Search the hub
Showing results for tags 'Patient death'.
Found 1,490 results
-
News ArticleThe family of a senior medic and lifelong NHS campaigner have called for an investigation into his death as it took paramedics more than half an hour to arrive at his home after operators were told he was suffering a cardiac arrest. Professor Kailash Chand, a former British Medical Association deputy chair, had complained of chest pains before one of his neighbours, a consultant anaesthetist at Manchester Royal Infirmary, called 111 for help before telling the call handler within three minutes that he believed his friend was having a cardiac arrest. “I was answering their questions when Kailash’s eyes began rolling and he slipped into unconsciousness. That’s when I said ‘this looks like a cardiac arrest’ and to upgrade the call. They kept asking questions as I started CPR and asked for an urgent ambulance. That was two or two and a half minutes into the call." Evidence seen by i News shows that it took another 30 minutes after the neighbour told the operator about the cardiac arrest for the paramedics to arrive at Professor Chand’s flat in Didsbury, Greater Manchester. National standards for ambulance trusts show that ambulance trusts must respond to category 1 calls – those that are classified as life-threatening and needing immediate intervention and/or resuscitation, such as cardiac or respiratory arrest – in 7 minutes on average, and respond to 90% of Category 1 calls in 15 minutes. Read full story Source: iNews, 3 September 2021
-
News Article
Covid returns to top 10 causes of death
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
According to reports, Covid-19 was the 9th biggest cause of death in England in July, and the 26th most common in June, with data showing it was the 22nd leading cause of death in Wales. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show the number of deaths was 7.6% higher than average in England and 10.4% higher in Wales. However, when there isn't a pandemic, the top causes of death are usually heart disease and dementia, but in the months when Covid-19 has been dominant, it has been the leading cause by a long way. Read full story. Source: BBC News, 23 August 2021 -
News Article
Covid: ‘Harrowing’ rise in child deaths since coronavirus lockdowns
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
There has been a "harrowing" rise in child deaths and serious cases of harm linked to to abuse or neglect of children since the first Covid lockdown, according to reports from the Local Government Association (LGA). Data has revealed there were 536 serious incident notifications in England between April 2020 and March 2021, with LGA saying it was a "huge cause for concern" and it is extremely concerned about children’s safety. Councillor Anntoinette Bramble, chair of the LGA’s children and young people board, has said, "The pandemic has put extra pressure on families, particularly those living in difficult circumstances, which can fuel harmful acts of abuse or neglect on children. Councils have been working hard with their partners to identify this and provide the help children need, but it is vital that children’s social care services are funded to meet this need.” Read full story. Source: The Independent, 21 August 2021 -
News Article
Rhyl cancer patient suffered from 'alarming failings' at Glan Clwyd Hospital
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
A report has concluded that significant failings by hospital staff led to the avoidable suffering of Ann Jones, 69, who had bowl cancer, before she died. During their investigation, the Public Services Ombudsman found complications after surgery were not properly identified and weight loss was blamed on psychological factors rather than the pain of a bowel obstruction. Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has apologised to Mrs Jones' family. Denbighshire council have also said they were "sincerely sorry" for the distress caused to the family and have issued a written apology to her husband. Read full story. Source: BBC News, 10 August 2021 -
News ArticleAccording to a new study, a lack of GP services and poor community healthcare could be behind the higher rates of death among patients admitted to hospital on the weekends. Until now, a lack of doctors were to blame for the higher death rates but now the new research suggests there is no evidence of a link between mortality rates and the number of consultants on duty. “This report appears to show that you can’t look at hospitals and ignore the rest, because people start off in the community and go in and out of hospital, and we need the same forensic focus on our services that we’ve had on acute hospitals.” Says Tracy Allen, chief executive of the Community Health Services Foundation Trust. Read full story. Source: The Independent, 2 August 2021
-
News Article
Woman died in Cardiff home after waiting 'hours' for ambulance
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Maria Whale, 67, has died after waiting more than two hours for an ambulance after her husband dialled 999 when she began experiencing "severe abdominal" pain. Mr Whale has said the family have questioned whether she would have lived if the ambulance had arrived sooner, saying they had waited "four to five hours" for it to come. However, the Welsh ambulance service has said its records showed the call was placed at 02:10 BST before a paramedic arrived at 04:22 BST, with the ambulance following shortly thereafter at 04:35 BST - two hours and 25 minutes after the first call. "We are deeply sorry to hear about the passing of Mrs Whale and would like to extend our thoughts and deepest sympathies to her loved ones. An investigation to determine what happened started earlier this month and given this is underway we are unable to comment further at this time." Says Welsh Ambulance operations director, Lee Brooks. Read full story. Source: BBC News, 28 July 2021 -
News ArticleA new report has revealed patients have died as a result of cancelled appointments to remove objects from their bodies that had been left inside them. Research looking at 23 coroners reports in England and Wales has found the deaths were largely preventable. Read full story (paywalled). Source: The Telegraph, 27 July 2021
-
News Article
1,000 babies die preventable death each year says a report by MPs
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
A report by MPs has said 1,000 babies die every year as a result of lessons not being learned and blame being shifted despite a number of high profile cases involving maternity scandals. Jeremy Hunt who chairs the committee has said “Despite a number of high-profile incidents, improvements in maternity safety are still not happening quickly enough". The report also found that women from ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely to experience a higher rates of stillborn and neonatal deaths. The Department of Health and Social Care has been approached for comment. Read full story. Source: The Guardian, 6 July 2021 -
News Article
Nottingham maternity: Dozens of baby deaths after numerous errors made
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
An investigation by The Independent and Channel 4 has found dozens of babies have died on the maternity wards at Nottingham hospitals as a result of poor care. The special report tells how families have not had their concerns properly investigated nor has the hospital attempted to learn from previous mistakes. Nottingham NHS is now facing dozens of clinical negligence claims by grieving families, with the trust estimated to have already paid out £91m in damages and legal costs. Read full story. Source: The Independent, 30 June 2021 -
News Article
Compensation to be paid to family of patient who died from starvation
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
The family of a patient is to be paid a 6 figure sum after staff failed to realise she was malnourished and had intestinal failure, subsequently starving to death. The out-of-court settlement comes after Linda Doherty, 69, was found to have died from sepsis and acute kidney injury, malnutrition, intestinal failure secondary to Crohn’s disease and ileal resection, and inadequate nutritional intake. Read full story. (paywalled) Source: BMJ, 25 June 2021 -
News Article
Woman in Scotland dies after cervical cancer screening error
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
A woman in Scotland has died from cervical cancer after she was excluded from the cervical cancer screening programme. The error meant that more than 400 women have also not been tested and it has been revealed since then, a small number of women have developed cervical cancer. It has also emerged that some of the women wrongly excluded from the screening programme had partial hysterectomies dating back to 1997. Maree Todd, the Scottish public health minister extends her condolences to the family of the woman who died. NHS boards are putting together better measures to ensure the errors do not happen again. Read full story. Source: The Guardian, 24 June 2021 -
News ArticleAn NHS trust has become the first in the country to individually contact every family of patients who caught coronavirus while they were in hospital in a large-scale bid to be transparent over the scale of infections. Bosses at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn NHS Trust have set up a team to work through hundreds of cases where patients caught coronavirus in hospital. At least 99 patients are known to have died after becoming infected with more cases still to review. In a unique approach to transparency the trust is sending a letter by recorded delivery to every affected patient or family where it is thought the patient picked up the virus within the hospital. The letter offers an apology for what happened and is followed by a phone call with a nurse and a meeting with officials if families have more concerns. Some families have asked to meet the nurses who cared for their loved ones. Read full story Source: The Independent, 6 June 2021
-
News Article
Cumberland Infirmary patient 'dropped' from operating table dies within weeks
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A woman has died after being "dropped" on the floor during surgery on her hip, which she had broken while in hospital. Jeannette Shields, 70, had been receiving treatment for gall stones in Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle. North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Trust said an investigation was under way "in relation to an incident involving a patient in one of our theatres". Mrs Shields' husband, John, said he told the hospital he would not be "pushing this thing under the carpet". His wife left her bed to go to the toilet by herself after getting no response to her buzzer, Mr Shields said. She felt dizzy, fell and broke her hip, he told the BBC. Two days later she had surgery to repair it, after which the hospital called Mr Shields to say the operation had been successful but that "unfortunately they dropped her off the operating [table] after the surgery", he said. "Then they had to use the sliding board to pick her up and rush her in and do scans on her," he said. "She had a great big bump on the back of her head and she just deteriorated and then she just passed away, just died. It is not clear what happened or how Mrs Shields ended up falling from the operating table. Read full story Source: BBC News, 28 May 2021 -
News Article
'More work to do' to improve Nottingham maternity units
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
More needs to be done to bring maternity units at a city's two main hospitals up to scratch, inspectors have said. In 2020 the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found serious concerns at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and labelled the units "inadequate". A new report concluded the trust still has "some areas to address". In October a coroner said the death of Wynter Andrews minutes after she was born was "a clear and obvious case of neglect". Nottinghamshire assistant coroner Laurinda Bower also revealed a 2018 whistle-blowing letter from midwives to trust bosses outlining concerns over staffing levels as "the cause of a potential disaster". In the same month "in response to concerns raised... and coronial inquests", the CQC carried out an unannounced inspection at the hospital and found some staff had not completed training and "did not always understand how to keep women and babies safe", and issued a warning notice over its concerns. Its latest report, based on an inspection in April, found improvements in the way women at risk of deterioration were identified and found documentation and monitoring had improved. However the CQC found a disconnect between online and paper record-keeping and said there were multiple systems in place that led to duplication and errors at times. Read full story Source: BBC News, 28 May 2021 -
News Article
Ambulance trust reveals patient’s death amid handover delays row
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
An ambulance trust has highlighted the death of a woman which it says was due to “being delayed on the back of an ambulance”, just two days after it warned that lives were ‘at risk’ from long handovers. West Midlands Ambulance Service University Foundation Trust’s board papers this month reveal the woman in her 90s — who has not been named — was taken to hospital because a severe nose bleed would not stop. Its clinical quality board paper says the “patient story” showed ”how a patient being delayed on the back of an ambulance resulted in significant deterioration and ultimately the death of a patient”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 28 May 2021 -
News ArticleHospitals have been accused of “unnecessary secrecy” for refusing to disclose how many of their patients died after catching Covid on their wards. The Patients Association, doctors’ leaders and the campaign group Transparency International have criticised the 42 NHS acute trusts in England that did not comply fully with freedom of information request for hospital-acquired Covid infections and deaths. The Guardian revealed on Monday that up to 8,700 patients lost their lives after probably or definitely becoming infected during the pandemic while in hospital for surgery or other treatment. That was based on responses from 81 of the 126 trusts from which it sought figures. The British Medical Association, the main doctors’ trade union, said the 42 trusts that did not reveal how many such deaths had occurred in their hospitals were denying the bereaved crucial information. “No one should come into hospital with one condition, only to be made incredibly ill with, or even die from, a dangerous infectious disease,” Dr Rob Harwood, chair of the BMA’s hospital consultants committee, said. “Families, including those of our own colleagues who died fighting this virus on the frontline, deserve answers. We will only get that if there is full transparency." Read full story Source: The Guardian, 25 May 2021
-
News ArticleDetectives are examining a series of baby deaths at a troubled NHS trust as the number of cases being investigated by an independent inquiry nears 200 – making it one of the worst maternity scandals in NHS history. The Independent has learned officers in the serious crime directorate at Kent Police are looking at unsafe maternity care at the East Kent Hospitals University Trust and have held a series of high-level meetings, including with the Crown Prosecution Service. The discussions are believed to centre on the possibility of opening a criminal investigation and bringing charges related to corporate manslaughter and/or gross negligence manslaughter. If this goes ahead, it would be only the second time an NHS trust had faced a corporate manslaughter charge. Today, former health secretary Jeremy Hunt said he was “deeply concerned” about the new revelations and added that this latest scandal showed “deep-seated cultural and systemic issues” in maternity care. Read full story Source: The Independent, 24 May 2021
-
News Article
Up to 8,700 patients died after catching Covid in English hospitals
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Up to 8,700 patients died after catching Covid-19 while in hospital being treated for another medical problem, according to official NHS data obtained by the Guardian. The figures, which were provided by the hospitals themselves, were described as “horrifying” by relatives of those who died. Jeremy Hunt, the former health secretary, said that hospital-acquired Covid “remains one of the silent scandals of this pandemic, causing many thousands of avoidable deaths”. NHS leaders and senior doctors have long claimed hospitals have struggled to stop Covid spreading because of shortages of single rooms, a lack of personal protective equipment and an inability to test staff and patients early in the pandemic. Now, official figures supplied by NHS trusts in England show that 32,307 people have probably or definitely contracted the disease while in hospital since March 2020 – and 8,747 of them died. That means that almost three in 10 (27.1%) of those infected that way lost their lives within 28 days. “The NHS has done us all proud over the past year, but these new figures are devastating and pose challenging questions on whether the right hospital infection controls were in place”, said Hunt, who chairs the Commons health and social care select committee. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 24 May 2021 -
News Article
Infected blood scandal: Hancock pledges payouts if advised by inquiry
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Matt Hancock has said compensation will be paid to people people infected by contaminated blood products and their relatives if is recommended by the public inquiry into the scandal. Appearing at the inquiry on Friday, the health secretary agreed the government had a “moral responsibility” to address what had happened. As many as 30,000 people became severely ill after being given factor VIII blood products contaminated with HIV and hepatitis C imported from the US in the 1970s and 80s. Others were exposed to tainted blood through transfusions or after childbirth. On average one person is dying every four days, with approximately 3,000 haemophiliacs having died to date. The government set up a support scheme offering ex-gratia payments without any admission of liability, but has been urged to create a compensation scheme. The health secretary told the inquiry: “I respect the process of the inquiry and I will respect its recommendations, and should the inquiry’s recommendations point to compensation, then of course we will pay compensation, and Sir Robert Francis’s review on compensation is there in order that the government will be able to respond quickly to that. “But it would be wrong to pre-empt the findings of the inquiry on that basis by me giving a policy recommendation in the middle of it.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 21 May 2021 -
News Article
Secrecy over care home deaths breakdown branded 'shameful' and 'shocking'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The refusal of an arm of the Scottish Government to release information about deaths in individual care homes during the pandemic has been branded “shameful” and “shocking” by opposition parties. National Records of Scotland, which is responsible for the official recording of deaths in Scotland, breached Freedom of Information legislation by refusing to release the number of confirmed and suspected COVID-19 related deaths in each of Scotland’s care homes, the Scottish Information Commissioner has ruled. While care home death figures have been published, the NRS refused to break these down by care home, citing “speculative” arguments about this release impacting care workers and the commercial interests of care home operators, the commissioner said. “This is another devastating blow for the care home residents and families who have been denied justice,” he said. “Those responsible must be held accountable and lessons must be learned. “We need a Scottish public inquiry without delay.” Read full story Source: The Scotsman, 21 May 2021 -
News Article
Contaminated blood inquiry: Matt Hancock to give evidence
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The health secretary will face questions about compensation for victims of the contaminated blood scandal on Friday afternoon. Matt Hancock will give evidence at a public inquiry into what's been called the worst NHS treatment disaster. Around 3,000 people have died after being given blood containing HIV and hepatitis C in the 1970s and 1980s. Ministers announced a public inquiry into the scandal in 2017 after decades of campaigning by victims and their families. Nearly 5,000 people with the blood disorder haemophilia were infected with potentially fatal viruses after being given a clotting agent called Factor VIII. Much of the drug was imported from the US, where prisoners and other at-risk groups were often paid to donate the plasma used to make it. Victims included dozens of young haemophiliacs at a boarding school in Hampshire who died after contracting HIV as a result. Tens of thousands more victims may have been exposed to viral hepatitis through blood transfusions after an operation or childbirth. Read full story Source: BBC News, 21 May 2021 -
News Article
NHS warned multiple times that imaging shortages may kill
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Coroners have warned the NHS nearly a dozen times in recent years that a lack of imaging capacity could lead to more deaths, HSJ can reveal. Five of these warnings followed deaths at a single site, Tameside General Hospital in Greater Manchester. The most recent case concerned a patient that died after developing covid during a prolonged wait for an MRI scan. Sir Mike Richards last year warned in a major report for NHS England about the lack of imaging equipment, and the Royal College of Radiologists has highlighted national shortages of radiology staff on numerous occasions in recent years. HSJ combed through more than 100 prevention of future death reports and responses published between 2018 and 2021 in an effort to quantify harm linked to these shortages. Of dozens of reports mentioning imaging issues, including software problems, poor note-taking and incorrect interpretation of results, HSJ identified 11 cases where coroners specifically warned either the trust or system concerned, and/or NHS England or the Department for Health and Social Care, that capacity issues could lead to future deaths. In some of the cases, coroners concluded that shortages likely contributed to a patient’s death. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 20 May 2021 -
News Article
Baby death raises questions over maternity care
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Beth and Dan Wankiewicz want answers about why their baby son Clay died last year, shortly after his birth at Doncaster Royal Infirmary. Despite a low-risk pregnancy, the family say Clay died from multiple skull fractures. Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Foundation Trust said "the provision and delivery of high-quality" care is a priority. The BBC has found a 2016 review flagging concerns about the hospital's maternity care was never published. The report - one of scores of unpublished reports discovered by a Freedom of Information request by BBC's Panorama programme - highlighted significant patient safety concerns. Beth Wankiewicz was admitted to hospital last July, but after a day of labour her baby had still not been born. With no consultant doctor on site, a junior doctor made two attempts to deliver the baby with forceps, after getting advice on the phone. Father, Dan, remembers the second attempt with forceps being much more vigorous "which was a bit of a shock". The family say there was a further delay before they had a Caesarean section. Their baby had to be pushed back up the birth canal into the womb for the C-section to be performed. "I think after about 10 minutes, we both looked at the clock, and we said it's not looking good," said Dan. Around 20 minutes after their son was born, despite attempts to resuscitate him, they were told he had died. The following day they say a midwife told them she was being pressurised by other staff to say Clay had been stillborn, but she was sure he had been born alive, and she had heard a heartbeat. The family now believe this was to avoid scrutiny and the need for a coroner's inquest, which doesn't happen with still births. Read full story Source: BBC News, 19 May 2021 -
EventNote: this conference has been rescheduled from the 14 September 2022. By collecting the data and taking action in response to failings in care, trusts will be able to give an open and honest account of the circumstances leading to a death. This National Conference focuses on improving the investigation and learning from deaths in NHS Trusts and will reflect on learning from deaths. There will be a focus on mortality review during the Covid pandemic and how mortality investigation should be managed in these cases. The conference will discuss the role of Medical Examiners in learning from deaths which is now being extended to all non-coronial deaths wherever they occur. The conference will also update delegates on the New National Patient Safety Incident Response Framework including sharing experience from an early adopter site. For further information and to book your place visit https://www.healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk/conferences-masterclasses/investigation-and-learning-from-deaths-in-nhs-trusts or email nicki@hc-uk.org.uk hub members can receive a 20% discount. Email info@pslhub.org for discount code. Follow on Twitter @HCUK_Clare #LFDNHS
-
EventThis national conference looks at the practicalities of Serious Incident Investigation and Learning from Deaths in Mental Health Services. The event will look at the development and implementation of the New Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (previously known as the Serious Incident Framework). NHS Improvement is working with these early adopters to test implementation, and analysis of this will inform the final version with the revised framework due in Spring 2022. Local systems and organisations outside of the early adopter areas are free to use the already published version of the PSIRF to start to plan and prepare for PSIRF’s full introduction. The conference will also update delegates on best current practice in serious incident investigation and learning, including mortality governance and learning from deaths. There will be an extended focus on ensuring serious investigation findings lead to change and improvement, and updates from PSIRF early adopter sites in mental health. The conference will also examine how the new framework will fit with the Royal College of Psychiatrists Care Review Tool for mortality review. This conference will enable you to: Network with colleagues who are working to improve the investigation of serious incidents and deaths in mental health services. Ensure your approach to Serious Incident Investigation is in line with the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF). Learn from outstanding practice in implementing the Royal College of Psychiatrists Mortality Care Review Tool. Reflect on the lived experience of a bereaved relative. Improve the way you involve and engage families and carers in the investigation process. Develop your skills in incident investigation and mortality review. Understand how you can improve serious incident investigation and learn from Mental Health early adopters of the New Patient Safety Incident Response Framework. Identify key strategies for undertaking a self assessment, and continuous review of deaths and investigation practice in your organisation. Understand how human factors can help improve learning from serious incident investigation. Ensure you are up to date with the role of the coroner. Understand how you can better support staff when a serious incident occurs. Self assess and reflect on your own practice. Supports CPD professional development and acts as revalidation evidence. This course provides 5 Hrs training for CPD subject to peer group approval for revalidation purposes. Register
