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Showing results for tags 'Staff factors'.
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Content ArticleA new multinational survey, on more than 1,300 patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals in 10 countries, shines a needed light on the misunderstood realities, unseen burden and care challenges of sickle cell disease. The Sickle Cell Health Awareness, Perspectives and Experiences (SHAPE) survey, one of the largest global burden of disease surveys conducted in sickle cell disease, identified long-term health complications of sickle cell disease as a key concern among 1,300 patients and healthcare professionals surveyed from 10 countries The survey also revealed that sickle cell disease patients' caregivers face profound physical, psychosocial, and economic burdens resulting from taking care of people living with the disease. The findings of the survey were presented during a poster presentation at the European Hematology Association (EHA) 2022 Hybrid Congress. “Sickle cell disease is a lifelong condition that causes damage in the body and has a profound impact on the quality of life of those who suffer from it and their caregivers. The SHAPE survey is important because it illustrates how vital it is that we understand our patients’ needs, and it suggests what we within the medical community can do to help change perspectives, increase education and awareness, and improve care,” said Dr. Baba Inusa, professor and consultant of paediatric haematology, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London and chair of the National Haemoglobinopathy Panel in England. “These results are a wake-up call, and I believe that the actions that follow can enable us to help drive a better dialogue and improved conversations around the management and care of this long-neglected and devastating disease.”
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Content Article
BMA: Racism in medicine (15 June 2022)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Culture
This report presents the findings of the British Medical Association (BMA) racism in medicine survey, which ran from October to December 2021. The survey sought to gather evidence of the racism experienced by doctors and medical students working in the NHS, and the impact of these experiences on their working lives and their career opportunities. All doctors and medical students in the UK, from all ethnic backgrounds, were invited to participate. The survey received 2030 responses in total, making it one of the largest of its kind. It found a concerning level of racism in the medical profession, stemming from fellow doctors, other NHS staff, and patients. These experiences of racism present in a variety of forms in the institutions and structures of the medical profession- Posted
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Content ArticleHandover is a critical process for ensuring quality and safety in healthcare, and research suggests that poor handover results in significant morbidity, mortality, dissatisfaction and increased financial costs. However, the safety of handover has not received much research attention to date. This study aimed to measure the perceived risk, degree of patient harm and the systems used to support handover, and to understand how this varied by care setting, type of clinical practice, location and level of experience. The authors suggest that the results of the study indicate that action needs to be taken to improve communication and reduce risk during all types of handovers. Clinical leaders should find ways to train and support handover with effective systems, particularly focusing on training less experienced staff. More research is needed to demonstrate which interventions improve the safety of handover.
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Content ArticleThe realities of our healthcare system are driving many health workers to burnout. They are at an increased risk for mental health challenges and choosing to leave the health workforce early. They work in distressing environments that strain their physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. This will make it harder for patients to get care when they need it. The USA is facing high levels of burnout among health care workers, which could lead to serious shortcomings in patient care, a new report from the U.S. Surgeon General has found.
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Content ArticleIn this Editorial for the journal Midwifery, maternity experts come together to respond to the Ockenden review and discuss what went wrong and what needs to happen now.
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Content ArticleThis report from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) reveals the full extent of the UK nursing workforce crisis. In March 2022, nursing and midwifery staff from across the UK were invited to tell the RCN about their experiences of the last time they were at work. The survey report provides valuable insight into the realities of staffing levels across the UK, and the impact on our members and the people they are caring for.
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Content ArticleThis study from Shepard et al. aimed to explore staff perceptions of patient safety in the NHS ambulance services. The authors interviewed 44 participants from three organisational levels, including executives, managers and operational staff. They identified five dominant themes: varied interpretation of patient safety; significant patient safety risks; reporting culture shift; communication; and organisational culture. The findings demonstrated that staff perceptions of patient safety ranged widely across the three organisational levels, while they remained consistent within those levels across the participating ambulance service NHS trusts in England. The findings suggest that participants from all organisational levels perceive that the NHS ambulance services have become much safer for patients over recent years, which signifies an awareness of the historical issues and how they have been addressed. The inclusion of three distinct ambulance service NHS trusts and organisational levels provides deepened insight into the perceptions of patient safety by staff. As the responses of participants were consistent across the three NHS trusts, the identified issues may be generic and have application in other ambulance and emergency service settings, with implications for health policy on a national basis.
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Content ArticleAn expert committee will extend the vision for the nursing profession into 2030 and chart a path for the nursing profession to help create a culture of health, reduce health disparities, and improve the health and well-being of the US population in the 21st century. The committee will consider newly emerging evidence related to the COVID-19 global pandemic and include recommendations regarding the role of nurses in responding to the crisis created by a pandemic.
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Content ArticleSarah Louise Dunn was admitted to the Blackpool Victoria Hospital on 10 April 2020. She was suffering from a Group A Streptococus infection following an early medical abortion on 23 March 2020 which by the time of her admission at hospital had produced sepsis and had progressed to toxic shock. Signs of sepsis were apparent before and on her admission given Sarah’s history and symptoms but Sarah was treated upon admission to hospital as a Covid-19 patient. Prior to admission, Sarah had not been seen by a doctor on either 9 or 10 April despite contacting both her GP surgery and the Out of Hours Service. The surgery pharmacist had not read Sarah’s notes properly and was not aware on 9 April that she had recently had undergone an early medical abortion. Her GP on 1 April had not recorded his face to face consultation with her nor noted the possibility of infection. Sepsis was not recognised or treated by the GP surgery, emergency department or Acute Medical Unit and upon Sarah’s arrival at hospital, the sepsis pathway was not followed. Antibiotics were not given to Sarah until 7.5 hours after her arrival at hospital. Sarah suffered a seizure at 6.30pm on the Acute Medical Unit and was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit. These matters in aggregate impacted on her care and Sarah would not have died had she been admitted to hospital sooner. Sarah died on 11 April 2020 on the Intensive Care Unit at Blackpool Victoria Hospital at 2.15am.
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Content ArticleThe recent NHS staff survey showed worrying results across all staff groups, but it was midwives who reported the sharpest decline in how satisfied they are in their work. Lucina Rolewicz takes a closer look at their responses to the survey, and emphasises the importance of improving the situation.
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Content ArticleThe link between nurse staffing levels and patient outcomes has been proven time and again – so why do we have a persistent shortage of nurses? Is it all due to lack of funding? And do, or should, nurses have a role in calling this out and finding solutions? These questions are explored in the latest episode of the Nursing Standard podcast, which hears from Jane Ball, professor of nursing workforce and policy at the University of Southampton, who has spent 30 years researching nurse staffing issues. She speaks about the positive impact on patient care of having the right number of nurses who are well-trained and have a good working environment.
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Content ArticleExpanding workforce capacity, and allowing staff to recover, is going to be fundamental in achieving the ambitions set out in the elective recovery delivery plan. To help support, protect and retain staff, this letter from NHS England details a number of high impact enablers that providers should consider implementing to help improve staff experience. It also sets out a number actions being taken forward at a national level with the aim of making the workload more sustainable for staff.
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Content Article
Being an anti-racist clinician (4 February 2022)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Health inequalities
Racism is a pervasive problem in Western society, leading to mental and physical unwellness in people from racialised groups. Psychology began as a racist discipline and still is. As such, most clinical training and curricula do not operate from an anti-racist framework. Although most therapists have seen clients with stress and trauma due to racialisation, very few were taught how to assess or treat it. Furthermore, clinicians and researchers can cause harm when they rely on White-dominant cultural norms that do not serve people of colour well. This paper from Racism is a pervasive problem in Western society, leading to mental and physical unwellness in people from racialized groups. Psychology began as a racist discipline and still is. As such, most clinical training and curricula do not operate from an anti-racist framework. Although most therapists have seen clients with stress and trauma due to racialisation, very few were taught how to assess or treat it. Furthermore, clinicians and researchers can cause harm when they rely on White-dominant cultural norms that do not serve people of colour well. This paper from Williams et al. discusses how clinicians can recognize and embrace an anti-racism approach in practice, research, and life in general. Included is a discussion of recent research on racial microaggressions, the difference between being a racial justice ally and racial justice saviour, and new research on what racial allyship entails. Ultimately, the anti-racist clinician will achieve a level of competency that promotes safety and prevents harm coming to those they desire to help, and they will be an active force in bringing change to those systems that propagate emotional harm in the form of racism. -
Content ArticleAlthough compensation increases have played a key role in retaining and recruiting healthcare employees amid a major workforce shortage, perks such as mental health services and education financial assistance have also helped meet staff needs. Six health system CEOs and CFOs share with Becker's Hospital Review their best tips for retention and recruitment that go beyond compensation:
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Content ArticleIn this blog, Jeremy Hunt MP, Founder of Patient Safety Watch, outlines six priorities for the new Health Secretary, Therese Coffey MP. He argues that these patient safety priorities will help reduce elective and emergency pressures and save money.
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The State of the World's Midwifery 2021
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Maternity
The State of the World’s Midwifery (SoWMy) 2021 builds on previous reports in the SoWMy series and represents an unprecedented effort to document the whole world’s Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Adolescent Health (SRMNAH) workforce, with a particular focus on midwives. It calls for urgent investment in midwives to enable them to fulfil their potential to contribute towards UHC and the SDG agenda. -
Content ArticleThe UK has fewer hospital beds than almost any other European comparator and we can ill afford any loss of hospital capacity. While Covid has undoubtedly worsened performance, crowding in emergency departments was a problem before the pandemic. There are frantic attempts to shore up battered and fragile rotas and rota coordinators are scratching their heads. Meanwhile there has been a steady increase in the number of staff off work with Long Covid. While many have been flexible and accommodating to try to maintain their services, there is increasing burnout and uncertainty as to when all this will end. The workforce needs to feel valued and supported, writes Adrian Boyle, a consultant in emergency medicine. There needs to be an acknowledgment that the system is broken.
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Content ArticleOn 3 September 2021 assistant coroner Jonathan Stevens commenced an investigation into the death of Martha Mills, aged 13 years. Martha sustained a handlebar injury whilst cycling on a family holiday in Wales. She was transferred to King’s College Hospital London and died approximately one month later. Her medical cause of death was: 1a refractory shock 1b sepsis 1c pancreatic transection (operated) 1d abdominal trauma.
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Content ArticleThe importance of nurse staffing to the delivery of high-quality patient care was a principal finding in the landmark report of the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Committee on the Adequacy of Nurse Staffing in Hospitals and Nursing Homes: “Nursing is a critical factor in determining the quality of care in hospitals and the nature of patient outcomes”. Nurse staffing is a crucial health policy issue on which there is a great deal of consensus on an abstract level (that nurses are an important component of the health care delivery system and that nurse staffing has impacts on safety), much less agreement on exactly what research data have and have not established, and active disagreement about the appropriate policy directions to protect public safety. Researchers have generally found that lower staffing levels are associated with heightened risks of poor patient outcomes. Staffing levels, particularly those related to nurse workload, also appear related to occupational health issues (like back injuries and needlestick injuries) and psychological states and experiences (like burnout) that may represent precursors for nurse turnover from specific jobs as well as the profession. This chapter from the Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-based Handbook for Nurses summarises and discusses the state of the science examining the impact of nurse staffing in hospitals and other health care organisations on patient care quality, as well as safety-focused outcomes. To address some of the inconsistencies and limitations in existing studies, design issues and limitations of current methods and measures will be presented. The chapter concludes with a discussion of implications for future research, the management of patient care and public policy.
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Content ArticleSharing her story in the Guardian, Merope gives a heart breaking account of how her daughter, Martha Mills, was allowed to die, but also what happens when you have blind faith in doctors – and learn too late what you should have known to save your child’s life.
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This blog provides an overview of a discussion at a Patient Safety Management Network (PSMN) meeting on 26 August 2022. The discussion considered the use of two different system-based approaches for learning from patient safety incidents recommended by the NHS Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF). The PSMN is an informal voluntary network for patient safety managers. Created by and for patient safety managers, it provides a weekly drop-in session with guests to talk through issues of importance, offer peer support and create a safe space for discussion. You can find out more about the network here -
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Joy in work: presentation from Julia Wood (22 July 2022)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Culture
Presentation from Julia Wood given to the Patient Safety Manager Network (PSMN) on the importance of finding joy and happiness in work and how you can support your staff. -
Content ArticleProfessor Peter Brennan is a NHS Consultant Surgeon in Portsmouth, specialising in head and neck cancer. In this episode of the Human Factor Podcast, Peter discusses how he is driving Human Factors approaches from his perspective. To date, Peter has published over 700 publications including more than 80 on Human Factors and patient safety. His HF work has changed the delivery of postgraduate surgery exam delivery in the UK and abroad. Watch all the Human Factors Podcast episodes here.
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Content ArticleDespite the increasing availability of mobile health services, clinical engagement remains minimal. This study from Leigh et al. aimed to identify and weight barriers to and drivers of health app use among health care professions (HCPs) from the UK. They found an NHS stamp of approval, published studies, and recommendations from fellow HCPs are significant facilitators of digital prescribing, whereas increasing costs and patient age are significant barriers to engagement. These findings suggest that demonstrating assurances of health apps and supporting both the dissemination and peer-to-peer recommendation of evidence-based technologies are critical if the NHS is to achieve its long-term digital transformation ambitions.
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Content ArticleThe National Guardian’s Office has published its latest annual speaking up data, which summarises the themes and learning from the speaking up data shared by Freedom to Speak Up guardians.
