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Showing results for tags 'Patient safety incident'.
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News Article
Revealed: The specialties with rocketing litigation costs
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
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 -
News Article
Error causes 800 patients to be wrongly removed from waiting list
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A trust is carrying out a review after hundreds of patients were wrongly removed from the waiting list and potentially missed out on treatment. York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust told HSJ that roughly 800 patients of its referral to treatment waiting list, were affected. A serious incident was declared after it emerged some patients “had their referral to treat clocks stopped erroneously, resulting in patients not receiving treatment”, according to a report to the trust board. The trust said reviews were under way but had not yet identified any cases of “moderate or significant clinical harm”, although it admitted some patients had been significantly delayed. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 2 June 2023 -
News ArticleWomen are waiting too long for abortions, according to a major review into a leading UK provider. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) review of the leadership at the abortion provider the British Pregnancy Advisory Service found there were “delays” in “investigating incidents”. The remains of some pregnancies were sometimes not stored properly and there were issues were record keeping, patient monitoring and safe care, the review found. The watchdog also noted “women did not always receive care in a timely way to meet their needs”. The health watchdog said: “In August 2021 we found significant concerns in we found that safe care was not being provided; ineffective safeguarding processes; incomplete risk assessments were not fully completed; observations were not monitored or recorded; records were not fully completed, clear or up to date.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 2 June 2023
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News Article
Metropolitan Police: Move to attend fewer mental health calls sparks alarm
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The Met Police's plan to stop attending emergency mental health incidents is "potentially alarming", a former inspector of constabulary has said. From September, officers will only attend mental health 999 calls where there is an "immediate threat to life". The Met argues the move will free up officers after a significant rise in the number of mental health incidents being dealt with by the force in the past five years. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley wrote to health and social care services in Greater London to inform them of the plan last week. In the letter, which has been seen by the BBC, Sir Mark said it takes almost 23 hours on average from the point at which someone is detained under the Mental Health Act until they are handed into medical care. He writes that his officers are spending more than 10,000 hours a month on "what is principally a health matter", adding that police and other social services are "collectively failing patients" by not ensuring they receive appropriate help, as well as failing Londoners more generally because of the effect on police resources. However Zoe Billingham, who is now chair of the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS mental health trust after 12 years as Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue, warned mental health services are "creaking" and "in some places are so subdued with demand they are not able to meet the requirements of people who need it most". Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, she warned there is "simply no other agency to call" other than the police for people in crisis, adding: "There isn't another agency to step in and fill the vacuum." Read full story Source: BBC News, 29 May 2023 -
News Article
Update on LFPSE implementation deadline
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
In an email to staff today (9 May 2023) NHS England (NHSE) have confirmed that to meet the deadline for implementing the new Learn From Patient Safety Events (LFPSE) service, Trusts will only need to ensure this is underway by the 30 September 2023, rather than fully implemented. LFPSE is a new central national service for recording and analysing patient safety events that occur in healthcare. Some NHS organisations are now using this system, instead of the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS), and all organisations will be expected to transition to this. The original date for Trusts to implement LFPSE was the 31 March 2023. However, in response to concerns about the achievability of this deadline, on the 18 October NHSE announced an optional six-month extension, meaning that Trusts needed to deploy the new system by the 30 September 2023. Today’s email to NHS staff noted that some Trusts “are still anticipating challenges with the time scales”. Responding to this, NHSE clarified that provided the LFPSE transition within organisations Local Risk Management Systems was underway by the end of September, and that application of the guidance to configure formals and fields was being actively worked on, this milestone should be considered as having been met. Commenting on this Helen Hughes, Chief Executive of charity Patient Safety Learning, said: “This is a welcome announcement by NHS England, reducing the immediate pressure on staff who had raised serious concerns on the ability to have LFPSE configured and ready to submit events by the 30 September deadline. This flexibility will ensure that the new LFPSE service has a stronger chance of successful transition and to enable patient safety improvement”. -
News ArticleFresh concerns have been raised about the launch of the national incident reporting system, despite Steve Barclay taking a ‘personal interest’ in hitting the tight timetable, HSJ has learned. NHS England already delayed the launch of the “learning from patient safety events” database by six months, to September this year. It is due to replace the existing national reporting and learning system (NRLS) which is considered to be outdated and at risk of failing. But serious concerns are now being raised again by trust safety managers about whether the revised launch date can be met, HSJ has been told, with calls for it to be extended again until next year. HSJ has heard concerns from several managers that an upgrade due in July to the RLDatix risk management system – which is used by the majority of trusts – will cause knock-on problems implementing LFPSE in September. They said the timeframe was too short for testing and delivering the upgrade in time to make the transition and decommission the old NRLS. The creation of LFPSE is a key part of NHSE’s safety strategy, along with replacing the serious incident reporting system, with an aim of making it easier for staff to record safety events across all services, including primary care, which is excluded from NRLS. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 3 May 2023
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Content ArticleThis policy provides a national framework for health and disability providers in New Zealand to continually improve the quality and safety of services for consumers, whānau and healthcare workers. It provides a consistent way to understand and improve through reporting, reviewing and learning from all types of harm. The policy will guide the process for reporting to the Health Quality & Safety Commission in New Zealand and for using the information gathered from learning reviews, along with quality improvement approaches, to strengthen system safety.
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Content Article
When patients are left to blow the whistle on unsafe care
Steve Turner posted an article in Whistle blowing
This short blog highlights the situations where patients, carers, parents and relatives are failed by healthcare systems and by the leadership. They are left to stand alone against powerful institutions, because when staff speak up and 'blow the whistle' it often results in retaliation. Investigating and resolving the patient safety issue then becomes buried under an employment issue. -
Content ArticleIn this podcast to support providers with the transition to the Learn from Patient Safety Events (LFPSE) service, the NHS's new national system for the recording and analysis of patient safety events, NHS England talks to Zahra and Mandy, NHS England reporting leads, about the practical steps providers can take to get connected to LFPSE. It covers how to get started, what to do with your old data, the kinds of support available, what transition means for ICBs, and what the Reporting Leads have learned from the process so far.
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Content ArticleThis report considers the number of safety incidents in surgery occurring in the NHS since 2015 and calls for action to improve surgical safety. It also highlights the perceptions of patients from a survey of people who have had surgery in the last five years. It is authored by surgical care platform Proximie, with support from experts in the surgical space.
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Content ArticleThis study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, looks at the frequency, preventability and severity of patient harm in a random sample of admissions from 11 Massachusetts hospitals during 2018. From this sample, it identified adverse events in nearly one in four admissions, approximately a quarter of which were deemed as preventable.
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Content ArticleIn this blog, Matthew Wain highlights how NHS organisations can support staff with patient safety investigations, and more generally, in the face of increased pressure. He looks at missed learning opportunities, psychological impact, and the support tools and programmes available for staff. Further reading: Patient Safety Learning's Staff Support Guide: a good practice resource following serious patient harm
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Content ArticleLaura Pickup and Suzy Broadbent present on the impact staff fatigue has on patient safety.
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Content Article
HSIB: Safety investigation jargon buster
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in HSSIB investigations
A guide to the terms commonly used in safety investigations and their definitions. -
Content ArticleIn this blog, Patient Safety Learning’s Chief Executive Helen Hughes reflects on some of the key patient safety issues and developments over the past 12 months and looks ahead to 2023.
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Content ArticleNHS England has recorded two podcasts sharing insight and advice from organisations that have completed the transition from the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) to the new Learn from Patient Safety Events (LFPSE).
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Content ArticleIncident reporting is a crucial tool for improving patient safety, alongside an open culture that supports this. In the NHS the new Learn from Patient Safety Events (LFPSE) service is now being rolled out to replace the current National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) and Strategic Executive Information System (StEIS). This article details correspondence between Patient Safety Learning and NHS England in relation to concerns raised by staff about the development and implementation of the LFPSE service
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Content ArticlePatient safety incident investigations (PSII) are system-based responses to a patient safety incident for learning and improvement. Typically, a PSII includes four phases: planning, information gathering, synthesis, and interpreting and improving. More meaningful involvement can help reduce the risk of compounded harm for patients, families and staff, and can improve organisational learning, by listening to and valuing different perspectives.
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Content ArticleThis article provides an overview of the National Patient Safety Board Act of 2022; legislation which has been introduced in the USA to establish an independent federal agency dedicated to preventing and reducing healthcare-related harms.
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Content ArticleThe Invited Reviews service was formed in 1998 and offers consultancy services to healthcare organisations on which they may require independent and external advice. Reviews provide an opportunity to healthcare organisations to deal with issues and concerns at an early stage. Medical directors (MDs) or chief executive officers (CEOs) of healthcare organisations can request an invited review when they feel the practice of clinical medicine is compromised and there are potential concerns over patient safety. The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) Invited Reviews service has gained a wealth of experience dealing with demanding situations involving individuals, teams, departments and services. This is their learning from invited reviews report. It brings together their experiences across multiple specialities, identifying common themes and crystallising some of our generic findings, which will prove useful to all in clinical leadership roles.
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Content ArticleThis report by the Harmed Patients Alliance (HPA) explores the needs of injured patients and their loved ones for independent advocacy, advice and information when they have been involved in patient safety incidents that are believed to have led to harm. It examines the extent to which this is available or resourced, and aims to stimulate and inform a national discussion about this issue in England among key stakeholders. It looks at the historical context and the moral and economic arguments and implications of resourcing these kinds of services.
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Content Article
Sarah Kay and Jaydee Swarbrick are involved in the Patient Safety in Primary Care Project in Dorset. In this blog, they summarise a recent event they held to share learning from medicines incidents. -
Content ArticleRadar Healthcare has published its 'Incident Reporting in Secondary Care' whitepaper – an in-depth analysis of reporting within secondary care and its effects on patient safety. It has taken a look into the current state of incident reporting: the good work being done, the concerns across the sector, and how we can all aim to improve the situation. The report was conducted using a panel provided by SERMO from its database of UK Nurses and includes the views from 100 nursing staff members working in hospital wards across the UK. Those surveyed work with hospital in-patients daily and are responsible for reporting safety and regulatory incidents involving patients to senior colleagues.
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News Article
Eighteen deaths following Tees health trusts' safety lapses
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Eighteen people died at two Teesside hospital trusts following patient safety lapses over a 12-month period. Sixteen such deaths were recorded at the South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, with two at the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust. Examples of patient safety lapses include a failure to provide or monitor care, a breakdown in communication, an out-of-control infection in a hospital, insufficient staffing or a missed diagnosis. NHS England figures show that, between April 2021 and March this year, there were 16,557 incidents at the South Tees Trust, which operates James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, and Northallerton's Friarage Hospital. Thirty-four resulted in "severe" harm. Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the figures were a concern and that he planned to take them up with the South Tees Trust's chief executive. He said NHS staff worked under "the most demanding of conditions" but added: "Every person going into hospital rightly expects to receive the best treatment. Patient safety is paramount and no family wants to see a loved one suffer." Dr Mike Stewart, the trust's chief medical officer, said: "We encourage an open and transparent culture and promote the reporting of all patient safety incidents, even when there is uncertainty over a direct link between any problems in care and incidents of severe harm or death. "In the last year there were no deaths graded as definitely preventable due to a problem in the care delivered by the trust. "While our reporting has increased consistently over the last three years, the number of serious incidents has not risen, which is strong evidence of a positive safety culture." Read full story Source: BBC News, 30 October 2022 -
News ArticleThe deadline for the NHS to move to a new system for safety incident reporting has been delayed after widespread concerns the rollout could be a ‘disaster’. A memo from NHS England to local teams yesterday, seen by HSJ, says the deadline to transition to the new “learning from patient safety events” database has been pushed back by six months to September 2023. The creation of LFPSE is a key strand of NHSE’s safety strategy, along with the overhaul of how serious incidents are investigated. It aims to make it easier for staff across all healthcare settings to record safety events, as the service will be expanded to include primary care. It will replace the current national reporting and learning system, a central database created in 2003 to help identify trends and maximise learning from mistakes. The new system is part of a national strategy that pledges to save 1,000 extra lives and £100m in care costs each year from 2023-24. Multiple patient safety managers at local trusts had raised concerns to HSJ about the previous March deadline, with one patient safety lead saying it would have been a “disaster” if enforced. Helen Hughes, chief executive of charity Patient Safety Learning, said NHSE also needs to change its way of working, as well as the deadline extension. She said: “We believe that NHS England needs to seriously reconsider their approach to engaging with trust leaders and staff on this issue, so that improvements can be made to the new LFPSE service to ensure it has the best possible chance of success, and to enable patient safety improvement.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 20 October 2022
