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Content ArticleThe Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are providing an update on a retrospective observational study on the risk to children born to men who took valproate in the 3 months before conception and on the need for the re-analysis of the data from this study before conclusions can be drawn. No action is needed from patients. For female patients, healthcare professionals should continue to follow the existing strict precautions related to preventing the use of valproate in pregnancy (Valproate Pregnancy Prevention Programme).
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Content ArticleThe Covid-19 pandemic resulted in major disruption to healthcare delivery worldwide causing medical services to adapt their standard practices. Learning how these adaptations result in unintended patient harm is essential to mitigate against future incidents. Incident reporting and learning system data can be used to identify areas to improve patient safety. A classification system is required to make sense of such data to identify learning and priorities for further in-depth investigation. The Patient Safety (PISA) classification system was created for this purpose, but it is not known if classification systems are sufficient to capture novel safety concepts arising from crises like the pandemic. This study from Purchase et al. aimed to review the application of the PISA classification system during the COVID-19 pandemic to appraise whether modifications were required to maintain its meaningful use for the pandemic context. The study found that PISA taxonomy can be successfully applied to patient safety incident reports to support the first stages in deriving learning and identifying areas for further enquiry. No incidents were identified that warranted new codes to be added to the PISA classification system, which may extend to other substantive public health crises, negating the need for additional, specific coding within such classification systems and related frameworks for similar system-wide constraints.
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Content ArticleClinical trial documents are complex and may have inconsistencies, leading to potential site implementation errors and may compromise participant safety. This study characterises the frequency and type of administrative and potential patient safety interventions (PPSIs) made during the review of oncology trial documents for clinical trial implementation by centralized clinical content specialists. The study demonstrates a gap in patient safety when assessing trial documents for clinical trial implementation. One solution to address this gap is the utilisation of a centralised team of clinical specialists to preemptively review trial documents, thereby enhancing patient safety during clinical trial conduct.
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Content Article
Simulation for non-pedagogical purposes has begun to emerge. Examples include quality improvement initiatives, testing and evaluating of new interventions, the co-designing of new models of care, the exploration of human and organisational behaviour, comparing of different sectors and the identification of latent safety threats. However, the literature related to these types of simulation is scattered across different disciplines and has many different associated terms, thus making it difficult to advance the field in both recognition and understanding. This paper, therefore, aims to enhance and formalise this growing field by generating a clear set of terms and definitions through a concept taxonomy of the literature. -
Content Article
Researchers at the University of Hertfordshire are carrying out a study to better understand women’s negative experiences of IUD procedures. They hope this research will be used to develop new guidance for patients and professionals that reduces the risk of coil procedures being experienced as distressing. If you are aged 16+, have had a coil fitting/removal in the last 2 years in a UK health settings (GPs, sexual health clinics, gynaecologist, and any other medical setting) that you found distressing, and are able to provide a valid UK phone number (mobile or landline), then you are eligible to participate. Full details of the research and how to take part can be found via the link below or by contacting Sabrina at s.pilav@herts.ac.uk. -
Content ArticleWalkthrough analysis is a structured approach to collecting and analysing information about a task or process or a future development (for example, designing a new protocol). It is used to help understand how work is performed and aims to close the gap between work as imagined and work as done to better support human performance. Walkthrough analysis is one of the tools included in the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF). This guide by NHS England provides information on how to carry out walkthrough analysis. It covers: Getting started System considerations Task and tool matrix View further PSIRF content and resources on the hub.
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EventuntilMany health care professionals believe that while critical patient feedback may help improve services, positive patient feedback has no such value. But is that really true? In this, Care Opinion's 21st research chat, we welcome Dr Stefan Rennick Egglestone, who has recently led a review of research on this issue (in press with Plos One). We'll be discussing what the 68 papers in the review can tell us about the real value of positive patient feedback to staff and services. Format Care Opinion research chats are informal and friendly, and last 30 minutes in all. For the first 15 minutes we’ll discuss the research, and then invite your comments and questions via the chat box (or in person if you prefer). Who should attend Anyone with an interest can come along - you don't need to be academic, and you don't need to have read the paper. Just coming along and listening is fine. So do join us! Register for the event
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Content ArticleThis report presents findings from a rapid evidence review into improvement cultures in health and adult social care settings. The review aims to inform CQC’s approach to assessing and encouraging improvement, improvement cultures and improvement capabilities of services, while maintaining and strengthening CQC’s regulatory role. It also identifies gaps in the current evidence base.
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News Article
Women at greater risk of heart attack death due to medical sexism
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Women are a third less likely to receive lifesaving treatment for heart attacks due to sexism in medicine, research shows. Research led by the University of Leeds and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) pooled NHS data from previous studies looking at common heart conditions over the past two decades. It investigated how care varied according to age and sex, finding that women were significantly less likely to receive treatment for heart attacks and heart failure. Following the most severe type of heart attack — a Stemi — women were one third less likely to receive a potentially lifesaving diagnostic procedure called a coronary angiogram. Women were significantly more likely to die after being admitted to hospital with a severe heart attack. They were also less likely to be prescribed preventative drugs that can help to protect against future heart attacks, such as statins or beta-blockers. Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate medical director at the BHF and a consultant cardiologist said: “This review adds to existing evidence showing that the odds are stacked against women when it comes to their heart care. Deep-rooted inequalities mean women are underdiagnosed, undertreated, and underserved by today’s healthcare system." “The underrepresentation of women in research could jeopardise the effectiveness of new tests and treatment, posing a threat to women’s health in the long-term,” she added. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 5 October 2023 -
Content ArticleAortic valve replacement (AVR) is a life-saving procedure for symptomatic severe aortic stenosis (AS), which relieves symptoms, increases life expectancy and improves quality of life. Little is known about the rate of AVR provision by gender, race or social deprivation level in the NHS across England. However, a large analysis examining AVR on the health service in England – the first of its kind – reveals striking inequalities in its provision. Women, black and Asian people, and those living in the poorest parts of the country are much less likely to receive the life-saving procedure, the study shows. “In this large, national dataset, female gender, black or south Asian ethnicities and high deprivation were associated with significantly reduced odds of receiving AVR in England,” the authors wrote. Dr Clare Appleby, a consultant cardiologist at the Liverpool Heart and Chest hospital NHS foundation trust and an author of the study, said public health initiatives to understand and tackle these inequalities should be prioritised. “Severe symptomatic aortic stenosis is a serious disease that causes mortality and reduces quality of life for patients,” she said. “Left untreated it has a worse prognosis than many common metastatic cancers, with average survival being 50% at two years, and around 20% at five years.” Further research and public health initiatives to understand and address inequalities in the timely provision of AVR are important and should be prioritised in England.
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Content ArticleInvestigative journalist and medical researcher Maryanne Demasi interviews Phillip Buckhaults, a cancer genomics expert and professor at the University of South Carolina. Professor Buckhaults describes how he decided to test for DNA contamination in vials of Pfizer and Moderna’s bivalent booster shots, hoping to debunk myths about contamination. However, his research revealed that billions of tiny DNA fragments are present in Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine. He highlights the need for further research to find out whether this poses any risk to people who have been given the vaccine, particularly around whether these fragments of DNA could trigger people developing cancer or autoimmune conditions.
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Content ArticleThe National Early Warning Score (NEWS2) is calculated using routine vital sign measures of temperature, pulse and so on. It is used by ambulance staff and emergency departments to identify sick adults whose condition is likely to deteriorate. NEWS2 has been shown to work among the general population. However, it has been unclear if it could monitor the condition of care home residents because of their age, frailty, and multiple long-term conditions. New research from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) shows that, among care home residents admitted to hospital as an emergency, NEWS2 can effectively identify people whose condition is likely to get worse.
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Content ArticleThis article published by the Betsy Lehman Center looks at the benefits of real-time monitoring of electronic health records (EHRs). Early adopter hospitals have demonstrated dramatic gains in safety by monitoring patients' EHR's in real time for signals of potential safety events, allowing providers to more quickly and effectively address safety gaps and improve outcomes. This monitoring is carried out by automated safety surveillance software that continuously runs in the background of EHR systems and can detect hundreds of categories of adverse events as they occur. Expert analysis then quickly helps organisations gain insight from the data, which can be used to proactively reduce safety risks and reliably measure incidence of harm over time.
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Content Article
This report from Asthma + Lung UK highlights that lung diseases such as COPD, asthma and pneumonia are the third leading cause of death in England, whilst the UK as a whole has the worst death rate from lung disease in Europe. Hospital admissions for lung diseases have doubled in the last 20 years and lack of proper testing for lung diseases is having an impact on patient safety, as GPs have to "guess" diagnoses. The report highlights three areas where policy changes should be implemented in order to improve care for people affected, reduce pressure on services and deliver massive savings for the NHS: Diagnosing lung disease early and accurately Keeping people healthy and out of hospital Providing treatments that work -
Content ArticleDementia remains the biggest killer in the UK and is on track to be the nation’s most expensive health condition by 2030. This report by the charity Alzheimer's Research UK sets out a series of calls for party leaders ahead of the next general election, all of which are underpinned by an urgent recommendation for greater investment in dementia research.
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News Article
Sepsis often missed as 50% of screening tools don’t work, study finds
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Paramedics and A&E doctors often miss signs of sepsis and two of the four ways health professionals screen for the killer condition do not work, a new study claims. Doctors, NHS bosses and health charities have been concerned for years that too many cases of sepsis go undiagnosed, leaving people badly damaged or dead, because sepsis is so hard to detect. Unless a patient is diagnosed quickly, their body’s immune system goes into overdrive in response to an infection and then attacks vital tissues and organs. If left untreated, sepsis can cause shock, organ failure and death. Research from Germany, presented at this week’s European Emergency Medicine Congress in Barcelona, claims to have uncovered significant flaws in two of the four screening tools that health workers use worldwide to identify cases of the life-threatening illness. The four systems are NEWS2 (National Early Warning Score), qSOFA (quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment), MEWS (Modified Early Warning Score) and SIRS (Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome). The researchers analysed records of the care given to 221,429 patients in Germany who were treated by emergency health workers outside hospital settings in 2016. “Only one of four screening tools had a reasonably accurate prediction rate for sepsis – NEWS2. It was able to correctly predict 72.2% of all sepsis cases and correctly identified 81.4% of negative, non-septic cases,” they concluded. NHS England stressed that it already deploys NEWS2, which emerged as the best system. An NHS spokesperson said: “This study shows the NHS actually is using the best screening tool available for detecting sepsis – NEWS2 – and as professional guidance for doctors in England sets out, it is essential that any patient’s wishes to seek a second opinion are respected.” Read full story Source: Guardian, 20 September 2023 -
Content ArticlePatients in seclusion in mental health services require regular physical health assessments to identify, prevent and manage clinical deterioration. Sometimes it may be unsafe or counter-therapeutic for clinical staff to enter the seclusion room, making it challenging to meet local seclusion standards for physical assessments. Alternatives to standard clinical assessment models are required in such circumstances to assure high quality and safe care. The primary aim of this study was to improve the quality of physical health monitoring by making accurate vital sign measurements more frequently available. It also aimed to explore the clinical experience of integrating a technological innovation with routine clinical care. The results showed that the non-contact monitoring device enabled a 12 fold increase overall in the monitoring of physical health observations when compared to a real-world baseline rate of checks. Enhancement to standard clinical care varied according to patient movement levels. Patients, carers and staff expressed positive views towards the integration of the technological intervention.
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Content ArticleFamily-activated medical emergency teams (MET) have the potential to improve the timely recognition of clinical deterioration and reduce preventable adverse events. Adoption of family-activated METs is hindered by concerns that the calls may substantially increase MET workload. Brady et al. aimed to develop a reliable process for family activated METs and to evaluate its effect on MET call rate and subsequent transfer to the intensive care unit (ICU).
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Content ArticleThe Acute Frailty Network (AFN) was a scheme run in England by NHS Elect, using an approach called Quality Improvement Collaboratives (QICs), to help trusts implement principles of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) as part of their acute pathway. In July 2023, Street et al published a paper in BMJ Quality and Safety analysing the impact of the AFN which concluded that there was no difference in length of hospital stay, in-hospital mortality, institutionalisation and hospital readmission between organisations that took part in AFN and those that did not. This article outlines the position of the British Geriatrics Society (BGS) on the paper, addressing why it thinks that focusing on older people’s healthcare is more important than ever. It highlights the importance of ensuring that the paper's findings are not used as a reason to abandon efforts to improve acute frailty care. Rather, they should be seen as a call to redouble efforts to identify and overcome the barriers to delivering CGA in acute settings.
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Content Article
The Response Study
Patient_Safety_Learning posted an article in Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF)
In August 2022, NHS England launched a new way of responding to safety events, called the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF). The PSIRF policy aims to support NHS organisations to be more flexible in how they respond to safety events. The Response Study is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The aim of the Response Study is to understand, in real time, how the roll out of this new policy happens across the NHS in England, and what impact it has. The study is based at the University of Leeds. It began in May 2022 and will end in July 2025. The Response Study are inviting all PSIRF Leads from NHS Trusts and Integrated Care Boards in England to complete a survey by 15 December 2023. To access the survey please contact responsestudy@leeds.ac.uk. -
Content Article
This is part of our series of Patient Safety Spotlight interviews, where we talk to people working for patient safety about their role and what motivates them. James talks to us about the value of patient feedback in boosting morale and enabling organisations to make real patient safety improvements. He also describes the power of the unique perspective patients have on safety, and asks how we can use this insight to shift culture and provide safer care. -
Content ArticleThis recent study published by the Journal of Hospital Infection, evaluated using patients as hand hygiene observers in an outpatient setting. It demonstrated that the implementation of a hand hygiene compliance improvement programme using the patient as the observer can be adopted successfully in the ambulatory setting.
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News ArticleMost women going through menopause are not receiving effective treatment for their symptoms, in part because of widespread misinformation, according to new research. A comprehensive literature review led by Prof Susan Davis from Monash University in Australia calls for more personalised treatment plans that address the greatly varying physical and mental symptoms of menopause. After adverse affects were reported from the landmark 2002 Women’s Health Initiative study into menopausal hormone therapy (MHT), Davis said there was a blanket fear that “hormones are dangerous” and as a result, “menopause [treatment] just went off the radar”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 6 September 2023
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Content ArticleThis review from Davis et al. summarises the biology and consequences of menopause, the role of supportive care, and the menopause-specific therapeutic options available to women.
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Content Article
Patient Voices uses reflective digital storytelling to deliver compelling and motivating insight that drives organisational change growth and success. Patient Voices’ methodologies are recognised by the National Audit Office, among many other major institutions, as a valid and uniquely illuminating method of gathering qualitative data.
