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Content ArticleEmergency general surgery (EGS) involves care and treatment of a patient's often previously unknown disease in an unplanned interaction with the healthcare system. This leads to challenges in collecting and interpreting patient reported outcome measures (PROMs). This study in the American Journal of Surgery aimed to capture the peri-operative experiences of 30 patients at 6 to 12 months after their treatment. The authors found that: two-thirds reported feeling no choice but to pursue emergency surgery with many reporting exclusion from decision-making. Females reported these themes more commonly. patients with minor complications less frequently reported trust in their team and discussed communication issues and delays in care. patients with major complications more frequently reported confidence in their team and gratefulness, but also communication limitations. patients not admitted to the ICU more frequently discussed good communication and expeditious treatment.
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Content ArticleIn my 15 years focusing on developing drink thickening solutions for dysphagia patients, the intersection of dysphagia management and patient safety has become increasingly apparent. Dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, presents not only as a significant health challenge but also as a critical patient safety issue. The condition's underdiagnosis, particularly in vulnerable populations, heightens the risk of severe complications, including choking, aspiration pneumonia, dehydration and the profound fear of choking that can lead to malnutrition.
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Content ArticleProlonged length of stay (LOS) in emergency departments (ED) is a widespread problem in every hospital around the globe. Multiple factors cause it and can have a negative impact on the quality of care provided to the patients and the patient satisfaction rates. This project aimed to ensure that the average LOS of patients in a tertiary care cancer hospital stays below 3 hours.
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News Article
‘One part of the solution’: how virtual NHS wards are now a reality
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Harold Chugg spent much of early 2023 in a hospital bed because of worsening heart failure. During his most recent admission in June, the 75-year-old received several blood transfusions, which led to fluid accumulating in his lungs and tissues. Ordinarily, he would have remained in hospital for further days or weeks while the medical team got his fluid retention under control. But Harold was offered an alternative: admission to a virtual ward where he would be closely monitored in the comfort of his own home. Armed with a computer tablet, a Bluetooth-enabled blood pressure cuff and weighing scales, Harold returned to his farm near Chulmleigh in north Devon and logged his own symptoms and measurements daily, which were reviewed by a specialist nurse in another part of the county. Virtual wards provide hospital-level care in people’s homes through the use of apps, wearables and daily “virtual ward rounds” by medical staff, who review patient data and follow up with telephone calls or home visits where necessary. More than 10,000 such beds are already available across England and at least a further 15,000 are planned. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are also funding their expansion. But while proponents claim patients in virtual wards recover at the same rate or faster than those treated in hospital, and that the wards’ provision can help cut waiting lists and costs, some worry that their rapid expansion could place additional strain on patients and caregivers while distracting from the need to invest in emergency care. “Virtual wards, if they deliver hospital-level processes of care, are just one part of the solution, not a panacea,” said Dr Tim Cooksley, a recent ex-president of the Society for Acute Medicine. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 7 February 2024 -
News Article
‘Disingenuous’ wait times on NHS App will be half those patients have to face
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Next week’s launch of the ‘Wayfinder’ waiting time information service on the NHS App will give patients “disingenuous” and “misleading” information about how long they can expect to wait for care, senior figures close to the project have warned. Briefing documents seen by HSJ show the figure displayed to patients will be a mean average of wait times taken from the Waiting List Minimum Data Set and the My Planned Care site. However, it was originally intended that the metric displayed would be the time waited by 92% of relevant patients. This is more commonly known as the “9 out of 10” measure. Mean waits are likely to be about “half the typical waiting time” measured under the 9 out of 10 metric, according to the waiting list experts consulted by HSJ. Ahead of The Wayfinder service’s launch on Tuesday, NHS trusts and integrated care boards have been sent comprehensive information on how to publicise it, including a “lines to take” briefing in case of media inquiries. This mentions the use of an “average” time but does not provider any justification for this approach. HSJ’s source said the mean average metric was “the worst one to choose” as it would be providing patients with “disingenuous” information that will leave them disappointed. They added that the 92nd percentile metric would be a “far more realistic” measure “for a greater number of people”. They concluded that “using an average” would create false expectations “because in reality nobody will be seen in the amount of time it is saying on the app.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 26 January 2024 -
News Article
Online GP access leaves patients lost, says report
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Online services for GPs across Surrey leave many patients feeling "helpless and lost", a new report says. Healthwatch Surrey said some patients felt "defeated" by online systems and that issues were worse in certain groups. This included people with English as a second language and those less confident with technology. Online services include booking appointments, requesting repeat prescriptions and viewing test results. Healthwatch Surrey, which gathers the views of local people on health and social care services in the county, said: "Confusion around the appointment booking process and a perception that appointments are hard, or even impossible, to book online is the issue people tell us most about." One Epsom and Ewell resident was asked by their surgery to book a blood test online. They told Healthwatch: "I tried but I couldn't understand how to do it and so I called back. "I'm in my 80s and I try to be as independent as I can, but some of these processes defeat me." Sam Botsford, contract manager at Healthwatch Surrey, said communication was key in ensuring patients knew how to use online services. She said: "People feel they're being pushed online, and that spans a range of different demographics. "It's really important for practices to identify the needs of their patients and how they can best meet those." Read full story Source: BBC News, 2 February 2024 -
Content ArticleHealth-compromising behaviours such as cigarette smoking and poor dietary habits are difficult to change. Most social-cognitive theories assume that the intention to change is the best predictor of actual change, but people often do not behave in accordance with their intentions. Unforeseen barriers emerge, or people give in to temptations. Therefore, intentions should be supplemented by more proximal predictors that might facilitate the translation of intentions into action. Some self-regulatory mediators have been identified, such as perceived self-efficacy and strategic planning. They help to bridge the intention-behavior gap. The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) suggests a distinction between (1) a preintentional motivation process that leads to a behavioural intention and (2) a postintentional volition process that facilitates the adoption and maintenance of health behaviours. In this article, two studies are reported that examine mediators between intentions and two behaviours. One behaviour is smoking reduction in young adults, the other is dietary restraint in overweight patients with chronic disease. A structural equation model, specified in terms of the HAPA, was in line with both data sets but it explained more variance of dietary behaviours among middle-aged or older individuals with a health condition whereas variance of smoking reduction in healthy young adults was less well accounted for. The findings contribute to the elucidation of psychological mechanisms in health behaviour change and point to the particular role of mediator variables.
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Content ArticleEmergence delirium is a temporary but potentially dangerous condition that can occur when a patient awakens after a procedure. In this video, staff at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS) share how they implemented a perioperative intervention to reduce the risk of patient and staff harm.
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Content ArticleGreat Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the world’s leading children’s hospitals, receiving 242,694 outpatient visits and 42,112 inpatient visits every year (figures from 2021/22). This paper seeks to provide an overview of the safety systems and processes Great Ormond Street Hospital has in place to keep patients, staff, and healthcare environments safe.
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Content ArticleDoctors At Work is a series of video podcasts hosted by Dr Mat Daniel. In this episode, Dr Gordon Caldwell shares his experiences of managing and preventing adverse events. He stresses the importance of creating a culture that encourages everyone to speak up. His top tips for preventing errors is to create systems, checklists and routines that ensure a focus on all aspects of care not just the obvious and urgent.
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Content ArticleAntibiotic resistance is an increasing problem in healthcare, especially in nursing homes where up to 75% of antibiotics are prescribed inappropriately. This series of webinars from the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority covers various aspects of antibiotic stewardship including: Types of antimicrobials Why antibiotic stewardship and who should be at the table Antimicrobial usage Mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance Antibiograms Antimicrobial baseline data Developing an antimicrobial stewardship plan Antimicrobial usage data
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News ArticleNHS England’s drive to encourage patient-initiated appointments is only having a marginal impact on reducing overall outpatient follow-ups, a major study suggests. NHS England currently has a target to have 5% of outpatients on patient-initiated follow-up pathways, and hopes this can be increased substantially in future years. The headline finding in a study by the Nuffield Trust think tank, which analysed almost 60 million cases, was that for every 5% on PIFU pathways, this roughly corresponded to 2% fewer outpatient follow-up attendances overall. It suggests PIFU implementation would need to be dramatically expanded to get anywhere close to a 25% reduction in total follow-up activity, which NHSE had previously targeted by March 2023. As previously reported, there has been little to no reduction so far. Chris Sherlaw-Johnson, senior fellow at the Nuffield Trust, said: “As few patients are currently on PIFU pathways at present, it’s not going to have that noticeable impact on the overall number of follow ups.” He also stressed it was not clear whether the reduction was caused by the genuine elimination of unnecessary follow-ups or if patients were not returning for care despite needing it. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 25 January 2024
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Content ArticleMillions of people use hospital services as an outpatient, with numbers of appointments rising rapidly over recent years. Patient-initiated follow-up (PIFU) is a relatively new initiative in the English NHS, and the NIHR RSET team has conducted a mixed-methods evaluation as the process develops to understand how it's working and what impact it's having on health care systems and the staff and patients involved.
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News ArticleOne in 20 patients has to wait at least four weeks to see a GP at a time when funding for family doctor services is falling, NHS figures show. In November 2023, 1.5m appointments in England at a GP surgery took place four weeks or more after they were booked, 4.8% of the 31.9m held that month. In one in six appointments, 5.4m (17.3%), the patient was forced to wait at least two weeks after booking it to see a GP, practice nurse or other health professional. “Millions of people are being left anxious or waiting in pain because they can’t get an appointment with their GP,” said Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, who highlighted the latest evidence underlining the long delays that many patients face to see a GP. “Staggering” numbers of patients now have to wait a long time, he said. GP leaders blamed the situation on the widespread shortage of family doctors, which they said was making it impossible to keep up with the rising demand for appointments. Burnout due to intense workloads is prompting more GPs to work part time. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 22 January 2024
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Content Article
Laura Cockram, Head of Policy and Campaigning at Parkinson's UK, and regular blogger for the hub, shares with us what Parkinson's UK will be doing to support World Parkinson's Day.- Posted
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Content Article
FDA drug shortages database
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Medication including labelling
Medication shortages can occur for many reasons, including manufacturing and quality problems, delays and discontinuations. This Food and Drug Administration (FDA) database provides information on drugs with a supply issue. Information is provided to the FDA by manufacturers. -
News Article
Virtual wards ‘not a silver bullet’ for NHS as occupancy levels grow
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
More than 8,500 patients in England were being treated on virtual wards in the run-up to Christmas, figures have revealed, as the NHS moves to ease pressures on hospital capacity. However, experts said the so-called hospitals at home are not a “silver bullet to solve the crisis in health and social care”. Figures published by NHS Digital revealed some 8,586 patients were treated virtually in December 2023, up from 7,886 in November. The snapshot was taken on 21 December 2023, meaning it is likely those patients spent Christmas on a virtual ward rather than an actual hospital. Virtual wards allow patients to receive care in their own homes, with clinical staff using apps or wearable technology to monitor them remotely. Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said the “rapid expansion” of virtual wards beds and patients “is a real NHS success story”. He added: “This not only frees up vital hospital beds for those who need them most but ensures patients can recover in the place they are most comfortable with support from families, carers and friends, and while occupancy has been growing rapidly as NHS teams make the most of all bed capacity available, we want to see continued growth right across the country so as many patients as possible can benefit." However, Wendy Preston, the head of nursing practice at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said “virtual wards aren’t a silver bullet to solve the crisis in health and social care”. “Whether they’re in a physical bed or on a virtual ward, patients still need to be able to see a nurse,” she added. “But there are over 40,000 nursing vacancies across the NHS, and social care is chronically understaffed. Run effectively, virtual wards can relieve pressure, but on every single shift nursing staff are fighting an uphill battle to care for too many patients. “If the UK government wants to turn around the state of the NHS and deliver the ‘hospital level’ care at home that patients expect, nursing staff need to see game-changing investment in the workforce.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 15 January 2024 -
Content ArticlePeople with diabetes often encounter stigma in the form of negative social judgments, stereotypes and prejudice, which can adversely affect emotional, mental and physical health, self-care, access to healthcare and social and professional opportunities. On average, four in five adults with diabetes experience diabetes stigma and one in five experience discrimination due to diabetes in healthcare, education, and employment. Diabetes stigma and discrimination are harmful, unacceptable, unethical, and counterproductive. Collective leadership is needed to proactively challenge, and bring an end to, diabetes stigma and discrimination. To help achieve this, an international multidisciplinary expert panel conducted rapid reviews and participated in a three-round Delphi survey process. The group achieved consensus on 25 statements of evidence and 24 statements of recommendations. The consensus is that diabetes stigma is driven primarily by blame, perceptions of burden or sickness, invisibility and fear or disgust.
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Content ArticleThere are around 1.3 billion people in the world with a disability, but in many settings, the understanding of reasonable adjustments among healthcare workers is inadequate to provide the same quality of care for people with disabilities as individuals without disabilities. Inclusive healthcare requires improvements in accessibility and training for healthcare professionals. Some progress is being made and medical education in some countries now includes disability, human rights and reasonable adjustments in education and training. This Lancet article outlines global examples of attempts to improve healthcare workers' understanding of disabilities and inclusion.
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Content ArticleIleostomy is a common treatment option for various gastrointestinal conditions. This study in Surgery aimed to examine how receiving care at different facilities might increase the risk of post-discharge complications and readmission following ileostomy. The authors used a national cohort to explore the associations of care fragmentation among ileostomy patients experiencing adverse outcomes and increased hospitalisation.
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Content ArticleIn this article for the Journal of Eating Disorders, Alykhan Asaria considers the criteria used in a paper by Guadiani et al. (J Eat Disord 10:23, 2022) to define ‘terminal anorexia nervosa’ and outlines concerns about this new term from a lived experience perspective. The author highlights issues about the ambiguities around how the criteria can be applied safely and the impact of labelling anorexia nervosa sufferers with terms. Further articles on the hub from Alykhan Asaria: ‘Terminal anorexia’: a lived experience perspective
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News Article
People in UK turning to DIY health treatment amid shortage of GP appointments
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Almost one in four people have bought medicine online or at a pharmacy to treat their illness after failing to see a GP face to face, according to a UK survey underlining the rise of do-it-yourself treatment. Nearly one in five (19%) have gone to A&E seeking urgent medical treatment for the same reason, the research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats shows. One in six (16%) people agreed when asked by the pollsters Savanta ComRes if the difficulty of getting an in-person family doctor appointment meant they had “carried out medical treatment on yourself or asked somebody else who is not a medical professional to do so”. Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said delays and difficulty in accessing GP appointments constituted a national scandal, and face-to-face GP appointments had become “almost extinct” in some areas of the country. He said: “We now have the devastating situation where people are left treating themselves or even self-prescribing medication because they can’t see their local GP.” Dr Richard Van Mellaerts, the deputy chair of the British Medical Association’s GP committee in England, said: “While self-care and consulting other services such as pharmacies and NHS 111 will often be the right thing to do for many minor health conditions, it is worrying if patients feel forced into inappropriate courses of action because they are struggling to book an appointment for an issue that requires the attention of a GP or a member of practice staff.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 2 January 2024 -
Content ArticleThe Belmont Report was written by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. The Commission, created as a result of the National Research Act of 1974, was charged with identifying the basic ethical principles that should underlie the conduct of biomedical and behavioral research involving human subjects and developing guidelines to assure that such research is conducted in accordance with those principles. Informed by monthly discussions that spanned nearly four years and an intensive four days of deliberation in 1976, the Commission published the Belmont Report, which identifies basic ethical principles and guidelines that address ethical issues arising from the conduct of research with human subjects.
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Content ArticleThe ethnicity data gap pertains to three major challenges to address ethnic health inequality: Under-representation of ethnic minorities in research Poor data quality on ethnicity Ethnicity data not being meaningfully analysed. These challenges are especially relevant for research involving under-served migrant populations in the UK. This study in BMC Public Health aimed to review how ethnicity is captured, reported, analysed and theorised within policy-relevant research on ethnic health inequities. The authors concluded that the multi-dimensional nature of ethnicity is not currently reflected in UK health research studies, where ethnicity is often aggregated and analysed without justification. Researchers should communicate clearly how ethnicity is operationalised for their study, with appropriate justification for clustering and analysis that is meaningfully theorised.
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Content ArticleAn estimated 2.1 million people are living with Long Covid in the UK alone. The Conversation recently asked 888 people in the UK with Long Covid about their experiences of stigma, and 95% of them said they had experienced stigma related to their condition. On top of the physical symptoms, people living with Long Covid may have to contend with discrimination and prejudice within their communities, workplaces and even health services. Long Covid is a relatively new medical condition, and has been subject to lots of misinformation and minimisation of its legitimacy as a physical illness. To date, there have been no estimates as to how common stigma around long COVID is, which has limited our ability to tackle the problem. Being aware of numerous anecdotes of the discrimination Long Covid patients face, The Conversation decided to look into the extent of this problem and designed a questionnaire together with people who had lived experience of the illness. The questions aimed to estimate how commonly people with Long Covid experience stigma across three domains. “Enacted stigma” means being treated unfairly due to their long COVID, “internalised stigma” is where people feel embarrassed or ashamed of their illness, and “anticipated stigma” is a person’s expectation that they will be treated poorly because of their condition.
