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Content ArticleThe UK Government has opened a consultation on changes to the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 Code of Practice, and implementation of Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS). This consultation is also seeking views on the LPS regulations, which will underpin the new system. This consultation applies to England and Wales and is open until 7 July 2022.
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Content ArticleThis film from NHS England and NHS Improvement follows patients at the NHS specialist Post-Covid service at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary, one of 90 such services that are now established across England, as part of a £200m NHS investment to support people experiencing the long term effects of Covid. Featured in the film is John, who explains how the ongoing effects of Covid have impacted on his overall health and day-to-day life. As part of his assessment, John gets a psychological and physical check-up from a multidisciplinary team of NHS professionals to help him manage his symptoms and support his recovery. Anyone who is concerned about long-lasting symptoms following Covid-19 should contact their GP, or go online to the NHS Your Covid Recovery website for further advice: https://www.yourcovidrecovery.nhs.uk/
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Content ArticleSafety culture refers to the way patient safety is thought about, structured and implemented in an organisation. Safety climate is a subset of this, focused on staff attitudes about patient safety. In recent years, a great deal of research has explored ways to measure safety culture and safety climate in health care. There is a growing emphasis on interventions to improve organisational safety culture and staff attitudes towards safety. It is assumed that improving safety culture will directly or indirectly affect patient outcomes. This evidence scan examines whether there is any empirical evidence to support this assumption.
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Content ArticleLong Covid Support are keen to hear your experiences of Long Covid service(s) for adults in England. The purpose of this survey is to collect information on the patient experience of healthcare and other support services for Long Covid. Because services differ by nation, this survey is for patients in England only. This survey has been designed and developed by people who have Long Covid. You can do the survey for yourself, or on behalf of a friend or relative who has Long Covid. The survey will take 15 - 30 minutes to complete depending on your answers. You may save the survey and finish it later as long as you use the same device to complete it. Long Covid Support is a not-for-profit organisation, advocating for those impacted by Long Covid.
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Content Article“Hi, I’m the doctor. First I need to apologise for how long you’ve been waiting.” An apology is now the default way I introduce myself to patients in the busy emergency department where I work, writes an emergency medicine consultant in an article for the Independent newspaper. An apology for the shortage of beds, an apology for the shortage of staff and most importantly for the person in front of him, an apology for how long they’ve waited, in pain and distress, to be seen.
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Content ArticleHow is the UK handling long Covid, one of the biggest health issues to emerge from the pandemic? A panel of experts brought together by The Independent discussed this and the overall message was that the UK’s response has been lacking. Chaired by Health Correspondent Rebecca Thomas and Science Correspondent Samuel Lovett, the panel included Dr Elaine Maxwell, Professor Amitava Banerjee and Professor Brendan Delaney. The session explores the UK’s response in depth from research approaches to provision for patients. Watch back a video of the full event.
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Content ArticleThe introduction of remote triage and assessment early in the pandemic raised questions about patient safety. Wieringa et al. sought to capture patients and clinicians’ experiences of the management of suspected acute COVID-19 and generate wider lessons to inform safer care. Lessons from the pandemic suggest three key strategies are needed to prevent avoidable deaths and inequalities in the next crisis: (1) strengthen system resilience (including improved resourcing and staffing; support of new tools and processes; and recognising primary care’s role as the ‘risk sink’ of the healthcare system); (2) develop evidence-based triage and scoring systems; and (3) address social vulnerability.
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Content ArticleThousands of individuals are released from immigration detention into the community every year. Between 1 October 2020 and 30 September 2021, 21,362 people were detained, and 17,283 were released into the community, having been granted bail or leave to enter/remain. This means that 81% of those detained were released back into the community. 2,239 were considered to be ‘Adults at Risk’ whilst in detention by the Home Office. In this report, Medical Justice sheds light on the many issues its clients face in accessing healthcare upon release into the community. By highlighting these issues, Medical Justice seeks significant improvements in the Home Office’s continuity of care of all individuals upon release and provides specific recommendations to the Home Office.
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Content ArticleA review of government policies tackling smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity and harmful alcohol use in England.
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Content ArticleIn a world where there is increasing demand for the performance of health providers to be measured, there is a need for a more strategic vision of the role that performance measurement can play in securing health system improvement. This book presents the opportunities and challenges associated with performance measurement, in a framework that is clear and easy to understand. It examines the various levels at which health system performance is undertaken, the technical instruments and tools available, and the implications using these may have for those who govern the health system. Technical material is presented in an accessible way and is illustrated with examples from all over the world. This book is practical guide for policy makers, regulators, patient groups and researchers.
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Content ArticleThe COVID-19 pandemic placed unprecedented pressure on councils and care providers. A new report from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman analyses just how those organisations coped.
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Content ArticleThe objective of this study from Carey et al. was to explore medical oncology outpatients' perceived experiences of errors in their cancer care. A cross-sectional survey was conducted. English-speaking medical oncology outpatients aged 18 years or older were recruited from 9 Australian cancer treatment centres. One hundred forty-eight participants perceived that an error had been made in their care, of which one third reported that the error was associated with severe harm. Of those who perceived an error had been made, less than half reported that they had received an explanation for the error and only one third reported receiving an apology or being told that steps had been taken to prevent the error from reoccurring. Patients with university or vocational level education and those who received radiotherapy or “other” treatments were significantly more likely to report an error in care. The authors concluded that here is significant scope to improve communication with patients and appropriate responses by the healthcare system after a perceived error in cancer care.
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Content Article
It’s time to rename the ‘visitor’: reflections from a relative
Anonymous posted an article in By patients and public
In my first blog, ‘Visiting restrictions and the impact on patients and their families’, I highlighted how the pandemic has shone a stark spotlight on so many inequities and inconsistencies in access to health and social care. I wanted to draw attention to how visiting restrictions can result in worse outcomes for patients and their families. In my second blog I want to focus on the terms ‘visiting’ and ‘visitor’ and discuss what defines a visitor and why, in my opinion, it requires redefining and renaming. -
Content ArticleThe world has significantly changed in the past decade and the healthcare sector has changed with it. Many healthcare organisations are now digital and digital tools enable patient safety and care. Electronic health records (EHRs) have replaced paper records. Picture archiving and communication systems have replaced film and light boxes. Computer-implemented or enabled hardware and software have replaced the mechanical systems of yesterday. In some instances, virtual visits have replaced in-person visits. And patients can transmit information about their health status and condition in real time to their clinicians via various software applications and devices. As a result of our digital transformation, electronic data is the lifeblood of the healthcare organisation. Electronic data, in the healthcare context, must be kept confidential, integrity must be preserved, and it must be made available on demand wherever and whenever it is needed. But if electronic data is not appropriately protected, clinical care and the business of healthcare can grind to a halt. This is why ransomware has been a significant concern for many healthcare organisations, as Lee Kim, Director Privacy and Security, HIMSS, explains in this article.
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Content ArticleHistorically, patients have always been considered the passive recipients of healthcare. This way of thinking affected everything from how people were cared for in a clinician’s office or hospital bed, to how they participated in clinical trials. It’s also meant that patients have previously had no role in the production or review of medical literature after research has been completed. However, this is changing, and now patients and members of the public are increasingly involved in new and meaningful ways at more steps in the research process, including as potential reviewers of medical papers. This has enormous benefits for science and healthcare. But patients and members of the public are not always provided with the relevant resources to participate effectively and efficiently, and this is something that journals need to work on.
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Content ArticleThe Code Red campaign aims to shine a light on the impact of sickle cell disease (SCD) in the UK by putting those with the condition at centre stage. Dunstan, Laurel, Philip and Zainab feature as campaign ambassadors and tell their individual stories of what it's really like to live with sickle cell.
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Content ArticleOver the past 12 years, the number of emergency hospital admissions in England has increased by 42%, from 4.25 million in 2006/07 to 6.02 million in 2017/18. Over 60% of patients admitted to hospital as an emergency have one or more long-term health conditions such as asthma, diabetes or mental illness. Patients with long-term conditions spend under 1% of their time in contact with health professionals. The majority of their care, such as monitoring their symptoms and administering medication and treatment, comprises tasks they or their carers manage on a daily basis. To find out how able patients currently feel to manage their health conditions, the Health Foundation looked at Patient Activation Measure (PAM) scores, which assess four levels of knowledge, skill and confidence in self-management, for over 9,000 adults with long-term conditions. In this briefing, the Health Foundation assesses the evidence for the effectiveness of a range of approaches the NHS could use more often to support patients to manage their health conditions. These include: health coaching, self-management support through apps, social prescribing initiatives and peer support including via online communities.
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Content ArticleFor many years the NHS has talked about the need to shift towards a more personalised approach to health and care so that people have the same choice and control over their mental and physical health that they have come to expect in every other part of their life. And as local health and care organisations work together more closely than ever before, they are recognising the power of individuals as the best integrators of their own care. This document sets out how the NHS Long Term Plan commitments for personalised care will be delivered. It introduces the comprehensive model for personalised care, comprising six, evidence-based standard components, intended to improve health and wellbeing outcomes and quality of care, whilst also enhancing value for money. Implementation will be guided by delivery partnerships with local government,
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Content ArticleThis report by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) has been published as part of a local pilot, which has been launched to evaluate HSIB’s ability to carry out effective investigations occurring between specific hospitals and trusts. After an evaluation, it will be decided whether this model can be implemented more widely by HSIB. This investigation reviewed the case of a woman who was taken to an emergency department by ambulance in April 2021, following a 999 call from her Granddaughter to the emergency operations centre. The emergency operations centre used the wrong NHS number for the patient, which was assigned to her for the duration of her stay in hospital and led to her being offered incorrect medication.
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Content ArticleThe use of healthcare complaints to improve quality and safety has been limited by a lack of reliable analysis tools and uncertainty about the insights that can be obtained. The Healthcare Complaints Analysis Tool, developed by Alex Gillespie and Tom W. Reader was used to analyse a benchmark national data set, conceptualise a systematic analysis, and identify the added value of complaint data.
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Content ArticlePatients and families are important contributors to the diagnostic team, but their perspectives are not reflected in current diagnostic measures. Patients/families can identify some breakdowns in the diagnostic process beyond the clinician’s view. Bell et al. developed a framework with patients/families to help organisations identify and categorise patient-reported diagnostic process-related breakdowns (PRDBs) to inform organisational learning. The framework describes 7 patient-reported breakdown categories (with 40 subcategories), 19 patient-identified contributing factors and 11 potential patient-reported impacts. Patients identified breakdowns in each step of the diagnostic process, including missing or inaccurate main concerns and symptoms; missing/outdated test results; and communication breakdowns such as not feeling heard or misalignment between patient and provider about symptoms, events, or their significance. The PRDB framework can help organisations identify and reliably categorise PRDBs, including some that are invisible to clinicians; guide interventions to engage patients and families as diagnostic partners; and inform whole organisational learning.
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Content ArticleCurrent UK health policy recommends the transition of maternity services towards provision of Midwifery Continuity of Carer (MCoCer) models. Quality of healthcare is correlated with the quality of leadership and management yet there is little evidence available to identify what is required from midwifery managers when implementing and sustaining MCoCer. Turner et al. developed a theoretical framework that represents midwifery managers’ experiences of implementing and sustaining MCoCer models within the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).
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Content ArticleThe direction of hospital design is taking a turn for the practical as a surge of institutions are updating their infrastructure and responding to demands for more outpatient facilities. Beyond aesthetics, hospitals are seeking architectural updates that improve safety, patient and staff satisfaction, and friendliness to the environment. Infection control, lighting conditions, noise level, air quality, and patient room design are just some of the factors that are considered.
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Content Article
Parkinson’s is the fastest growing neurological condition in the world. It affects young or old, and in the UK around 145,000 people are living with the condition. With population growth and ageing, this figure is estimated to increase by 20%, within the next ten years. Currently there is no cure for Parkinson’s, but medication plays a vital role in managing symptoms and preventing deterioration. In this blog, Laura Cockram, Head of Policy and Campaigning at Parkinson's UK, talks about: How people with Parkinson’s can prepare their medication to go into hospital. Resources that can support you. -
Content ArticleSecond harm is the added psychological distress from an inadequate response by healthcare providers in response to medical errors or neglect. This inadequate response may require patients to seek counselling. The counselling needs of patients who have experienced second harm have received limited research attention. This Q methodology study addresses this gap in knowledge in order to further inform counselling practice.
