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News Article
Infected blood inquiry: Five things we have learned
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A long-running public inquiry into what has been called the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS will hear its final evidence on Friday. It is thought tens of thousands were infected with HIV and hepatitis between 1970 and 1991 after being given a contaminated drug or blood transfusion. The inquiry, which started in 2018, has reviewed thousands of documents and heard testimony from 370 witnesses. A total of 1,250 people with haemophilia and other bleeding disorders contracted HIV after being given a protein made from blood plasma known as Factor VIII. About half of that group later died of an Aids-related illness. Researchers found that 380 of those infected with HIV - about one in three - were children, including some very young toddlers. One of the key questions the inquiry will now have to answer is whether more could and should have been done to prevent those infections and deaths. Hundreds of victims of the scandal have received annual support payments but - before this inquiry - no formal compensation had ever been awarded for loss of earnings, care costs and other lifetime losses Further recommendations on compensation are expected when the inquiry publishes its final report, which is likely to be around the middle of the year. Read full story Source: BBC News, 3 February 2023 -
News Article
Inquiry head to meet failing maternity bosses
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Donna Ockenden, who is leading an independent review examining how dozens of babies died or were injured at the Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) trust, is due to meet with chief executive of NUH, Anthony May, and other members of the NUH executive team. Speaking ahead of the meeting, she said: "The commitment I want to give to the women and families of Nottingham is that real learning, real improvement in maternity safety will happen throughout the life of this review. "It won't be a case of waiting until the end and then presenting the trust with a huge amount of learning that they then have to start putting in place. "Today's meeting with the trust is at executive level. Along with colleagues from NHS England, I'll be meeting with the chief executive and some of his colleagues to talk about how we will ensure that learning reaches the trust on a regular basis and in a timely way so families can be assured that the maternity improvement plan is including learning from our review." Read full story Source: BBC News, 2 February 2023 -
News Article
North East ambulance staff lacked critical medicines, CQC finds
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Ambulance crews in the North East frequently responded to emergencies without access to life-saving drugs, a damning inspection report has found. The study of North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust (NEAS) concluded patients were potentially put at risk by the poor management of medicines. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found a deterioration of services and rated NEAS's urgent care as "inadequate". In response, NEAS said it had faced a year of "unprecedented pressures". The damaging assessment follows the launch of a full independent NHS review into numerous "tragic failings" involving patients. Announcing the review, the then health secretary Sajid Javid said he was "deeply concerned" about claims NEAS had covered up mistakes. Whistleblowers have told Newsnight multiple deaths were not investigated properly because information was not always provided to coroners and families. Read full story Source: BBC News, 1 February 2023 -
News Article
Jess Hodgkinson: Lack of medication contributed to mother's death
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A woman who died shortly after giving birth to her daughter did not receive the correct medication, a coroner has ruled. Jess Hodgkinson, 26, from Chesterfield, died from a pulmonary embolism in 2021. Assistant coroner Matthew Kewley said there was a "failure" to ensure Ms Hodgkinson received blood thinners right up until the birth. Chesterfield Coroner's Court heard Ms Hodgkinson had a high risk pregnancy due to severe hypertension. On 21 April 2021, a consultant in Chesterfield prescribed a prophylactic dose of tinzaparin due to an increased risk of clotting, the inquest heard. During the inquest, the consultant said the intention was for Ms Hodgkinson to continue to receive a daily dose of anticoagulant medication up until birth. Ms Hodgkinson was transferred to a hospital in Sheffield the next day, but there was a "failure to communicate" the medication plan, Mr Kewley said. After being discharged, clinicians in Chesterfield "failed to identify" Ms Hodgkinson was no longer receiving the medication, the coroner said in his ruling. On 13 May, Ms Hodgkinson attended Chesterfield Royal Hospital and a decision was made to carry out an emergency Caesarean section. The procedure was successful and Ms Hodgkinson's baby was born. But after delivery, Ms Hodgkinson went into cardiac arrest and later died. In his concluding remarks, Mr Kewley said: "There was a failure to ensure that Jess received anticoagulant medication that a clinician had intended should be taken until birth. This failure made a more than minimal, negligible or trivial contribution to Jess' death". Read full story Source: BBC News, 31 January 2023 -
News Article
Minister calls for staff evidence in deaths inquiry
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A health minister has called for more staff to take part in an inquiry into deaths at a mental health trust. An independent review into 1,500 deaths at the Essex Partnership University Trust (EPUT) over a 21-year period was launched in 2020. It emerged earlier this month that 11 out of 14,000 staff members had come forward to give evidence to an independent inquiry. The trust said it was encouraging staff to take part in the inquiry. During a parliamentary debate, Health Minister Neil O'Brien said the trust was being given a "last chance" before the government intervened and instigated a statutory inquiry. A statutory inquiry would allow staff to be compelled to give evidence. In December, a further 500 deaths were made known to the review chair, Dr Geraldine Strathdee. She said the inquiry could not continue without full legal powers. Chelmsford MP Vicky Ford said she had been told by the chief executive of EPUT that staff were "very scared" to give evidence. Read full story Source: BBC News, 31 January 2023 -
News ArticleA little boy whose headaches turned out to be a brain tumour died in his parent’s arms just four months after his diagnosis. Rayhan Majid, aged four, died after doctors discovered an aggressive grade three medulloblastoma tumour touching his brainstem. His mother Nadia, 45, took Rayhan to see four different GPs on six separate occasions after he started having bad headaches and being sick in October 2017. No one thought anything was seriously wrong, but when his headaches didn’t clear up Nadia rushed him to A&E at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow. An MRI scan revealed a 3cm x 4cm mass in Rayhan’s brain. Rayhan underwent surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible and was told he would need six weeks of radiotherapy and four months of chemotherapy. But before the treatment even started another MRI scan revealed the devastating news that the cancer has spread. Read full story Source: The Independent, 30 January 2023
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News Article
Toxic slimming pill drug DNP to be declared poison
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A highly toxic chemical compound sold illegally in diet pills is to be reclassified as a poison, a government minister has said. Pills containing DNP, or 2,4-dinitrophenol, were responsible for the deaths of 32 young vulnerable adults, said campaigner Doug Shipsey. His daughter Bethany, from Worcester, died in 2017 after taking tablets containing the chemical. The deaths were down to a "collective failure of the UK government", he said. DNP is highly toxic and not intended for human consumption. An industrial chemical, it is sold illegally in diet pills as a fat-burning substance. Experts say buying drugs online is risky as medicines may be fake, out of date or extremely harmful. Mr Shipsey said he had targeted the minister following the death of another young man who had taken the drug sold as a slimming aid. Prior to this, following the inquests of dozens of young people who had suddenly and unexpectedly died from DNP toxicity, the government had "ignored numerous coroners reports" to prevent future deaths, he said. "So, at last after 32 deaths and almost six years of campaigning, the Home Office (HO) finally accept responsibility to control DNP under the Poisons ACT 1972," he added. Read full story Source: BBC News, 28 January 2023 -
News ArticleAn acute trust has been fined a record sum by the Care Quality Commission for failing to provide safe maternity care, which resulted in the death of a baby after 23 minutes. Nottingham University Hospitals must pay a fine of £800,000 within two years. It is only the second time the regulator has brought a case against a NHS maternity service, and the highest fine ever given for failings of this nature. The trust pleaded guilty earlier this week to two charges of failing to provide safe care and treatment to Sarah Andrews and her baby daughter Wynter Andrews at Queen’s Medical Centre in 2019, a short time after her birth by Caesarean section. This guilty plea saw the fine reduced from £1.2m. An inquest in 2020 found the death was a “clear and obvious case of neglect”. It was also found there was “an unsafe culture prevailing within maternity services”, including a “failure to listen and respond to staff safety concerns”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 27 January 2023
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News Article
Coroner says student might be alive if GP had seen him
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A law student who died after four remote GP consultations might have lived had he been given a face-to-face appointment, a coroner ruled. David Nash, 26, died in November 2020 from a bone infection behind his ear that caused an abscess on the brain. Over a 19-day period leading up to his death, he had four phone consultations with his GP. The coroner, Abigail Combes, said the failure to see him meant he underwent surgery ten hours later than it could have been. Andrew and Anne Nash fought for more than two years to find out whether their son would have lived if he had been seen in person by clinical staff at Burley Park Medical Centre in Leeds. Yesterday they said they were “both saddened and vindicated by the findings that the simple and obvious, necessary step of seeing him in person would have saved his life” and wanted to make sure “others don’t die as David did”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 21 January 2023 -
News Article
Shrewsbury maternity scandal: Pay out over boy's brain injury
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The health trust behind the worst maternity scandal in NHS history has accepted responsibility for a boy's brain injury. Adam Cheshire, 11, contracted a Group B Strep (GBS) infection following his birth at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in 2011. A High Court judge approved a pay out from Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust (SaTH) to provide special care for the rest of his life. His case was examined as part of senior midwife Donna Ockendon's investigation into SaTH which found catastrophic failures might have led to the deaths and life-changing injuries of hundreds of babies, as well as the deaths of nine mothers. Adam, from Newport, Shropshire, was born nearly 35 hours after his mother's waters broke in the afternoon of 24 March 2011. In the hours that followed, he began to show signs of early onset GBS including struggling to feed, crying and grunting. After weeks in intensive care, he was finally diagnosed with the infection and meningitis. Adam is living with multiple conditions including hearing and visual impairments, autism, severe learning difficulties and behavioural problems so he relies on others to care for him. His mum, the Reverend Charlotte Cheshire, said she had expressed concerns about bright green discharge at one of her last antenatal appointments but no action was taken. "From that point I just had a mother's instinct something wasn't right but I was reassured by the midwives so many times that everything was OK," the 45-year-old said. Mrs Cheshire added: "While Adam is adorable and I am so thankful to have him in my life, it's difficult not to think how things could have turned out differently for him if he'd received the care he should have. "Adam will never live an independent life and will need lifelong care. While I'm devoted to him, I'm now raising a severely disabled son, which is extremely challenging and has changed the path of both our lives forever". Read full story Source: BBC News, 23 January 2023 -
News Article
WHO urges action after cough syrups linked to more than 300 child deaths
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for “immediate and concerted action” to protect children from contaminated medicines after a spate of child deaths linked to cough syrups last year. In 2022, more than 300 children - mainly aged under 5 - in the Gambia, Indonesia and Uzbekistan died of acute kidney injury, in deaths that were associated with contaminated medicines, the WHO said in a statement on Monday. The medicines, over-the-counter cough syrups, had high levels of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol. “These contaminants are toxic chemicals used as industrial solvents and antifreeze agents that can be fatal even taken in small amounts, and should never be found in medicines,” the WHO said. As well as the countries above, the WHO told Reuters on Monday that the Philippines, Timor Leste, Senegal and Cambodia may be affected because they may have the medicines on sale. It called for action across its 194 member states to prevent more deaths. “Since these are not isolated incidents, WHO calls on various key stakeholders engaged in the medical supply chain to take immediate and coordinated action,” WHO said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 24 January 2023 -
News Article
Stockport hospital failed woman who took poisonous substance, inquest finds
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A private psychiatric hospital provided “inadequate care” for a woman who killed herself by swallowing a poisonous substance, a jury has found. Beth Matthews, a mental health blogger, was being treated as an NHS patient for a personality disorder at the Priory hospital Cheadle Royal in Stockport. The 26-year-old, originally from Cornwall, opened the substance, which she had ordered online, in close proximity to two members of staff and told them it was protein powder, BBC News reported. An inquest jury concluded she died from suicide contributed to by neglect, after hearing Matthews was considered a high suicide risk. She had a history of frequent suicide attempts, the inquest heard. A BBC News investigation also found that two other young women died at the Priory in Stockport in the two months before her death. A spokesperson for the Priory Group said: “We fully accept the jury’s findings and acknowledge that far greater attention should have been given to Beth’s care plan. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 19 January 2023 -
News Article
How many excess deaths in England are associated with A&E delays?
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The fact that the NHS is under enormous pressure is undisputed. Almost everything else is debated, including the question of how many patients are dying as a result of the chaos in hospitals. The proportion of patients who wait more than 12 hours in A&E departments to be admitted to a ward has risen from 2% to 7% over the past year. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has estimated that delays in A&E are leading to 300-500 additional deaths per week. However, officials at NHS England do not accept this figure. The data suggest that something is very awry. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Economist, 11 January 2023 -
News Article
Sudden unexplained death in childhood debated in Parliament
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The issue of children dying unexpectedly and without any known cause has been debated in Parliament for the first time. Sudden unexplained death in childhood (SUDC) is a rare category of death in which the cause remains unknown even after thorough investigation. Former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, who led the debate, said SUDC had not had the attention it deserved. In his first speech as a backbencher for six years, he said it was important to not shy away from discussing "something that is incredibly difficult to deal with, emotionally very taxing, and one of the most serious medical phenomena". He said: "Imagine a death of a child, who has all his or her life in front of them, suddenly ended. If you can imagine that and if you can imagine that for one of your own children you can get a sense of how tragic and how difficult that occurrence is." He added: "It's such an uncomfortable issue but it is important to grasp uncomfortable issues to honour those who had died and prevent future deaths." He added: "It's such an uncomfortable issue but it is important to grasp uncomfortable issues to honour those who had died and prevent future deaths." The MPs were united in their call for more research to be carried out. They also called for the NHS website to be updated to include information about SUDC and for there to be more training for medical practitioners. Read full story Source: BBC News, 17 January 2023 -
News ArticleAn NHS trust declined to provide care for a vulnerable Black man days before he died in police custody while having a psychotic episode, The Independent has learnt. Godrick Osei, 35, died after being restrained by up to seven Devon and Cornwall Police officers in the early hours of 3 July 2022, after fleeing his flat and hiding in the cupboard of a care home in Truro. His family said he had been expressing “paranoid thoughts” and had called the police himself for help. He was arrested and died within an hour. Mr Osei had been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, had suspected post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and was prescribed various medications to treat these conditions. He also intermittently used illicit drugs and had suffered alleged sexual assault in prison around 2013, according to a medical report from North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT). In the days before his death, Mr Osei was in the care of NELFT’s community mental health team, whose caseworkers were concerned that he was exhibiting signs of a further severe illness – emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD) – and was a high risk to himself. However, Mr Osei was based outside the team’s catchment area, and NELFT asked the neighbouring Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CPT) to assess him instead. CPT refused without explaining why, according to a medical report seen by The Independent. Following Mr Osei’s death, an investigating officer from NELFT made multiple attempts to contact CPT to explore the possibility of a joint investigation into the matter, but didn’t receive a response. Read full story Source: The Independent, 16 January 2023
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News Article
US cancer death rate drops by 30% since 1991
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Death rates from cancer in the US have fallen by 32% over the three decades from 1991 to 2019, according to the American Cancer Society. The decline is thanks to prevention, screening, early diagnosis and treatment of common cancers, including lung and breast cancer. The drop has meant 3.5m fewer deaths. However, cancers are still the second leading cause of death in the US, after heart disease. In 1991, the cancer death rate was 215 per 100,000 people and in 2019 it dropped to 146 per 100,000 people. Lung cancer, of which there are 230,000more cases each year, kills the most patients, 350 per day. But people are being diagnosed sooner, and technological advancements have increased the survival rate by three years. The report also examined racial and economic disparities in cancer outcomes. The Covid-19 pandemic added to already existing difficulties for marginalised groups to get cancer screenings and treatment. For nearly every type of cancer, white people have a higher survival rate than black people. Black women with breast cancer face a 41% higher death rate than white women. Read full story Source: BBC News, 12 January 2023 -
News Article
Deaths inquiry thrown into doubt as only 11 staff agree to give evidence
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The chair of an inquiry into hundreds of deaths at a mental health trust has revealed she may not be able to deliver it in its current form following a ‘hugely disappointing’ lack of staff coming forward to give evidence. Former national clinical director for mental health, Geraldine Strathdee, chair of the non-statutory inquiry into deaths at Essex Partnership University Trust, has penned an open letter warning just 11 of 14,000 staff contacted said they will attend evidence sessions. It was meant to report in spring 2023. However, after raising concerns with ministers, Dr Strathdee said she believes the inquiry will not be able to meet its terms of reference with a non-statutory status. The inquiry was announced in 2021 and last year chiefs revealed they were probing 1,500 deaths of people in contact with Essex mental health services between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2020. However, without statutory powers, staff are not compelled to give evidence under oath. Many bereaved families, of which just one in four has engaged with the current probe, are campaigning for a statutory inquiry into deaths. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 13 January 2023 -
News Article
'My dying husband could not get an ambulance'
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Ambulance bosses have apologised to the family of a man who died after he had a heart attack but no ambulance came. Martin Clark, 68, started suffering with chest pains at his home in East Sussex on 18 November - before any strike action started in the NHS. His family rang three times for an ambulance and after waiting 45 minutes drove him in their car to hospital. When they arrived, the father of five went into cardiac arrest and, despite receiving medical attention, died. Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan of the British Heart Foundation (BHF), said cases such as the Clarks' were "incredibly distressing". "The difference between life and death can be a matter of minutes when someone is having a heart attack or stroke," she said. "Extreme delays to emergency heart and stroke care cannot become a new normal. Healthcare staff are doing all they can—but there aren't enough of them and many will be working in difficult conditions without fit-for-purpose facilities." Read full story Source: BBC News -
News Article
Excess deaths in 2022 among worst in 50 years
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
More than 650,000 deaths were registered in the UK in 2022 - 9% more than 2019. This represents one of the largest excess death levels outside the pandemic in 50 years. Though far below peak pandemic levels, it has prompted questions about why more people are still dying than normal. Data indicates pandemic effects on health and NHS pressures are among the leading explanations. Although the ongoing impact of the pandemic is a contributing factor, a number of doctors are blaming the wider crisis in the NHS. On 1 January 2023, the president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine suggested the crisis in urgent care could be causing "300-500 deaths a week". Read full story Source: BBC News, 10 January 2023 -
News Article
Pandemic care home death: Family to sue over mother's end-of-life consent
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A man plans to sue a nursing home because, he says, during the pandemic his mother was put on end-of-life care without her family being told. Antonia Stowell, 87, did not have the mental capacity to consent because she had dementia, say the family's lawyers. Her son, Tony Stowell, said if end-of-life care had been discussed, he would not have agreed to it. Rose Villa nursing home in Hull says all proper process in Mrs Stowell's care was followed with precision. As a prelude to legal action, Mr Stowell's lawyers have obtained his mother's hospital records which, they say, show she was diagnosed with suspected pneumonia while living in the home. End-of-life drugs were then prescribed and ordered by medical professionals. In a statement, Rose Villa said: "We believe that our dedicated and professional team provided Antonia with the very best care under the direction of her GP and medical team, and all proper process in the delivery of this care was followed with precision." Mr Stowell's lawyers, Gulbenkian Andonian solicitors, said his mother's hospital records reveal the decision to put her on end-of-life care was made two days before the family was told. In their letter to the home announcing the planned legal action, they said Mrs Stowell could have had "48 additional hours on a ventilator with treatment… with the necessary implication that Antonia Stowell could still be with us today or at least survived". The lawyer dealing with the case, Fadi Farhat, told the BBC: "As a matter of law, there is a presumption in favour of treatment which would preserve life and prolong life, irrespective of one's age or condition. "Therefore to deviate from that presumption means a patient, or family members, should be consulted as soon as that decision is made or contemplated." He adds: "What is particularly concerning for me is this case occurred at the height of the pandemic. That should worry everybody because it demonstrates that rights can be suspended in times of crisis, when the very purpose of legal rights is to protect us during times of crisis." Read full story Source: BBC News, 9 January 2023 -
News ArticleWith NHS staff being forced to witness our patients dying in corridors, in cupboards, on floors and in stranded ambulances, we can only thank our lucky stars that the country’s second most powerful politician is the man who last year published Zero: Eliminating Unnecessary Deaths in a Post-Pandemic NHS. Because the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, cannot possibly stand back and permit these crisis conditions to continue, can he? He knows better than anyone – having written 320 pages on precisely this fact – that avoidable deaths are the very worst kinds of death, the ones that sicken families and clinicians to their core. Let’s remind ourselves of how strongly Hunt feels about this subject. The blurb of his book, published only last May, rings out with moral righteousness. “How many avoidable deaths are there in the NHS every week?” he asks. “150. What figure should we aim for? Zero. Mistakes happen. But nobody deserves to become a statistic in an NHS hospital. That’s why we need to aim for zero.” He even offers a road map towards achieving that end that, unusually for a politician, centres on radical candour. Don’t lie. Don’t deflect. Don’t spin. Don’t cover up. Be honest and open about mistakes and failures because this is the first, essential step to fixing them. To the collective despair of frontline staff, the government’s actual, as opposed to rhetorical, response to the humanitarian crisis gripping the NHS is a perverse inversion of everything the chancellor purports to hold dear. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 6 January 2023
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News Article
Discharge guidance could see patients die
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Patients discharged from hospital without social care packages could die at home, doctors have warned. They said Welsh government advice to do this showed a system at breaking point. The British Medical Association (BMA) said it rejects the guidance to "change the risk threshold" for releasing people from hospital. The Welsh government said discharging patients could help them get better "by reducing the risk of infection and muscle wastage". Royal College of General Practitioners Wales chairwoman, Rowena Christmas, said the NHS was "unbelievably stretched". "A frail, elderly person coming home, who can't really safely get from their bed or their chair to the bathroom without risk of falling over, they're not going to be able to survive at home," Dr Christmas said. "I completely understand we need more beds, but that feels like a bad move." Read full story Source: BBC News, 6 January 2023 -
News Article
Excess deaths in UK hit highest level in two years amid NHS crisis
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Excess deaths in the week before Christmas were the highest in two years amid a crisis in NHS care, new figures show. Approximately 2,500 more people died than usual in the week ending 23 December in England and Wales, numbers from the Office for National Statistics reveal. The total death toll of 14,530 is 21% higher than would be expected for this period, compared with averages from the last five years. The new figures represent the highest excess and overall deaths recorded since February 2021. At that time, the UK recorded 15,943 deaths from Covid as transmission rates remained high. But only 429 of the most recent deaths have been linked to the virus. Read full story Source: The Independent, 5 January 2023 -
News Article
NHS whistleblower wins £500,000 for unfair dismissal
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A “commended” NHS nurse has been awarded nearly £500,000 for being wrongly sacked after she claimed that high workloads led to a patient’s death. Linda Fairhall, 62, a 44-year veteran of the health service, said she made 13 separate pleas to bosses warning that her colleagues were overburdened, but she was ignored each time. Fairhal told officials at the University Hospital of North Tees and Hartlepool that she was worried about a recently imposed policy that obliged nurses to monitor patients who took prescribed medicines and maintained that it led to nurses having to conduct 1,000 extra patient visits a month without extra resources. She said nurses were overwhelmed by the additional responsibility, which resulted in rising “anxiety” among staff and higher rates of absence. However, Fairhall told the tribunal in Teesside that nothing was done in response to her concerns, and ultimately a patient died. The tribunal heard that the nurse raised her last warning with officials just before she went on annual leave. On her return she was suspended and investigated for “bullying and harassment”, then sacked for gross misconduct. A tribunal has now ruled that the decision to dismiss Fairhall was “materially influenced” by her complaints regarding patient safety, with the panel adding that it could not “genuinely believe” that she was guilty of misconduct. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 4 January 2023 Read the full tribunal decision: Ms L Fairhall v University Hospital of North Tees and Hartlepool Foundation Trust- Posted
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News Article
Inquiry into deaths after Northern Ireland ambulance delays
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) is investigating whether a delayed response contributed to the deaths of eight people in recent weeks. All eight deaths occurred between 12 December and the start of January. The NIAS is treating four of the deaths as serious adverse incidents, which is defined as an incident that led to unintended or unexpected harm. The remaining four deaths are being investigated to see whether they meet that criteria. The patients' identities have not been disclosed, but it is understood one of the eight people was a man who waited more than nine hours for an ambulance in mid-December. The man's condition deteriorated and he died before paramedics arrived. The delays are a cause of "great concern," but there is "no end in sight to the pressures we are facing," according to the ambulance service's medical director Nigel Ruddell. He said the ambulance service conducts an internal review whenever "there is a delayed response to the call and a poor outcome from the call" to see whether delays contributed to a death. "That process involves liaising with the family and being open and clear with them about what happened on the day - whether it was because of pressures and demand on the day or whether there was something that, potentially, we could have done better." Read full story Source: BBC News, 4 January 2022
