needed. The new service complements existing rehabilitation services and ‘life after stroke’ care, which has continued throughout the pandemic. Read full story Source: NHS England, 31 August 2020
  15. News Article
    Obesity may double the risk of falling seriously ill with Covid-19 and increase the chances of dying by almost 50 per cent, according to researchers, who also warned any future vaccine may be less effective for the clinically overweight. Health issues caused by obesity include a number of pre-existing conditions known to exacerbate a Covid-19 infection – including heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. Now a global assessment of health data gathered since the start of the the pandemic by researchers at the University of North Carolina has found people with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of more than 30 were 113 per cent more likely to be hospitalised. Those admitted to hospital were found to be 74% more likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit, while the risk of death among obese patients increased by 48%. Read full story Source: The Independent, 26 August 2020
  16. News Article
    Complacency over the flu jab risks overwhelming the NHS, experts warn, as data reveals the scale of the challenge in expanding the vaccination programme. Last month, the government announced plans to double the number of people who receive the influenza jab. But BBC analysis has found the take-up rate among people in vulnerable groups eligible for a free jab has declined. Health secretary Matt Hancock said he did not want a flu outbreak "at the same time as dealing with coronavirus". The government wants to increase the number of people vaccinated from 15 million to 30 million amid fears coronavirus cases will rise again in the autumn. Local authorities in England saw an average 45% of people with serious health conditions under 65 take up the offer of a free vaccine last winter, data shows. That represents a drop from 50% in 2015. The UK government has an ambition to vaccinate 55% of people in vulnerable groups, which includes people with multiple sclerosis (MS), diabetes or chronic asthma. The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously said countries should vaccinate 75% of people in "vulnerable" categories. Read full story Source: BBC News, 27 August 2020
  17. News Article
    Millions of women and girls around the world have been left unable to access contraception and abortions amid the coronavirus crisis, a new report has found. A study by Marie Stopes International, which provides abortion and contraception services worldwide, warns 1.9 million women and girls lost their usual access to its contraception and safe abortion services in the first half of the year as a result of the global public health emergency. The abortion provider is preparing for 900,000 additional unintended pregnancies, 1.5 million extra unsafe abortions, and 3,100 additional pregnancy-related deaths after the disruption to services in the first half of the year. Dr Rashmi Ardey, of Marie Stopes, said: “Women’s needs do not suddenly stop or diminish during an emergency – they become greater. And as a doctor, I have seen only too often the drastic action that women and girls take when they are unable to access contraception and safe abortion. “This pandemic has strained healthcare services all over the world, but sexual and reproductive healthcare was already so under prioritised that once again women are bearing the brunt of this global calamity.” Read full story Source: The Independent,19 August 2020
  18. News Article
    Nearly three-quarters of coronavirus patients admitted to hospital suffer ongoing symptoms three months later, new research suggests. A total of 81 patients out of 110 discharged from Southmead Hospital in Bristol were still experiencing symptoms from the virus, including breathlessness, excessive fatigue and muscle aches, after 12 weeks. Many were struggling to carry out daily tasks such as washing, dressing or going back to work, the study found. The majority of patients reported improvements in the initial symptoms of fever, cough and loss of sense of smell, and most had no evidence of lung scarring or reductions in lung function. The findings are part of North Bristol NHS Trust's Discover project, which is studying the longer-term effects of coronavirus - so-called Long COVID. An intensive care doctor, Dr Jake Suett, told Sky News in June that he was still suffering COVID-19 symptoms three months after contracting the disease. Dr Jake Suett, 31, had no underlying health conditions but was still suffering chest pain, breathlessness, blurred vision, memory loss, a high temperature, concentration problems. Dr Rebecca Smith, from North Bristol NHS Trust, said: "There's still so much we don't know about the long-term effects of coronavirus, but this study has given us vital new insight into what challenges patients may face in their recovery and will help us prepare for those needs." Read full story Source: Sky News, 20 August 2020
  19. News Article
    A third of doctors have treated patients with long term COVID-19 symptoms, including chronic fatigue and anosmia, a survey conducted by the BMA has found. Richard Vautrey, chair of the BMA’s GP committee for England, said it was clear that the long term impact of COVID-19 on patients and the NHS would be profound. “With more patients presenting with conditions as the result of infection, it’s essential that sufficient capacity is in place to support and treat them,” Vautrey said. “With the growing backlog of non-COVID-19 treatment, the likelihood of a season flu outbreak, and the possibility of a second wave of infections we need to see a more comprehensive long term plan to enable doctors to care for their patients this winter and beyond.” The survey also asked doctors about their own experiences of COVID-19: 63% said they did not believe they had contracted the virus, 12% had had a diagnosis of COVID-19 confirmed by testing, and 14% believed they had been infected with the virus. David Strain, co-chair of the BMA’s medical academic staff committee, said that the NHS could not afford more failures of quality and supply in personal protective equipment. “Risk assessments should be available to all working in the NHS and appropriate steps should be put in place to mitigate the risk of catching the virus, even in those that have a low risk of a bad outcome from the initial infection,” he said. Read full story Source: BMJ, 13 August 2020
  20. News Article
    The number of adults experiencing depression has almost doubled during the pandemic, according to new figures. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that almost one in five adults (19.2 per cent) were likely to be experiencing some form of depression in June. This had risen from around one in 10 (9.7%) between July 2019 and March 2020, before the imposition of the nationwide lockdown. Dame Til Wykes, a professor of clinical psychology and rehabilitation at King’s College London, warned of a looming “mental health crisis” once the pandemic passes. “This study tells us, yet again, that we might have a mental health crisis after this pandemic. The social effects of distancing and isolation for some affects their emotional wellbeing. Dr Billy Boland, chairman of the General Adult Faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said the UK’s mental health services would be faced with a “tsunami of referrals” in the coming months. “Isolation, bereavement and financial insecurity are some of the reasons why the nation’s mental health has deteriorated since the start of the pandemic. “The government must speed up the investment to mental health services if we are to treat the growing numbers of people living with depression and other mental illnesses.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 18 August 2020
  21. News Article
    Thousands of patients with cancer have had chemotherapy delivered to their doors so that they can more safely receive treatment during the coronavirus pandemic. Up to 10,000 chemo home deliveries were made over three months at the peak of the outbreak, avoiding the need for patients to venture out and risk infection when their immune system was low. The drops are part of the COVID-friendly treatments introduced in response to the pandemic which have helped to ensure that 85,000 people could start treatment between March and June, with latest data showing referrals beginning to recover to pre-pandemic levels. NHS staff, including community nurses and pharmacists, and volunteers have been dropping off the life-saving medication – they step back two metres when they arrive at a patient’s house, identify them and make sure they have everything they need. Hospitals have also significantly increased the use of chemo at home, with local pharmacy teams and community nurses providing the service to reduce cancer patients’ risk of exposure to the virus. The action joins a series of measures, including the rollout of COVID protected cancer hubs for treatment and introducing ‘COVIDfriendly’ cancer drugs. NHS England is spending £160 million on drugs that mean patients do not have to go to hospitals for regular checks and treatment. Dame Cally Palmer, director of cancer for the NHS in England said: “NHS staff have treated more than 108,000 patients requiring specialist hospital care for COVID-19 while also keeping other vital services such as cancer, maternity and A&E running throughout the pandemic. “The NHS has also fast tracked modern, more convenient services that help to keep patients and staff safe – from video consultations to chemotherapy delivered to patients’ doors – that have allowed 85,000 people to start cancer treatment during the pandemic.” Read full story Source: NHS Improvement, 17 August 2020
  22. News Article
    Coronavirus patients who have lived with symptoms for up to five months have spoken about the huge impact it has had on their lives. "Long Covid" support groups have appeared on social media and the government says "tens of thousands" of people have long-term problems after catching the virus, such as extreme fatigue. Daliah, from Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, said: "It's scary because we don't know how permanent this is. There are times where I feel like life will never be normal again, my body will never be normal again." The NHS has launched a Your Covid Recovery website to offer support and advice to people affected. See video here
  23. News Article
    Five-year survival rates are expected to fall due to delays in getting urgent referrals or treatment at the height of the pandemic. Thousands of lives may be lost to cancer because 250,000 patients were not referred to hospital for urgent checks, says a report to be published this week. Family doctors made 339,242 urgent cancer referrals in England between April and June, down from 594,060 in the same period last year — a drop of 43%. The fall in the number of people seeing their GP with symptoms, and in referrals for scans, is resulting in cancers being spotted too late, according to the research by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and Carnall Farrar, a healthcare management consultancy. Full article on The Times website here (paywalled).
  24. News Article
    Ministers have been accused of trying to cover up the findings from investigations into hundreds of health and social care worker deaths linked to coronavirus after it emerged the results will not be made public. The Independent revealed on Tuesday that medical examiners across England and Wales have been asked by ministers to investigate more than 620 deaths of frontline staff that occurred during the pandemic. The senior doctors will review the circumstances and medical cause of death in each case and attempt to determine whether the worker may have caught the virus during the course of their duties. But now the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the results will be kept secret with the aim of helping local hospitals to learn and improve protection for staff. Separately, trade unions and NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts, have urged the government to ensure full investigations into every death and to be transparent about findings to reassure health and social care staff ahead of any second wave. Sir Ed Davey, acting leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “We currently have one of the highest number of deaths of health and care workers in Europe. The government has utterly failed to protect staff in both hospitals and care homes. The fact that now they are trying to cover up how and why each tragic death occurs is a disgrace." Read full story Source: The Independent, 15 August 2020
  25. News Article
    The deaths of hundreds of NHS and social care workers infected with coronavirus are under investigation by medical examiners, The Independent has learnt. Ministers have asked medical examiners in England and Wales to review all deaths of frontline health and social care staff infected with the virus to determine whether the infection was caught as a result of their work. The review, which started last month, is likely to cover more than 620 deaths including nurses, doctors and care home staff across England and Wales, since the beginning of March. It could trigger a number of investigations by hospitals, the Health and Safety Executive, and coroners into the protection, or lack of, for staff during the pandemic when many hospitals ran out of protective masks and clothing for staff. Hospitals have already been ordered to risk assess workers who may be more susceptible to the virus, such as those from a black and minority ethnic backgrounds or those with existing health conditions. Read full story Source: The Independent, 12 August 2020
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