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Showing results for tags 'Staff factors'.
Found 843 results
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Content ArticleThe Health and Safety Executive have taken a topic-focused approach to human factors. These topics have proven to be key issues based on research, consultation with industry and intermediaries, and inspection experience.
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Diagnosis: COVID Blindness (April 2020)
PatientSafetyLearning Team posted an article in Blogs
In this article, published by Diagnosis, Linden Brown reflects on his time working with COVID-19 patients. He recalls an incident where a case of sepsis was nearly missed due to what he calls 'COVID-blindness'. "In the panic of quarantine and isolation precautions, we put on cognitive blinders to our bread and butter: sepsis. Had this patient come into the hospital 2 weeks prior, he would likely have been placed on antibiotics immediately." -
Content ArticleFor eligible patients, prompt admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) can increase their chance of survival by up to 23%. Yet those that do survive may experience lasting physical and emotional effects, and it is the job of the clinician to carefully weigh up the potential gains and risks of admission in what is often a time-pressured environment. There are currently no national guidelines to help the decision-making process, and evidence suggests it is influenced by a range of factors, with considerable variation between clinicians. In addition, patients and their families are not always fully informed or consulted. This study, published by Health Services and Delivery Research, explored current practice in order to create a decision support tool that could be used to help take some of the uncertainty out of the process, thereby improving decisions and, when possible, also informing the discussions with the patient and their family.
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Content ArticleThis publication presents UK-focused analysis of The Commonwealth Fund’s 2019 International Health Policy Survey of Primary Care Doctors in 11 Countries. This includes responses to several UK-specific questions funded by the Health Foundation. The Health Foundation present their analysis of the data, including comparisons with the 2015 survey where possible, under three main themes: how GPs view their job what care GPs are providing and how it is changing how GPs work with other professionals and services.
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Association for Anaesthetists: Tips for night shifts
Claire Cox posted an article in Motivating staff
The Association for Anaesthetists have produced some 'top tips' for night shift workers. What tips do you have to keep you feeling well overnight? -
Content ArticleHuman factors are of pivotal importance to both patient safety and doctors’ wellbeing, says Peter Brennan and Tista Chakravarty-Gannon in this BMJ Opinion article. In this article they highlight what the General Medical Council (GMC) and other organisations are doing to support doctors to deliver good care for their patients through educational and support programmes, including the GMC’s new Professional Behaviours and Patient Safety Programmes (PBPS) being piloted across the UK. These programmes are designed to help improve doctors’ skills and confidence in addressing unprofessional behaviours. These initiatives should reduce medical error, improve patient safety and professional welfare, as well as enhancing team working.
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Content ArticleIn his blog, Danny Tucker, Associate Professor in Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Director of Clinical Training, describes how clinicians experience two types of learning: firstly, incremental learning – they study new facts, medical knowledge and technical skills. Through incremental learning, individuals align habits with established norms, conform to ideals laid out by experts and reinforce existing power structures. Incremental learning involves the process of deliberate practice. Mezirow introduced the concept of transformative learning. This is a deeper, developmental shift, where situations and dilemmas challenge underlying assumptions and beliefs about the world. Clinicians grow through reflective engagement with their experiences, the people they meet - particularly patients - and by testing new mental models of how the world works. Transformative learning changes perspectives and relationships, laying the foundation for personal growth and innovation. It requires curiosity, attention, and courage. Danny offers practical steps that can be taken to encourage and inspire transformative learning for doctors in training.
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Content ArticleExpanding on his previous commentary 'What does all this safety stuff have to do with me', Dan Cohen, Patient Safety Learning's Trustee and former Chief Medical Officer at DATIX, has written this article for the hub on personal responsibility in patient safe care.
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Content ArticleThe Committee of Inquiry was set up in 1967 by the Welsh Hospital Board at the request of the Minister of Health, to investigate allegations of ill-treatment of patients and of pilfering by staff which had been made by a nursing assistant employed at the hospital. The Committee was also asked to make their own examination of the situation in the hospital at the time of their inquiry.
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Content ArticleThis paper, published in BMC Public Health, reports the results of a qualitative study that explored UK healthcare worker's (HCW) views about working during an influenza pandemic, in order to identify factors that might influence their willingness and ability to work and to identify potential sources of any perceived duty on HCWs to work.
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Content ArticleThis podcast, published by Coda, covers a wide array of topics, from PPE to simulation. Martin Bromiley (Human Factors expert), talks about the ways human factors affect teams and safety and share communications tactics to help alleviate potential issues.
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Content ArticleEvidence highlights the intrinsic link between nurse staffing and expertise, and outcomes for service users of healthcare, and that workforce retention is linked to the clinical and organisational experiences of employees. However, this understanding is less well established in mental health. This study from Cook et al. comprises a retrospective observational study carried out on routinely collected data from a large mental healthcare provider. Two databases comprising nurse staffing levels and adverse events were modelled using latent variable methods to account for the presence of multiple underlying behaviours. The analysis reveals a strong dependence of the rate of adverse events on the location and perceived clinical demand of the wards, and a reduction in adverse events where registered nurses exceed ‘clinically required levels’. In the first study of its kind, these findings present significant implications for nursing workforce policy and present an opportunity to not only improve safety but potentially impact nurse retention.
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Content ArticleIn 2016, 18 year-old Oliver McGowan died after being inappropriately prescribed antipsychotic medications. Oliver had high functioning autism, mild hemiplegia and epilepsy, and had experienced previous well-documented adverse reactions to these medications. On admission to hospital, both Oliver and his parents had been clear about the fact that he should not be given any form of antipsychotic. In this interview for Woman's Hour, Oliver's mum Paula talks about Oliver and the events that led to his death, as well as discussing new mandatory training for all health and social care staff that was passed into law as part of the Health and Care Act 2022 - The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training in Learning Disability and Autism. This will ensure that all staff working health and social care receive learning disability and autism training appropriate for their role, which will in turn improve outcomes for people with learning disabilities. The interview can be found at 34 minutes 10 seconds into the programme.
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Content ArticleThis report details the findings of a thematic review of Safe and wellbeing reviews (SWRs) between October 2021 and May 2022. SWRs are undertaken for children, young people and adults that are autistic and/or have a learning disability who are being cared for in a mental health inpatient setting. SWRs are part of the NHS response to the safeguarding adults review concerning the tragic deaths of Joanna, Jon, and Ben at Cawston Park Hospital, who were each detained for a long period of time and did not receive appropriate care.
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Content ArticleThe management of occupational health, safety and wellbeing is now central to the effective running of the NHS. There is strong evidence linking patient safety, patient experiences and the quality of care with the safety, health and wellbeing of the workforce. The Boorman review into the health and wellbeing of the NHS workforce clearly illustrates this link. However, looking after the health and wellbeing of staff is far more than supporting staff to develop health lifestyles: there is a legal duty to protect the health and safety of staff as detailed in the NHS Constitution. The NHS Staff Council’s Health, Safety and Wellbeing Partnership Group (HSWPG) have developed these standards through national partnership working to support NHS organisations in meeting their legal duties to protect staff from injury and illness.
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Content ArticleThis report is for everyone with an interest in our health care services, and who cares about the staff who form its bedrock: domestic staff, porters, administrators, doctors, nurses, midwives, health support workers, allied health professionals; managers, and all the other people who support them to deliver the best possible care for patients, their carers and families.
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Content ArticleThis toolkit by The Point of Care Foundation is a step-by-step guide to improving processes of care and staff–patient interactions. It offers a simple way for organisations to show their commitment to patients’ experience while also motivating the staff who deliver that care.
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NHS Staff Survey 2020 results
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Culture
The NHS Staff Survey is one of the largest workforce surveys in the world and has been conducted every year since 2003. It asks NHS staff in England about their experiences of working for their respective NHS organisations. The results of the latest NHS Staff Survey bear witness to the sustained pressure on the NHS over the last year. Undertaken during the second wave of the pandemic, the results point to improvements in areas including health and wellbeing. But it highlights that there remains some way to go to improve staff experience – particularly among ethnic minority staff – as the service recovers from the acute phase of the pandemic. In particular, it highlights the need for a renewed focus on equality and further progress on bullying, harassment and violence. The full results of the 2020 NHS Staff Survey are published on the NHS Staff Survey website below along with briefings from the NHS Staff Survey centre on overall themes, benchmarking reports and five-yearly trends. You can also find a joint briefing with NHS Confederation on the Confed website.
