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Found 1,328 results
  1. News Article
    A series of concerns about serious incidents at a mental health trust are being investigated by the Care Quality Commission, with a referral also made to the police, HSJ has learned. HSJ understands that various incidents at Black Country Healthcare Foundation Trust have been raised with the Care Quality Commission by whistleblowers. According to a well-placed source, one of the alleged incidents involved alleged inappropriate sexual behaviour, and this has been referred to West Midlands police. Other complaints are understood to include staff using mental health inpatients’ rooms to sleep in, and an information governance breach in which patient information was shared with members of staff who did not need to receive them. It is understood this was in an email raising patient safety concerns. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 17 January 2023
  2. News Article
    Complications after a procedure to treat IBS left Jennifer Hill in pain – and fighting for compensation. Earlier this year, an NHS inquiry found surgeon Anthony Dixon had caused women to “suffer harm” as a result of the mesh operations he carried out between 2007 and 2017. Dixon, who is now banned from practising in the UK, carried out hundreds of laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy (LVMR) operations for both the North Bristol NHS Trust and privately at Bristol’s Spire Hospital. Mesh is used to repair the pelvic floor, but the inquiry concluded that women should have been offered alternative treatments first. Jennifer Hill, from Herefordshire, is one of those women. She wishes she could go back in time and not have her mesh operation, which took place in May 2012. “I was totally unaware of the controversy surrounding mesh,” she says. “I still kick myself that I didn’t get a second opinion or ask more questions.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 11 January 2023
  3. News Article
    Patient safety is at risk “every single day”, with patients in desperate need of intensive care waiting hours in Accident and Emergency departments across Scotland, the deputy chair of British Medical Association Scotland has said. The harrowing description of the scenes in hospitals came as health secretary Humza Yousaf admitted patients were receiving care he would not want to receive himself as the NHS continues to battle intense winter pressures. Dr Lailah Peel, deputy chair of the Scottish arm of the British Medical Association (BMA), told the BBC’s Sunday Show the crisis was “years in the making”. She blamed a creaking social care system and increased delayed discharges. The comments come after details of a January 2021 briefing from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) and the College of Paramedics to the health secretary warned of an unacceptable situation in Scotland’s hospitals. Reported in the Sunday Times, the briefing also specified the actions needed to avoid a similar situation during the current winter crisis, warning an increase of at least 1,000 new beds was needed as well as more doctors and nurses. Dr Peel said it was the case patients were “absolutely” dying in hospitals in Scotland due to the ongoing crisis in the health service. "There’s no shadow of a doubt that that is happening,” she told the BBC. Read full story Source: The Scotsman, 8 January 2023
  4. News Article
    With 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
  5. News Article
    A hospital is investigating how a pair of metal surgical forceps were left inside a patient after they had been stitched up after abdominal surgery. Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS trust has apologised unreservedly and said the incident at Redditch’s Alexandra hospital was “exceptionally rare”. The medical blunder only became apparent after a seven-hour abdominal procedure last month, according to BBC Midlands, when the forceps were reported to be missing. The worst fears of medics were confirmed when the missing 15cm arterial clamp was found by an X-ray while the patient was still under anaesthetic. The surgical instrument could not be immediately removed and the patient was moved to intensive care overnight before another operation was performed the next day to retrieve the clamp. It is understood the trust’s investigation will look at whether the required double-checking of all instruments was conducted before the patient was stitched up after surgery. It will also examine the end of operation signing-out process, which is supposed to ensure such errors do not happen. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 23 December 2022
  6. News Article
    Ambulance unions have reacted with anger after the health secretary said they had "taken a conscious choice to inflict harm on patients". Steve Barclay said unions had refused to work with the government at a national level on how they would cover emergency calls during strike action. Unison said it was "utterly shocked" by the comments, while the GMB union said they were "insulting". Paramedics are among those striking in England and Wales on Wednesday. Control room staff and support workers who are members of the Unison, GMB and Unite unions are also involved. NHS bosses are warning patient safety cannot be guaranteed during the action, although unions say life-threatening callouts will still be responded to by an ambulance. They also argue patients are already being put at risk due to waiting times and the pressure on the health service, made worse by staff shortages. Read full story Source: BBC News, 21 December 2022
  7. News Article
    The Birmingham MP Preet Gill has called on the UK health secretary to launch a major public inquiry into allegations that a bullying and a toxic culture is risking patient safety at University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB). The MP for Edgbaston, where UHB is based, said she had received complaints from staff alleging elderly patients had been left on beds in corridors outside wards due to mismanagement, and medics were discouraged from speaking out about problems. In a letter to Steve Barclay, seen by the Guardian, Gill said: “I have been inundated by messages from UHB staff, past and present, who have contacted me to share their experience of what has been repeatedly described as a toxic culture that has had an alarming impact on staff and patient care.” After an investigation by BBC Newsnight earlier this month, which found that doctors at the trust were “punished” for raising safety concerns, the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (ICB) announced a three-part review into the culture at UHB. The first report is expected at the end of January. But Gill criticised the plans, saying she did not think it would “be sufficient to adequately investigate this scandal”, and instead called for a major independent public inquiry, similar to the 2013 Francis inquiry into the Stafford hospital scandal. “We cannot rely on an ICB investigation to solve this issue. Many of those on the ICB are former members of the senior leadership team from UHB and would not offer the independence required to recommend the changes that are so needed or give confidence to whistleblowers,” she said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 19 December 2022
  8. News Article
    Health minister Will Quince has warned the public to avoid any “risky activities” on Wednesday as ambulance drivers stage strike action. The NHS is set to be hit by major disruption as ambulance workers including paramedics, control room workers and technicians walk out in England and Wales. During the strike, the military will not drive ambulances on blue lights for the most serious calls but are expected to provide support on other calls. Mr Quince urged the public to avoid anything risky on Wednesday, telling BBC Breakfast: “Where people are planning any risky activity, I would strongly encourage them not to do so because there will be disruption on the day.” The health minister did not offer examples of what might be defined as risky behaviour but told the public that in any emergency calling 999 should still be the first option. Read full story Source: The Independent, 20 December 2022
  9. News Article
    Nine ambulance trusts in England and Wales are expected to be affected by industrial action on Wednesday, coordinated by the GMB, Unison and Unite unions. The ambulance strikes will involve paramedics as well as control-room staff and support workers. The threat to patient safety on Wednesday will be exceptional. Under trade union laws, life-preserving care must be provided during the strikes. But there remains a lack of clarity about what will be offered. Even at this late stage, NHS leaders say negotiations are continuing between unions and ambulance services to agree which incidents will be exempt from strike action. All category 1 calls – the most life-threatening cases – will be responded to, while some ambulance trusts have agreed exemptions with unions for specific incidents within category 2 calls. However, in some cases, elderly people who fall during the strikes may not be sent help until they have spent several hours on the floor. Heart attack and stroke patients may get an ambulance only if treatment is deemed “time critical”. There is no doubt that many of those patients making 999 calls on Wednesday will not get the care they need. Some will probably die as a result. NHS leaders believe Wednesday’s strike will present a completely different magnitude of risk. Quite simply, patients not getting emergency treatment quickly enough can mean the difference between life and death. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 19 December 2022
  10. News Article
    Patients should “make their own way to hospital” if they can do so during Wednesday’s strike by ambulance workers, a cabinet minister said yesterday, as the government warned that the industrial action would put lives at risk. Senior government figures said that ambulance unions had still not agreed national criteria for what conditions would be considered life threatening and responded to during the strike. Steve Barclay, the health secretary, is understood to be writing to all striking unions, including nurses, seeking discussions on patient safety. Yesterday Oliver Dowden, the Cabinet Office minister, said people should still call 999 in an emergency but might in less serious cases have to make their own way to hospital. “We are working to ensure that if you have a serious injury, in particular a life-threatening injury, you can continue to rely on the ambulance service, and we would urge people in those circumstances to dial 999,” he told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on BBC1. “If it is the case that you have less serious injuries, you should be in touch with 111, and you should seek to make your way to hospital on your own if you are able to do so.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 19 December 2022
  11. News Article
    Asystemic failure to provide basic physical care on NHS mental health wards is killing patients across the country, despite scores of warnings from coroners over the past decade, The Independent can reveal. An investigation has uncovered at least 50 “prevention of future death” reports – used by coroners to warn health services of widespread failures – since 2012, involving 26 NHS trusts and private healthcare providers. Cases include deaths caused by malnutrition, lack of exercise, and starvation in patients detained in mental health facilities. Experts warn that poor training and a lack of funding are factors in the neglect of vulnerable patients. The Independent investigation uncovered: Staff failing to carrying out basic health checks, such as assessment for risk of blood clots. Cases of nurses and care assistants without adequate CPR training. Doctors unable to carry out emergency response procedures. Patients not treated for side effects of antipsychotic medication. Rapidly deteriorating health going unnoticed and untreated. Coroners have exposed multiple cases of mental health patients receiving inadequate treatment in general hospitals, with their illness being mistaken for a psychiatric problem. Read full story Source: The Independent, 18 December 2022
  12. News Article
    Unions must ensure there will be "sufficient" staffing during this week's ambulance strike to protect patients, the health secretary says. Workers in England and Wales will walk out on Wednesday in a dispute over pay, but life-threatening emergencies will be responded to. Unions say discussions were still taking place with ambulance trusts to draw up detailed plans for cover. Steve Barclay said there is a lack of clarity about what is being offered. He said it was for the unions to ensure they "meet their obligations" for emergency cover so that people in crisis get the care they need. But Unite leader Sharon Graham, whose union is co-ordinating the ambulance strikes with Unison and GMB, said Mr Barclay will "have to carry the can if patients suffer". The ambulance walkouts will involve paramedics as well as control room staff and support workers. The action by the three main ambulance unions - Unison, GMB and Unite - will affect non-life threatening calls, meaning those who suffer trips, falls or other injuries may not receive treatment. Read full story Source: BBC News, 19 December 2022
  13. News Article
    Patients are not safe from harm in three out of seven emergency departments, a damning new Hiqa inspection report has revealed. The report was released on the same day as an Oireachtas committee was warned of a growing crisis in primary care, with patients in some parts of the country unable to access basic GP services. Emergency Departments in Cork University Hospital (CUH) and University Hospital Limerick (UHL) were among seven EDs assessed by the health watchdog. In three EDs, including Cork and Limerick, inspectors found failures to ensure “service providers protect service users from the risk of harm.” Inspectors also found patients’ “dignity, privacy and autonomy” was not respected in UHL, while CUH was only partially compliant in this area. The report also highlighted lengthy waiting times, including one patient who spent 116 hours on a trolley at UHL. Read full story Source: The Irish Examiner, 15 December 2022
  14. News Article
    As many as 250,000 people die every year because they are misdiagnosed in the emergency room, with doctors failing to identify serious medical conditions like stroke, sepsis and pneumonia, according to a new analysis from the US federal government. The study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality estimates roughly 7.4 million people are inaccurately diagnosed of the 130 million annual visits to hospital emergency departments in the United States. Some 370,000 patients may suffer serious harm as a result. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University analysed data from two decades’ worth of studies to quantify the rate of diagnostic errors in the emergency room and identify serious conditions where doctors are most likely to make a mistake. While these errors remain relatively rare, they are most likely to occur when someone presents with symptoms that are not typical. “This is the elephant in the room no one is paying attention to,” said Dr. David E. Newman-Toker, a neurologist at Johns Hopkins University and director of its Armstrong Institute Center for Diagnostic Excellence, and one of the study’s authors. The findings underscore the need to look harder at where errors are being made and the medical training, technology and support that could help doctors avoid them, Dr. Newman-Toker said. “It’s not about laying the blame on the feet of emergency room physicians,” he said. Read full story Source: New York Times, 15 December 2022
  15. News Article
    There is a "moral case" for compensation to be paid to people affected by the contaminated blood scandal, the government has said. But Paymaster General Jeremy Quin told MPs he could not commit to a timetable. In August, the government announced that 4,000 UK victims would receive interim payments of £100,000. Tens of thousands of people contracted HIV or hepatitis C in the 1970s and 80s after being given infected blood. In September, modelling by a group of academics commissioned by the public inquiry estimated that 26,800 people were infected after being given contaminated transfusions between 1970 and 1991. The study calculated that 1,820 of those died as a result, but that the number could be as high as 3,320. The inquiry, chaired by retired High Court judge Sir Brian Langstaff, began taking evidence in 2018. The interim compensation announcement in August came after Sir Brian argued there was a compelling case to make payments quickly - saying victims were on borrowed time because of their failing health. Payments have been made to those whose health is failing after developing hepatitis C and HIV, and partners of people who have died. But families have complained that many people affected, such as bereaved parents, missed out. Read full story Source: BBC News, 15 December 2022
  16. News Article
    Six NHS staff workers are typically reported every week in England for sexually harassing a patient or colleague, the Telegraph can reveal. Nearly a fifth of English trusts have recorded a rise in reports of sexual harassment within their services since 2017, while millions have been spent by the NHS on legal claims specific to sexual abuse over the same time period, according to newly obtained data. Health secretary Steve Barclay described the findings as “worrying” and urged NHS leaders to take “robust action in response to any such incidents in their organisation”. Patient Safety Learning said the Telegraph's “deeply troubling” revelations demonstrated an abuse of the “significant power imbalance” that exists between vulnerable patients and their care providers. “Healthcare professionals need to recognise the power they hold over patients,” said chief executive Helen Hughes. “Inappropriate behaviours undermine trust in healthcare system and the ability to deliver safe care.” “Clinicians, managers and healthcare leaders have both a professional and moral responsibility to patients to ensure that there is a safe culture in healthcare settings and that misconduct is not tolerated," said Ms Hughes. As part of its investigation into sexual harassment within the NHS, the Telegraph uncovered the case of a mentally incapacitated patient who was raped by her healthcare worker and subsequently fell pregnant. The healthcare worker, who is in his 30s, was recently jailed for eight months after pleading guilty to sexual activity with a mentally disordered female. Joe Matchett, an expert lawyer at Irwin Mitchell who has secured settlements for survivors of abuse, said his firm continues to “represent a number of patients subjected to terrible abuse at the hands of hospital staff who have betrayed their position of trust in the worst imaginable way”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 11 December 2022
  17. News Article
    More than 1000 investigations have been launched in Scotland over the past decade into adverse events affecting women and infants' healthcare. Figures obtained by the Herald show that at least 1,032 Significant Adverse Event Reviews (Saers) have been initiated by health boards since 2012 following "near misses" or instances of unexpected harm or death in relation to obstetrics, maternity, gynaecology or neonatal services. The true figure will be higher as two health boards - Grampian and Orkney - have yet to respond to the freedom of information request, and a number of health boards reported the totals per year as "less than five" to protect patient confidentiality. Saers are internal health board investigations which are carried out following events that could have, or did, result in major harm or death for a patient. Major harm is generally classified as long-term disability or where medical intervention was required to save the patient's life. They are intended as learning exercises to establish what went wrong and whether it could have been avoided. Not all Saers find fault with the patient's care, but the objective is to improve safety. NHS Lanarkshire was only able to provide data from April 2015 onwards, but this revealed a total of 194 Saers - of which 102 related to neonatal or maternity services, and 80 for obstetrics. A Fatal Accident Inquiry involving NHS Lanarkshire has already been ordered into the deaths of three infants - Leo Lamont and Ellie McCormick in 2019, and Mirabelle Bosch in 2021 - because they had died in "circumstances giving rise to serious public concern". Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Herald, 10 December 2022
  18. News Article
    A hospital trust has apologised to a woman for failing to admit a surgeon had been responsible for a massive haemorrhage that almost killed her after a Caesarean section. For seven years, East Kent Hospitals Trust maintained the size of Louise Dempster's baby was to blame. "It was just continuous lies," the 34-year-old told BBC News. East Kent Hospitals chief executive Tracy Fletcher promised "to ensure lessons are learned". Louise Dempster gave birth in May 2015 but the surgeon's error only emerged during an inquiry into poor maternity care at East Kent Hospitals Trust which reported this year. Read full story Source: BBC News, 9 December 2022
  19. News Article
    Litigation costs for specialties including intensive care, oncology and emergency medicine have rocketed by up to five times as much as they were before the pandemic, internal data obtained by HSJ reveals. HSJ's data reveal costs for claims relating to intensive care, oncology, neurology, ambulances, ophthalmology and emergency care have increased – both for damages and legal costs – by significantly more than average. The steepest cost rise was in intensive care, which saw the bill increase fivefold from £4.3m in 2019-20 to £23.7m in 2021-22. Other specialisms which reported higher than average percentage increases were oncology, a 159% increase from £15m to £38.9m, and neurology, a 95% uplift from £18.4m to £36m. Key findings from these reports included missed or delayed diagnosis, missing signs of deterioration, failure to recognise the significance of patients re-attending accident and emergency multiple times with the same problem, and communication issues. Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “I’m extremely worried about the amount of money we’re spending on litigation… There’s a good reason we must not normalise an abnormal situation and we need to invest in an emergency care system which avoids these huge costs.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 23 June 2023
  20. News Article
    At least 100,000 people across the UK have had their lives put at risk over the last decade because of delays to them getting tested or treated for cancer, a new report claims. In some cases, patients’ treatment options narrowed or their cancer spread or became incurable as a direct result of their long waits for NHS care, according to Macmillan Cancer Support. The “inhumane” impact of delays on patients is “shameful”, it said, blaming ministers across the four home nations for underfunding and not tackling staff shortages in cancer services. “I’ve had patients arrive for their radical chemotherapy appointment, who wait three hours only to be told that because of staff shortages we can’t deliver their treatment today. It’s inhumane”, said Naman Julka-Anderson, an advanced practice therapeutic radiographer who is also an allied health professional clinical adviser for Macmillan. Many waited longer than 62 days to start treatment – surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy – after a GP referred them as an urgent case, the charity’s analysis of official NHS data found. At least 100,000 of those 180,000 people have seen their symptoms worsen, or their cancer progress or their chances reduce of successfully being treated because they have had to wait. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 20 June 2023
  21. News Article
    The government is being urged to launch a public inquiry into "systemic failings" at mental health hospitals across England. Leading mental health charity Mind says "immediate political action" is needed as NHS mental health facilities are "at breaking point". Mind claims "patients' human rights are being violated" and "wrongly restrained" across "run-down, understaffed" mental health wards. Its Raise the Standard campaign argues that a "full statutory inquiry" is the "first step" into resolving widespread issues. Dr Sarah Hughes, chief executive of Mind, said: "One case of abuse, neglect or unsafe care is too many, people are suffering because of the shocking state of care in mental health hospitals. "People should go to hospital to get well, not to endure harm. This is wholly unacceptable and must be addressed urgently." Read full story Source: Sky News, 20 June 2023
  22. News Article
    Dozens of former patients are launching legal action against a group of scandal-hit children’s mental health hospitals after The Independent exposed a culture of “systemic abuse”. More than 30 people, some of who are still children, are taking action after claiming they were mistreated at children’s hospitals run by The Huntercombe Group between 2003 and 2023. Allegations include children being injured during restraint, inappropriate force-feeding and patients being over-medicated. Among the claimants are: A boy who has been left “traumatised” after being “drugged out of his mind” while staying at one of the hospitals. A girl who alleges she was groped by a member of staff and now needs more intensive inpatient care. A woman who says she was “forced to wee in bins” as there were not enough staff to take patients to the toilet. A mother of one claimant told The Independent: “It is diabolical, I hope [the claims] can stop them from doing any more damage because it is just awful. Our beautiful girl has just been so ruined by them.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 18 June 2023
  23. News Article
    AN Ayrshire MSP has called for an end to surgical mesh being implanted in hernia patients in Scotland. A Freedom of Information request by Labour's Katy Clark has revealed that one in 12 of all hernia patients in NHS Ayrshire and Arran who have been implanted with surgical mesh since 2015 have been readmitted to hospital due to complications. And the West of Scotland MSP has backed a petition by constituents calling for the suspension of the use of surgical mesh until an independent review has been carried out. It follows the recent public health scandal over the pain and suffering endured by many women across Scotland implanted with transvaginal mesh. It took years of tireless campaigning by affected women before the Scottish Government took action, last year creating a mesh removal reimbursement scheme. Read full story Source: Irvine Times, 9 June 2023
  24. News Article
    Leann Sutherland was 21 and suffering from chronic migraines when one of Scotland's top surgeons offered to operate. She was told she would be in hospital for a few days and had a 60% chance of improvement. Instead she was in for months while Sam Eljamel operated on her seven times. "He had free rein on my body. He was playing god with my body and the NHS handed him the scalpel, seven times," says Leann. When Leann tried to raise concerns with staff she was told that Mr Eljamel had saved her life. She was not told that he was under investigation, nor that he had been later forced to step down. It was only after seeing recent BBC coverage she realised she was not alone. The BBC can reveal her surgeon - the former head of neurosurgery at NHS Tayside - was harming patients and putting them at risk for years but the health board let him carry on regardless. BBC Scotland has spoken to three surgeons who worked under Mr Eljamel at Tayside. All three said he was a bully who was allowed to get away with harming patients. All three said there was a lack of accountability in the department and that Mr Eljamel was allowed to behave as if he were a "god" - partly because of the research funding he brought to the department. Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 June 2023
  25. News Article
    More than three quarters of all multimillion-pound NHS medical negligence payouts are the consequences of failures in maternity care, new figures show. In total, 364 patients or families received the highest-value compensation payments of at least £3.5 million after suing the NHS last year. Of those, 279 (77%) were maternity-related damages, according to figures from NHS Resolution. The large payouts have been offered to parents whose babies were stillborn or suffered avoidable life-changing disabilities or brain injuries. Maternity makes up the bulk of NHS compensation payments. There were more than 10,000 clinical negligence claims brought against the NHS in 2021-22, with a total value of more than £6 billion. Maternity accounted for 62% of payments, or £3.74 billion. When taking into account all cost of harm, including future periodic payments and legal costs, the cost of compensating mothers and their families rises to £8.2 billion a year. Analysis by The Times Health Commission found that this is more than twice the £3 billion spent by the NHS annually on maternity and neonatal services. Maternity claims have increased during the past decade amid a string of high-profile scandals and a shortage of midwives. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 12 June 2023
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