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Found 1,334 results
  1. News Article
    Deborah Stanford is one of many women who have received a Boston Scientific implant and suffered complications. She has joined Shine Lawyers’ class action, which was filed today in the Australian Federal Court, to hold the manufacturers to account for the continuous pain she has endured since the Obtryx sling was implanted on 12 September 2012. Ms Stanford’s bladder was sitting in the birth canal and the sling was placed, on medical advice, to reposition her bladder. “It has been 9 years of suffering." “If I knew how hard this was going to be, I never would have gone through it,” said Ms. Stanford. Boston Scientific is the third pelvic mesh manufacturer to face a class action over their range of prolapse mesh and incontinence sling implants. Shine Lawyers has filed all three actions against Johnson & Johnson, Ethicon and American Medical Systems (AMS). Read full story Source: Shine Lawyers, 22 March 2021
  2. News Article
    A woman infected with hepatitis C from contaminated blood has launched legal action after the government denied her financial support available to other victims despite accepting she was made sick by tainted blood. Carolyn Challis told The Independent her life had been dramatically affected by the virus, which left her with debilitating fatigue and other symptoms meaning she couldn’t work and was left to look after three children. With the help of lawyers from Leigh Day, she is bringing a judicial review against the Department of Health and Social Care, challenging what she believes is an arbitrary cut-off date for victims of the contaminated blood scandal to receive financial support including payments of a £20,000 sum and ongoing help. The government has said only patients infected before September 1991 are eligible for the payments, but Ms Challis was infected at some stage between February 1992 and 1993 following three blood transfusions and a bone marrow transplant to treat Hodgkin’s Disease, a form of blood cancer. Read full story Source: The Independent, 21 March 2021
  3. 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
  4. News Article
    Patients with learning disabilities were pushed and dragged across the floor while others had their arms trapped in doors by staff working at a private hospital, the care watchdog has found. The Care Quality Commission said instances of abuse caught on CCTV had now been reported to police and staff working at St John’s House, near Diss in Norfolk, have been suspended. Police have said no further action will be taken. The regulator has rated the home, part of The Priory Group, inadequate and put it into special measures after inspectors found a string of failures at the 49-bed home during an inspection in December. According to the CQC’s report, inspectors reviewed CCTV footage of seven patient safety incidents between August and December last year. This showed “issues such as prolonged use of prone restraint, a patient being dragged across the floor despite attempting to drop their weight, a patient being pushed over and the seclusion room door trapping a patients arm and making contact with a patient’s head when closed”. The report said that although some staff had been suspended the hospital had not reported all the incidents to the police or the local council. It added: “Following CQC raising this as a concern, the provider has now reported incidents to the police, the safeguarding team and has suspended further staff pending investigation.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 5 March 2021
  5. News Article
    More than a dozen NHS patients have stopped breathing and 40 others suffered serious effects after having powerful anaesthetic drugs mistakenly “flushed” into their systems by unsuspecting NHS staff. In one case a man has been left suffering nightmares and flashbacks after he stopped breathing on a ward when a powerful muscle relaxant used during an earlier procedure paralysed him but left him fully conscious. He only survived because a doctor was on the ward and started mechanically breathing for him. An investigation by the safety watchdog, the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB), found there had been 58 similar incidents in England during a three-year period. The mistakes happen when residual amounts of drugs are left in intravenous lines and cannulas and not “flushed” out after the surgery. When the IV lines are used later by other staff the residual drugs can have a debilitating effect on patients. In a new report HSIB said flushing intravenous lines to remove powerful drugs was a “safety-critical” task but that the process for checking this had been done was not being properly carried out, posing a life-threatening risk to patients. It said the use of a checklist by anaesthetic staff can be overlooked when doctors are busy with other tasks and they fail to engage with the process. Read full story Source: The Independent, 4 March 2021
  6. News Article
    NHS England has ordered an independent review into patient safety and governance concerns at an acute trust which had been resisting calls to take this step, HSJ has learned. The intervention at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust comes after pressure from staff and local MPs, who believe more extensive investigation is required into cases of patient harm within the trauma and orthopaedics division. The broad issues were first revealed by HSJ in November, with documents suggesting several patients were harmed after leaders failed to act on multiple concerns being raised about a surgeon. The trust has already commissioned one external review. This reported last year and found the service to be riven by “internecine squabbles”. However, the review was overseen by trust executives and the terms of reference were focused on incident reporting and culture within the department. It is understood that some consultants have since been pushing for further investigation into specific cases where patients were harmed, as well as concerns that managers or clinicians who were accused of failing to tackle the issues have since been promoted to more senior positions. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 2 March 2021
  7. News Article
    In July last year, the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review – chaired by Baroness Cumberlege— published its landmark report, First Do No Harm. It followed a two-year review of harrowing patient testimony and a large volume of other evidence concerning three medical interventions: Primodos, sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. Yesterday, in a written statement to Parliament, the Minister for Patient Safety, Suicide Prevention and Mental Health, Nadine Dorries, gave an update on the government’s response to the recommendations of the Cumberlege Review. In an article in The Times today, Baroness Cumberlege welcomes that the government has now accepted the need for a patient safety commissioner for England and the amendment to the Medicines and Medical Devices Bill, which is being considered in the House of Lords today, which she hopes "will swiftly become law". However, she also states that "... a full response to the review's is still outstanding 6 months after publication. Action is urgently needed to ensure we help those who have already suffered and reduce the risk of harm to patients in future". Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 12 January 2021
  8. News Article
    A review of the work of a former locum consultant radiologist in the Northern Trust has identified major discrepancies in 66 images. The trust has concluded a review of 13,030 scans and x-rays. The review was launched in June after the General Medical Council raised concerns about the locum consultant radiologist's work. The highest level of hospital investigation will be carried out into the cases of 17 patients. More than 9,000 patients were contacted as part of the review. The review identified six images at level one - a major discrepancy where errors or omissions in reporting could have had an immediate and significant clinical impact for the patients concerned. A further 60 images were level two - a major discrepancy with a probable clinical impact. "Most of the images categorised as having Level 1 and Level 2 discrepancies are CT scans but some are MRI scans, chest x-rays and other x-rays," said the trust's medical director, Seamus O'Reilly. "That detailed clinical assessment, which has resulted in 69 patients being called back, was to determine whether any clinical harm occurred as a result of the discrepancies found in the lookback review," "I can confirm that following careful consideration, the clinical assessment group has determined that 17 patients should now be part of a Level 3 Serious Adverse Incident (SAI) review." Read full story Source: BBC News, 13 October 2021
  9. News Article
    A public inquiry into allegations of abuse of patients at Muckamore Abbey Hospital is under way. The hospital is run by the Belfast Health Trust and provides facilities for adults with special needs. With the terms of reference agreed, the inquiry panel will begin trying to establish what happened between residents and some members of staff, and also examine management's role. Seven people are facing prosecution. There have been more than 20 arrests. It was announced in June 2021 that the inquiry will be chaired by Tom Kark QC, who played a key role in the 2010 inquiry into avoidable deaths at Stafford Hospital in England. Speaking on Monday, Mr Kark said it was a "significant date for all those patients and families who have been affected by the issues under examination by the inquiry, many of whom have campaigned very hard to ensure this inquiry takes place". "I want to reassure you that a thorough and impartial investigation will be carried out by the Muckamore Abbey Hospital Inquiry," he added. Read full story Source: BBC News, 12 October 2021
  10. News Article
    An adoptive mother is calling for the NHS to improve its diagnosis for children exposed to alcohol in the womb, so their families can be helped. Amanda Boorman's two sons have Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) but they were not diagnosed correctly. She said: "This is a brain and body condition that is lifelong so really the professionals need to step up." Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) covers the various health and mental issues which can affect children. A spokesperson for the Department for Health and Social Care said: "We are committed to reducing future cases of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and we have asked NICE [National Institute for Healthcare Excellence] to produce a Quality Standard in England for FASD to help the health and care system improve diagnosis and care of those affected. "We have also published England's first Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Health Needs Assessment to improve the lives of families living with it and increase understanding amongst clinicians and policy makers." Mrs Boorman, from Brent Knoll in Somerset, said: "There's no way an adoptive parent should ever have to go to a chief executive of a hospital and say 'what is your strategy for diagnosing FASD?' What needs to happen is that clinical commissioning groups, the boards of those, chief executives in hospitals, directors of children's services, social care and education need to be much more proactive." "What we've seen is reactive or just not really knowing - it's complete ignorance." Read full story Source: BBC News. 7 October 2021
  11. News Article
    New analysis published by the Health Foundation shows that while the waiting list for hospital care continues to grow, so too does the number of ‘missing' patients who have not yet been added to the list. There were 7.5 million fewer people referred for routine hospital care between January 2020 and July 2021 than would have been expected based on numbers prior to the pandemic. These ‘missing patients’ are in addition to the record 5.6 million people already on the waiting list. This lower than expected number of people referred for hospital care, including for routine procedures such as hip or knee surgery, is likely to be due to a number of reasons. Some people may not have sought treatment for health concerns during the pandemic, while others may have seen their GP but not yet been referred due to the pressure on hospital services during the pandemic. In some instances, care may no longer be needed. The analysis comes alongside a BBC Panorama documentary (Monday 27 September) revealing the scale of the elective care backlog and the impact delays are having on people’s lives. The Health Foundation analysis, shared with Panorama, also shows that the pandemic had a much worse effect on the hospital care provided in some areas of England than it did in others. The analysis of 42 local integrated care systems (ICSs) shows that the pandemic significantly reduced the level of routine hospital care performed across the country – in the worst affected area routine hospital care dropped by 37% while in the least affected area there was a 13% reduction. Read the full article here Source: The Health Foundation
  12. News Article
    A care home in Birmingham has been heavily criticised by the care watchdog after it found physical and verbal abuse of residents with learning disabilities and autism had become “normal”. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said it had put urgent restrictions on Summerfield House, in Birmingham, to stop any more people being admitted there. The home was looking after four residents with disabilities in August when CQC inspectors found a string of concerns. Records revealed episodes of physical, verbal and emotional abuse of the residents with staff making threats to cancel activities or threatening to call the police. The CQC found staff were not able to recognise abuse, citing an example where inspectors saw a person being hit on the head by another person with no action being taken. The watchdog’s report said abuse was happening between residents and staff. Debbie Ivanova, CQC deputy chief inspector for people with a learning disability and autistic people, said: “Our latest inspection of Summerfield House found a truly unacceptable service with a poor culture where abuse and people being placed at harm had become normal, with no action taken to prevent incidents from happening or reoccurring." Read full story Source: The Independent, 28 September 2021
  13. News Article
    Babies and mothers are at risk of injury and death because too many maternity units have not improved care despite a string of childbirth scandals, a Care Quality Commission (CQC) report has warned. In a highly critical report published on Tuesday, the CQC voiced serious concern that lessons are not being learned and that many incidents involving patients’ safety are still not being recorded. Some hospitals have been “too slow” to take the steps needed to make labour and birth safer, despite multiple inquiries, reports and recommendations to do so, it said. The CQC also found other persistent weaknesses in maternity care, including tension and difficulties between obstetric doctors and midwives and poor oversight of risks to patients during an in-depth inspection of maternity care at nine hospitals in England. The NHS has been criticised for major maternity scandals involving poor care, which sometimes persisted for many years, at trusts such as Morecambe Bay, East Kent and Shrewsbury and Telford. The government, NHS leaders and patients have pressed the NHS in England to overhaul maternity safety to reduce the number of babies being left brain-damaged or dead and mothers injured or dead as a result of poor care during childbirth. The watchdog also criticised hospitals for doing too little to seek the views from black, minority ethnic and poorer communities about how to improve their experience of giving birth. Black women are four times more likely to die in childbirth than white women, and Asian women twice as likely. “We know that many maternity services are providing good care, but we remain concerned that there has not been enough learning from good and outstanding services,” said Ted Baker, the regulator’s chief inspector of hospitals. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 21 September 2021
  14. News Article
    A mental health hospital in Suffolk has been closed after inspectors found it was failing to protect patients from harm and abuse. St John's House in Palgrave, near Diss, was previously rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A further inspection of the 49-bed hospital found the care was "unacceptable" and "insufficient progress had been made regarding patient safety". The company that runs the hospital, Partnerships in Care, part of the Priory Group, has now decided to close the site. Stuart Dunn, CQC head of inspection for mental health and community services, said: "Our latest inspection of St John's House found an unacceptable service where insufficient improvements had been made to protect patients from harm and abuse and the number of safety incidents remained high." "Staff weren't responding appropriately to patients who were self-harming, with one patient not being sent to hospital quickly enough after swallowing a foreign object, despite complaining of abdominal pain. "We reviewed CCTV footage and found staff were sometimes asleep when they should have been observing patients to make sure they were safe. This was all the more concerning as we identified this as a concern during the previous two inspections of this service, demonstrating a lack of improvement to keep patients safe. "Incidents of restraint remained high and not all staff had the right training to carry it out safely. In addition, staff were not following hospital policy when using soft handcuffs with patients during safety incidents." Read full story Source: ITV News, 17 September 2021
  15. News Article
    At least three people died and more came to ‘severe harm’ after treatment delays across three specialties at one hospital trust, new reports have revealed. King’s College Hospital Foundation Trust commissioned harm reviews due to problems with a lack of capacity and poor management of waiting lists in endoscopy, dermatology and ophthalmology pre-pandemic. Most of the problems relate to the trust’s southern site, Princess Royal University Hospital, and took place before the current executive team took over. The most recent board papers revealed a review of 614 cases at the PRUH’s endoscopy service found seven cases of “serious harm”. This category includes death and the document revealed three patients had died. The review also “highlighted delays in endoscopy leading to delayed diagnoses of cancer” in 2018-19 and 2019-20. Investigators also found a dermatology patient came to “severe harm” after being lost to follow-up twice by the trust. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 17 September 2021
  16. News Article
    76 people were unintentionally exposed to ionising radiation in Irish hospitals in 2020, according to the Health and Information Quality Authority (HIQA). This figure represents an 11% increase on the total reported in 2019. HIQA today published an overview report on the 'increase in accidental and unintended exposure to ionising radiation events notified to HIQA in 2020. Under the European Union (Basic Safety Standards for Protection against dangers arising from Medical Exposure to Ionising Radiation) Regulations 2018 and 2019, HIQA is the competent authority for patient protection in relation to medical exposure to ionising radiation in Ireland. In its 2019 report — its first such publication — HIQA expressed hope that the areas of improvement it identified "would help reduce the likelihood of such events and drive quality improvements in safety mechanisms for medical exposures in Ireland." Despite this, eight more accidental exposure incidents were recorded in 2020 than in the previous year. Human error was identified as the main cause of accidental exposure in 58% of the incidents, however, HIQA determined that other factors likely contributed to these. Some 34% of the incidents involved the wrong patient being exposed to ionising radiation. HIQA said these exposures occurred at varying points along the medical exposure pathway. It stressed that the number of unintended exposure to ionising radiation incidents last year was small compared with the total number of procedures carried out, estimated to be in the region of three million. Read full story Source: Irish Examiner, 15 September 2021
  17. News Article
    Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals Foundation Trust, has apologised after nearly 1,000 patients faced delays due to a breakdown of referral systems. It was found 175 of these patients were considered urgent cases by their GPs and are now being reviewed for clinical harm. When the error was discovered, the patients were added to the referral tacker by 9 July, however until that point, they had not been on any patient waiting list, nor were they visible to either operational management or clinical teams. Trust chief executive Suzanne Rankin said in a statement: “We are very sorry for any inconvenience these delays may have caused patients and we contacted all concerned and issued appointments where necessary.” Read full story (paywalled). Source: HSJ, 19 August 2021
  18. News Article
    The Care Quality Commission has closed mental health hospital, Eldertree Lodge, in Staffordshire after inspectors saw evidence of patients being abused. The hospital, which looked after 40 adults with learning disabilities and autism, was found to have unprofessional and abusive staff members, with incidents being recorded on CCTV where staff slammed doors on patients. Staff were also found to pull or drag a patient in an attempt to move them to a ward seclusion room. Commenting on the latest report, Debbie Ivanova, CQC deputy chief inspector for people with a learning disability and autistic people, said, “In some cases, people were subjected to abuse and interactions that lacked compassion, dignity or respect. This is unacceptable and people deserved better. Additionally, the environment was unhygienic and poorly maintained, as well as blighted by blind spots, which undermined staff observation of patients. Read full story. Source: The Independent, 11 August 2021
  19. News Article
    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
  20. News Article
    New research examining severe harm incidents and deaths in NHS hospitals has been published today in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. The research, looking at more than 370 incidents has highlighted the risks to patients from fragmented care on busy wards and shortages of staff. According to the findings, “errors occurred due to a lack of clarity regarding responsibilities for patient care coordination, especially during emergency situations or out of hours. Poor documentation of long-term management plans and no reliable review system to ensure follow-up by the most appropriate teams contributed,” with researchers also saying many of the errors in medication happened more often overnight due to a lack of out-of-hours pharmacy support. Read full story. Source: The Independent, 5 August 2021
  21. News Article
    A 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
  22. News Article
    A public inquiry into the infected blood scandal has heard that the government was right to say there was "no conclusive proof" that Aids could be transmitted by blood products in 1983. According to Lord Clarke, the phrase was entirely accurate at the time it was said. However, evidence in documents reveal senior health officials believed HIV could be carried through blood. "Somebody, somewhere, decided that that was the best most accurate line to take. It was repeatedly used by every minister. We kept repeating that because that was the scientific advice we had until it was perfectly clear to the medics that there was in fact sufficient proof... we weren't playing down that possibility. It seems to me... it's a perfectly accurate description of where medical opinion was at that time." Lord Clarke told the inquiry. Read full story. Source: BBC, 28 July 2021
  23. News Article
    Breast surgeon Ian Paterson, was convicted and jailed for 20 years for performing unnecessary and dangerous surgery on women over the span of 14 years, being found guilty of 17 counts of wounding with intent and three counts of unlawful wounding. Thousands of his patients are only now just learning that they experienced unnecessary tests and surgery when there was no clinical need, having never been properly reviewed after his conduct had been revealed. Now, Spire Healthcare may be facing up to £50 million in compensation costs with the NHS and insurers having also paid £10 million. Linda Millband, head of clinical negligence at Thompsons Solicitors has said "“It is clear people have been missed and we will be urging anyone who believes they may have been a victim of Ian Paterson, at any time, to come forward and seek compensation for their injuries. Our job is to ensure any victim of Paterson, whenever they may have been contacted, get the maximum compensation.” Read full story. Source: The Independent, 27 July 2021
  24. News Article
    A year on from the vaginal mesh scandal and ministers have failed to take action. The new health secretary Sajid Javid has been called on to intervene by families, lawyers and campaigners and has been asked to implement recommendations made by the Cumberlege Inquiry. Emma Hardy, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Surgical Mesh Implants has said “Women deserve better than the government’s refusal to implement the Baroness Cumberlege recommendations. The recommendations will not only make life better for those living with mesh complications, but they will also improve patient safety for everyone in the future.” Read full story. Source: The Independent, 08 July 2021
  25. News Article
    999 calls soar as patients experience record waiting times in the back of ambulances. The Independent has seen a leaked brief from the West Midlands Ambulance Service and has found patients have been waiting for hours outside hospitals, meaning ambulances could not respond to any emergency 999 calls. Ambulance staff have also faced hours of delays resulting in at least four hours or more at the end of their 12 hour shift. The briefing in June said "“This current situation is unacceptable and leads to fatigue, poor morale, has impacts on patient safety and potentially non-compliance with the Working Time Directive.” Read full story. Source: The Independent, 9 July 2021
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