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Showing results for tags 'Patient safety / risk management leads'.
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News Article
Trusts fear ‘fragmentation’ of specialised services under Health Bill reforms
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Providers fear 'fragmentation' of specialised services as NHS England begins delegating specialised services budgets to integrated care systems under reform plans. One leader of a specialist trust told HSJ: “There is a real risk of fragmentation. You can already see some of the conversations around various services around how people want to keep patients within their own ICS. There is the potential there for systems to buck the trend of centralising specialist services. Rather than bringing expertise and quality together, systems looking after budgets will look to set up their own specialist services.” Read full story (paywalled). Source: HSJ, 17 August 2021 -
News Article
Major trust ‘weeks away’ from running short of blood collection tubes
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
According to reports, Barts Health Trust and most other providers in the north east London health system may run out of blood tube collection products by the end of August. Though, according to notes seen by HSJ, a “mitigation plan with demand management in place this may extend into September”. After warning colleagues in north east London that the shortage of blood collection tubes made by Becton Dickinson affects “all NEL areas” except acute trust Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust, Diane Jones, chief nurse of the NEL integrated care system has said “NHSE are looking at mitigations, but nothing confirmed as yet, and [they] may take a few weeks to come on stream. The mitigation may get us up to 50 per cent of usual supply in the short term.” Read full story (paywalled). Source: HSJ, 13 August 2021 -
News ArticleA hospital in Yorkshire has suspended all routine inpatient surgeries amid overcrowding in A&E caused by a lack of beds. Staff at the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust were told in an email that this had been a "critical issue for too long." “It is with regret that this decision has had to be made given that it will result in less patients receiving surgical treatment, slowing down our progress on reducing waiting times. However, the extreme pressure on beds has to be reduced and quickly. The trust consistently has between 25 and 50 patients waiting for a bed at any one time at Pinderfields emergency department, causing serious overcrowding and long delays [and] contributing to an unacceptable patient and staff experience.” Martin Barkley, chief executive of the trust, told staff. Read full story. Source: The Independent, 14 August 2021
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News Article
NHS waiting list in England hits record 5.45 million
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
New figures show a record number of 5.45 million people are waiting for NHS hospital treatment in England, with many more joining the waiting list who also need treatment, and those who came back to the NHS for healthcare having not done so during the worst periods of the pandemic. Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary has said, "We estimate there's probably some seven million people that ordinarily would have come forward to the NHS that stayed away, understandably, during the height of the pandemic. We want those people to come back. I don't know how many will come back but, even if half of them came to the NHS - and can I just stress I really want people that need to be seen by the NHS to know the NHS is there for them and they should come forward - but as they do I think waiting lists will rise because there will be a huge increase in demand." Read full story. Source: BBC News, 12 August 2021 -
News Article
Sustained rise in long-stay patients stuck in hospital, leaked figures reveal
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
According to leaked figures, the number of patients ready to be medically discharged has been rising since the spring and is now higher than the winter, but levels are believed to still be substantially lower than pre-covid. These figures come after reports hospitals are facing increased pressure to free up beds for incoming patients. David Oliver, consultant geriatrician and former national clinical director for older people, has said "Thanks to additional funding and capacity in community health and social care services, fantastic collaborative working across systems and new rules and permissions, and innovative service models, we saw far fewer delays and far slicker discharge for patients needing ongoing support outside hospital. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t sustainable. Both in my local experience and speaking to colleagues from around the country, we are now back to pre-pandemic levels of delays and worse. This is bad for patients, leaving them stranded in hospital when they’d be better off in their own home and other settings and bad for other patients needing hospital care, including those on waiting lists, as flow through acute beds is impaired." Read full story (paywalled). Source: HSJ, 11 August 2021 -
News Article
Abuse of disabled patients forces watchdog to close hospital
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
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- Posted
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News Article
Rhyl cancer patient suffered from 'alarming failings' at Glan Clwyd Hospital
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
A report has concluded that significant failings by hospital staff led to the avoidable suffering of Ann Jones, 69, who had bowl cancer, before she died. During their investigation, the Public Services Ombudsman found complications after surgery were not properly identified and weight loss was blamed on psychological factors rather than the pain of a bowel obstruction. Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has apologised to Mrs Jones' family. Denbighshire council have also said they were "sincerely sorry" for the distress caused to the family and have issued a written apology to her husband. Read full story. Source: BBC News, 10 August 2021- Posted
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News Article
Fears over patient safety amid plans to ‘water down’ training for nurses
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Health leaders have warned the public may be at more risk amid plans to simplify nursing training across the UK. Nursing leaders have also come out in opposition of the proposals by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) saying bosses could not be sure that the nurses they hired would have the skills required to care patients' safely. Matthew Winn, chief executive of Cambridgeshire Community Services Trust, said "The changes being proposed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council will lead to a watering down of the educational and training standards of these specialist professionals. If courses are developed unilaterally by universities, as an employer I will have no idea if the district nurse is competent to undertake the role I am recruiting them to do.” Read full story. Source: The Independent, 08 August 2021 -
News Article
Intensive care units face ‘grim’ situation despite fall in Covid cases
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
The president of the Intensive Care Society has warned despite the fall in Covid cases, intensive care units in hospitals remain under substantial pressure, with Stephen Webb, a consultant in intensive care and deputy medical director at the Royal Papworth Hospital Trust, describing the situation as "grim". “Cases of Covid infections are coming down but that’s not having much of an impact on hospitals and on intensive care units yet. The situation in ICUs is pretty grim at the moment and it’s grim for a completely different reasons from wave one and two of the pandemic.” Dr Webb told The Independent. Read full story. Source: The Independent, 5 August 2021- Posted
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- ICU/ ITU/ HDU
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News Article
Kent Hospital improves safety rating in latest inspection
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
The Care Quality Commission have increased the safety rating for the William Harvey Hospital, in Kent, from 'inadequate' to 'requires improvement'. This comes after the hospital was hit with a safety scandal after staff and members of the public raised concerns about a lack of infection control amid outbreaks of Covid-19. “I am pleased to report that since our last inspection, leaders have worked hard to improve infection control practices in the medical care services departments at both hospitals, although some improvements still need to be fully embedded, particularly at William Harvey Hospital. We also found that there was a positive culture in the service across both hospitals, and staff felt empowered to report incidents. These were fully investigated by managers and, importantly, learnings were shared with the wider team.” Amanda Williams, CQC’s head of hospital inspection has said. Read full story. Source: The Independent, 5 August 2021 -
News Article
Study reveals the most common serious safety errors on hospital wards
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
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- Posted
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News Article
NHS must work in “new ways” to deliver care, says new chief executive
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
New chief executive of NHS England Amanda Pritchard, has said the NHS must find “new ways” to deliver the care patients need. Thanking staff for their efforts during the pandemic and praising the success of the vaccine roll-out, Ms Pritchard said of the Covid-19 response that the NHS was entering into a “new, but no less challenging phase”. “This means we will need the same determination, team-work and innovation that have served us so well over the last 18 months. Amid these pressures, I know colleagues share my determination to deliver the long term improvements in treatment and care which, coupled with a renewed focus on prevention, will enable many more people to live longer and more fulfilling lives.” Ms Pritchard has said. Read full story. Source: The Independent, 3 August 2021- Posted
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- Patient safety / risk management leads
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News ArticleAccording to a new study, a lack of GP services and poor community healthcare could be behind the higher rates of death among patients admitted to hospital on the weekends. Until now, a lack of doctors were to blame for the higher death rates but now the new research suggests there is no evidence of a link between mortality rates and the number of consultants on duty. “This report appears to show that you can’t look at hospitals and ignore the rest, because people start off in the community and go in and out of hospital, and we need the same forensic focus on our services that we’ve had on acute hospitals.” Says Tracy Allen, chief executive of the Community Health Services Foundation Trust. Read full story. Source: The Independent, 2 August 2021
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News ArticleA new report has revealed patients have died as a result of cancelled appointments to remove objects from their bodies that had been left inside them. Research looking at 23 coroners reports in England and Wales has found the deaths were largely preventable. Read full story (paywalled). Source: The Telegraph, 27 July 2021
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- Patient death
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News ArticleBreast 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
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News Article
Group set up by govt review flags ‘culture of protect and deny’
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
The Department of Health and Social Care has been criticised after it accepted only 4 out of the 9 recommendations set out in the Cumerledge review. Marie Lyon, co-chairwoman of the patient reference group for the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review has said “Unfortunately, the culture of protect and deny continues to be the default response to patients, while stating lessons have been learned. These lessons will never equate to action and improved safety of drugs and devices, while government ministers mark their own performance as satisfactory when it is not. Many more women and children will be damaged unless this systemic culture of protect and deny undergoes a profound change.” Read full story. (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 22 July 2021 -
News Article
Patients waiting 10 minutes for 999 calls to be answered
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Some people calling 999 are having to wait up to 10 minutes before their call is answered. Staff have warned patients may be coming to harm, and may be even dying as a result of the delays and with paramedics also reporting it's taking as long as 24 hours for some ambulances to reach patients. One paramedic has told The Independent, “We are stacking over 500 jobs, with patients waiting hours for an ambulance response. That includes elderly vulnerable people who have fallen but only merit a category three, so their calls are routinely pushed further and further down the queue. In the last few days, I've been to patients waiting 11 or 13 hours. And just to be clear: this is not the hospitals’ fault. The system is profoundly broken.” Read full story. Source: The Independent, 22 July 2021- Posted
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News ArticleThe care watchdog has warned patient care may be being affected by the current pressures on the NHS with healthcare workers suffering significant levels of stress. Concerns have been raised in recent weeks after a surge in Covid-19 infections has resulted in record numbers of people calling for ambulances and attending emergency departments, overwhelming the service. Professor Ted Baker, the Care Quality Commission’s chief inspector of hospitals has said “It's imperative that not only do we deal with the immediate pressures on the system, we also need to deal with the underlying problems with the models of care. If we don't do that, patients will not be able to receive the care we want them to, and the pressure on staff to provide care under these difficult circumstances will continue.” Read full story. Source: The Independent, 22 July 2021
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News Article
Worst affected care homes revealed by watchdog
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
The number of people who have died in each care home has been published for the first time. According to reports, more than 39,000 care home residents died with the virus between 10 April 2020 and 31 March 2021. The data, released by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) shows 21 homes had more than 30 Covid-19 related deaths, with the highest number of deaths in a single care home being 44. Kate Terroni, CQC chief inspector for adult social care has said "Every number represents a life lost". Read full story. Source: BBC News, 21 July 2021- Posted
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News ArticleThe Royal College of Nursing has demanded the health secretary is made fully accountable for the planning and supply of nursing staff in England. As the Health and Care Bill passes through parliament, the RCN insists key changes need to be made to Bill to enable the workforce crisis to be appropriately addressed, including ensuring that the commissioning of services is done in partnership with local communities and ensuring that the voices of experts such as royal colleges are part of the regulation of the profession. Read full story. Source: RCN, 17 July 2021
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News Article
VA now 'reimagining' approach to Cerner EHR modernization
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Multiple issues have been found after a review into Veteran Affairs (VA) electronic system revealed outstanding issues. VA Secretary Denis McDonough has said "The mission of EHRM has always been to create a platform that seamlessly delivers the best access and outcomes for our vets and the best experience for our providers". The review found problems in several areas including: patient safety, productivity, governance and management, cost and schedule performance, patient portal experience, testing, data and change management and training. McDonough has said steps are being taken to address each of these issues and that VA is "reimagining our approach to Electronic Health Record Modernization." Read full story. Source: Healthcare IT News, 19 July 2021 -
News Article
Birmingham Queen Elizabeth hospital cancels all planned operations for two days
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Owing to a lack of beds and space, one the of the largest hospitals in the country has had to cancel all it's planned operations for two days. The hospital, which has more than 1,100 beds has had to cancel cancer operations and liver transplants due to an influx in coronavirus patients increasing demand for bed space. Deputy medical director at the University Hospitals Birmingham, Ian Sharp has said “The pressure at the front door, whether its people who should be able to access care elsewhere, or people with Covid, or people with other acute issues, flooding our front door makes it very difficult to function effectively". Read full story. Source: The Independent, 16 July 2017 -
News Article
Greater Manchester hospitals ‘forced to provide extra critical care beds’
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Hospital waiting lists across the country could hit 13 million in the months to come. Reports have found Manchester Hospitals are having to provide extra beds for critical care patients as the number of people coming in has surged. Hospitals are struggling to cope due to increase in patients attending hospitals in the city a reports the Manchester Evening News. The “number of people attending emergency departments across Greater Manchester has seen a significant increase in recent weeks” and that assistance from hospitals in other parts of the country was “part of our usual processes”, a spokesperson for the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership has said. Read full story. Source: The Independent, 15 July 2021- Posted
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News Article
Inappropriate anticoagulation of patients with a mechanical heart valve
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
NHS England have issued a safety alert on the risk of inappropriate anticoagulation of patients with a mechanical heart valve. Published guidance supported clinical teams in reviewing patients being treated with a vitamin K antagonist (VKA) early on in the pandemic and change their medication to an alternative anticoagulant where needed. However, there have been reports that those with a mechanical heart valve have been prescribed a molecular weight heparin (LMWH) or a direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) which the guidance lists as an exception to its use in such patients. The alert asks GPs and other NHS providers to urgently identify patients with a mechanical heart valve and ensure they are on the most appropriate anticoagulant. Read full story. Source: NHS England, 14 July 2021 -
News Article
Almost 7,000 waiting for lifesaving transplants in the UK
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
NHS Blood and Transplant have estimated that almost 7,000 people are waiting for lifesaving transplants in the UK, the highest number in six years. During the first peak of the pandemic last year, several key services have had to be closed reveals the analysis from April 2020 to March 2021, although most were rapidly reinstated and 80% of NHS transplant work went ahead. Figures from the report found 474 patients died while waiting for organs, a higher number than the year before and the majority of patients were waiting for kidney transplants. Read full story. Source: BBC News, 15 July 2021- Posted
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