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Found 1,294 results
  1. News Article
    Roy Cairns, 58, was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2019. Twelve months later a tumour was found on his lung. Mr Cairns said taking part in the cancer prehab programme piloted by the Northern Ireland's South Eastern Health Trust after his second diagnosis was a "win-win", not only for himself but also his surgeons. "I think when you get that diagnosis you are left floundering and with prehab the support you get gives you focus and a little bit of control back in your life," he said. Prehabilitation (prehab) means getting ready for cancer treatment in whatever time you have before it starts. Mr Cairns is one of 175 patients referred to the programme which involves the Belfast City Council and Macmillan Cancer Support. Dr Cherith Semple said the point of the programme is to " improve people's physical well-being as much as possible before treatment and to offer emotional support at a time that can be traumatic". Dr Semple, who is a leader in clinical cancer nursing, said this new approach to getting patients fit prior to their surgery was proving a success, both in the short and long-term. She said: "We know that it can reduce a patient's hospital stay post-surgery and it can reduce your return to hospital with complications directly afterwards." Read full story Source: BBC News, 20 July 2022
  2. News Article
    A senior hospital nurse said she could not discharge 180 patients due to a lack of "care and support" at home. Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital said among the people that did not need to be in hospital was a patient who had been there for 145 days. Claire Fare, senior discharge matron, said delays "impact on the whole of the flow" of patients. Norfolk County Council's social care department blamed the "national care crisis" for the problems. In June, the hospital, which has about 1,200 beds, pleaded for family and friends to help look after fit patients to ease demand. Melanie Syson, the hospital's discharge coordinator, said there was a person in the hospital ready for discharge that had been there for more than four months. "She is medically fit to be discharged but we are waiting for support to be ready at home," she said. Ms Syson added: "The length of stay of the patients seems to be getting longer." To help cope with the delays, the hospital opened a "home-first unit" in January for patients who did not need acute care but it was unable to discharge. The unit focuses on rehabilitation to try to prevent the patients coming back into hospital or requiring more care at home. Stephanie Ward, the ward sister, said it aimed to "give patients the time they need to do things themselves as much as they can". Read full story Source: BBC News, 15 July 2022
  3. News Article
    Patients are increasingly avoiding seeing their GP because they find it too difficult to book an appointment, the latest data show. Results from the 2022 GP Patient Survey also show that satisfaction with family doctors in England has dwindled since the previous year. The findings come as the Government and the NHS struggle to retain GPs and boost recruitment to meet rising patient demand and an ageing population. The survey found that overall satisfaction ratings have declined over the past 2 years, although most patients who responded to a questionnaire reported a good overall experience with their GP practice, had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional who saw them, and considered they received good care and treatment. The results also revealed an increase in the barriers patients faced in getting an appointment in the first place, with 55.4% who needed one in the last 12 months saying they had avoided making one – an increase of 13.1% since the last survey. The most common reason given was that they found it too difficult, cited by 26.5% of respondents, and a huge increase on last year's figure of 11.1%. Commenting on the results, Beccy Baird, senior fellow at The King's Fund said: "For many of us, general practice is the front door to the NHS – these results show that patients are finding that door increasingly hard to push open. "GPs are working harder than ever before, yet these findings show a dramatic fall in patients' experience of getting an appointment." She said recruitment of GPs, nurses, and other professionals to meet rising levels of need was proving tough "because in many cases those staff simply don’t exist". Read full story Source: Medscape, 14 July 2022
  4. News Article
    Paul Pettinger’s trip to Cyprus came because he felt the NHS had no treatments to offer him. Paul got Covid in the first wave in 2020. After the initial illness, he was left with extreme tiredness and 10% of the energy he once had. “I have a very small amount of energy and when I use up my energy, I end up with headaches, brain fog and with cognitive issues. It's very hard to think. And also I can't walk very far,” he says. His life then fell apart and he lost his job. “I have been almost housebound for over two years.” he says adding: “I’ve become a burden on family and friends.” A joint investigation between ITV News and the BMJ has found that Paul is 1 of around 120 people with Long Covid symptoms who have travelled to Cyprus for treatment. But thousands more have had the treatment in countries spending life changing sums of money. The Long Covid Center is one of several private clinics offering this treatment - others are in Germany and Switzerland. This is Paul’s seventh session. And, he says, he notices a difference and has confidence in the process. “After each treatment, I experienced a small improvement,” he says. “It is the only treatment out there at the time being and so far it's working.” However, experts have raised concerns over whether such invasive and expensive therapies should be offered without sufficient evidence. “I am worried these patients have been offered therapies which have not been assessed by modern scientific methods – well-designed clinical trials,” said Beverley Hunt, medical director of the charity Thrombosis UK. “In this situation, the treatment may or may not benefit them but, worryingly, also has the risk of harm.” Read full story Source: ITV News, 12 July 2022
  5. News Article
    Patients are being put at risk because GPs wrongly assume they will actively seek their test results, a study says. Researchers from the University of Bristol said the mismatched expectations could harm patients, with delayed diagnosis a likely result. The study found: “Doctors expected patients to know how to access their test results. In contrast, patients were often uncertain and used guesswork to decide when and how to access their tests. Patients and doctors generally assumed that the other party would make contact, with potential implications for patient safety.” Dr Jessica Watson, a GP and doctoral research fellow at the Centre for Academic Primary Care at the university, who led the study, said: “GPs have a medico-legal and ethical responsibility to ensure they have clear, robust systems for communicating test results.” Watson added: “Relying on patients to get in contact and making assumptions about their knowledge of how to do so were particular risks highlighted.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 12 July 2022
  6. News Article
    NHS England has set trusts and systems a ‘100-day challenge’ to discharge more patients from hospital and free up beds before winter. David Sloman, chief operating officer of NHSE, has asked leaders of integrated care boards, acute and community trusts in a letter sent last week to adopt 10 “best practice initiatives” which he said “can make a significant difference in facilitating discharge and improving care for patients”. Trusts and systems have been given until 30 September to have a “full understanding” of the initiatives (listed below) and “infrastructure in place” to implement them. The initiatives include setting expected dates of discharge for patients within 48 hours of admission, “apply seven-day working” to discharge more patients at weekends, treat delayed discharge as “a potential harm event” and to manage workforces in community and social care services “to better match predicted patterns in demand”. Sir David has told regional and local leaders that a dedicated national NHSE team will set up “launch meetings” in each system, which will ensure there is “a focus on improving processes and performance around discharge”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 5 July 2022
  7. News Article
    The NHS App will soon be updated with features to help offer people in England more personalised care. It is part of the government's plan for a digital revolution to speed up care and improve access while saving the health service time and money. By March 2023, more users will receive messages from their GP and be able to see their medical records and manage hospital elective-care appointments. By March 2024, the app should offer face-to-face video consultations. The government's ambition is for at least 75% of adults to be using it by March 2024. Currently, less than half - about 28 million - have it on their phone or tablet. The government also wants 90% of NHS trusts to have electronic patient records in place or be processing them by December 2023 and for all social-care providers to adopt a digital social-care record. And patients across the country should be able to complete their hospital pre-assessment checks from home by September 2024. Read full story Source: BBC News, 29 June 2022
  8. News Article
    Rapidly falling continuity of care levels pose an “existential threat” to patient safety, Britain’s top family doctor will warn today as research reveals only half of Britons regularly see the same GP. Prof Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs (RCGP), will say trusted relationships between family doctors and patients are the most “powerful intervention” for delivering effective, high-quality care as they boost patient satisfaction and health outcomes, and reduce use of hospital services. But in a keynote speech to the college’s annual conference, Marshall will warn that continuity of care is becoming almost impossible to deliver on the NHS amid soaring demand and shrinking numbers of GPs, in what he will describe as the “most worrying crisis in decades”. There are mounting concerns over the ability of the NHS to tackle record waiting lists, with 6.5m patients awaiting care in England alone. Earlier this month Sajid Javid, the health secretary, admitted the current model of GP care “is not working” but insisted there would be no more money for the health service. At the RCGP conference in London, Marshall will tell delegates that because of rising workloads and fewer staff, GPs no longer have the time to properly assess patients, with 65% warning safety is being compromised due to appointments being too short, according to a recent survey commissioned by the college. Only 39% of respondents said they were able to deliver the continuity of care their patients need – down from 60% two years ago. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 29 June 2022
  9. News Article
    Suffering is “the new norm” in the NHS and people can expect to spend their last few years in pain, the outgoing chairman of the British Medical Association said. Chaand Nagpaul, who steps down this week, said the NHS was in a “perilous state”. He also wants people to have sympathy for the “plight” of junior doctors, who have said they will prepare for a ballot on strikes over pay. There are 6.5 million people on NHS waiting lists, many of whom have been waiting a year or more. Nagpaul, who has been a GP for 33 years, said: “I have not come across this scale of suffering, of unmet need. And what we’re going to be seeing is people spending the last years of their lives, literally in pain, unable . . . to have a hip operation. That will be the final years of their lives.” He said there was a “whole, larger population of patients just literally not featuring in the statistics” waiting for outpatient treatment, mental health care and diabetes checks. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 27 June 2022
  10. News Article
    NHS patients in England who have been waiting more than two years for surgery are being offered hospital treatment in alternative parts of the country. More than 6,000 long-term waiting-list patients are being offered travel and accommodation costs where appropriate to help the NHS through the backlog. Health officials want to ensure nobody is waiting more than two years by the end of July. Three patients waiting for surgery in Derby have already received treatment in the Northumbria health region, with another two patients booked in, NHS England said. And in south-west London, 17 orthopaedic patients from the South West of England are being treated, with another 11 patients set to follow in the coming weeks. Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said the number of two-year waits had already reduced by two-thirds since January. "Innovations like this are helping to tackle waiting lists and speed up access to treatment, backed by record investment," he said. But British Medical Association leader Dr Chaand Nagpaul is warning that attempts to address what he called a "once in a generation backlog of unimaginable proportions" would be undermined by a lack of staff and beds. Read full story Source: BBC News, 27 June 2022
  11. News Article
    Patients will not be able to directly contact Scotland’s new Patient Safety Commissioner under the role’s proposed remit, according to the Sunday Post. Officials drawing up the job description for the position are proposing patients with concerns and complaints should go through their local health boards instead of dealing directly with the commissioner. Last week, Henrietta Hughes was named as the government’s preferred candidate for the role of Patient Safety Commissioner in England. In that role, Hughes will be able to be directly contacted by the public. Despite being the first UK country to announce the intention to appoint a commissioner two years ago the role in Scotland is not yet filled. The decision not to allow patients to directly contact the commissioner in Scotland has been criticised by Baroness Julia Cumberlege, author of the report, First Do No Harm. She said: “Of course, patients must be able to communicate directly with the commissioner and their office. In our review we said the healthcare system is not good enough at spotting trends in practice and outcomes that give rise to safety concerns. Listening to patients is pivotal to that. “This is why one of our principal recommendations was the appointment of an independent Patient Safety Commissioner, a person of standing who sits outside the healthcare system, accountable to parliament through the Health and Social Care Select Committee." Read full story Source: The Sunday Post, 26 June 2022
  12. News Article
    The number of patients in English hospitals who have tested positive for Covid has increased 28% in a week, the steepest rise since mid-March The third Covid wave of 2022 has now seen Covid occupation levels rise from 3,835 on 4 June to 6,401 yesterday. The sharpest rise in the number of Covid positive patients came in the North West region, where the total rose by 43% in a week. There are now over 1,000 Covid positive hospital patients in the North West, North East and Yorkshire, Midlands and London regions for the first time since 11 May. Some 38% of Covid hospital patients are being treated primarily for the condition. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 24 June 2022
  13. News Article
    The cost of living crisis is adding to pressures on GPs, the British Medical Association (BMA) in Northern Ireland has warned. The BMA said that is because the number of people asking for prescriptions for medicines that can be bought over the counter is increasing. That includes medicines like painkillers and allergy medication, Dr Alan Stout of the BMA said. Prescriptions are free for everyone in Northern Ireland. The rise in prescription request increases "the cost to the health service as a whole and the pressure on GPs", Dr Stout told Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme. "We have talked before about the difficulties people have accessing GPs and this is just more demand and difficulties," he said. Dr Stout added: "I absolutely don't hold that against anyone, it is not our position as GPs to deny people medication or deny people prescriptions if they need this medication." Read full story Source: BBC News, 23 June 2022
  14. News Article
    Vulnerable patients cared for in secure mental health units across England could miss out on vital medications due to a shortage of learning disability nurses, the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) has warned. The report into medication omissions in learning disability secure units across the country highlights problems with retaining learning disability nurses, with the number recruited each year matching those leaving. Figures quoted in the report suggest the number of learning disability nurses in the NHS nearly halved from 5,500 in 2016 to 3,000 in 2020. The HSIB launched a national investigation after being alerted to the case of Luke, who spent time in NHS secure learning disability units but was not administered prescribed medication for diabetes and high cholesterol on several occasions. At Luke’s facility, which included low and medium secure wards, HSIB investigators considered that the quality and style of care provided to patients had been directly impacted by a lack of nurses with required skill sets. Findings from HSIB’s wider national investigation link a shortfall of learning disability nurses to instances of patients missing their medication, with the report’s authors describing a “system in which medicines omissions were too common and prevention, identification and escalation processes were not robust”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 23 June 2022
  15. News Article
    Systems and processes in place around patient safety failed in terms of the work of a Belfast-based neurologist, an inquiry has found. Dr Michael Watt was at the centre of Northern Ireland’s largest ever recall of patients, which began in 2018, after concerns were raised about his clinical work. More than 4,000 of his former patients attended recall appointments. Almost a fifth of patients who attended recall appointments were found to have received an “insecure diagnosis”. The final report following the Independent Neurology Inquiry found that problems with Dr Watt’s practice were missed for years and opportunities to intervene were lost. It makes 76 recommendations to the Department of Health, healthcare organisations, General Medical Council and the independent sector. “While one process or system failure may not be critical, the synergistic effect of numerous failures ensured that a problem with an individual doctor’s practice was missed for many years and, as this inquiry finds, opportunities to intervene, particularly in 2006/2007, 2012/2013, and earlier in 2016 were lost,” the inquiry found. Read full story Source: The Independent, 21 June 2022
  16. News Article
    A quadriplegic man was told his care funding would be revoked, after NHS officials deemed him not disabled enough to qualify for support. Simon Shaw, 54, has received 24-hour care since he was left paralysed from the neck down after a car accident in 1984. He relies on carers at night to help him with everything from turning in bed to having a drink of water. They also intervene with medical aid if he develops life-threatening complications related to his paralysis, which could happen at any time, without warning. But a recent NHS assessment controversially ruled Shaw’s health needs were not severe enough to warrant full-time medical care. Local health authority officials told him he did not meet eligibility criteria and his NHS funding would be stopped from 20 June. Shaw, from Clapham, south London, said that meant there was no money for his night-time care and he would be left unsupported from 8pm to 8am for the first time in nearly four decades. “It’s frightening, to be honest,” Shaw said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do when they take my care away. “I don’t cease to exist after 8pm. I still need to get into bed, have a drink of water and use the toilet – and I can’t do any of it on my own. “There are a lot of things that can go wrong with my health and when they do, they usually need urgent attention. If there’s no one there, to be frank… it could mean death.” Mandy Jamieson, a caseworker for the Spinal Injuries Association, said: “We have noticed an increase in patients with severe disabilities being turned down for funding in recent years, particularly since the introduction of assessments via video call since the pandemic. “But I feel particularly in Simon’s case the decision that has been made is wrong. He has so many health needs that I find it incredible that they turned him down.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 19 June 2022
  17. News Article
    Diabetes patients have been warned that non-attendance at eye-test appointments puts them at greater risk of developing unnecessary sight loss. The Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) has described the attendance rates at clinics in Northern Ireland as "alarmingly low" . It said 20% to 40% of patients were not showing up for their appointments on any given day. Prof Tunde Peto, clinical lead for the NI Diabetic Eye Screening Programme, said the most common of many complications caused by diabetes was diabetic eye disease. Diabetes can cause cataracts early on but it can also affect the retina at the back of the eye, "which will eventually lead to sight loss if not treated on time," Prof Peto explained. "Diabetic retinopathy causes no symptoms until it can be just about too late to treat," she said. Ian Catlin from Ballymoney has experienced sight loss due to diabetic retinopathy. He has had Type 1 diabetes since childhood and became aware of problems with his eyesight in his mid-30s. Mr Catlin said he put off asking for medical help because of the fear of what he would be told."I did eventually go, but you're scared and you put your head in the sand," he said.Read full story Source: BBC News, 15 June 2022
  18. News Article
    A fifth patient has been given the wrong blood at a major teaching hospital’s haematology department where patient safety concerns were raised by clinicians last year. The incident, at University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust, is the fifth never event involving patients being transfused with the wrong blood at the trust since April 2020. Only 15 such never events have been recorded in England in the last two financial years, which means UHB accounted for a third of the total in 2020-21 and 2021-22. HSJ revealed last year that several clinicians had raised safety concerns at the trust’s haematology specialty after most of its services at Heartlands Hospital were moved to Queen Elizabeth Hospital as part of the trust’s pandemic response. The latest never event, which occurred in March, saw a patient being given an “unintentional transfusion of ABO-incompatible blood components” – according to papers provided to the trust’s council of governors. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 14 June 2022
  19. News Article
    Record numbers of chronically ill patients living with disabilities are being denied funding for their care, The Mail on Sunday has reveal. An analysis of official figures shows only a fifth of those with disabling conditions such as Parkinson's disease, dementia and spinal injury asking for Government-funded help are being granted it this year. This is the lowest figure on record, with the exception of the pandemic years when assessments stopped altogether. Every year about 160,000 people apply for NHS funding called 'continuing healthcare', money available to those with significant medical needs. Unlike social care funding, arranged for some who need looking after, continuing healthcare is only offered to those in ill health who need regular attention from medical professionals. A decade ago, 34% of these applications were successful. Today that figure is 22%. Meanwhile, separate data seen by this newspaper reveals a sharp rise in the number of assessments that are deemed to have wrongly decided against funding at a subsequent appeal. Lisa Morgan, partner at Hugh James solicitors, which specialises in helping families fight for NHS care funding, says: 'In many cases, if [the clinical commissioning group] had made the right decision in the first place, it could have saved itself thousands of pounds.' The revelations come weeks after The Mail on Sunday told of the heartbreaking stories of desperately unwell people left utterly reliant on relatives, having been refused NHS-funded care. Some have then embarked on the lengthy and costly process of appealing the decision with legal help, to be told months or years later that they should have been granted funding all along. Read full story Source: Mail Online, 11 June 2022
  20. News Article
    Adult mental health patients in England have spent more than 200,000 days being treated in “inappropriate” out-of-area placements – at a cost to the NHS of £102m – in the year since the government pledged to end the practice. The Royal College of Psychiatrists, which carried out the analysis, says such placements, in which mental health patients can be sent hundreds of miles from home, are a shameful and dangerous practice that must stop. The government said it would end such placements by April last year but, in the 12 months since, 205,990 days were spent inappropriately out of area, at a cost equivalent to the annual salaries of more than 900 consultant psychiatrists, the college found. Dr Adrian James, the college’s president, said: “The failure to eliminate inappropriate out-of-area placements is a scandal. It is inhumane and is costing the NHS millions of pounds each year that could be spent helping patients get better. “No one with a mental illness should have to travel hundreds of miles away from home to get the treatment they desperately need.” He said investment was needed in local, properly staffed beds, alternatives to admission, and follow-up care in the community as well as government backing “to address the workforce crisis that continues to plague mental health services”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 13 June 2022
  21. News Article
    Pharmacists and some other healthcare professionals, rather than just GPs, will soon be able to sign people off sick from work, under new rules. The law change will take effect in July and apply across England, Wales and Scotland. The aim is to free up family doctors' time. People off work for more than seven consecutive days because of illness may need to show a note from a healthcare professional to their employer. When the new legislation is passed, nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists (working in hospitals and GP practices) and physiotherapists will be able to provide the notes, in addition to GPs. Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: "I know how important it is for people to be able to see their GP speedily and in the way they want. "That's why we are slashing bureaucracy to reduce GPs workloads, so they can focus on seeing patients and giving people the care they urgently need. Read full story Source: BBC News, 9 June 2022
  22. News Article
    Admissions of people to hospital with Covid in England have begun to grow again, new data from the NHS shows, as fears were raised over a new wave. Analysis by John Roberts of the Covid Actuaries group, set up in response to the pandemic, showed hospital admissions had stopped falling after a period of decline. Figures on Tuesday showed weekly admissions increased by 4% across England as of 5 June and were up by 33% in the North East and Yorkshire. When asked if the UK was heading into another wave, Mr Roberts told The Independent: “Yes we could be but...how big that wave and how serious it will be in terms of admissions and deaths is very, very difficult to judge at this stage.” His comments come after experts in Europe warned there will be a new wave driven by the growth of the BA.5 and BA.4 Covid variants. The figures, which cover hospitals in England only, show the weekly average of admissions for patients in hospital with Covid stood at 531 as of 5 June. Read full story Source: The Independent, 9 June 2022
  23. News Article
    The Royal Surrey County Hospital is preparing to open its first virtual ward. From this summer 15 patients will receive treatment at home using apps and wearable technology, as an alternative to a stay in hospital. The ward will be overseen by a consultant, working with therapists, nursing staff and pharmacists. The hospital, in Guildford, plans to extend the ward to 52 patients by April 2024. Health providers across England have been asked to deliver virtual wards at a rate of 40 to 50 beds per 100,000 people by December 2023. It is hoped they will free up beds more quickly, speeding up admissions from A&E and for elective surgery. Read full story Source: BBC News, 7 June 2022
  24. News Article
    Two talented physicians, a patient who sacrificed his life and a selfless receptionist were the four people killed on 1 June 1 a shooting inside a medical office building on the Saint Francis Health System campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Police in Tulsa say the gunman, Michael Louis, had gone to the hospital for back surgery 19 May and was treated by Dr Preston Phillips. Louis was discharged from the hospital 24 May and subsequently called Dr Phillips' office several times complaining of pain and seeking additional treatment. The surgeon saw Mr. Louis on 31 May for more treatment, police said. On 1 June, Mr Louis called Dr Phillips' office again complaining about pain and seeking additional care. Mr Louis purchased an AR-15-style rifle that afternoon, just hours before the shooting, police said. Dr Phillips was killed in the shooting and was the gunman's primary target, police said. "He blamed Dr Phillips for the ongoing pain following surgery," Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said at a news conference. Read full story Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 2 June 2022
  25. News Article
    Many Ukraine refugees who were receiving regular care before leaving the country say they have not continued it since arriving in the UK, prompting warnings they have not been ‘empowered to seek support’. Data published by the Office for National Statistics earlier this month on the experiences of visa holders entering the UK under the Ukraine Humanitarian Schemes revealed 74 per cent of those surveyed who had been receiving regular treatment before they left Ukraine said this had stopped since arriving in the UK. Meanwhile, 65% of those who were receiving regular prescriptions for medications or drugs while in Ukraine had not accessed these since arriving in the UK. Refugee Council policy and research officer Kama Petruczenko warned refugees “are facing many barriers which are not currently being addressed”. Ms Petruczenko added: “As the ONS data shows, those who need to speak with health professionals are unable to because of the language barrier and it is very likely that many of the respondents who said they did not need medical assistance, are unable to understand how the UK health system works and are not empowered to seek support.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 1 June 2022
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