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Found 1,490 results
  1. News Article
    A pregnant nurse who died with COVID-19 felt "pressurised" to return to work despite being "very worried" for her health, an inquest heard. Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong, 28, died after giving birth at Luton and Dunstable Hospital, where she also worked. Her widower Ernest Boateng told the inquest that "due to high demand at the hospital she had to continue working". A senior colleague said she had no knowledge of Ms Agyapong being pressured to return or remain at work. The inquest in Bedfordshire heard Ms Agyapong was signed off on 12 March 2020, initially for back problems, and died on 12 April. She was admitted to hospital with breathing problems on 5 April and discharged the same day. Giving evidence, Mr Boateng said: "Mary continued to work during this time [the start of the coronavirus outbreak], but she was very concerned about the situation involving Covid-19, so much so that when she came home from work she would take her clothes off at the front door and take a shower immediately." "She was very worried about bringing Covid into the home." Mr Boateng told the inquest his wife had worked "on some COVID-19 wards". "I wanted her to stay at home," said Mr Boateng. "But due to high demand at the hospital, she had to continue working. She tried to reassure me that everything would be OK but I could understand she was anxious and panicking deep down." Read full story Source: BBC News, 23 March 2021
  2. News Article
    An elderly woman died alone in a care home while her daughter was left waiting in a nearby room, an ombudsman says. When the daughter went into her mother's room at the Puttenham Hill House Care Home in Guildford, Surrey, she found she had died. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman said the care home had not protected the woman's dignity. Surrey County Council has apologised to the family for the distress caused. The council had arranged and funded the woman's care at the Bupa-run home. A Bupa spokesman said it had apologised to the family and introduced "comprehensive measures" to prevent such a situation happening again. The woman's daughter had complained she had been called too late to the care home when her condition deteriorated in August 2019. When she arrived she was left in a waiting area and not told her mother was seriously ill, the ombudsman said. When she went into her mother's room 15 minutes later it was apparent her mother had died, and she found dried blood on the floor and oxygen pipes in her mother's nose. The agency nurse looking after the woman never spoke to the daughter, the ombudsman said. An inquest found the woman died from a brain haemorrhage, which would have been difficult to spot. Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: "The daughter was not able to be with her mother as she died and her mother should not have been alone in the final moments of her life." Read full story Source: BBC News, 23 March 2021
  3. News Article
    Doctors ignored the concerns of a seriously ill girl's parents before reducing her pain medication, an inquest has heard. Melody Driscoll, from Croydon, died aged 11 at King's College Hospital (KCH) in July 2018. Her mother Karina Driscoll and stepfather Nigel alleged the actions of KCH reduced Melody's quality of life. She told Southwark Coroner's Court that a reduction in painkillers also contributed to her daughter's death. The family had been in dispute with KCH over the treatment given to Melody, who had several conditions including Rett syndrome, a rare and life-limiting genetic disorder that causes mental and physical disability. Doctors wanted to wean Melody off painkillers, but her parents objected because the plan went against the treatment regime she had previously been prescribed at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). The court heard Melody suffered from very severe pain, requiring continuous relief, including morphine, for much of her life. In a written statement read out by barrister Patricia Woodcock QC, Mrs Driscoll said although her daughter could not speak, she made recognisable signs when she was in pain, including tensing her muscles. However, she claimed staff at KCH had a "we know best attitude" and did not listen to her concerns. "I would say that KCH took a very negative view about Melody, and us as a family, from an early age and, for example, started to believe that Melody's pain behaviours were not in fact expressions of pain but her simply 'acting out'," Mrs Driscoll said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 22 March 2021
  4. News Article
    An infection "probably" linked to Glasgow's children's hospital was the "primary cause of death" of a young cancer patient, the BBC has learned. Infections from contaminated water at the hospital were also found to have been an "important contributory factor" in another child's death. A review looked into the cases of 84 children who developed infections while undergoing treatment at the hospital. It found that a third of infections "probably" originated in the hospital and the rest were "possibly" acquired there. The authors of the "case note review", which should be published next week, said they recognised that some families would be disappointed that they could not have "greater certainty" about the links between their child's infection and the hospital environment. They said this was down to the limits of a retrospective review but also criticised the shortcomings in the data provided by the health board. Read full story Source: BBC News, 20 March 2021
  5. News Article
    There was a "gross failure in basic care" which led to a baby being starved of oxygen during birth, a coroner said. Zak Ezra Carter died at the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, two days after being born in July 2018 at Ystrad Fawr Hospital in Caerphilly county. Gwent coroner Caroline Saunders said the monitoring of Zak and his mother Adele Thomas fell "well below the standards expected". She said she was reassured the health board had taken steps to improve care. Ms Thomas told the Newport hearing she felt "scared" and staff "didn't care" when she arrived to give birth on 20 July 2018. In a statement to the inquest she described being turned away from the centre after going into labour on three occasions, before being admitted on the fourth. Ms Thomas said she was initially offered paracetamol as pain relief at the midwife-led centre. She described "a lot of arguing between nurses", one of whom was "bolshie and rude and rough handled me", adding the midwives "did not appear to be in any rush". When Zak was born, he was described as being "white and pale" and without a heartbeat. He did not cry and was taken away to a room for resuscitation. Zak was transferred to the Royal Gwent Hospital where he died two days later. During the first stage of labour, Prof Sanders said "everything was progressing at a normal healthy rate and the fetal heart rate was recorded as completely normal". But she said it was "highly unusual" for the heart rate to not be documented contemporaneously, and the midwives had not been able to explain why they had not done so. Recording a narrative conclusion, Ms Saunders said the monitoring of Ms Thomas and her baby had "fallen well below the standards expected", leading to a "gross failure in basic care" of them in the later stages of labour. Read full story Source: BBC News, 18 March 2021
  6. News Article
    Blanket orders not to resuscitate some care home residents at the start of the Covid pandemic have been identified in a report by England’s care regulator. A report published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found disturbing variations in people’s experiences of do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions during the pandemic. Best practice is for proper discussions to be held with the person involved and/or their relatives. While examples of good practice were identified, some people were not properly involved in decisions or were unaware that such an important decision about their care had been made. Poor record-keeping, and a lack of oversight and scrutiny of the decisions being made, was identified. The report, 'Protect, respect, connect – decisions about living and dying well during Covid-19', calls for a ministerial oversight group – working with partners in health and social care, local government and the voluntary sector – to take responsibility for delivering improvements in this area. The report surveyed a range of individuals and organisations, including care providers and members of the public, and identified: Serious concerns about breaches of some individuals’ human rights. Significant increase in DNACPRs put in place in care homes at the beginning of the pandemic, from 16,876 to 26,555. 119 adult social care providers felt they had been subjected to blanket DNACPR decisions since the start of the pandemic. A GP sent DNACPR letters to care homes asking them to put blanket DNACPRs in place. In one care home a blanket DNACPR was applied to everyone over 80 with dementia. Read full story Source: The Guardian. 18 March 2021
  7. News Article
    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has ordered ‘significant improvements’ from a mental health trust which has been criticised over the deaths of vulnerable patients. The watchdog has warned Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys Foundation Trust (TEWV FT) it has “serious concerns” about risk management processes at its inpatient wards following inspections of three of its hospitals in January. It follows a string of severe problems in child and adolescent services run by the trust. In a formal letter and a separate warning notice to TEWV FT, the CQC ordered the trust to carry out “significant improvements” to the safety of adult acute wards, and psychiatric intensive care, after a visit to Roseberry Park, West Park and Cross Lane hospitals on the week of 18 January. Sources have told HSJ the trust’s leadership is working towards a May deadline to make sufficient improvements or it could potentially risk further enforcement action. However, neither the trust nor the CQC have confirmed this. Families and campaigners — including Labour MP Andy McDonald, who represents Middlesbrough — have called for a public inquiry into alleged “systematic failures” at the trust following the deaths of around 14 patients under the trust’s care within two years. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 12 March 2021
  8. News Article
    An inquiry into dozens of baby deaths at an NHS trust will examine failings from “ward to board” covering a period of more than a decade, it has emerged. The independent inquiry into poor maternity care at East Kent Hospitals University Trust published its terms of reference and scope for how it will carry out its work on Thursday. The probe, led by Dr Bill Kirkup, was commissioned by the government after The Independent revealed more than 130 infants suffered brain injuries during birth at the trust over several years. The scandal was exposed by the family of baby Harry Richford who died after a catalogue of errors by maternity staff in November 2017. A coroner ruled his death was the result of neglect and “wholly avoidable”. Several other families have also spoken out over the deaths of their babies, with evidence emerging the trust’s managers were warned about safety concerns but failed to take action. In October, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said it intended to prosecute the trust over the death of Harry Richford. It is understood that since the inquiry was launched, a significant number of families have come forward with concerns but the inquiry has refused to say what the total number of cases is. Read full story Source: The Independent, 11 March 2021
  9. News Article
    A baby boy was starved of oxygen and died after being left half-delivered for almost a quarter of an hour during a “chaotic” breech birth in an NHS maternity unit. Midwives failed to recognise baby Theo Ellis was in the breech, or bottom first, position until his mother Laura Ellis, 34, was already in advanced labour at Surrey’s Frimley Park Hospital. What followed was a catalogue of errors by midwives and doctors who failed to heed the emergency situation and raised the alarm too late. At one stage a paediatrician was made to stand outside the room by midwives while junior staff struggled to deliver Theo alone. A senior obstetrician was in surgery and a miscommunication by midwives and an on-call consultant meant she did not arrive until Theo was already dead. After his parents brought legal action against the NHS, Frimley Park Hospital has now admitted mistakes led to Theo’s death in April 2019. Ms Ellis and husband James are angry their son was classed as being stillborn which meant a coroner was not allowed to investigate his care during an inquest. There have been repeated calls to change the law to ensure the deaths of babies like Theo are investigated. His mother told The Independent: “I walked in with a healthy baby. I’d looked after him for nine months and they killed him in the process of giving birth. The hospital get to write that he was stillborn, which obviously is a huge benefit to them, because the coroner can’t get involved, which to me is just staggering." Read full story Source: The Independent, 9 March 2021
  10. News Article
    Thousands of similar errors contributing to patient deaths are being repeated by hospitals despite warnings from coroners, according to new research. An analysis of four years of official reports by coroners, issued after the conclusion of inquests into patient deaths, has revealed the impact of the NHS struggling with a lack of resources and staff. Coroners found similar mistakes across hundreds of inquests. Professor Alison Leary, chair of healthcare a workforce modelling at London South Bank University, and who led the study, told The Independent: “We are missing opportunities to prevent deaths. What we are seeing is the hard edge of underinvestment in the workforce and the under resourcing of the service. “Each of these coroner’s reports are someone’s sorrow. From talking to families, they assume when one of these reports is issued, they are acted on and the system learns from it. But the system doesn’t seem to be learning and people pay for this with their life.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 3 March 2021
  11. News Article
    A healthcare professional at Blackpool Teaching Hospital Foundation Trust has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a stroke patient. Lancashire Police released a statement this evening which says the man has also been arrested on suspicion of two offences of rape and one offence of sexual assault. The suspect is currently in custody. He has also been suspended by the trust. It comes after a police investigation was launched in November 2018 into allegations of mistreatment and neglect on the stroke unit at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. As part of the probe, a number of post-mortem examinations were conducted, including for Valerie Kneale, 75, from Blackpool, who died from a haemorrhage caused by a non-medical related internal injury. Police said this led to a murder investigation, which is being treated separately to an ongoing investigation into allegations of poisoning and neglect on the stroke unit, in which a number of staff have previously been arrested. Detective chief inspector Jill Johnston, of Lancashire Police, said: “We understand this will cause some significant concern in the community but please be reassured we have a dedicated team of officers conducting a number of enquiries." “If you have any information or have worked on the stroke unit and can assist with our enquiries, please come forward and speak to police immediately.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 3 March 2021
  12. News Article
    More than 34,000 people with dementia are estimated to have died from coronavirus in the UK since the start of the pandemic, according to new figures. The condition has been identified in just over a quarter of all deaths due to COVID-19, partly due to the large number of deaths in care homes. Nearly 12,000 care home residents have died since January alone. A coalition of charities, including Alzheimer's Society, Dementia UK, John's Campaign and Together in Dementia Every Day (tide), are now calling for introduction of universal social care – free at the point of use like the NHS – as a legacy of COVID-19. It comes as new figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed that deaths of care home residents, where around 70% of people have dementia, are 30%t higher than previously thought. Nearly 12,000 have died since January alone. The charities also revealed the result of a survey of 1,001 people who care for someone close to them with dementia, demonstrating that the toll of the pandemic reaches further than simply deaths from the virus. More than nine in ten (92%) said the pandemic had accelerated their loved one's dementia symptoms, with a third (31%) reported a more rapid increase in difficulty speaking and holding a conversation, and a quarter (25%) in eating by themselves. Nearly a third (32%) of those who lost a loved one during the pandemic thought that isolation/lack of social contact was a significant factor in that loss. The Alzheimer Society and Dementia UK said their helplines had been flooded with calls from relatives reporting how quickly their loved ones were deteriorating. Read full story Source: The Independent, 1 March 2021
  13. News Article
    People whose spouse or partner died as a result of the contaminated blood scandal are to receive financial help. Annual payments of up to £33,500 will be given to those whose loved one died after contracting HIV or hepatitis C having been given infected blood. About 5,000 people, including 99 from Northern Ireland, were infected by what has been described as "the worst scandal in the history of the NHS". The health minister said those who had been bereaved had not been forgotten. Robin Swann added: "I have listened to their experiences of how contaminated blood has impacted on their lives and the sacrifices they have had to make. "I sincerely hope this annual financial support will provide some long-term financial certainty as well as recognition for those bereaved through contaminated blood." The contaminated blood scandal resulted in people who had haemophilia being treated with blood infected with hepatitis C or HIV in the 1970s and 1980s. At the time the UK was struggling to keep up with demand for the Factor VIII blood clotting treatment, so supplies were imported from the US. But much of the human blood plasma used to make it came from donors such as prison inmates and drug-users who sold their blood. Those groups were at higher risk of blood-borne viruses. Victims have campaigned for decades, saying the risks were never explained to them and the scandal was covered up. An ongoing public inquiry has been hearing harrowing stories from people across the UK about how lives had been destroyed by the blood. Read full story Source: BBC News, 1 March 2021
  14. News Article
    More than 1 in 10 Covid patients died within five months of being discharged from hospital, while almost a third of those who survived the virus had to be readmitted, new research has warned. Papers released by the governments Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) also revealed half of patients in hospital with the virus suffered complications, with one in four struggling when they got back home. Younger patients under the age of 50 were more likely to suffer complications. The reports present the first substantial evidence that Covid could be the cause of significant long term ill-health, with the virus attacking the body’s organs and causing diseases of the liver, heart, lungs and kidneys. Read full story Source: The Independent, 20 February 2021
  15. News Article
    Scotland's biggest health board should be put in "special measures" over its handling of hospital infection issues, according to an MSP. Anas Sarwar made the call after a mother accused NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) of covering up possible factors in her daughter's death.Mr Sarwar said the health board had tried to intimidate health service whistleblowers who had raised concerns. NHSGGC said the source of the child's infection could not be determined. Earlier this week a whistleblower revealed that a doctor-led review had identified 26 infections at Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Children in 2017 which were potentially linked to problems with the water supply. Kimberly Darroch, whose daughter Milly Main died at the hospital in August 2017 while in remission from leukaemia, said health officials gave her no inkling that contaminated water could have been a factor. Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has said the first she knew of Milly's death was when Ms Darroch emailed her about her concerns in September. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has offered to meet the family to discuss their concerns - but said it was impossible to accurately determine the source of Milly's infection because there was no requirement for water testing at the time. It said the hospital's water had been independently assessed as safe, and it criticised the whistleblower for causing "stress and anxiety" for Milly's parents when there was no evidence of a link. Anas Sarwar, however, insisted the health board had let down both patients and staff. He said: "There was an attempted cover-up of Milly's death, and there are still dozens of families who don't know the truth about infections contracted in the QEUH." Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 February 2021
  16. News Article
    Nearly 6 out of every 10 people who died with coronavirus in England last year were disabled, figures suggest. Some 30,296 of the 50,888 deaths between January and November were people with a disability, Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows. It also suggests the risk of death is three times greater for more severely disabled people. Charities have called for urgent government action, describing the data as "horrifying and tragic". The ONS figures suggest disabled people were disproportionately affected by the pandemic - accounting for 17.2% of the study population but nearly 60% of coronavirus deaths. Among women, the risk of death involving coronavirus was 3.5 times greater for more-disabled women - defined as having their day-to-day activities "limited a lot" by their health - compared with non-disabled women. For less-disabled women, defined as having their day-to-day activities "limited a little", the risk was two times greater. Compared to non-disabled men, the data showed that the risk was 3.1 times greater for more-disabled men, and 1.9 times greater for less-disabled men. Looking at people with a medically diagnosed learning disability, the risk of death involving Covid was 3.7 times greater for both men and women compared with people who did not have a learning disability. Read full story Source: BBC News, 11 February 2021
  17. News Article
    A hospital trust has admitted that ‘medically fit’ patients caught covid on its wards while waiting to be discharged, with some of the cases under investigation. Bedfordshire Hospitals FT board papers said that a “number” of medically fit patients “acquired [covid] infection while awaiting appropriate and safe discharge”. Trusts nationwide have struggled to discharge patients as quickly as they wanted, the reasons including a Department of Health and Social Care mandate to only allow designated care homes to accept covid patients; the resumption of NHS Continuing Healthcare tests; shortages of community beds; and capacity in the care sector. The trust, formed in April by the merger of Luton and Dunstable University Hospital FT and Bedford Hospital FT, said a “significant proportion of [its covid] cases [were] due to acquisition in the hospital”. It continued: “A significant additional factor was the length of stay for many patients who were medically fit for discharge but were unable to return to their place of residence. Case reviews have shown that a number of these patients acquired infection while waiting appropriate and safe discharge.” The board papers said its covid serious incident reviews covered “some deaths on both sites… and the majority [were] patients with very severe co-morbidity”. It said six out of 15 serious incidents being investigated at its Bedford hospital site were “of potentially avoidable nosocomial covid infection (hospital acquired)”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 4 Februrary 2021
  18. News Article
    Relatives of patients who died after receiving "dangerous" levels of painkillers at Gosport War Memorial Hospital have called for new inquests. An inquiry found 456 patients died after being given opiate drugs at the hospital between 1987 and 2001, but no charges have ever been brought. Four families told the BBC they have requested judge-led "Hillsborough-style" hearings with a jury. The Attorney General's Office said it was reviewing the application. Police began a fresh inquiry in 2019 into 700 deaths after the Gosport Independent Review Panel found there was a "disregard for human life" at the hospital in Hampshire. Coroner-led inquests in 2009 found drugs administered at the hospital contributed to five deaths. However, lawyers representing some of the families told the BBC more wide-ranging inquests similar to those that examined the events of the Hillsborough disaster should be undertaken. Read full story Source: BBC News, 5 February 2021
  19. News Article
    People with a learning disability must be urgently prioritised for the coronavirus vaccine, charities have warned as new data shows they are almost twice as likely to die from the virus than the general population. The latest data for learning disability deaths shows 80% of deaths in the week to 22 January were linked to COVID-19. This compares to just 45% in the general population. The charity Mencap said everyone with a learning disability should be prioritised for the vaccine. According to its analysis of deaths reported to the Office for National Statistics and the national Learning Disabilities Mortality Review programme, the proportion of deaths among the learning disabled has been increasing every week since November when it was just above 35%. Harry Roche, an ambassador at Mencap who has a learning disability, said: “The death rate for 18- to 34-year-olds with a learning disability is 30 times higher than the rest of the population. I’m 32 years old and have a learning disability – this statistic scares me. I’m calling on Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock to rethink and prioritise everyone with a learning disability. We are too often forgotten, don’t ignore us now.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 3 February 2021
  20. News Article
    A newborn baby died after doctors caring for him failed to realise that the umbilical venous catheter (UVC) through which he was being fed and medicated was wrongly positioned, a coroner has found. Anna Crawford, assistant coroner for Surrey, called for guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on the use of the catheters after hearing that none currently exist. Yo Li was born extremely prematurely at St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey on 11 January 2019 and transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit, where he was put on mechanical ventilation. A UVC was inserted but it was wrongly positioned within his liver tissue and he died four days later. Read full story (paywalled) Source: BMJ, 29 January 2021
  21. News Article
    At least twenty-two people have died at a Basingstoke care home in one of the worst known outbreaks of the coronavirus pandemic to date. The deaths occurred at Pemberley House Care Home in Grove Road, Viables, operated by private firm, Avery Healthcare. The outbreak was first declared on Tuesday, January 5, with 60 per cent of its residents testing positive for the disease, according to sources. Within three weeks, 22 people had died - over one-third of the home's residents. The Gazette's former picture editor Ron Boshier was among the residents to have died after contracting the disease. A spokesman for Avery Healthcare told The Gazette they were "deeply saddened" by the loss of a number of their residents. Read full story Source: Gazette, 27 January 2021
  22. News Article
    Bereavement support charities are calling for more funding in light of what they call the "terrible toll of 100,000 deaths from Covid-19". They say many families have been unable to be with loved ones as they died or gather to support one another. They argue there has been "huge demand" for counselling and guidance but some providers lack sufficient resources. The government says it is committed to ensuring those who are grieving have access to the support they need. In a letter to the Health Secretary Matt Hancock, and mental health minister, Nadine Dorries, charities call for some of the £500 million funding allocated to mental health in England in the November spending review to be used to support the bereaved. The request has come from the National Bereavement Alliance, which represents a range of charities. Members include CRUSE Bereavement Care, Support after Suicide Partnership and AtALoss. The letter quotes academic research suggesting more than 80% of bereaved people since the start of the pandemic have had limited contact with family and friends and two-thirds have experienced social isolation or loneliness. They say there are long waiting lists for support but some services providing advice and guidance are not adequately funded. The alliance argues deaths have been heavily felt in disadvantaged and deprived communities where there is a greater need for assistance. Read full story Source: BBC News, 27 January 2021
  23. News Article
    Men working in low-skilled jobs or care, leisure and service roles are more than three times as likely to die from Covid as professionals, according to new data. Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show there were 7,961 coronavirus-related deaths registered among the working-age population (those aged 20 to 64 years) in England and Wales between 9 March and 28 December last year. Nearly two-thirds of those deaths were among men (5,128 fatalities). Analysis by the ONS shows men who worked in low-skilled occupations (699 deaths) or care, leisure and other service occupations (258 deaths) had the highest rates of death involving Covid-19, with 66.3 and 64.1 deaths per 100,000 males, respectively. Men working in process plants, as security guards or as chefs, had some of the highest COVID-19 death rates. Plant workers recorded a rate of 143.2 deaths per 100,000 males, while for security guards and related occupations, the figure stood at 100.7 deaths per 100,000 males. Ben Humberstone, ONS head of health analysis and life events, said: “Jobs with regular exposure to Covid-19 and those working in close proximity to others continue to have higher COVID-19 death rates when compared with the rest of the working-age population.” However, the figures do not prove that rates of death are caused directly by differences in employment. “There are a complex combination of factors that influence the risk of death, from your age and your ethnicity, where you live and who you live with, to pre-existing health conditions,” Mr Humberstone said. Read full story Source: The Independent, 25 January 2021
  24. News Article
    A special Crown Office unit set up to probe Covid-linked deaths is investigating cases at 474 care homes in Scotland, the BBC can reveal. The unit was set up in May to gather information on the circumstances of all deaths in care homes. Prosecutors will eventually decide if the deaths should be the subject of a fatal accident inquiry or prosecution. Care homes say the investigation is "disproportionate" and placing a huge burden on overstretched staff. The COVID-19 Deaths Investigation Team (CDIT) had received 3,385 death reports as of Thursday. The majority of them relate to people who lived in care homes. Behind the Crown Office statistics are hundreds of families grieving for loved ones who died in Scotland's care homes. Alan Wightman's 88-year-old mother Helen died in May last year during a Covid outbreak at Scoonie House in Fife Helen's death is part of the Crown Office probe and Mr Wightman's hopes for the investigation are that it looks "at the bigger picture and appreciates that on the ground people were doing the best they could". He added: "I thought that Scoonie House did the best they could in a very difficult situation, sourcing their own PPE and stopping people coming from hospital." "My own view is that care homes were put in an impossible situation because we had successive governments which did not properly prepare for a pandemic, you only have to look at the lack of PPE at the beginning of the pandemic to see that." Read full story Source: BBC News, 22 January 2021
  25. News Article
    The family of a man who bled to death during kidney dialysis treatment at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital have said they believe lessons have been learned. Mohammed Ismael Zaman, known as Bolly, died after hospital staff failed to check the connection on his dialysis machine, despite it sounding an alarm after the catheter had become disconnected. During Mr Zaman’s treatment at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital on October 18, 2019, his dialysis machine set off a venous pressure alarm. An unidentified member of staff reset the alarm without checking that the connection was still secure. As a result of the reset, Mr Zaman bled out for seven minutes losing 49% of his blood circulating volume. He was found unconscious in a pool of blood and despite resuscitation attempts, died two hours later. The coroner, Mr John Ellery concluded that the death was due to systems failure and individual neglect on the part of the unidentified staff member. Read full story Source: Shropshire Star, 16 January 2021
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