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Found 1,293 results
  1. News Article
    A life-saving campaign is being launched by the NHS to urge people to learn how to spot signs of a heart attack. The survival rate for heart attack sufferers is seven in 10, rising to nine in 10 for those who have early hospital treatment. The most common sign of a heart attack is chest pain, but other symptoms to look out for include chest, arm, jaw, neck, back and stomach pain, lightheadedness or dizziness, sweating, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, anxiety, coughing and wheezing. The health service are encouraging anyone experiencing these indicators to call 999. It comes after a poll found found that fewer than half of people knew to dial 999 if they or a loved one experienced the more vague signs of a heart attack. Another priority of the campaign is to teach people how to differentiate between a heart attack and cardiac arrest. According to the health service, there is often no warning and the person quickly loses consciousness when they suffer cardiac arrest. Those experiencing a cardiac arrest will usually die within minutes if they do not receive treatment. It also points out that a heart attack can lead to a cardiac arrest. NHS medical director Professor Stephen Powis said: “Sadly, cardiovascular disease causes a quarter of all deaths across the country and we have identified this as the single biggest area where we can save lives over the next decade. Read full story Source: 13 February 2022
  2. News Article
    Unable to move and with her newborn baby crying out of reach, Neya Joshi was left alone for hours on an understaffed maternity ward and had to beg for a glass of water. “It was awful, I was so helpless and so desperate, and no one was interested in helping me. I have never felt fear like it,” she said. The medical copywriter, 30, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder months after giving birth to her son Arjun at Croydon University Hospital in May 2020 and had therapy for a year to recover from the trauma. She is one of thousands of mothers across the country experiencing poorer care because maternity units lack enough staff. Data from 122 NHS trusts in England shows maternity units were forced to shut their doors to women in labour more than 323 times in 2020-21, with units shut for a total of 16,294 hours, the equivalent of 679 days. When this happens women are forced to go to an alternative hospital to give birth. Staffing shortages were given as a reason in more than two-fifths of the closures. Joshi saw first hand the impact of a lack of midwives when she was admitted to hospital to be induced after her waters broke at the height of the pandemic. Visiting restrictions meant she was alone on a ward for 24 hours and, despite being told she was a high priority, there were no free beds. “After they had started the induction I was told someone would come and check me within six hours but no one came and I was just left on my own for hours,” she said. Eventually, after concerns over her baby’s heart rate, she had an emergency caesarean section but her husband was then made to leave an hour later. “I was taken to the postnatal ward and that’s where it all really went downhill,” she said. “It was awful. I was just lying there. I couldn’t move because I had the epidural and my baby was crying." Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 6 February 2022
  3. News Article
    Nightclubs have reopened, concerts have been given the go-ahead and football stadiums are welcoming fans - but there are still restrictions on face-to-face GP consultations. Only a limited number of patients are being invited into surgeries, where there continue to be strict rules on physical distancing. Edinburgh GP Dr Carey Lunan says she understands why the situation is confusing. "The difference between a healthcare setting and, say, a restaurant or a football stadium, is that we have people coming into our building who are much more vulnerable and frail and don't have a choice in being unwell," she tells BBC Scotland. "So we have to have higher levels of safety than a setting where people can choose to go, knowing that there may be a little bit of risk." According to the British Medical Association's Dr Andrew Buist, the balance between telephone and in-person consultations should continue to adjust as we move out of the pandemic, guided by evidence. But many patients will "very easily" have their needs met by phone appointments. So-called telephone triage - where patients are assessed over the phone before being invited into the building - has now become the norm. "For a lot of patients it works really well if it's a simple problem and it means not having to take time off work or travel," says Dr Lunan. "It works less well if English isn't their first language or they've not got the privacy at home to have a conversation about something that is a bit more sensitive, if it's a very complex issue or it's just not clear what the diagnosis is." She adds: "We deal with things when someone comes in with problem A, but actually we end up having a conversation about problem B when they are in the room with us. "It is much more challenging to do that kind of health care on the phone and I think we just need to be honest that there are limitations. Dr Lunan says she hopes a return to more face-to-face appointments will come "in the not too distant future. I miss seeing patients if I'm honest," she says. "When we get to the point where we are able to bring in more people we will welcome that because it feels like a treat at the moment." Read full story Source: BBC News, 25 January 2022
  4. News Article
    The public are being urged not to put off seeking help for worrying cancer symptoms because of NHS pressures. NHS England chiefs said record numbers were being seen for check-ups before Omicron hit - and despite the current situation cancer was being prioritised. There have been nearly 50,000 fewer cancer diagnoses across the UK since the start of the pandemic, Macmillan Cancer Support say. This risks an increase in late-stage diagnoses, reducing survival chances. Past surveys have suggested people are reluctant to come forward during surges in Covid cases because they did not want to be a burden to the health service. NHS England said record numbers had had urgent cancer check-ups in November when 246,000 saw a consultant after a referral by a GP - although just over three quarters of these were seen in the target time of two weeks. NHS England cancer director Dame Cally Palmer added it was vital people did not delay now even though hospitals were under huge strain. "NHS staff are working hard to ensure that those who are coming forward for checks can be seen quickly so that cancer can be caught at an earlier stage." She said common symptoms to look out for included diarrhoea that lasts for three weeks or more, new lumps or bumps and unexplained weight loss or fatigue. Read full story Source: BBC News, 2o January 2022
  5. News Article
    NHS dentistry is "hanging by a thread" with some patients facing two-year waits for check-ups, the British Dental Association has said. Department of Health data analysed by the BBC shows almost 1,000 dentists working in 2,500 roles across England and Wales left the NHS last year. One woman told how she had been in pain for more than a year while waiting to have root canal surgery. NHS England said patients who most needed care should be prioritised. Pamela Carr, 58, from Carlisle, has been looking for an NHS dentist to fix her root canal since November 2020. "I've become used to the pain," she said. "I can't afford the private care, and I've tried every practice within 30 miles. I phoned NHS England too." "They said there's nothing they can do because there are no NHS dentists. That was the end of the conversation." Clinical Commissioning Group North Cumbria, which covers the area, lost 4% of its dentists in the last year. The worst-affected area was NHS Portsmouth CCG, which lost 26% of its NHS dentists over 12 months. At least 10% of NHS dentists were lost in 28 other English CCGs. Read full story Source: BBC News, 19 January 2022
  6. News Article
    GPs should regularly review self-harm patients and offer a specific CBT intervention, according to a consultation on the first new guidance for self-harm to be drawn up in 11 years. The new draft guidance emphasises the importance of referring patients to specialist mental health services, but stresses that, for patients who are treated in primary care, continuity is crucial. If someone who has self-harmed is being treated in primary care, GPs must ensure regular follow-up appointments and reviews of self-harm behaviour, as well as a medicines review, the draft guideline say. They must also provide care for coexisting mental health issues, including referral to mental health services where appropriate, as well as information, social care, voluntary and non-NHS sector support and self-help resources. The guidance says that referring people to mental health services would ‘ensure people are in the most appropriate setting’. However, the committee agreed that ‘if people are being cared for in primary care following an episode of self-harm, there should be continuity of care and regular reviews of factors relating to their self-harm to ensure that the person who has self-harmed feels supported and engaged with services’. The draft guidance, out for consultation until 1 March, also says ambulance staff should suggest self-harming patients see their GP to maximise the chance of engagement with services. It says: ‘When attending a person who has self-harmed but who does not need urgent physical care, ambulance staff and paramedics should discuss with the person (and any relevant services) if it is possible for the person to be assessed or treated by an appropriate alternative service, such as a specialist mental health service or their GP.’ It notes that ‘ambulance staff often felt that the emergency department was not the preferred place that the person who had self-harmed wanted to be taken. They agreed that referral to alternative services could facilitate the person’s engagement with services’. Read full story Source: Pulse, 18 January 2022
  7. News Article
    NHS England has encouraged trusts to consider taking legal action against patients who refuse to leave hospital beds when step-down care is made available. NHSE guidance sent to trusts late last year, seen by HSJ, advised clinicians that where people “with mental capacity” refuse to vacate a bed because they do not accept NHS-funded short-term care offers, the “local discharge choice policy” should be followed, which could involve legal action. The guidance said the process “may include seeking an order for possession of the hospital bed” under civil law, and that “appropriate formal notification of the process must be given to the person and their representatives/carers”. These legal powers were open to trusts prior to covid, but the memo from NHSE comes amid increasing pressure on trusts to improve discharge rates, as waits for emergency and elective care continue to soar. Helen Hughes, chief executive of Patient Safety Learning, said: “Given the current pressures posed by covid, it is understandable that the NHS is seeking to ensure that the hospital discharge process is as swift and effective as possible. “However, hospital discharges are complex processes and can potentially result in avoidable harm if patients are discharged before they are clinically ready. It only takes one element of this complex process failing to put a patient’s safety at risk. “We would be particularly concerned if patients and their carers were put under pressure to accept potentially unsafe discharge options due to the threat of possible legal action by an NHS trust.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 14 January 2022
  8. News Article
    NHS England is urging health systems to ramp up physical health checks for people with severe mental illnesses to address a widening life expectancy gap caused by covid, according to a letter seen by HSJ. In a letter circulated to integrated care system leads, chairs, mental health and community trust executives on Wednesday, national commissioners warn the impact of the pandemic may widen current gaps in life expectancy for people with SMI and learning disabilities even further, without “decisive and proactive action”. The letter, circulated by national mental health director Claire Murdoch, learning disability and autism director Tom Cahill and inequalities director Bola Owolabi, quotes NHS data suggesting people with SMI are five-and-a-half times more likely to die prematurely and those with learning disabilities three times more likely to die from an avoidable cause of death. It says: ”The health inequalities faced by people living with SMI and people with a learning disability are stark… The impacts of the pandemic will widen this gap further unless we take decisive and proactive action to address inequalities… These checks are a key lever to address the reduced life expectancy for both groups.” It calls on primary care teams, already delivering thousands of covid vaccinations as part of the booster programme, to prioritise annual physical health checks alongside the rollout, “even as we continue with a level 4 national incident” caused by the omicron variant. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 14 January 2022
  9. News Article
    Hospitals across Kent, Sussex and Surrey are being asked to discharge hundreds of patients who are well enough to leave by Friday. The head of NHS South East, Anne Eden, said the beds are needed to deal with an expected surge in admissions of people ill with the Omicron variant. The NHS nationally has agreed to a reduction of 30% of such patients based on the baseline figure of 13 December. South East hospitals are being asked to make a 50% reduction by 31 January. In a letter seen by the BBC, Ms Eden said: "This is in order to create the headroom to manage any further Covid pressures, with current modelling indicating a peak in Covid activity in mid-January." She wrote: "It is now critical that we redouble our efforts to discharge those patients who no longer require bedded care, to create capacity, improve flow and reduce the pressure on staff." Ms Eden said staff absences and the need to maintain delivery of critical care for patients mean the NHS "must continue to focus on creating the necessary capacity to meet demand". "Failure to do this will significantly increase the risk of a further rise in patient harm," she said. She said hospitals must work with partners, including social care providers, to achieve the reduction in the number of patients in hospital who were well enough to be discharged. Read full story Source: BBC News, 10 January 2022
  10. News Article
    NHS England’s plans to rapidly expand virtual wards are being ‘hastily rolled out’ and could put patients at risk while taking up significant staffing capacity, leading clinicians have warned. The Society for Acute Medicine and the Royal College of Physicians are among those who have raised concerns to HSJ about the huge increase in the use of the virtual wards model, under which patients are discharged home and given oximeters that fit on their finger so they can be remotely monitored by clinical staff. The concerns follow NHSE ordering trusts to ensure a minimum of 15% of hospital covid patients were being treated in virtual wards, in plans to help ease pressures on hospital wards announced just before Christmas. At the time NHSE announced the plans there were around 7,000 covid inpatients in English NHS hospitals, meaning around 1,000 patients should be in virtual wards. But the covid inpatient figure had more than doubled to nearly 16,000 by 5 January. The project is hugely significant because NHSE and trust chiefs want to use virtual wards much more widely – including for non-covid patients – and believe they represent a potentially game-changing option when it comes to alleviating pressure on hospitals and speeding up discharges. Many of the clinicians who spoke to HSJ were supportive of the principle of virtual wards but had serious concerns about the speed and timing of the rollout. They said there was a lack of evidence the approach was safe. Society for Acute Medicine president Tim Cooksley said virtual wards had potential for the future but that they “simply cannot be seen as a short-term mitigation measure which can be hastily rolled out mid-pandemic”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 7 January 2022
  11. News Article
    Ambulance trusts have begun asking patients with heart attacks and strokes to get a lift to hospital with family or friends instead of waiting for an ambulance, because of high covid absences and ‘unprecedented’ surges in demand, HSJ has learned. An internal note at North East Ambulance Service Foundation Trust said that where there was likely to be a risk from the delay in an ambulance reaching a patient, call handlers should “consider asking the patient to be transported by friends or family”. This applies to calls including category two, which covers suspected strokes and heart attacks, according to the note seen by HSJ. It said call handlers should “consider all forms of alternative transport” for patients. The note from medical director Mathew Beattie gives the example of a person with chest pain who would normally get a category 2 response – with a target of reaching them within 18 minutes – but where the ambulance response time would be two hours. In the message to staff, Dr Mathew Beattie said: “To manage [current] unprecedented demand, we have no other option than to try and work differently which I am aware will not sit comfortably but is absolutely essential if we are to sustain a service to those who need it most." “We need to weigh up the risk of delays for ambulances against alternative disposition or transport options. Where such risks are considered, I want you to be aware that the trust will fully support you in your decision-making under these circumstances.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 4 January 2022
  12. News Article
    Patients in the US are able to order “don’t weigh me” cards to take to the doctors in a move aimed at reducing anxiety and stress on a visit. The US group behind the initiative said being weighed and talking about weight “causes feelings of stress and shame for many people”. The cards say: “Please don’t weigh me unless it is (really) medically necessary.” It adds: “If you really need my weight, please tell me why so that I can give you my informed consent”. On the other side, it explains why the patient may not want to be weighed, including “when you focus on my weight I get stressed” and “weighing me every time I come in for an appointment and talking about my weight like it’s a problem perpetuates weight stigma”. It also says most health conditions can be addressed without knowing the patient’s weight. Public Health England guidance to health and care professionals says they are in a “unique position to talk to patients about weight management to prevent ill-health” and recommends brief interventions. It says the first step in a brief intervention over a patient’s weight is to weigh and measure them. “You should view this as a normal part of a routine consultation,” it says. Read full story Source: The Independent, 23 December 2021
  13. News Article
    Chest pains for a 63-year-old man might typically mean a hospital trip to check it out. But after Clive Pietzka's 999 call, an advanced paramedic practitioner carried out tests and discharged him. The Welsh Ambulance Service Trust (WAST) job is one of those in a growing team who work to keep people out of hospital. Solutions like this are being sought following ambulance queues for hospital and worst ever performance figures. Mr Pietzka, from Barry, who has a heart problem, said initially he did not want to call an ambulance because of high demand. "They're very busy with Covid and everything else. But the GP practice said to call 999," he said. However, on this occasion a rapid response vehicle - a car with a single paramedic - came within 15-20 minutes and tests were performed, without a hospital trip. Advanced paramedic practitioner John McAllister who attended said he sees people more medical low acuity cases rather than emergency and trauma conditions. "I use assessment techniques and diagnostic tools to assess patients, formulate a diagnosis then put a plan in place," he said. "It's about trying to treat them at the right time and the right place, without having to take them to A&E." Adding to the pressure of the pandemic and winter demand, a shortage of social care workers to support patients' safe discharge means a large number of patients find themselves in hospital longer than medically necessary. The knock-on impact means it is becoming harder for new patients to be treated and admitted. Penny Durrant, the service manager for the clinical support desk at WAST regional headquarters in Cwmbran, said current challenges had led to growth in her team. She said it was a "recognition of needing to do something different". Read full story Source: BBC News, 21 December 2021
  14. News Article
    A severe shortage of midwives has led to home birth services being closed or reduced by a number of hospital trusts across the UK, with pregnant women frequently left in limbo as to where they will be able to give birth. The Observer has found more than 20 trusts that have had disrupted home birth services in the past three months. Eight confirmed their services remain suspended due to staff shortages. They include East Kent Hospitals, Swansea Bay University Health Board and NHS Dumfries and Galloway – all of which report that the situation is under constant review. Home birth services at some trusts, such as Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and University Hospitals of Derby and Burton, have been closed since August. Others have reopened after short suspensions or have written to expectant parents to say they cannot guarantee sending a midwife when there is high demand or staff shortages. The findings come a week after midwives across Britain staged protests to call on the government to address the “crisis” in maternity care, with staff suffering from chronic burnout and stress. Midwives are being driven out of the NHS by understaffing and fears they cannot deliver safe care, according to a recent survey published by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM). Maria Booker, programmes director at the charity Birthrights, said: “Staffing pressures in maternity services are very real right now. But for many women the option to give birth at home is not a luxury but the only option that feels safe to them." “Some know they will labour better at home while some do not want to visit hospital during a pandemic. Others have a had a previous traumatic hospital birth. We cannot just accept that home birth and other choices go out the window every time a maternity service is squeezed.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 28 November 2021
  15. News Article
    Press release: 23 November 2021 We are pleased to announce that Patient Safety Learning is now a member of National Voices, the leading coalition of health and social care charities in England. Members of National Voices work together to strengthen the voice of patients, service users, carers, their families and the voluntary organisations that work for them. Commenting on today’s announcement, Patient Safety Learning’s Chief Executive Helen Hughes said: “We are delighted to have joined National Voices. To reduce avoidable harm in health and social care we all need to work in partnership to identify patient safety concerns, highlight where changes are needed and share good practice, to help deliver the systemic change required to create a patient-safe future. We look forward to working closely with partners in National Voices going forward to help improve patient safety.” Notes to editors: Patient Safety Learning is a charity and independent voice for improving patient safety. We harness the knowledge, insights, enthusiasm and commitment of health and social care organisations, professionals and patients for system-wide change and the reduction of avoidable harm. National Voices is the leading coalition of health and social care charities in England. We have more than 180 members covering a diverse range of health conditions and communities, connecting us with the experiences of millions of people. We work together to strengthen the voice of patients, service users, carers, their families and the voluntary organisations that work for them.
  16. News Article
    The NHS is to introduce a revolutionary new treatment to tackle the leading genetic cause of death among babies and young children. About 1,500 patients in England with certain types of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) are expected to benefit from risdiplam, after a recommendation from the health watchdog. The drug, also called Evrysdi and made by Roche, is a syrup that can be taken at home and is the first non-injectable treatment for the condition. SMA is a progressive neuromuscular condition affecting the nerves in the spinal cord controlling movement and can cause paralysis, muscle weakness and progressive loss of mobility. The NHS England chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, said: “In the last three years the NHS has revolutionised care for people with SMA, by securing access to a trio of innovative treatments – Spinraza, Zolgensma and now risdiplam – where three years ago clinicians had no effective medicines at all. “Spinal muscular atrophy is a cruel disease and the leading genetic cause of death among babies and young children, which is why NHS England has been determined to make these treatments available to people as soon as possible to help transform the lives of patients and their families.” Meindert Boysen, the deputy chief executive of NICE, said the watchdog was pleased to recommend a “convenient oral treatment for people with SMA that can be administered at home”. He said: “This will not only be less burdensome, and therefore have a positive impact on the lives of both people with SMA and their caregivers, but it will also reduce the treatment administration requirements for the NHS. “In practical terms, the availability of an oral drug should lead to greater adherence to treatment, along with giving access to a treatment to those who aren’t able to have other currently recommended options.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 19 November 2021
  17. News Article
    An NHS ambulance service boss has urged 999 callers to not hang up as "there may be a delay before we pick up". The East of England Ambulance Service (EEAS) said demands on the health service meant it was extremely busy. Marcus Bailey, EEAS chief operating officer, said delays were due to a "combination" of Covid, winter pressures and recruitment. He said the service planned to recruit 100 call-handlers over the next few months to help ease pressure. The EEAS has published posters online telling emergency callers to be patient. The service covers Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Mr Bailey told BBC Look East: "It's about us warning people who are phoning 999 that it's really busy and at some points there may be a delay before we pick up the 999 call. "Remain on the line, don't hang up, and we will get to you as soon as possible." Read full story Source: BBC News, 9 November 2021
  18. News Article
    Last week a receptionist saved a patient’s life. She put him straight into a face-to-face appointment early in the day. The doctor saw him and sent him to A&E urgently. He was operated on the same day. Receptionists are are given an impossible task, to fit a large number of patients into a small number of slots, and they have to stay calm. When the slots run out – which sometimes happens by 9am – they then have to persuade one of the doctors, already at the end of their tether, to add any patient they are especially worried about to their list. So it’s not surprising that when during the early part of the pandemic demand for appointments dropped by 30%, some very stressed and overworked GPs found their lives were a lot nicer without patients. And now that appointment levels have finally (as of May 2021) gone back to normal levels, some are finding the demand very difficult to cope with. This could explain GPs’ persistence at keeping patients at arms length. Telephone consultations are less intense somehow, less tiring. Some GPs feel they can control the day better by using telephone consultations and only bringing in some patients. But patients are experiencing this persistent distancing as rejection. And these rejections are hurtful. Some people have held on to problems for six months or more and then finally felt free to book an appointment when the restrictions ended in August. Except the restrictions haven’t ended, not in general practice. GPs seem unable to let the remote triage go. GPs say: “We are seeing patients face-to-face. We’ve been seeing them throughout the pandemic,” which is true. But only some patients. Plenty of patients who would have benefitted from a face-to-face appointment or an examination have not been seen. Patients are not idiots. They know telephone consultations are not as good. They know, especially older patients, that proper doctoring involves an examination. They know that the rapport and connection with a doctor can only come from a face-to-face appointments. And they wish to book an appointment with their GP themselves, without facing multiple barriers. Read full story Source: The Independent, 6 November 2021
  19. News Article
    From next month, patients will be able to access all new entries in their online health records, if their GP practice use TPP or EMIS IT systems. According to NHS Digital, patients who use online accounts – such as the NHS App – and whose surgery uses TPP, will be able to view entries from December 2021 onwards. While, patients on an EMIS system should expect to see theirs from ‘early 2022’. Practices which use the Vision system are still currently in discussions over access. NHS Digital says that patients will not be able to see specific personal information, such as positive test results, until they have been ‘checked and filed’, so that GPs have the opportunity to contact them first. The body adds that the move, ‘supports NHS Long Term Plan commitments to provide patients with digital access to their health records’, and also shares its aim for patients to be able to request their historic coded records from 2022, through the NHS App. As ’80 per cent of the 18 million NHS App users’ are said to want ‘easy access to their health records and personal information’, it’s hoped that the initiative will reduce queries around negative test results and referrals, and encourage patient awareness and empowerment in regards to their health. However, NHS Digital does advise General Practice staff to ‘be aware that patients will be able to see their future records’, and to ensure ‘sensitive information is redacted as it is entered’ into systems, with a support package and training sessions available to guide clinicians and staff in these areas. Read full story Source: Health Tech Newspaper, 5 November 2021
  20. News Article
    Huge waiting lists have left patients questioning whether their lives are worth living, a surgeon has warned. Paul Williams, an orthopaedic surgeon at Neath Port Talbot Hospital, dubbed the effect of long delays on mental and physical health "horrific". A health think-tank said waiting times were the biggest challenge the NHS in Wales has ever faced. The Welsh government said it wanted to "radically transform" how healthcare was delivered. Mr Williams said: "To be living with pain from an arthritic joint is terrible. "We sent out a questionnaire recently and many of the patients have actually replied that they're questioning if their life is worth living because of the pain they're in." The latest figures for the Welsh NHS showed another record high for those waiting for hospital treatment. The number of patients waiting more than 36 weeks has grown from 25,634 in February 2020 to 243,674 by August 2021. The longest waits included 56,279 people who needed orthopaedic or trauma treatment. Read full story Source: BBC News, 3 November 2021
  21. News Article
    The BMA has advised practices to immediately start offering consultations of 15 minutes or more; and apply to close their patient list, as part of the fightback against the Government’s new GP access plan. It set out a range of measures GPs should take to protect their staff and patients and ‘prioritise’ core work amid pressure to return to pre-pandemic ways of working. In an email bulletin sent to GPs on Friday, the BMA’s GP Committee said that practices ‘should not feel pressured to return to a traditional 10-minute treadmill of face-to-face consultations that are neither good for patients nor clinicians’. It said: ‘Instead, they should offer patients consultations that are 15 minutes or more [and] apply to close the practice list to focus on the needs of existing patients.’ Read full article here Original source: Pulse
  22. News Article
    This survey looks at the experiences of people who stayed at least one night in hospital as an inpatient. The results show that, generally, people’s experiences of inpatient care were positive and overall differences between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients were small, suggesting that care provided was consistent. Most people said they were treated with respect and dignity, had confidence and trust in the doctors and nurses that treated them and observed high levels of cleanliness. Survey findings were less positive, however, for areas of care including people’s experiences of receiving emotional support, information sharing and hospital discharge. For the detailed findings, click here Original source: Care Quality Commission
  23. News Article
    Police forces will be able to “strong-arm” NHS bodies into handing over confidential patient data under planned laws that have sparked fury from doctors’ groups and the UK’s medical watchdog. Ministers are planning new powers for police forces that would “set aside” the existing duty of confidentiality that applies to patient data held by the NHS and will instead require NHS organisations to hand over data police say they need to prevent serious violence. Last week, England’s national data guardian, Dr Nicola Byrne, told The Independent she had serious concerns about the impact of the legislation going through parliament, and warned that the case for introducing the sweeping powers had not been made. Now the UK’s medical watchdog, the General Medical Council (GMC), has also criticised the new law, proposals for which are contained in the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill, warning it fails to protect patients’ sensitive information and could disproportionately hit some groups and worsen inequalities. Read full story Source: The Independent, 18 October 2021
  24. News Article
    A patients' group says it is concerned over a lack of access to NHS dentists in South Gloucestershire after two surgeries turned private. Frampton and Flaxpits surgeries say NHS targets can not be reached without putting patients and staff at risk. and they must go private to survive. Vicky Marriott, of Healthwatch, an independent statutory body representing patients, said not having an option to have NHS care was a "real concern". In a letter to patients, Dr Dimitri Haddjeri, dentist at Framptom and Flaxpits surgeries, said "target-driven, high-volume dentistry" was "not fit for purpose" and did not put the patient first. He said NHS targets could not be reached without putting patients and staff at risk. Ms Marriott said there were "enormous problems" for people trying to find NHS care across South Gloucestershire, Bristol and North Somerset. "Between July and September this year, in Bristol alone, we've had 73 people contact us saying that they've been emailing or phoning every single dental practice to see if they can get treatment and haven't been able to," she said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 13 October 2021
  25. News Article
    "There can be no debate: this is now much, much worse than the first wave", says a NHS consultant. "Truly, I never imagined it would be this bad. Once again Covid has spread out along the hospital, the disease greedily taking over ward after ward. Surgical, paediatric, obstetric, orthopaedic; this virus does not discriminate between specialities. Outbreaks bloom even in our “clean” areas and the disease is even more ferociously infectious. Although our local tests do not differentiate strains, I presume this is the new variant. The patients are younger this time around too, and there are so many of them. They are sick. We are full." Read full story Source: The Guardian, 7 January 2020
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