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Found 843 results
  1. News Article
    Junior doctors have threatened to stage a “full walkout” for three consecutive days in March in which they would not treat A&E patients. The British Medical Association told the government this morning that junior doctors would strike for 72 hours if it is supported in a ballot that opens next week. The association said that “doctors will not provide emergency care during the strike”, which is likely to worsen deadly accident and emergency delays. Hospital bosses said they were “deeply worried” by the BMA’s announcement, urging the government to start negotiating rather than “sitting back and letting more strikes happen”. NHS bosses fear that the BMA will co-ordinate strike action with the nursing and ambulance unions if the dispute is allowed to rumble on. Nurses will strike on January 18 and 19, and ambulance workers are due to walk out on January 11 and 23. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 6 January 2023
  2. News Article
    A “commended” NHS nurse has been awarded nearly £500,000 for being wrongly sacked after she claimed that high workloads led to a patient’s death. Linda Fairhall, 62, a 44-year veteran of the health service, said she made 13 separate pleas to bosses warning that her colleagues were overburdened, but she was ignored each time. Fairhal told officials at the University Hospital of North Tees and Hartlepool that she was worried about a recently imposed policy that obliged nurses to monitor patients who took prescribed medicines and maintained that it led to nurses having to conduct 1,000 extra patient visits a month without extra resources. She said nurses were overwhelmed by the additional responsibility, which resulted in rising “anxiety” among staff and higher rates of absence. However, Fairhall told the tribunal in Teesside that nothing was done in response to her concerns, and ultimately a patient died. The tribunal heard that the nurse raised her last warning with officials just before she went on annual leave. On her return she was suspended and investigated for “bullying and harassment”, then sacked for gross misconduct. A tribunal has now ruled that the decision to dismiss Fairhall was “materially influenced” by her complaints regarding patient safety, with the panel adding that it could not “genuinely believe” that she was guilty of misconduct. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 4 January 2023 Read the full tribunal decision: Ms L Fairhall v University Hospital of North Tees and Hartlepool Foundation Trust
  3. News Article
    Managers in an NHS area are considering using "field hospitals" to deal with the surge in patients. Sarah Whiteman, chief medical director of the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board told colleagues the use of tents was a "real possibility". In an email, she also asked colleagues to sign temporary contracts to work in emergency departments. The board said the use of tents in hospital grounds was not imminent. Dr Whiteman's email, obtained by The Sunday Times and seen by the BBC, began with the statement: "Call to arms". It emphasised how busy the acute units were within her board's operational area, including Bedford, Milton Keynes and Luton and Dunstable Hospitals. In the message, she promised staff would receive training and induction if they stepped forward to support colleagues. Read full story Source: BBC News, 4 January 2023
  4. News Article
    Nurses will go on strike again on 18 and 19 January in England unless pay talks are opened, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has said. Nurses at more hospital trusts than before will be involved in the strike action in the new year, the union said. Meanwhile, the GMB union has called off a second day of ambulance strikes planned in England and Wales for 28 December. But it announced a new co-ordinated walkout on 11 January. Read full story Source: BBC News, 23 December 2022
  5. News Article
    A teaching hospital that was lauded for its culture and championed by ministers has been downgraded from ‘outstanding’ to ‘requires improvement’ by the Care Quality Commission. CQC inspectors found multiple issues at Salford Royal Hospital during an inspection in August and September. These included nurse staffing, governance, and some cultural concerns. The trust’s urgent and emergency services were rated “inadequate” for safety. The hospital in Greater Manchester had been rated “outstanding” since 2015, and was frequently hailed as a leader on the patient safety agenda, particularly by former health secretary Jeremy Hunt. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 22 December 2022
  6. News Article
    The NHS entered the last six hours of the ambulance strike with a sense that the real test will be seen in the coming days. Call volumes were down and many A&Es quieter than in previous days. NHS111 was very busy. Despite the fears expressed by leaders ahead of the strike not yet coming to fruition, the day ended with eight integrated care systems declaring critical incidents, along with all striking ambulance trusts and a number of hospital trusts. Leaders across the country told HSJ they feared that those who stayed away today in response to pleas for “common sense” amid industrial action may come back tomorrow, seeing demand return strongly. A senior London source said: “The ambulances will have stacked some calls and we may have a flood of movement tomorrow.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 21 December 2022
  7. News Article
    The risk to patients will only get worse unless the government reaches an agreement to prevent further strikes, NHS leaders have warned. In a letter to the prime minister and health secretary, they said there was "deep worry" about today's strike. People are being asked to only call 999 in a life-threatening emergency, but NHS England says emergency care will continue to be provided. Ambulance response times are already twice as long as two years ago. The letter, signed by the leaders of NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, says the action being taken by ambulance workers "isn't just about pay but working conditions: many have said they are doing this because they no longer feel able to provide the level of care that their patients need and deserve." They urged ministers to "do all you can to bring about an agreed solution". Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the pay deal on offer to both ambulance staff and nurses had been agreed by an independent pay review body. In England, eight out of the 10 major ambulance services have declared critical incidents - a sign of the intense pressure they are already under. Ministers have urged the public to take extra care and suggested they avoid contact sports and unnecessary car journeys. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 21 December 2022
  8. News Article
    Nine ambulance trusts in England and Wales are expected to be affected by industrial action on Wednesday, coordinated by the GMB, Unison and Unite unions. The ambulance strikes will involve paramedics as well as control-room staff and support workers. The threat to patient safety on Wednesday will be exceptional. Under trade union laws, life-preserving care must be provided during the strikes. But there remains a lack of clarity about what will be offered. Even at this late stage, NHS leaders say negotiations are continuing between unions and ambulance services to agree which incidents will be exempt from strike action. All category 1 calls – the most life-threatening cases – will be responded to, while some ambulance trusts have agreed exemptions with unions for specific incidents within category 2 calls. However, in some cases, elderly people who fall during the strikes may not be sent help until they have spent several hours on the floor. Heart attack and stroke patients may get an ambulance only if treatment is deemed “time critical”. There is no doubt that many of those patients making 999 calls on Wednesday will not get the care they need. Some will probably die as a result. NHS leaders believe Wednesday’s strike will present a completely different magnitude of risk. Quite simply, patients not getting emergency treatment quickly enough can mean the difference between life and death. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 19 December 2022
  9. News Article
    Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will strike today in an ongoing dispute with the government about pay and concerns about patient safety. Up to 100,000 members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will take part after it balloted its members in October. It has said that low pay is the cause of chronic understaffing that is putting patients at risk and leaves NHS staff overworked. It will be the second day of strikes in December, after an initial day of industrial action on 15 December, the RCN’s biggest in its history. It meant the cancellation of thousands of outpatient appointments and non-urgent operations. More strikes have been threatened for January unless talks between union negotiators and the government takes place before Thursday, 48 hours after the strike on Tuesday. The RCN’s general secretary and chief executive, Pat Cullen, said: “For many of us, this is our first time striking and our emotions are really mixed. The NHS is in crisis, the nursing profession can’t take any more, our loved ones are already suffering. “It is not unreasonable to demand better. This is not something that can wait. We are committed to our patients and always will be.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 20 December 2022
  10. News Article
    Unions must ensure there will be "sufficient" staffing during this week's ambulance strike to protect patients, the health secretary says. Workers in England and Wales will walk out on Wednesday in a dispute over pay, but life-threatening emergencies will be responded to. Unions say discussions were still taking place with ambulance trusts to draw up detailed plans for cover. Steve Barclay said there is a lack of clarity about what is being offered. He said it was for the unions to ensure they "meet their obligations" for emergency cover so that people in crisis get the care they need. But Unite leader Sharon Graham, whose union is co-ordinating the ambulance strikes with Unison and GMB, said Mr Barclay will "have to carry the can if patients suffer". The ambulance walkouts will involve paramedics as well as control room staff and support workers. The action by the three main ambulance unions - Unison, GMB and Unite - will affect non-life threatening calls, meaning those who suffer trips, falls or other injuries may not receive treatment. Read full story Source: BBC News, 19 December 2022
  11. News Article
    Four out of five Britons are worried about the NHS’s ability to provide safe care for patients during strikes by nurses and ambulance workers, a new poll has found. While around half of those surveyed said they support the planned industrial action, the majority expressed concern about the impact on patient safety. The Ipsos poll of 1,100 adults found that 80% were very or fairly concerned about the ability of the NHS to provide safe care for people during the nurses’ strike, which began on Thursday. Meanwhile, 82% of those questioned in the survey said they are very or fairly concerned about patient safety during the ambulance workers’ industrial action, with the first strike planned for 21 December. The new poll comes as the NHS continues to face high demand and widespread staffing gaps, with health leaders fearing this winter will be the most difficult in the health service’s history. Ambulances have been struggling to meet response times targets, while new data published on Thursday shows handover delays at hospitals in England have hit a new high. But the Ipsos survey suggests that, nevertheless, more people are supportive of the industrial action than are opposed to it. Some 50% of those questioned said they either strongly support or tend to support the industrial action by nurses, while 47% are supportive of the ambulance worker strikes. Read full story Source: The National, 15 December 2022
  12. News Article
    Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have started a nationwide strike in the largest action of its kind in NHS history. Staff will continue to provide "life-preserving" and some urgent care but routine surgery and other planned treatment is likely to be disrupted. The Royal College of Nursing said staff had been given no choice after ministers refused to reopen pay talks. RCN general secretary Pat Cullen has called on the government to "do the decent thing" and resolve the dispute before the year ends. Ms Cullen told BBC Breakfast the strike marked "a tragic day in nursing". "We need to stand up for our health service, we need to find a way of addressing those over seven million people that are sitting on waiting lists, and how are we going to do that? By making sure we have got the nurses to look after our patients, not with 50,000 vacant posts, and with it increasing day by day," she said. Health Minister Maria Caulfield, a former nurse, accepted "it is difficult" living on a nurse's wage, but said that a 19% pay rise "is an unrealistic ask". Under trade union laws, the RCN has to ensure life-preserving care continues during the 12-hour strike. Chemotherapy and kidney dialysis should run as normal, along with intensive and critical care, children's accident and emergency and hospital neonatal units, which look after newborn babies. Read full story Source: BBC News, 15 December 2022
  13. News Article
    Six NHS staff workers are typically reported every week in England for sexually harassing a patient or colleague, the Telegraph can reveal. Nearly a fifth of English trusts have recorded a rise in reports of sexual harassment within their services since 2017, while millions have been spent by the NHS on legal claims specific to sexual abuse over the same time period, according to newly obtained data. Health secretary Steve Barclay described the findings as “worrying” and urged NHS leaders to take “robust action in response to any such incidents in their organisation”. Patient Safety Learning said the Telegraph's “deeply troubling” revelations demonstrated an abuse of the “significant power imbalance” that exists between vulnerable patients and their care providers. “Healthcare professionals need to recognise the power they hold over patients,” said chief executive Helen Hughes. “Inappropriate behaviours undermine trust in healthcare system and the ability to deliver safe care.” “Clinicians, managers and healthcare leaders have both a professional and moral responsibility to patients to ensure that there is a safe culture in healthcare settings and that misconduct is not tolerated," said Ms Hughes. As part of its investigation into sexual harassment within the NHS, the Telegraph uncovered the case of a mentally incapacitated patient who was raped by her healthcare worker and subsequently fell pregnant. The healthcare worker, who is in his 30s, was recently jailed for eight months after pleading guilty to sexual activity with a mentally disordered female. Joe Matchett, an expert lawyer at Irwin Mitchell who has secured settlements for survivors of abuse, said his firm continues to “represent a number of patients subjected to terrible abuse at the hands of hospital staff who have betrayed their position of trust in the worst imaginable way”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 11 December 2022
  14. News Article
    More than half of UK doctors have seen or experienced abuse by patients or their relatives in the last year, including incidents in which they have been spat at and threatened. Doctors have variously had their hair ripped out, been backed up against a wall and been racially abused, a survey and dossier of testimonies collated by a medical organisation has revealed. Long delays for care and staff shortages are cited as the main triggers for what NHS leaders say is an increased readiness by the public to be aggressive towards frontline staff. The research by the Medical Protection Society (MPS) found that 56% of the doctors questioned had experienced or witnessed a situation involving verbal or physical abuse over the last year. Almost half said incidents had occurred because of a lack of staff, while 45% blamed it on patients’ frustration at having to wait a long time to be treated. One doctor told the MPS how a “patient’s partner threatened to kill me as he felt his wife had waited too long to be seen”, while another said: “I had a handful of my hair ripped out despite the patient being in handcuffs and with the police.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 22 June 2023
  15. News Article
    There is evidence of black, Asian and minority ethnic women being treated differently at the University Hospital of Wales, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) has said. HIW completed an inspection of UHW's maternity services in November 2022 and served an urgent improvement notice. A follow up inspection in March found continuing issues with patient safety. The inspectorate said in November that it identified issues which meant that patients were not consistently receiving an "acceptable standard of timely, safe, and effective care". Although "some improvements had been made in many areas... there remained significant challenges, and overall, the improvements were not progressing at the pace required", it said. The report added: "We found low morale amongst staff that we spoke to, and similar comments were received following a staff survey. Read full story Source: BBC News, 22 June 2023
  16. News Article
    A trust has been told to not “shut down” staff who raise concerns by a former employee whom a tribunal found was racially discriminated against. Moorfields Eye Hospital Foundation Trust racially discriminated, victimised and harassed Samiriah Shaikh, who worked at the trust as an ophthalmic technician, according to a recent judgment. Judges said Ms Shaikh was described as “aggressive” by her boss Peter Holm, and stereotyped by managers as a “loud ethnic female” after she and fellow colleagues raised allegations of racism in the promotion of in-house staff. Mr Holm, who is listed as a chief ophthalmic and vision science practitioner at the trust, is said to have responded to staff members’ concerns by making jokes during a team meeting. It is unclear whether he is still at the trust. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 20 June 2023
  17. News Article
    Junior doctors could indefinitely withdraw labor, and strike for three days a month until next year, the medics’ union leaders have warned. Hundreds of junior doctors gathered outside the largest NHS conference of the year, NHS Confedexpo, on Thursday chanting “pay us fair, pay right, we don’t want to have to strike”. The British Medical Association’s junior doctor committee co-chair Dr Rob Laurenson warned junior doctors may next escalate strike action in an “indefinite withdrawal of labour”. NHS England boss Amanda Pritchard said the strike is a “serious risk to patient safety” and industrial action “creates risk and upheaval”. She said tens of thousands of appointments will be affected. Read full story Source: The Independent, 15 June 2023
  18. News Article
    Almost all routine NHS care in England will be disrupted for three days this week when junior doctors strike in their latest attempt to force ministers to increase their pay. Prof Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, said the stoppage would have an enormous impact and lead to huge numbers of patients missing out on planned care. Many thousands of junior doctors are due to stage a 72-hour walkout starting at 7am on Wednesday and continuing until 7am on Saturday. “The NHS has been preparing extensively for this next set of strikes,” said Powis. “But we know that – with the sheer number of appointments that need to be rescheduled – it will have an enormous impact on routine care for patients and on the waiting list, as procedures can take time to rearrange with multiple teams involved.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 13 June 2023
  19. News Article
    Health leaders have blamed staff shortages for waiting lists reaching another record high, with 7.4 million people in England waiting to start treatment as of the end of April. One NHS leader said the figures showed that unsustainable “pressure continues to pile on an overstretched NHS”, and urged the government to speed up publication of its long-awaited workforce plan, which has been repeatedly postponed. Waiting list figures in England have crept up again after showing signs of improvement in recent months, despite Rishi Sunak citing bringing numbers down as one of the government’s top five priorities for 2023. Downing Street on Thursday insisted the NHS was “continuing to make progress to ensure patients are seen more quickly”, pointing to record numbers of doctors and nurses in the NHS. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 8 June 2023
  20. News Article
    Two new healthcare workforce surveys outline widespread reports of discrimination, racism and workplace violence in the USA perpetuated by patients and coworkers alike. Among the findings were acknowledgments from respondents that incidents of discrimination are rarely reported to management or law enforcement. Additionally, more than half of the respondents to one survey said that they believed that incidents of workplace violence have increased over the course of their tenure, while nearly half of the nurses who responded to the other survey said they believe “a culture of racism/discrimination” was present as early as in nursing school. “If we are to truly provide just and equitable care to our patients, we as nurses must hold ourselves accountable for our own behavior and work to change the systems that perpetuate racism and other forms of discrimination,” said Beth Toner, RN, director of program communications at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). Read full story Source: Fierce Healthcare, 2 June 2023
  21. News Article
    An NHS maternity department has been handed a warning notice by the health regulator because of safety failings. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said it was taking the action over the James Paget Hospital in Norfolk to prevent patients coming to harm. Inspectors found the unit did not have enough staff to care for women and babies and keep them safe. The maternity department has been deemed "inadequate" by the CQC, which meant the overall rating for the hospital has now dropped from "good" to "requires improvement". Between June and November 2022 there were 30 maternity "red flags" that the inspectors found, of which more than half related to delays or cancellations to time-critical activity. In one instance, there was a delay in recognising a serious health problem and taking the appropriate action. The report also highlighted the service did not have enough maternity staff with the right qualifications, skills, training and experience "to keep women safe from avoidable harm and to provide the right care and treatment". Read full story Source: BBC News, 31 May 2023
  22. News Article
    A 14-year-old girl who should have been under constant supervision at a mental health hospital died after a member of staff on his first shift left her unattended, an inquest has heard. Ruth Szymankiewicz died at Taplow Manor Hospital in Maidenhead on 12 February 2022 after a care worker responsible for her one-to-one supervision “sporadically” left his post, the hearing was told. It also emerged at the hearing that the care worker, who is now abroad, was allegedly using a fake name. Detectives are investigating him as part of a fraud investigation although he has not yet been interviewed by police. After Ruth’s death, the Care Quality Commission launched a criminal investigation. In an update to the coroner, it said that the investigation was looking at whether the provider had “brought about avoidable harm or exposure to risk” in relation to the young girl’s death. Read full story Source: The Independent, 26 May 2023
  23. News Article
    Ambulance chiefs have warned a controversial piece of legislation could lead to legal action against their trusts by patients denied an ambulance. The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, would enable the health and social care secretary to set minimum levels of staffing for ambulance call centres and crews. Employers would be able to issue “work notices” compelling staff to provide cover during any strike. But, in its response to the government consultation on how the system would work, the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives has said it does not support the legislation in its current form as it does not believe it will deliver an improvement for patients, or offer a practical means of delivering minimum service levels. It said the proposed legislation appears to pass responsibility for the service levels to employers, which could leave them “exposed to patient liability risks to a greater extent than before”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 22 May 2023
  24. News Article
    National guidelines are needed to help maternity care professionals navigate discussions with pregnant women about past traumas, experts have said. Their study, published in the journal Plos One, also found that while talking about previously experienced traumas can be valuable, they can also trigger painful memories if not approached sensitively. The authors also raised concerns about the support available for professionals who may not feel equipped to explore challenging topics such as domestic or sexual abuse, childhood trauma and birth trauma without adequate guidelines or referral pathways. Joanne Cull, a midwife and PhD student at the University of Central Lancashire’s School of Community Health and Midwifery, who is corresponding author on the study, said: “As awareness of the long-term effects of trauma on health and wellbeing has grown, there has been a move toward asking pregnant women about previous trauma, usually at the first appointment. “No national guidance on this has been published in the UK so NHS Trusts have implemented this on a piecemeal approach.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 17 May 2023
  25. News Article
    Staff were suspended by their trust after they were found to have been sleeping in a patient’s bed, a Care Quality Commission (CQC) report has revealed. The regulator inspected acute wards for adults and psychiatric intensive care units at Black Country Healthcare Foundation Trust in February, after safeguarding concerns were raised. As HSJ revealed earlier this year, inspectors investigated a series of incidents, while a referral was also made to the police. As well as reports of staff using a mental health inpatient’s bed, there were complaints involving alleged inappropriate sexual behaviour and a governance breach. The concerns were said to relate to Hallam Street hospital in West Bromwich and Penn Hospital in Wolverhampton. The CQC inspection report said it inspected the service following allegations that “abuse had occurred” and a “multi-agency safeguarding meeting was convened to discuss the investigations of these”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 18 May 2023
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