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Found 1,334 results
  1. News Article
    NHS managers will be held accountable for failings at an overcrowded hospital where patients were put at risk of “serious harm” and some were left waiting up to 25 hours for a bed, ministers have warned. Forth Valley Royal Infirmary’s A&E was operating at two and a half times capacity during a visit by Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) in September. Inspectors said that patients were at risk because of poor handling of medicines and unsafe working conditions at the hospital, which was placed in special measures by the Scottish government last month. The Times reported last month that the hospital had been declared “unsafe” by staff after five consultants resigned following severe criticism of the hospital’s leadership. They described it as a “war zone” and told of fire-fighting to cope with patient numbers while working in a “toxic” environment. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 6 December 2022
  2. News Article
    A consultant orthopaedic surgeon who carried out double the average number of knee and hip operations over a three year-period is facing a tribunal over alleged misconduct and more than 100 legal cases lodged by former patients, HSJ has been told. Jeremy Parker, who performed hundreds of operations at Colchester Hospital and the private Oaks Hospital until his suspension in 2019, is currently appearing before a misconduct hearing. The tribunal is investigating allegations that between August 2015 and November 2018, Mr Parker failed to provide good clinical care to six patients. It has also been alleged that Mr Parker performed surgery in breach of restrictions on his clinical practice between October 2018 and January 2019 and that his actions were dishonest. The trauma and orthopaedic surgeon is also facing allegations that he added pre-typed operation notes to approximately 14 patients’ records ahead of an invited review into his clinical practice by the Royal College of Surgeons, without indicating they had been made retrospectively. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 5 December 2022
  3. News Article
    More than 11,000 ambulances a week are caught in queues of at least an hour outside A&E units in England, a BBC News analysis shows. The total - the highest since records began, in 2010 - means one in seven crews faced delays on this scale by late November. Paramedics warned the problems were causing patients severe harm. One family told BBC News an 85-year-old woman with a broken hip had waited 40 hours before a hospital admission. She waited an "agonising" 14 hours for the ambulance to arrive and then 26 in the ambulance outside hospital. When finally admitted, to the Royal Cornwall Hospital, which has apologised for her care, she had surgery. Both ambulance response times and A&E waits have hit their worst levels on record in all parts of the UK in recent months. In Cornwall, patients facing emergencies such as heart attacks and strokes are now waiting more than two hours on average for an ambulance. The target is 18 minutes. They are thought to be among the worst delays in the country but none of England's ambulance services is close to the target, while Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are all missing their targets. Read full story Source: BBC News, 1 December 2022
  4. News Article
    The NHS could be facing its largest maternity scandal to date as the review into services in Nottingham is now expected to exceed 1,500 cases, The Independent has learned. The probe began in 2021 after this newspaper revealed dozens of babies had died or been left with serious injuries or brain damage as a result of care at NUH, which runs Nottingham’s City Hospital and Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC). But the scope of the investigation has more than doubled, with Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust sending more than 1,000 letters to families to contact the independent inquiry, after 700 families previously came forward with their concerns. Of these, the number of families expected to be covered by the probe is more than 1,500 – surpassing the 1,486 examined during the UK’s current largest maternity scandal in Shrewsbury. Read full story Source: The Independent, 30 November 2022
  5. News Article
    When Kathleen Yaremchuk, Chair of the department of otorhinolaryngology (ear, nose and throat) at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, began getting calls about mysterious cases of respiratory distress, she launched a study to figure out what was going on. All these patients, it turned out, had a small device implanted in the top of their spines to relieve pain. The object, used to hold a protein that stimulates bone growth, was cleared for sale by the Food and Drug Administration in 2003 without clinical testing in humans. When Yaremchuk and her colleagues reviewed the records of all 260 patients implanted with the device at Henry Ford Hospital between 2004 and 2009, they found that a significant number developed airway obstruction, trouble swallowing and respiratory failure, in some cases leading to death. The neck implant is just one of the products associated over the past decade with 1.7 million injuries and more than 80,000 deaths. A searing global investigation last year by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists places much of the blame on significant failings in the FDA’s oversight. The agency’s laissez faire attitude has resulted in artificial hips that cause cobalt poisoning (which can damage the heart and brain); surgical mesh that cuts through flesh and organs, causing infections and haemorrhage; and defibrillators that repeatedly shock patients beyond human endurance. Safety problems have led to recalls of devices implanted in hundreds of thousands of people. And the devices can be difficult or impossible to remove if they go bad No wonder many patient advocates cheered when the FDA announced in November that it planned to make “transformative” changes in the way more than 80% of medical devices are cleared for sale in the United States. But the promised transformation is mere window dressing. Two key loopholes still exist, allowing most products to be approved for sale without clinical trials in humans. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Washington Post, 4 January 2019
  6. News Article
    Patients who underwent brain operations at a West Midlands NHS trust suffered unnecessarily because of poor surgical outcomes, a report has found. More than 150 deep brain stimulation surgery cases at University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) trust are now being investigated and surgery is suspended. There were unacceptable delays responding to patient concerns, the independent review also said. The investigation recommended indefinitely suspending the service at the NHS trust until it is safer. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) for movement disorders is used on patients with conditions including Parkinson's disease and dystonia, where medication is becoming less effective. The independent review, carried out by medics from King's College Hospital, was ordered by UHB after a serious incident investigation of a patient who underwent DBS for Parkinson's disease. One of those 21 people, Keith Bastable, 74, from Brierley Hill, had DBS in May 2019 for his Parkinson's disease and the review found his probes were placed too far away to be acceptable. Due to the misplacement, one was never switched on and the other probe had to be switched off as he suffered slurred speech and other side effects. They were removed and new ones recently reinserted in Oxford after he was referred to a hospital trust there. Mr Bastable said he had felt abandoned in the time it had taken to get resolved. Read full story Source: BBC News, 29 November 2022
  7. News Article
    Some of the country’s GP are advising patients requiring urgent hospital care to “get an Uber” or use a relative’s car because of the worst ever delays in the ambulance service in England. Patients with breathing difficulties and other potentially serious conditions are being told in some cases that they are likely to be transferred more quickly from a general practice to accident and emergency if they travel by cab or private vehicle. NHS England data shows that October’s average ambulance response times for category 1 to 3 emergencies, which cover all urgent conditions, appear to be the highest since the categories were introduced nationally in 2017. Some patients who require emergency treatment may have to wait several hours for an ambulance to arrive. Dr Selvaseelan Selvarajah, a GP partner in east London, said: “If somebody is not having a heart attack or a stroke, my default advice is ‘have you got someone who can drive you or do you want to get an Uber?’ “These are patients who may have breathing difficulty or are suffering severe abdominal pain, but their life is not in immediate danger.” He said such patients would have previously been transferred by ambulance. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 27 November 2022
  8. News Article
    Bosses at Nottingham's crisis-hit maternity units are set to miss a deadline for clearing a backlog of incomplete "serious incident" investigations. Nottingham University Hospitals Trust (NUH) has 53 outstanding maternity incidents yet to be investigated. The trust had said it aimed to complete investigations by December 23. But director of midwifery Sharon Wallis says they have not progressed as quickly as she had hoped. The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the trust has managed to clear a number of those incidents - but it declared another nine in September and October. An independent review team, led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden, is examining dozens of baby deaths at the trust. Read full story Source: BBC News, 25 November 2022
  9. News Article
    A report by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) said the health board's own investigation into the patient's complaint was of "poor quality" and "failed to acknowledge the significant and unreasonable delays" suffered. The delays led 'Patient C' to develop a severe hernia which left them unable to work, reliant on welfare benefits, and requiring riskier and more complex surgery than originally planned. The watchdog criticised NHS bosses for blaming Covid for the delays when the patient had been ready for surgery since December 2018, and said there had been "no sense of urgency" despite "the gravity of C's situation". The report said: "It is of significant concern that the Board has failed to fully acknowledge the consequences of the delays and the adverse effects upon C's physical and mental health as a result. "The consequences for C of these delays cannot and should not be underestimated." Read full story Source: The Herald, 24 November 2022
  10. News Article
    Ministers are considering the use of body cameras within mental health units as part of the government’s response to NHS abuse scandals, The Independent has learned. Senior sources with knowledge of the conversation between the Department for Health and Social Care and the NHS have raised concerns about the plans. There are fears that using the technology in mental health units could have implications for human rights and patient confidentiality. One senior figure criticised the proposals and said: “The DHSC are all talking about body-worn cameras, closed circuit TV, etc... The whole thing is fraught with huge difficulties regarding human rights, about confidentiality. They are thinking about it [cameras] and it is ridiculous.” The DHSC’s mental health minister Maria Caulfield said in parliament earlier this month that she and health secretary Steve Barclay were due to meet with NHS officials to discuss what response was needed to recent exposes of abuse within mental health services. It comes after a string of reports from The Independent, BBC Panorama and Dispatches revealing abuse of inpatients. The Panorama and Dispatches reports included video evidence of abuse captured by hidden cameras. Following a scathing independent review into the deaths of three young women, Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust said it is piloting the use of body-worn cameras across 10 inpatient wards “to support post incident reviews for staff and patients.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 23 November 2022
  11. News Article
    Attending physicians and advanced practice clinicians in US emergency departments are more concerned about medical errors resulting in patient harm than in malpractice litigation, according to a study published JAMA Network Open. The findings are based on an online survey of 1,222 ED clinicians across acute care hospitals in Massachusetts from January to September 2020. Respondents used a Likert scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree) to indicate their degree of agreement with statements on how fearful they are of making a mistake that leads to a patient harm in their day-to-day practice, and how fearful they are of an error that results in being sued. The mean score was greater for fear of harm (4.40) than fear of being sued (3.40), the findings showed. Researchers said the mean scores for both fear of harm and fear of suit were similar regardless of whether the survey was completed before or after onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although previous studies have associated clinicians' fear of legal concerns with "excessive healthcare use through defensive medicine," the role fear of patient harm may play in clinical decision-making is less documented, researchers said. "Although the study did not delineate the association between this concern and potential overuse of testing, it suggested that fear of harm should be considered with, and may be more consequential, than fear of suit in medical decision-making," researchers said. Read full story Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 21 November 2022
  12. News Article
    Greater Manchester’s mental health trust has been placed into the ‘equivalent of special measures’, the Manchester Evening News can reveal. The crisis measures enforced by the NHS come after allegations that patients were abused at a mental health unit run by the beleaguered trust. The Edenfield Centre is a mental health care facility in the grounds of the former Prestwich Hospital and was the subject of a BBC Panorama programme that claims patients were abused. Since the episode aired, 30 staff are facing disciplinary action and a dozen have already been sacked, the Manchester Evening News understands. The chair of the trust, Rupert Nichols, resigned last week after 'inexcusable behaviour and examples of unacceptable care' were 'exposed' at a mental health unit, he said. Now, NHS England is placing the Recovery Support Programme, the 'equivalent to the former special measures', multiple senior NHS sources say. Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH) is now under the highest level of NHS England intervention, the M.E.N. can confirm. Every trust is part of the NHS' Oversight Framework, those placed into its highest level are identified as experiencing the most significant and complex challenges in achieving financial sustainability and/or high-quality care receive intensive mandatory support. Read full story Source: 23 November 2022, Manchester Evening News
  13. News Article
    A young mother lost both her feet and all 10 fingers to sepsis after a significant delay in treatment, an investigation has found. Sadie Kemp has been left permanently disabled from the “dangerous condition”, whilst an NHS hospital probe found a 3.5 hour delay in starting her care. Sadie is now calling for lessons to be learned after the internal report found numerous concerns in her treatment that ultimately led to her needing multiple amputations. The 35-year-old mother-of-two first attended A&E with agonising back pain caused by a kidney stone on Christmas night 2021. She was given pain relief at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Cambridgeshire, and sent home to return the following morning for a kidney scan. She returned the same night at 4am as her pain endured. An assessment at 5.40am found she may have also been suffering from sepsis, but the step-by-step guide to chart and treat the illness was not found in her notes as being done at the time. The investigation found not only should the sepsis have been discovered and treated sooner, but the “lack of effective treatment” of the sepsis prior to the surgery meant she needed prolonged critical care. Read full story Source: The Independent, 22 November 2022
  14. News Article
    The adverts promise beautiful legs, zero risk, and treatment in as little as 15 minutes. But unregulated injections to “eliminate” varicose veins are putting clients at risk of serious health complications, surgeons have warned. Vein removal treatments costing as little as £90 a session are being offered by beauticians without medical supervision across the UK, Observer analysis has found. Promoted with dramatic before and after photos and billed as a quick fix, microsclerotherapy involves the injection of a chemical irritant to disrupt the vein lining. This causes the vein walls to stick together, making it no longer visible on the skin. When performed correctly on finer veins, known as “thread” or “spider” veins, the procedure is generally considered safe, provided no underlying issues are present. But beauticians and other non-healthcare professionals are also offering vein treatments for people with varicose veins, which can signify underlying venous disease, analysis of promotional materials shows. In such cases, treatments should be performed by practitioners in a regulated clinic, where specialists first use ultrasound scans to assess the area. Conducting vein removal incorrectly or when there are underlying problems can lead to complications including leg ulcers, nerve damage, blood clots, stroke, allergic reactions and scarring, the Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP) said. Even in cases where only thread veins are visible, other problems may be present. Prof Mark Whiteley, a consultant venous surgeon and chair of the Whiteley chain of clinics, said he had seen cases of women with leg ulcers and permanent scarring after treatment for varicose veins from non-medics. In other cases, people had paid for treatment but saw no effect because the underlying cause was not tackled. “It’s totally disgraceful,” he said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 20 November 2022
  15. News Article
    Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra startled a recent meeting of senior health system leaders by declaring in opening remarks that a plane crash had just killed all 200 passengers. He immediately added that this hadn’t really happened; he’d said it only to illustrate the toll taken by medical error. The 14 November meeting at which Becerra spoke signalled a renewed commitment by HHS to preventing patient harm as it launched an “Action Alliance to Advance Patient Safety.” The Alliance aims to recruit the nation’s largest health systems as participants. “We’re losing pretty much an airline full of Americans every day to medical error, but we don’t think about it,” said Becerra. (The department’s fiscal 2022-2026 strategic plan actually estimated the death toll at roughly 550 daily, which would be a very large airliner.) “But the worst part about it is that it’s avoidable.” Though the meeting rhetoric was rousing and the invitee list impressive, specifics remained scarce. The Alliance is described only in general terms as a partnership among health systems, federal agencies, patients and others to implement Safer Together: A National Action Plan to Advance Patient Safety. Read full story Source: Forbes, 17 November 2022
  16. News Article
    Children say they were “treated like animals” and left traumatised as part of a decade of “systemic abuse” by a group of mental health hospitals, an investigation by The Independent and Sky News has found. The Department of Health and Social Care has now launched a probe into the allegations of 22 young women who were patients in units run by The Huntercombe Group, which has run at least six children’s mental health hospitals, between 2012 and this year. They say they suffered treatment including the use of “painful” restraints and being held down for hours by male nurses, being stopped from going outside for months and living in wards with blood-stained walls. They also allege they were given so much medication they had become “zombies” and were force-fed. Through witness testimony, documents obtained by Freedom of Information request and leaked reports, the investigation has uncovered: The CQC has received more than 700 whistleblowing and safeguarding reports, including “incidents of concern” and several “sexual safety” concerns. NHS England was notified of 195 safeguarding reports between 2020 and 2021. A 2018 internal report at Meadow Lodge hospital in Newton Abbot (now closed) found staff members using sexually inappropriate language in front of patients. 160 reports investigated by Staffordshire police about Huntercombe Staffordshire between 2015 and 2022. Between March 2021 and 2022, the CQC gave permission for 29 patients to be admitted to Maidenhead hospital after it was placed in special measures. Read full story Source: The Independent, 17 November 2022
  17. News Article
    Families whose loved ones’ bodies were sexually abused in a hospital mortuary have yet to receive any compensation, because the Department of Health and Social Care has not signed off a proposed framework. A family member involved in the case claimed the delay was due to a “chaotic, splenetic mess of a government… [which] can’t get an arse on a seat long enough to approve it”. Former hospital maintenance supervisor David Fuller is serving life sentences for the murder of two women, committed two decades before he went on to commit sexual offences against 101 dead women and girls in hospital mortuaries in Kent. He was given a total of 12 years, to run concurrently, for 51 sex offences when he was sentenced last December but recently pleaded guilty to 16 additional charges involving 23 bodies and will be sentenced for these next month. But the families of the women and girls involved have waited more than a year to receive any compensation for the emotional distress his actions caused. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 16 November 2022
  18. News Article
    Doctors have warned of "unsafe" maternity services at a Sussex hospital in emails seen by the BBC. In the email chain between senior staff at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, consultants wrote of "compromises" to patient care. One doctor said during a birth "we were one step away from a potential disaster". One senior doctor wrote in the exchange that "increasing workforce issues" had contributed to making the situation in the maternity unit "almost unmanageable at times". They added: "We are making compromises to patient care every day as a result." Another wrote that their workload was often "unmanageable, and obviously impacted by the staffing issues". A senior member of maternity staff said "we are delivering suboptimal care" and "we are one step away from potential disaster". A doctor also said staff were being "stretched", and that there were delays to women's care. Another consultant wrote: "We have an unsafe service and we have to strive for better than that." Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 November 2022
  19. News Article
    Poison control centres in the USA have seen an increase in reports of children ingesting a type of prescription cough medicine, a study published by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)found. From 2010 through 2018, reports of paediatric poisonings involving the drug, benzonatate, increased each year, the study found. Benzonatate, sold under the brand name Tessalon, is prescribed to treat coughs caused by colds or the flu. It is not approved for children younger than 10 years old. The findings, published in the journal Pediatrics, were based on more than 4,600 cases reported to poison control centres. The reports included children who were unintentionally exposed to the drug, as well as children who abused or misused it intentionally. The proportion of cases with serious adverse effects was low. However, accidental or inappropriate use of benzonatate, which comes in gel capsules, can lead to serious health problems in children, including convulsions, cardiac arrest and death. The findings should galvanise doctors to be more careful when they prescribe these kinds of medications, said study author Dr. Ivone Kim, a pediatrician and senior medical officer at the FDA. Cough medications "should be treated like any other medication that can have serious side effects," Ameenuddin said, "which means not giving it to children without specific medical direction." Read full story Source: NBC News, 15 November 2022
  20. News Article
    An orthodontist whose methods around shaping the jawline have gone viral advised treatment to young children that “carried a risk of harm”, a tribunal has heard. Dr Mike Mew, whose “mewing” techniques have racked up nearly 2 biillion views on TikTok, faces a misconduct hearing at the General Dental Council (GDC). Opening the hearing in central London on Monday, Lydia Barnfather, representing the GDC, said comments made by Mew, who claims to help “alter the cranial facial structure” on his YouTube channel, were “pejorative” about orthodontists. Barnfather told the professional conduct committee that Mew seeks to treat children with “head and neck gear” and “lower and upper arch expansion appliances” to help align teeth and shape the jawline. “The GDC alleges this is not only very protracted, expensive, uncomfortable and highly demanding of the child, but it carries the risk of harm", Barnfather said. It was heard that between September 2013 and May 2019, advice and treatment were provided to two children, referred to as Patient A and Patient B. Mew was accused of failing to “carry out appropriate monitoring” of their treatment and “ought to have known” this was liable to cause harm. Barnfather said: “The GDC allege you are not to have treated patients the way you did.” She argued that both children had “perfectly normal cranial facial development for their age” before treatment took place. She added that the treatment was “not clinically indicated” and that Mew “had no adequate objective evidence” it would achieve its aims. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 14 November 2022
  21. News Article
    Whistle-blowers have described neglect, patient-on-patient assault and staff who bully colleagues and sleep on the job at a troubled mental health ward. Sources told a BBC investigation that a patient of 25-bed, mixed-gender Hill Crest Ward in Redditch, Worcestershire, suffered a broken jaw during one clash. They also claimed three nurses were "forced out" amid bullying behaviour. The NHS trust that runs Hill Crest said it believed changes there were having a positive impact. Accounts have been corroborated via five independent sources to whom the BBC spoke. They follow reports earlier this year of a fire and an incident in which staff locked themselves in an office when a patient ran around armed with boiling water and sugar. Additionally, one patient has provided the BBC with images alleged to show the effects of her battering herself out of desperation - without staff intervening. Sources also described staff being bullied, with one saying a nurse who particularly suffered had her resignation letter read out and mocked by tormentors. Sources independently complained of the workplace culture, with the BBC aware of explicit images bearing lewd comments about colleagues. Read full story Source: BBC News, 15 November 2022
  22. News Article
    “Failing” IT systems in the NHS are a threat to patient safety. medics have warned. Doctors and nurses should not “tolerate problems with IT infrastructure as the norm”, according to a new editorial, published in The BMJ. Experts from Imperial College London and University College London point to an incident in which IT systems at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust – one of the largest hospital trusts in the country – went down for 10 days. The outage, caused by the July heatwave, led to procedures and appointments being postponed for a number of patients. The new editorial highlights how IT failures can restrict services as doctors are unable to access records and are prevented from ordering diagnostic tests. This can “bring a halt to the everyday business of healthcare”, they said. The authors suggest that the NHS IT infrastructure is “crumbling” and leads to “poor user experiences” as well as patient safety incidents. “Increasing digital transformation means such failures are no longer mere inconvenience but fundamentally affect our ability to deliver safe and effective care – they result in patient harm and increased costs,” they wrote. Read full story Source: 10 November 2022
  23. News Article
    A consultant urologist left a 6.5cm swab in a patient after surgery and failed to identify it in a scan three months later, an inquiry has heard. The public inquiry concerns the work of Aidan O'Brien at the Southern Trust between January 2019 and June 2020. It heard Mr O'Brien endangered or potentially endangered lives by failing to review medical scans. He previously claimed the trust provided an "unsafe" service and was trying to shift blame on to its medics. On Tuesday, the inquiry into Mr O'Brien's clinical practice heard almost 600 patients received "suboptimal care". Counsel for the inquiry Martin Wolfe KC said the 6.5cm swab was left inside a patient by Mr O'Brien during a bladder tumour operation in July 2009. The error was described as a "never event'. At a CT scan appointment three months later in October 2009, a mass inside the patient's body was discovered by the reporting consultant radiologist. While he did not say it was a swab, he did "highlight the abnormality", said Mr Wolfe. A report was sent to Mr O'Brien but, the Inquiry heard, he did not read it and no one took steps to check out the abnormality. Read full story Source: BBC News, 9 November 2022
  24. News Article
    Almost one out of every three people infected with HIV through contaminated NHS blood products in the 1970s and 80s was a child, research has found. About 380 children with haemophilia and other blood disorders are now thought to have contracted the virus. The new estimate was produced by the public inquiry into the disaster, after a BBC News report into the scandal. In August, the government agreed to pay survivors and the partners of those who died compensation. The first interim payments of £100,000 per person were made last month. The initial agreement does not cover bereaved parents or the children of those who have died. A wider announcement on compensation is expected when the inquiry concludes, next year. Read full story Source: BBC News, 9 November 2022
  25. News Article
    A damning report has highlighted failures in how NHS Tayside oversaw a surgeon who harmed patients for years. Prof Eljamel, the former head of neurosurgery at NHS Tayside in Dundee, harmed dozens of patients before he was suspended in 2013. The internal Scottish government report into Prof Sam Eljamel, which has been leaked to the BBC, said the health board repeatedly let patients down. It outlined failures in the way Prof Eljamel was supervised and the board's communication with patients. The report was commissioned last year over unanswered questions and concerns from patients Jules Rose and Pat Kelly. Mr Kelly has been left housebound and Ms Rose has PTSD after the neurosurgeon removed the wrong part of her body. After her operation in 2013, Ms Rose discovered that Prof Eljamel had taken out the wrong part of her body. He removed her tear gland instead of a tumour on her brain. She still has not been told exactly when health bosses knew he was a risk to patients. The latest Scottish government report said she should receive an apology. The written apology she received from the board last month said it was sorry she "feels" there has been a breakdown in trust. "I actually rejected the apology," she said. Ms Rose said she wanted the chairwoman of the health board to explain why it will not offer a "whole-hearted apology" for its failures. Scottish Conservative MSP Liz Smith called for a public inquiry, saying there had been a lack of accountability and the investigation had still not got to the truth. Read full story Source: BBC News, 3 November 2022
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