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Showing results for tags 'Resources / Organisational management'.
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Content ArticleWe tend to think of burnout as an individual problem, solvable by “learning to say no,” more yoga, better breathing techniques, practicing resilience — the self-help list goes on. But evidence is mounting that applying personal, band-aid solutions to an epic and rapidly evolving workplace phenomenon may be harming, not helping, the battle. With “burnout” now officially recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO), the responsibility for managing it has shifted away from the individual and towards the organisation.
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News Article
Doctors told to use 'least unsafe' option in Norwich hospital
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
An NHS hospital has been so overwhelmed that it told senior doctors to make “the least unsafe decision” when treating patients. Medical groups have voiced concern that Norfolk and Norwich hospital trust’s instruction to its consultants this week showed it was struggling so much to cope with the number of people needing care that patient safety was being put at risk. At the time the hospital had no spare beds, a full accident and emergency department, 35 patients waiting on trolleys to be admitted, and had declared a major internal incident. In its message, seen by the Guardian, it said: “We would like you to know that the trust will support you in making difficult decisions that may be the least unsafe decision, and we would appreciate your cooperation over the coming days with this.” The circular from the Norwich hospital added: “We are facing our most challenging situation with our trust today,” because it was so overcrowded and unable to find a bed for the 35 patients doctors had decided needed to be admitted as emergencies. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 20 December 2019 -
News Article
NHS bed occupancy beyond safe levels ahead of Christmas
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Hospital wards across the country are having to look after an unsafe number of patients, with hundreds of beds closed due to an outbreak of norovirus. NHS England has said that on average almost 900 beds were closed each day during the week to Sunday 15 December. Hospitals have reported fewer empty beds with bed-occupancy rates reaching as high as 95 per cent, 10 per cent higher than the recommended safe level. Read full story Source: The Independent, 20 December 2019 -
News Article
Using temporary nurses can increase risk of patients dying, warns new study
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Patients are more likely to die on wards staffed by a high number of temporary nurses, a study has found. Researchers say the findings, published in the Journal of Nursing Scholarship, are a warning sign that the common practice by many hospitals of relying on agency nurses is not a risk-free option for patients. The University of Southampton study found that risk of death increased by 12 per cent for every day a patient experienced a high level of temporary staffing – defined as 1.5 hours of agency nursing a day per patient. For an average ward, this increased risk could apply when between a third and a half of the staff on each shift are temporary staff, according to Professor Peter Griffiths, one of the study’s authors. He told The Independent: “We know that patients are put at risk of harm when nurse staffing is lower than it should be. “One of the responses to that is to fill the gaps with temporary nursing staff, and that is an absolutely understandable thing to do, but when using a higher number of temporary staff there is an increased risk of harm. “It is not a solution to the problem.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 10 December 2019 -
Content ArticleIn this blog published in the New York Times, Theresa Brown explains why American healthcare has become one giant workaround. "The nurses were hiding drugs above a ceiling tile in the hospital — not because they were secreting away narcotics, but because the hospital pharmacy was slow, and they didn’t want patients to have to wait." These 'work arounds ' pose a significant patient safety risk. What work around problems do you have in your department? Theresa Brown is a clinical faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing.
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News ArticleThe first publication of data from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s 2019-20 Winter Flow Project shows that existing data does not reflect the true scale of the problem of 12 hour stays in A&E. RCEM data shows that in the first week of December over 5,000 patients waited for longer than 12 hours in the Emergency Departments of 50 Trusts and Boards across the UK. The sample of trusts and boards from across the UK is the equivalent to a third of the acute bed base in England. From the beginning of October 2019 over 38,000 patients have waited longer than 12 hours for a bed at the sampled sites across the UK – yet data from NHS England reports that in England alone a total of only 13,025 patients experienced waits over 12 hours since 2011-12. President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Dr Katherine Henderson said: “In a nine-week period, at only a third of trusts across the UK, we’ve seen nearly three times the number of 12 hour waits than has been officially reported in eight years in England. This must be fixed." Read full story Source: Royal College of Emergency Medicine, 9 December 2019
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Content ArticleThe Clinical Excellence Commission in New South Wales, Australia, is driving person-centred care by stimulating districts to compete to provide it. Karen Luxford and Stephanie Newell describe the integrated approach, its uptake, and encouraging early evidence of change.
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Content ArticleThis is the fourth annual NHS workforce trends report published by the Health Foundation. In it, they analyse the changes in the size and composition of the NHS workforce in England in the context of long-term trends, policy priorities and future projected need.
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Content ArticleIn 2016, medical error was reported as the third greatest cause of death. The introduction of ergonomic science into healthcare will help overcome this; however, healthcare frameworks are resistant to change, particularly ergonomic initiatives. The PatientSafe Network exists to address this.
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Content ArticleThere are a number of fundamental weaknesses in governance around patient safety and the quality of care at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, a joint review by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) and the Wales Audit Office found. Following well-publicised concerns about maternity services at the Health Board, the joint review examined the organisation’s overall approach to quality governance. It found that whilst there has been a strong focus on financial balance and meeting key targets, less attention has been paid to the overall quality and safety of its services. The report highlights the need for stronger and broader leadership in respect of quality and patient safety and worryingly, points to a culture of fear and blame in some parts of the organisation that has prevented staff from speaking out and raising concerns.
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Content ArticleThis article, published by Forbes, looks at the airline industry and discusses the value in not only studying what pilots do wrong, but also what they do right. This can be translated into healthcare, we know lots about what has gone wrong in healthcare but not so much about the small, quiet things that go right. 'In aviation safety, it’s like we’ve been trying to learn about marriage by only studying divorce.' Written by Kirsty Kiernan a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University who teaches and conducts research in unmanned systems and aviation safety.
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Content ArticleTransport of patients from the intensive care unit (ICU) to another area of the hospital can pose serious risks if the patient has not been assessed prior to transport. The Department of Critical Care Medicine, Calgary Health Region, experienced two adverse events during transport. A subgroup of the Department's Patient Safety and Adverse Events team developed an ICU patient transport decision scorecard. This tool was tested through Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles and further revised using human factors principles. Staff, especially novice nurses, found the tool extremely useful in determining patient preparedness for transport.
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Content Article
Freedom to Speak Up Guardian job description (March 2018)
Claire Cox posted an article in Speak Up Guardians
This is the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian job description. Use it for reference or for a template to advertise for a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian in you trust/sector. -
Content ArticleThis improvement resource set out by the National Quality Board is to help standardise safe, sustainable and productive staffing decisions in maternity services. This is an improvement resource to support staffing in maternity settings. It describes the principles for safe maternity staffing across the multiprofessional team to ensure women and their families receive joined-up care appropriate to their needs and wishes. The purpose of this resource is to help providers of NHS-commissioned services, boards and executive directors to support their head/director of midwifery and other lead professionals in implementing safe staffing for maternity settings. NHS provider boards are accountable for ensuring their organisation has the right culture, leadership and skills for safe, sustainable and productive staffing.
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Content ArticleThis report states that patient and public engagement has been on the NHS agenda for many years, but the impact has been disappointing. There have been a great many public consultations, surveys, and one-off initiatives, but it argues that the service is still not sufficiently patient-centred. In particular, it looks at a lack of focus on engaging patients in their own clinical care, despite strong evidence that this could make a real difference to health outcomes. This paper argues that a more strategic approach is required to create the necessary shift in beliefs, attitudes and behaviours.
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Content ArticleHealth and social care systems, organisations and providers are under pressure to organise care around patients’ needs with constrained resources. To implement patient-centred care (PCC) successfully, barriers must be addressed. Up to now, there has been a lack of comprehensive investigations on possible determinants of PCC across various health and social care organisations (HSCOs). This qualitative study from Hower et al., published in BMJ Open, examines determinants of PCC implementation from decision makers’ perspectives across diverse HSCOs.
