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Found 1,294 results
  1. 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
  2. News Article
    Patients in hospital with coronavirus should be offered a follow-up six weeks later to check for "long Covid" symptoms, doctors are being advised. The guidance, drawn up by health officials across the UK, says the long-term effects can be "significant". They identified 28 of the most common symptoms, from breathlessness and dizziness to chest pain. Mental health problems including depression, anxiety and struggling to think clearly, have also been reported. "Because this is a new condition, there is still much that we don't know about it," said Paul Chrisp of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which produces health guidance. The NHS has opened 69 specialist clinics across England to offer rehabilitation to people recovering from the disease. Read full story Source: BBC News, 18 December 2020
  3. News Article
    The increase in the number of remote GP consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic has not appeared to increase A&E attendances, according to the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The regulatory body discussed concerns about access to GP services during its September meeting, including the suggestion that the increase in remote consultations and a perceived lack of face-to-face appointments were potentially leading to ‘increased attendance at A&E’. However, chief inspector Rosie Benneyworth has confirmed that – having looked into this – the organisation has ‘not seen evidence’ to suggest a link between the two. Despite this, she noted ‘anecdotal concern’ about people attending A&E departments if they ‘feel their needs are not being met elsewhere’. GPs have faced media criticism in the past few months for the perception that they have are failing to provide face-to-face appointments, with some believing that patients attend A&E as a result. Minutes from the September CQC board meeting said: ‘Concerns about access to GP services were… discussed, including the suggestion that digital appointments were not meeting the needs of some patients and how this could potentially lead to increased attendance at A&E. Work to quantify the extent of the problem and to monitor it was underway.’ But Dr Benneyworth told Pulse this week: ‘While there may be some anecdotal concern about people attending Emergency Department (ED) if they feel their needs are not being met elsewhere, we have not seen evidence to suggest a link between digital appointments and ED attendance. The latest figures also show there has not been a sharp rise in online/video appointments (according to NHS Digital they are not currently at pre-COVID-19 levels). Read full story Source: Pulse, 7 December 2020
  4. News Article
    PRESS RELEASE (London, UK, 19 November 2020) – The charity Patient Safety Learning and the Royal College of GPs have published new guidance to help patients with post COVID-19 syndrome (also known as Long COVID) understand the support they can expect from their GP. This guidance draws on the RCGP's recent summary and top tips for GPs caring for patients with post COVID-19 syndrome. Both these documents have been produced in advance of more detailed national guidance being developed by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the Royal College of GPs, due to be published in December 2020. Helen Hughes, Chief Executive of Patient Safety Learning, said: “We have used the RCGP’s guidance to produce a simple patient-friendly guide to help support people living with Long COVID in the interim period before more detailed guidance is produced by NICE. We hope that this guidance will empower and inform patients, providing them with an evidence-based document that can be shared with those around them. We believe that this will also help raise awareness of the health challenges these patients are facing so that their health and recovery needs can be better met.” Professor Martin Marshall, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “It’s important that patients experiencing debilitating prolonged effects of Covid-19, which we know affect a small but significant number of people who have had the virus, feel that they have the understanding and support of the GPs and other healthcare professionals delivering their care. To this end we hope this guidance is helpful for them. The RCGP is working hard to ensure that the long term effects of Covid-19 are recognised, especially in those who were never admitted to hospital, and that our GP members have interim guidance whilst waiting for formal national guidance, currently being developed by NICE, SIGN and the College, to be published.” Notes to editors: 1. The new Patient Safety Learning and RCGP guidance can be found here: Post COVID-19 syndrome: What support can patients expect from their GP? 2. 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. We believe patient safety is not just another priority; it is a core purpose of health and social care. Patient safety should not be negotiable. 3. The RCGP guidance for GPs can be found here: RCGP, Management of the long term effects of COVID-19. The RCGP response and top tips for caring for our patients, V1 30 October 2020.
  5. News Article
    A hospital trust in Bristol has been accused of risking lives after raising its patient-to-nurse ward ratio to dangerously high levels, having allegedly dismissed staff concerns and national guidance on safe staffing. University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) has introduced a blanket policy across its hospitals that assigns one nurse to 10 patients (1:10) for all general adult wards. This ratio, which previously stood at 1:6 or 1:8 depending on the ward, rises to 1:12 for nights shifts. The new policy, which is applicable to Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) and Weston General Hospital, also extends to all specialist high-care wards, which treat patients with life-threatening conditions such as epilepsy and anaphylaxis. Nurses at the trust have expressed their anger over the decision, saying they were never fully consulted by senior officials. Many are fearful that patient safety will be compromised as the second coronavirus wave intensifies, culminating in the unnecessary loss of life. “Patients who would have extra nursing staff because they are very acutely unwell and need close observation I think are going to unnecessarily die,” one nurse at BRI told The Independent. “Or if they survive, they’ll suffer long-term conditions because things were missed as they don’t have the staff at their bed side to watch the deterioration.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 18 November 2020
  6. News Article
    Nurses will be allowed to look after two critically ill COVID-19 patients at the same time after NHS bosses relaxed the rule requiring one-to-one treatment in intensive care as hospitals come under intense strain. NHS England has decided to temporarily suspend the 1:1 rule as the number of people who are in hospital very sick with Covid has soared to 11,514, of whom 986 are on a ventilator. The move comes amid concern that intensive care units, which went into the pandemic already short of nurses, are being hit by staff being off sick or isolating as a result of Covid. It follows a warning last week by Prof Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, that the Covid resurgence could overwhelm the NHS. Dr Alison Pittard, the dean of the Faculty of Intensive Care, which represents doctors in ICUs, welcomed the shift to a more “flexible” nurse/patient staffing ratio in critical care. But she said it must be used only for as long as the second wave is putting units under serious pressure. “Covid has placed the NHS, and critical care in particular, in an unenviable position and we must admit everyone for whom the benefits of critical care outweigh the burdens. This means relaxing the normal staffing ratios to meet this demand in such a way that delivers safe care, but also takes account of the impact this may have on staff health and wellbeing." “The 1:2 ratio is a maximum ratio, to be used only to support Covid activity, [and] not for planned care, and is not sustainable in the long term. This protects staff and patients”, she said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 8 November 2020
  7. News Article
    The government is facing criticism over its guidance on safe visits to care homes in England. Labour and a number of charities have described the suggestions, including floor-to-ceiling screens, designated visitor pods and window visits, as impractical. Alzheimer's Society has said it "completely misses the point". Justice Secretary Robert Buckland told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the guidance was "non-exhaustive". The updated government advice, which came into effect on Thursday, says care homes - especially those which have not allowed visits since March - "will be encouraged and supported to provide safe visiting opportunities". Labour's shadow care minister Liz Kendall said many care homes would not be able to comply with the government's requirements which meant "in reality thousands of families are likely to be banned from visiting their loved ones". She said instead of suggesting measures such as screens, the government should "designate a single family member as a key worker - making them a priority for weekly testing and proper PPE". Kate Lee, chief executive at Alzheimer's Society, said: "We're devastated by today's new care home visitor guidance - it completely misses the point: this attempt to protect people will kill them." She said the pandemic had left people with dementia isolated and thousands had died. The guidelines "completely ignore the vital role of family carers in providing the care for their loved ones with dementia that no one else can", she added. She said the "prison-style screens" proposed by the government with people speaking through phones were "frankly ridiculous when you consider someone with advanced dementia can often be bed-bound and struggling to speak". That view was echoed by Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, who said she was "acutely aware" that the methods being sanctioned were "unlikely to be useable by many older people with dementia, or indeed sensory loss". Read full story Source: BBC News, 5 November 2020
  8. News Article
    Trusts in more than half English local authorities still do not have an agreed safe place to discharge recovering covid patients to, despite the government asking councils to identify at least one such ‘designated setting’ by the end of October. The situation is leading to an increase in delayed discharges from hospital just as the service comes under increased pressure from the second covid wave and returning elective and emergency demand. In a letter last month, the government told local authorities to identify at least one “designated setting” – typically a care home – which hospitals could discharge covid positive patients to when they no longer need secondary care. The designated setting would also take discharged patients who had not received a negative covid test. The plan is designed to protect residents in other homes, after thousands of care home residents died due to outbreaks of the virus in the spring. But a well-placed source in the care sector told HSJ less than half of the 151 upper tier councils met the 31 October deadline, due to a range of reasons including insurance costs, fear of high mortality rates and reputational damage to the designated homes. It means that in many parts of the country, there are a lack of options when it comes to discharging patients, which is causing a rise in delayed discharges. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 5 November 2020
  9. News Article
    A woman has been arrested after attempting to take her 97-year-old mother out of a care home for lockdown. Qualified nurse Ylenia Angeli, 73, wanted to care for her mother, who has dementia, at home. But when she told staff at the care home, they called the police who then briefly arrested Ms Angeli. The family have not been able to see their elderly relative for nine months, and decided to act ahead of the second national lockdown. Assistant Chief Constable Chris Noble, from Humberside Police, said: "These are incredibly difficult circumstances and we sympathise with all families who are in this position." "We responded to a report of an assault at the care home, who are legally responsible for the woman's care and were concerned for her wellbeing. We understand that this is an emotional and difficult situation for all those involved and will continue to provide whatever support we can to both parties." The incident came to light on the day the government announced new rules for families wishing to visit their loved ones in care homes. Under the guidance, issued hours before lockdown, families can meet relatives through a window or in a secure outdoor setting. Visits will need to be booked in advance, but the Department of Health and Social Care advice said care homes "will be encouraged and supported to provide safe visiting opportunities". All care home residents are allowed to receive visits from friends and family during the second national lockdown. Read full story Source: Sky News, 5 November 2020
  10. News Article
    A qualitative study of Twitter hashtags revealed power hierarchies can damage the patient experience and clinician relationship. In an analysis of a popular Twitter hashtag, researchers found that patients largely take umbrage when they feel their doctor does not believe their ailment or knowledge about their healthcare, and when they perceive a power hierarchy between themselves and their clinician. Although not as many patients are using Twitter to get peer feedback on certain providers (the Binary Fountain poll showed only 21% of patients do this), the social media website still holds a lot of power, researchers from the University of California system explained. Twitter is a large platform that hosts social discourse. Healthcare professionals use Twitter to disseminate public health and patient education messages and to network, while 61% of patients use Twitter to learn more about their health, as well. Read full article Source: Patient Engagement HIT, 29 October 2020
  11. News Article
    A GP commissioning leader has publicly criticised hospital visiting rules at local hospitals, after hearing that a stroke patient was denied seeing family or friends for six weeks. Philip Stevens, a locality chair at Northamptonshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), described the situation reported to him by one of his patients as “heartbreaking”, and has challenged visiting policies at Northampton General Hospital and Kettering General Hospital trusts. During a CCG governing body meeting, Dr Stevens called for explanation from the county’s director of public health, Lucy Wightman, who said trusts could choose their own rules. Dr Stevens, who is also a GP at Brackley Medical Centre, argued that visitors were permitted in neighbouring counties, where he claimed there were similar covid case rates to Northamptonshire, which remains in tier 1 restrictions under the government’s framework. He said: “I’ve been dealing this week with a family who, the wife’s husband, has been in Northampton General for six weeks now and has had no visitors at all during that time. He’s had a profound stroke and when he comes home he’ll need considerable community support which ordinarily the family would have been trained in but discharge is planned without any of that training.” Mr Stevens said in an “adjacent county” hospital policy was that each patient would have ”one hour, one visitor each day” with 30-minutes in between visiting slots. While not named, trusts in neighbouring Cambridge and Lincolnshire both have policies that permit pre-booked visitors. He added: “When I heard this story it seemed heartbreaking to me for this woman and her husband and I just wonder whether that this is a situation we should be challenging, particularly since it appears that the public health advice in an adjacent county may be different to that which is being offered within Northamptonshire.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 27 October 2020
  12. News Article
    In ‘Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed For Men’ author Caroline Criado Perez writes about Rachael, a woman who suffered years of severe and incapacitating pain during her period. It takes, on average, eight years for women in the UK to obtain a diagnoses of endometriosis. In fact, for over a decade, there has been no improvement in diagnostic times for women living with the debilitating condition. You might think, given the difficulty so many women experience in having their symptoms translated into a diagnosis, that endometriosis is a rare condition that doctors perhaps don’t encounter all that often. Yet it is something that affects one in ten women – so what is going wrong? Read the full article here in The Scotsman
  13. News Article
    "Women may be suicidal or want to die. They may have thoughts about harming their baby. It's our job to keep them safe until they can keep themselves safe," says Debbie Sells. She manages a mother-and-baby unit in Nottingham which supports a small group of new mothers and pregnant women with serious psychological problems. It's one of 19 units across England which each year treat about 800 women with perinatal mental health problems like psychosis and severe depression. Clinicians say it is important to keep mothers and babies together to protect their relationship and the infant's development. Some clinicians fear there may soon be an increased demand for their services due to extra pressures pregnant women are facing during the pandemic. "We are hearing stories of women delivering on their own and not having the support of their partner, says Debbie. "A traumatic birth can lead on to other things. Now not only are women becoming seriously unwell with a baby, but it's happening within a pandemic" NHS England says while it is understandable some women and their families may have felt uneasy about seeking help in the early stages of the outbreak, it is vital they ask for support if it is needed. Read full story Source: BBC News, 26 October 2020
  14. News Article
    A group of experts in nursing and infection prevention and control (IPC) is today warning against the use of IPC measures as a “rationale” for stopping safe and compassionate visits in care homes during the Covid-19 pandemic. In a new open letter published in Nursing Times, the specialists say that preventing people from visiting loved ones in social care settings in the name of IPC is a “misinterpretation and at times even abuse” of IPC principles. The letter is the brainchild of independent global health consultant and former Infection Prevention Society (IPS) president, Jules Storr. Among the signatories are five former IPC presidents, current president Pat Cattini as well as incoming president Jennie Wilson. Dr Ron Daniels, chief executive of the UK Sepsis Trust, is also on the list, Helen Hughes, chief executive of Patient Safety Learning, as well as leading IPC nurse specialists, nurse academics, a GP and carers. Ms Storr, a nurse by background, and the hub topic lead, said she was motivated to take action after hearing “the most heart-breaking” stories from health professionals and relatives of residents about restricted visits in the UK in the wake of COVID-19. Some had not seen relatives for weeks or months, whilst others were only allowed to see their loved one once a week for 20 minutes at a distance, she said. One individual had told her how when their father had died only one family member was permitted in the home and they were not allowed to sit close enough to hold his hand. Ms Storr said these practices were “absolutely outrageous and wrong from an infection prevention point of view”. Read full story Source: Nursing Times, 16 October 2020
  15. News Article
    NHS England will spend £10m on new clinics for ‘long covid’ sufferers, it was announced yesterday. Sir Simon Stevens, NHSE chief executive, told the NHS Providers annual conference the clinics would offer support to the “probably hundreds of thousands” of people suffering persisting symptoms such as fatigue, breathlessness and ‘brain fog’ months after being infected with COVID-19. It comes amid growing calls for wider services to support people with ‘long covid,’ as hospital follow-up clinics are generally only open to those who were previously admitted with the virus. HSJ was last month only able to identify one genuine “long covid clinic”, despite claims by health secretary Matt Hancock they had “announced them in July”. It appears that comment was a mistake. Speaking about long covid, he said: “The NHS has got to be just as responsive and agile in respect of… new needs, including long covid, as we were in repurposing critical care, and ventilators, and acute capacity in the first phase in March, April and May." “Today we are going to be allocating £10m to establish a network of designated long covid clinics across the country, which, in line with new NICE guidelines on effective treatment pathways, will offer support for the tens of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, of patients who have got long covid.” Sir Simon also told the conference today that NHSE was “enthusiastic” about introducing regular asymptomatic covid testing for NHS staff “if and when” it is recommended by the government chief medical officer, and when Test and Trace has enough capacity. There are growing calls for regular testing of asymptomatic NHS staff, especially in hotspot areas, including from former health secretary Jeremy Hunt. Sir Simon said it was “something the chief medical officer and the test and trace programme are continuing to review”. He said: “We would be enthusiastic about doing that if and when that is the clinical recommendation and if and when the Test and Trace programme has got the testing capacity to do that. The plan was always that it would largely have to be sourced out of the total testing capacity available to the nation, not just the NHS labs.” Read full story Source: HSJ, 7 October 2020 Read Patient Safety Learning's response to this news Please share your thoughts with us on the support that is needed on our patient safety platform, the hub.
  16. News Article
    Patients who saw a pain medicine specialist via telemedicine saved time and money and were highly satisfied with their experience, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2020 annual meeting. Results of the study confirm many chronic pain patients are confident they will receive good care via telemedicine, while avoiding lengthy commutes and time spent in traffic. "This era of contactless interactions and social distancing has really accelerated the adoption of telemedicine, but even before the pandemic, patient satisfaction was consistently high," said Laleh Jalilian, M.D., lead author of the study and clinical assistant professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). "Patients who are being evaluated for new conditions may be better off having office visits initially. But once patients establish a relationship with providers, follow-up visits can occur efficiently with telemedicine, while maintaining patient rapport and quality outcomes. We believe 50% of our visits could be conducted via telemedicine." "Now that telemedicine is more widespread, it may become a valued part of care delivery in chronic pain practices," said Dr. Jalilian. "Clearly many patients benefitted from remote consultations and follow-up appointments using telemedicine. We hope it will encourage policymakers and insurance providers to continue to support these platforms and inspire more innovation in this developing field of research and patient care." Read full story Source: EurekAlert, 5 October 2020
  17. News Article
    Sending thousands of older untested patients into care homes in England at the start of the coronavirus lockdown was a violation of their human rights, Amnesty International has said. A report says government decisions were "inexplicable" and "disastrous", affecting mental and physical health. More than 18,000 people living in care homes died with COVID-19 and Amnesty says the public inquiry promised by the government must begin immediately. According to Amnesty's report, a "number of poor decisions at both the national and local levels had serious negative consequences for the health and lives of older people in care homes and resulted in the infringement of their human rights" as enshrined in law. Researchers for the organisation interviewed relatives of older people who either died in care homes or are currently living in one; care home owners and staff, and legal and medical professionals. Amnesty said it received reports of residents being denied GP and hospital NHS services during the pandemic, "violating their right to health and potentially their right to life, as well as their right to non-discrimination". It adds that care home managers reported to its researchers that they were "pressured in different ways" to accept patients discharged from hospital who had not been tested or had COVID-19. Amnesty says the public inquiry into the pandemic should begin with an "interim phase". "The pandemic is not over," it added. "Lessons must be learned; remedial action must be taken without delay to ensure that mistakes are not repeated." Read full story Source: BBC News, 4 October 2020
  18. News Article
    Hospitals have been ordered to allow partners and visitors onto maternity wards so pregnant women are not forced to give birth on their own. NHS England and NHS Improvement have written to all of the directors of nursing and heads of midwifery to ask them to urgently change the rules around visiting. The letter, which is dated 19 September and seen by The Independent, says NHS guidance was released on 8 September so partners and visitors can attend maternity units now “the peak of the first wave has passed”. “We thank you and are grateful the majority of services have quickly implemented this guidance and relaxed visiting restrictions,” it reads. “To those that are still working through the guidance, this must happen now so that partners are able to attend maternity units for appointments and births.” The letter adds: “Pregnancy can be a stressful time for women and their families, and all the more so during a pandemic, so it is vital that everything possible is done to support them through this time.” Make Birth Better, a campaign group which polled 458 pregnant women for a new study they shared exclusively, said mothers-to-be have been forced to give birth without partners and have had less access to pain relief in the wake of the public health crisis. Half of those polled were forced to alter their own childbirth plans as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak – while almost half of those who were dependant on support from a specialist mental health midwife said help had stopped. Read full story Source: The Independent, 23 September 2020
  19. News Article
    A hospital trust has been fined for failing to be open and transparent with the bereaved family of a 91-year-old woman in the first prosecution of its kind. Elsie Woodfield died at Derriford hospital in Plymouth after suffering a perforated oesophagus during an endoscopy. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) took University Hospitals Plymouth NHS trust to court under duty of candour regulations, accusing it of not being open with Woodfield’s family about her death and not apologising in a timely way. Judge Joanna Matson was told Woodfield’s daughter Anna Davidson eventually received a letter apologising over her mother’s death, which happened in December 2017, but she felt it lacked remorse. Davidson said she still had many unanswered questions and found it “impossible to grieve”. The judge said: “This offence is a very good example of why these regulatory offences are very important. Not only have [the family] had to come to terms with their tragic death, but their loss has been compounded by the trust’s lack of candour.” Speaking afterwards, Nigel Acheson, the CQC’s deputy chief inspector of hospitals, said: “All care providers have a duty to be open and transparent with patients and their loved ones, particularly when something goes wrong, and this case sends a clear message that we will not hesitate to take action when that does not happen." Lenny Byrne, the trust’s chief nurse, issued a “wholehearted apology” to Woodfield’s family. “We pleaded guilty to failure to comply with the duty of candour and fully accept the court’s decision. We have made significant changes in our processes.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 23 September 2020
  20. News Article
    A decision not to "urgently" refer an anorexic woman whose condition had significantly deteriorated contributed to her death, a coroner said. Amanda Bowles, 45, was found at her Cambridge home in September 2017. An eating disorder psychiatrist who assessed her on 24 August apologised to Ms Bowles' family for not organising an admission under the Mental Health Act. Assistant coroner Sean Horstead said the decision not to arrange an assessment "contributed to her death". Mr Horstead told an inquest at Huntingdon Racecourse that also on the balance of probabilities the "decision not to significantly increase the level of in-person monitoring" following 24 August "contributed to the death". In his narrative conclusion, Mr Horstead said it was "possible... that had a robust system for monitoring Ms Bowles in the months preceding her death been in place, then the deterioration in her physical and mental health may have been detected earlier" and led to an earlier referral to the Adult Eating Disorder Service. He said this absence "was the direct consequence of the lack of formally commissioned monitoring in either primary or secondary care for eating disorder patients". Read full story Source: BBC News, 17 September 2020
  21. News Article
    A damning report into Devon’s NHS 111 and out of hours GP service has revealed shocking stories of patients who have either had their health put at risk or tragically died due to the service being in need of urgent improvement. Devon Doctors Limited, which provides an Urgent Integrated Care Service (UICS) across Devon and Somerset, was inspected by independent health and social care regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in July, after concerns were raised about the service. They included the care and treatment of patients, deaths and serious incidents, call waits, staff shortages, and low morale. Inspectors found 'deep rooted issues'. The CQC concluded it was not assured that patients were being treated promptly enough and, in some cases, they had not received safe care or treatment. It is calling for the service to make urgent improvements which will be closely monitored. Since August 2019, the report stated Devon Doctors had received 179 complaints. Nine had been identified by the service as incidents of high risk of harm and six had been identified by the service as incidents of moderate risk of harm. These had been recorded on the service’s significant event log. However, on review, the CQC identified an additional 30 events from the complaints log which could also have been classed as either moderate or high risk of harm. Read full story Source: Devon Live, 15 September 2020
  22. News Article
    GP practices are being told they must make sure patients can be seen face to face when they need such appointments. NHS England is writing to all practices to make sure they are communicating the fact doctors can be seen in person if necessary, as well as virtually. It's estimated half of the 102 million appointments from March to July were by video or phone call, NHS Digital said. However, the Royal College of GPs said any implication GPs had not been doing their job properly was "an insult". NHS England said research suggested nearly two thirds of the public were happy to have a phone or video call with their doctor - but that, ahead of winter, they wanted to make sure people knew they could see their GP if needed. Nikki Kanani, medical director of primary care for NHS England, said GPs had adapted quickly in recent months to offer remote consultations and "safe face-to-face care when needed". Prof Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said general practice was "open and has been throughout the pandemic", with a predominantly remote service to help stop the spread of coronavirus. He said: "The college does not want to see general practice become a totally, or even mostly, remote service post-pandemic. However, we are still in the middle of a pandemic. We need to consider infection control and limit footfall in GP surgeries - all in line with NHS England's current guidance." He said most patients had understood the changes and that clinical commissioning groups had been asked to work with GP practices where face-to-face appointments were not possible - for example, if all GPs were at a high risk from coronavirus. "Any implication that they have not been doing their job properly is an insult to GPs and their teams who have worked throughout the pandemic, continued delivering the vast majority of patient care in the NHS and face an incredibly difficult winter ahead," he said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 14 September 2020 Research from the college indicated that routine GP appointments were back to near-normal levels for this time of year, after decreasing at the height of the pandemic. "Each and every day last week an estimated third of a million appointments were delivered face to face by general practices across the country," added Prof Marshall.
  23. News Article
    The Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has stressed the importance of GPs having rapid access to testing results for patients, as newly-released research highlights the role general practice is playing during the coronavirus pandemic. Released by Queen Mary University of London, and published in the British Journal of General Practice, the research showed GPs and their teams were continuing to deliver frontline care to NHS patients with both Covid and non-Covid conditions. The active role of GPs in the COVID-19 response is nothing new or surprising, though notably the Queen Mary research focused in heavily on ‘suspected’ cases of Covid, due to limited community testing throughout the pandemic, giving a clearer picture of the primary patient group using general practice services. Responding to the research, Professor Martin Marshall, Chair of the RCGP, said: “This data shows the significant role GPs and our teams have played in tackling Covid-19 and delivering care to patients during the pandemic – and how the virus has impacted on all parts of the health and care services. “General practice has been open throughout the pandemic with GPs and our teams continuing to deliver the vast majority of NHS patient care to patients with both Covid and non-Covid conditions." Read full story Source: National Health Executive, 8 September 2020
  24. News Article
    NHS England has said GP practices must start opening their receptions and allow people to book initial face-to-face appointments — scrapping the controversial ‘total triage’ rule — for the first time since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Since last spring, NHSE guidance, supported by the profession, has said that face-to-face appointments must generally only take place after a phone, video or digital consultation. Many GP practice receptions have been closed to people wanting to make routine appointments. This rule was kept in place throughout last summer, despite covid circulation being low, and some health systems made the approach one of the pillars of planned post pandemic transformation. “Embedding total triage” was encouraged in 2021-22 operational rules for the NHS. The shift was seen by some as part of a move to a potentially more effective and efficient way of working. But there have been concerns about access and complaints in the media. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 14 May 2021
  25. News Article
    Patients have come to avoidable harm after a large private provider failed to deliver thousands of medicine prescriptions, according to a report from the Care Quality Commission. Healthcare at Home, which is based in Staffordshire but provides NHS-funded care and medicine supplies to patients’ homes across the country, has been rated “inadequate” and placed in special measures. A report published today said inspectors found more than 10,000 patients missed a dose of their medicine between October and December 2020 due to problems caused by the introduction of a new information system. Reviews have found some suffered avoidable harm as a result. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 13 May 2021
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