Search the hub
Showing results for tags 'Pandemic'.
Found 2,349 results
-
News Article
Mysterious new long Covid symptom identified by scientists
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
A new symptom of long Covid has been revealed by scientists at the University of Leeds. Though most people who contract Covid recover within a few days or weeks of experiencing initial symptoms, some people can experience longer, more persistent symptoms – termed Long Covid or post Covid-19 syndrome by the NHS. Until now, the most commonly identified symptoms have included extreme tiredness, loss of smell, muscle aches and shortness of breath. Others include memory problems, chest pain, insomnia, heart palpitations, dizziness, joint pain, tinnitus and depression and anxiety. Now, a new study has revealed a previously unidentified symptom of long Covid. Published in The Lancet medical journal, the research detailed a new symptom of the condition after a 33-year-old man was referred to the specialists’ clinic. The patient had a six-month history of what the authors describe as a “rapid purple discolouration” on his legs. When standing, he remarked that they would feel progressively heavier and become “tingly, itchy and dusky” in colour. He added that a rash would occasionally appear on his feet, but that the mysterious symptoms would disappear when laying down. The disorder is known as acrocyanosis or persistent and extreme blue or cyanotic discolouration. It typically occurs in the hands and feet but can also appear across the nose and ears. “This was a striking case of acrocyanosis in a patient who had not experienced it before his Covid-19 infection”, said co-author Dr Manoj Sivan, associate clinical professor and honorary consultant in rehabilitation medicine at the University of Leeds. “Patients experiencing this may not be aware that it can be a symptom of Long Covid and dysautonomia, and may feel concerned about what they are seeing. Similarly, clinicians may not be aware of the link between acrocyanosis and Long Covid. We need to ensure that there is more awareness of dysautonomia [malfunctioning of the nervous system] in Long Covid so that clinicians have the tools they need to manage patients appropriately.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 15 August 2023 -
Content ArticlePatient Safety Learning invited David Osborn, a chartered safety and health practitioner and member of the Covid Airborne Transmission Alliance (CATA) to give a talk to the Safer Healthcare and Biosafety Network (SHBN) explaining what CATA is, its aims and objectives and its involvement with the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry. Here is a recording of David's talk and the presentation he delivered.
-
News ArticleMedics have welcomed clarification from health officials over when the upcoming flu and Covid-19 vaccination programme will begin. NHS England had been criticised for pushing back the start date a month with pharmacists saying the change of plan would likely “catch patients off guard”. While school-aged children will be able to receive the flu shot from 1 September, adults were not expected to start getting flu and Covid jabs until October, a month later than recent years. Officials briefed that the later start time was so sites can co-administer both vaccines wherever possible, to make it more convenient, and to ensure protection in later winter months – typically when viruses are more likely to spread. But NHS England was criticised for a lack of transparency and communication, as healthcare teams had been preparing to provide the service as usual from September. NHS England said to maximise and extend protection during the winter and through the period of greatest risk in December and early January 2024, care home residents and care home staff must start receiving their jabs from 2 October, and other eligible flu and Covid cohorts from 7 October. However, in updated guidance officials said that as some firm commitments and appointments have already been made, any patient wishing to receive their vaccination in September will be allowed to do so. Most people are still likely to have their vaccines in October, officials believe. Responding to news that NHS England will, if needed, now allow practices to deliver both vaccination programmes from September rather than October, Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chair of GPC England at the British Medical Association (BMA), said: “This news is very welcome, coming after the BMA made clear yesterday to NHS England that shifting the entire programme at the last minute to October would not only cause widespread confusion, but also serious disruption as flu clinics would have to be rearranged to fit the new timetable." Read full story Source: inews, 11 August 2023
-
Content Article
The worst Covid strategy was not picking one
Patient_Safety_Learning posted an article in Blogs
This article by Bloomberg Opinion, looks at the number of excess deaths recorded throughout the world during the Covid-19 pandemic and how the different strategies applied by countries impacted those statistics. -
Content ArticleReflecting on the impact of restrictions placed on families and visitors to hospitals and care homes during the Covid-19 pandemic, this article, published in the BMJ, argues that families must be recognised and valued as partners in patient care.
-
EventThis year's conference is all about IPC Legends focusing on individuals who in their respective fields are experts willing to share their knowledge with us, and exploring new ideas in the field of IPS. Alyson Prince – Built Environment Infection Prevention & Control Nurse Specialist/Engineering, Archus Healthcare Infrastructure Specialist who will be covering Ventilation in the Healthcare Setting – What is the air and why is it important. Dave Cunningham – Leadership & Workforce Workstream Lead, NHS Improvement who will be providing an update on the National Infection Prevention IPC Educational framework. Leo Andrew Almerol – Vascular Clinical Nurse Specialist, Imperial College NHS Trust / Vascular Access Nurse 2022, British Journal of Nursing will be providing an update on The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Vascular Access Service in the UK. Dr Emily McWhirter – Nurse Consultant, World Health Organization will be sharing with us Leadership and expertise in influencing IPC practice. Professor Elaine Cloutman-Green – Consultant Clinical Scientist (Infection Control Doctor), Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust is speaking around Challenges in IPC: Aiming for progress not perfection. Dr Mat Moyo – Quality Improvement Mentor / Founder, Quantum Quality Improvement Coaching / Lecturer, Solent University will be speaking to us about Quality Improvement Project Coaching in IPC: Wise People Ask for Help and Get Further!" Sir Jonathan Van- Tam MBE – Former Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England 2017-2022, recording on Learning from the pandemic and the mission of vaccinating the nation will be played before we conclude the day by hearing from Karen Storey – Nursing Retention and Liaison Lead, who will demonstrate to us Shiny Mind app and the benefits to us all for our wellbeing. Register
-
Content ArticleIn a new Lancet Respiratory Medicine Series about Long Covid, Sally J Singh and colleagues discuss the origins of respiratory sequelae and consider the promise of adapted pulmonary rehabilitation programmes and physiotherapy techniques for breathing management. Pratik Pandharipande and colleagues review the epidemiology and pathophysiology of neuropsychological sequelae of COVID-19-related critical illness, highlighting the combined threat of long COVID and post-intensive care syndrome (PICS), and outline potential mitigation strategies. Finally, Matteo Parotto and colleagues discuss pathophysiological mechanisms of diverse, multisystem sequelae in adult survivors of critical illness, including longitudinal effects of endothelial and immune system dysfunction, and consider the challenges of providing appropriate care and support for patients.
-
Content ArticleThe Trinity Challenge is a coalition of partners united by the common aim of developing insights and actions to contribute to a world better protected from global health emergencies. They focus on three core activities which will improve the use of data and analytics and our understanding of human behaviour in response to health emergencies: Set a new global challenge to the world Facilitate unique collaborations amongst the coalition to improve outcomes Strengthen the data, analytics and learning ecosystem for global public health.
-
News Article
Scottish Covid inquiry start condemned as ‘shambolic and disrespectful’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Bereaved families in Scotland questioned the credibility of the Covid-19 inquiry on its opening day. Proceedings started with a presentation in Dundee by the public health physician Dr Ashley Croft, who talked about the scientific and medical understanding of the virus as it existed in late 2019 and how it developed up to the end of last year. Members of the Scottish Covid Bereaved group were said to be “bewildered” by the choice of Croft as first speaker of the inquiry, having previously raised concerns about his being used as an expert witness. The lawyer Aamer Anwar, who is representing the group, highlighted a High Court judgment that reportedly described Croft as providing “flawed, unreliable” and “unconvincing” evidence and displaying “a cavalier approach to important evidence”. Pointing out that no respects were paid to the many people who lost their lives during the pandemic during the presentation either, Anwar described the inquiry’s start as “embarrassing” and “deeply disrespectful”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 27 July 2023 -
Content Article
As reported recently, the Scottish Healthcare Workers Coalition called upon the Scottish Government to reinstate 'universal masking' in health and social care settings. In this statement written in support of their campaign, an occupational safety and health practitioner, David Osborn, explains the legal requirements for risk assessments that the Government ought to have undertaken before reaching such a decision that exposes healthcare staff to the life-changing consequences associated with repeat Covid-19 infections. He also explains the legal duty of the Government to consult with workers before implementing changes that may affect their health and safety. Neither duty (risk assessment nor prior consultation with workers) appears to have been well met, putting the Scottish Government and Health Boards in breach of UK-wide health and safety law. -
News Article
Covid Inquiry: Bodies were treated like toxic waste, says daughter
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The bodies of people who died with Covid were treated like "toxic waste" and families were left in shock, a bereaved woman has told the inquiry. Anna-Louise Marsh-Rees said her father Ian died "gasping for breath" after catching the virus while in hospital. Ms Marsh-Rees, who leads Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru, said he was "zipped away", and his belongings put in a Tesco carrier bag. Ian Marsh-Rees died after catching the virus while in hospital, aged 85. His daughter said finding information regarding his care in hospital and how he became infected was "almost like an Agatha Christie mystery". She said no GP ever suggested he might have Covid, although she now knows his discharge notes said he had been exposed to Covid. "It wasn't until we saw his notes some months later that we saw the DNA CPR (do not attempt CPR) placed on him, and this was without consultation with us," she said. "It kind of haunts us all that… people used to say 'well they're in the right place' when they go to hospital. I'm not sure they would say that any more," Ms Marsh-Rees said. She now wants to change the way deaths are handled by health boards. She said it was important to prepare families before and support them after the death of a loved one, from palliative care to dignity in death. Read full story Source: BBC News, 18 July 2023 -
Content Article
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry is the independent public inquiry set up to examine the UK’s response to and impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and learn lessons for the future. In order to fully understand the impact of the pandemic on the UK population, the Inquiry is inviting the public to share their experiences of the pandemic by launching Every Story Matters. It will inform the Inquiry’s work by gathering pandemic experiences which can be brought together and represent the whole of the UK, including those seldom heard. The output of Every Story Matters will be a unique, comprehensive account of the UK population’s experiences of the pandemic, to be submitted to the Inquiry’s legal process as evidence. This toolkit contains information and creative assets that can be used to encourage participation in Every Story Matters. Every Story Matters aims to provide inclusive methods for people to talk about their experience of the pandemic, so anyone that wants to share their story feels heard, valued, and can contribute to the Inquiry. -
Content ArticleIn this report, Professor Brian Edwards summarises contributions given to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry by various politicians and senior civil servants, relating to how prepared the UK and Scottish Governments were for the Covid-19 pandemic. It contains reflections on the contributions of: Nicola Sturgeon (First Minister of Scotland during the pandemic) Matt Hancock (Secretary of State for Health and Social Care during the pandemic) Jenny Harries (Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency) Emma Reed (civil servant, DHSC)
-
Content Article
UK Covid 19 Inquiry Hearings
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Covid-19 Inquiry
All the public and preliminary hearings from the Covid 19 Inquiry can be found here. -
Content ArticleReport, together with formal minutes relating to the report.
-
News Article
MPs criticise ‘staggering’ failures at UK Health Security Agency
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Britain’s lead public health body has a staggering lack of control over billions of pounds of spending, and there is no plan for stockpiling vaccines or personal protective equipment (PPE) for a future pandemic, a damning MPs’ report has found. The public accounts committee was highly critical of the repeated governance and financial failings at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which was set up with great fanfare under Boris Johnson. Meg Hillier, the committee chair, said it would be “utterly inexcusable” for the government to have failed to make serious preparations for future health emergencies and warned the lack of a plan for stockpiling could leave health workers once again exposed to danger as they were in 2020. The committee lambasted the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), which oversees UKHSA, for lacking a strategy for reserves of PPE, vaccines and medicines despite its mandate to protect the country’s health security. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 5 July 2023 -
News Article
Long Covid causing 'debilitating impact' on doctors
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A "significant" number of doctors are still suffering with the "debilitating effects" of Long Covid, according to a new report. Many are left in financial limbo as they have been forced to quit work or reduce their hours, the British Medical Association (BMA) report warns. Some 600 doctors with long COVID were quizzed about the impact on their day-to-day lives. One in five told the BMA and the Long COVID Doctors for Action group they had been forced to stop work or significantly cut back on their hours. Carrying out essential daily activities such as getting dressed, household activities, and childcare have become difficult or not possible for 60% of the medics who took part in the survey. Nearly half (49%) said they have experienced loss of earnings as a result of Long Covid symptoms of which include: fatigue, headaches, muscular pain, nerve damage, joint pain, ongoing respiratory problems. The BMA has made a series of calls to support doctors with Long Covid, including: Financial support for doctors and other health workers with Long Covid. Long Covid to be recognised as an "occupational disease". Better access to physical and mental health services for those affected after the report said that access to NHS long COVID clinics is "patchy". Greater "workplace protection" for staff. More support to help healthcare workers return to work "safely". Read full story Source: Medscape, 3 July 2023 -
Content ArticleA significant number of doctors and other healthcare workers have developed post-acute COVID, including a large number who developed it as a result of workplace exposure to Covid-19. This paper examines the impact post-acute Covid symptoms have had on the medical workforce, personally and professionally. It provides a unique and valuable insight into the experience of UK doctors suffering from post-acute Covid. It has been informed by a UK survey of over 600 doctors suffering from the continuing effects of an infection with Covid-19, as well as wider research of the issues. The survey was undertaken by the British Medical Association (BMA) in partnership with Long COVID Doctors for Action. This is the first comprehensive survey of doctors with post-acute Covid health complications. This paper should inform the support needed by current sufferers of post-acute COVID in the NHS workforce, and help protect services and patients now and in the future.
-
News ArticleMany vulnerable patients are struggling to access covid treatments after commissioning responsibility switched to integrated care boards this week, charities have warned. Approximately two million vulnerable patients must now contact local services themselves to access treatments designed to combat covid infections, such as the antivirals Paxlovid and Sotrovimab. Integrated care boards are expected to coordinate and fund “equitable” access. Prior to 27 June, identification of patients and the delivery of treatment was coordinated nationally under pandemic arrangements. However, a group of 20 patient charities have written to Steve Barclay warning that most ICBs have not drawn up plans to deliver this new responsibility, leaving patients and primary care clinicians unclear on how to access the treatments. “Despite continually raising our concerns with those carrying out the planning, implementation, and communication of this [policy], we now find that we are in exactly the position we warned against,” they said. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 3 July 2023
-
News Article
Covid pandemic linked to surge in child and teen diabetes
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
There has been an unusual rise in the number of children and teenagers around the world diagnosed with type 1 diabetes since Covid, say researchers. A new study in JAMA Network Open journal has collated available data from different countries, including the UK, on more than 38,000 young people diagnosed during the pandemic. The authors describe the increase in cases of diabetes as "substantial". More work is needed to understand why the rise is happening, they say. Some of the rise could be attributed to catch-up - from backlogs and delays when health services were shut - but does not explain all of the newly diagnosed cases, say scientists. Before the pandemic, the incidence rate of childhood type 1 diabetes was already increasing - by about 3% a year. -
Content ArticleThere are reports of increasing incidence of paediatric diabetes since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study by D'Souza et al. compares the incidence rates of paediatric diabetes during and before the COVID-19 pandemic. The study found that incidence rates of type 1 diabetes and diabetic ketoacidosis at diabetes onset in children and adolescents were higher after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic than before the pandemic. Increased resources and support may be needed for the growing number of children and adolescents with diabetes. Future studies are needed to assess whether this trend persists and may help elucidate possible underlying mechanisms to explain temporal changes.
-
Content ArticleProfessor Brian Edwards summarises this week's evidence in the Covid-UK inquiry.
-
News Article
Matt Hancock says UK's pandemic strategy was completely wrong
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Ex-health secretary Matt Hancock has criticised the UK's pandemic planning before Covid hit, saying it was "completely wrong". He told the Covid Inquiry that planning was focused on the provision of body bags and how to bury the dead, rather than stopping the virus taking hold. He said he was "profoundly sorry" for each death. After giving evidence he approached some of the bereaved families, but they turned their backs on him as he left. The former health secretary, who answered questions from the inquiry on Tuesday, said he understood his apology might be difficult for families to accept, even though it was "honest and heartfelt". Under questioning from Hugo Keith KC, lead counsel to the Covid Inquiry, Mr Hancock stressed that the "attitude, the doctrine of the UK was to plan for the consequences of a disaster". Read full story Source: BBC News, 27 June 2023 -
News Article
Health service chief critical of Covid-19 ‘Protect the NHS’ slogan
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The head of NHS England was critical of the government’s slogan urging people to “protect the NHS” at the start of the Covid pandemic, amid concerns it would stop people coming forward for much-needed treatment. Simon Stevens, who led the NHS until July 2021, was one of the slogan’s “greatest critics” and was not involved in the government discussion that led to the phrase being deployed. “It was a tremendously powerful slogan,” writes journalist Isabel Hardman in Fighting for Life: The Twelve Battles That Made Our NHS, and the Struggle for Its Future. “It was popular in government – but not universally so. In fact, one of its greatest critics was Simon Stevens. Stevens wasn’t on the calls where [government advisers] came up with ‘Protect the NHS’, and initially he complained in private that it gave the impression that the public was there for the health service – not the health service being there for the public. “Either way, the focus quickly became about the importance of ‘protecting the NHS’. But there was never a clear definition of what it was being protected from.” Later in 2020, Lord Stevens referred to his concerns about the slogan, writing: “Rather than say ‘Protect the NHS’, health service staff prefer to say: ‘Help us help you’.” Senior NHS figures also attempted to battle against the slogan from the spring of 2020, urging patients to come forward as normal. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 25 June 2023 -
News Article
One in 10 health workers in England had suicidal thoughts during pandemic
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
One in 10 health workers in England had suicidal thoughts during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to research that highlights the scale of its mental impact. The risk of infection or death, moral distress, staff shortages, burnout and the emotional toll of battling the biggest public health crisis in a century significantly affected the mental wellbeing of health workers worldwide. A study involving almost 20,000 responses to two surveys reveals the full extent of the mental health impact on workers at the height of the pandemic. Research led by the University of Bristol analysed results from two surveys undertaken at 18 NHS trusts across England. The first was carried out between April 2020 and January 2021 and completed by 12,514 workers. The second – covering October 2020 to August 2021 – was completed by 7,160. The first survey found that 10.8% of workers reported having suicidal thoughts in the preceding two months, while 2.1% attempted to take their own life in the same period. Some 11.3% of workers who did not report suicidal thoughts in the first survey reported them six months later, with 3.9% – about one in 25 – saying they had attempted to take their own life for the first time. Responses showed that a lack of confidence in raising safety concerns, feeling unsupported by managers, and having to provide a lower standard of care were among the factors contributing to staff distress. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 21 June 2023
