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Showing results for tags 'Staff safety'.
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News Article
‘Demoralised’ nurses ‘driven out’ of profession, survey finds
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Most nurses warn that staffing levels on their last shift were not sufficient to meet the needs of patients, with some now quitting their jobs, new research reveals. A survey of more than 20,000 frontline staff by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) suggested that only a quarter of shifts had the planned number of registered nurses on duty. The RCN said the findings shone a light on the impact of the UK’s nursing staff shortage, warning that nurses were being “driven out” of their profession. In her keynote address to the RCN’s annual congress in Glasgow, general secretary Pat Cullen will warn of nurses’ growing concerns over patient safety. Four out of five respondents said staffing levels on their last shift were not enough to meet all the needs and dependency of their patients. The findings also indicated that only a quarter of shifts had the planned number of registered nurses, a sharp fall from 42% in 2020 and 45% five years ago, said the RCN. Ms Cullen will say: “Our new report lays bare the state of health and care services across the UK. “It shows the shortages that force you to go even more than the extra mile and that, when the shortages are greatest, you are forced to leave patient care undone. Read full story Source: The Independent, 6 June 2022 -
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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News ArticleTwo talented physicians, a patient who sacrificed his life and a selfless receptionist were the four people killed on 1 June 1 a shooting inside a medical office building on the Saint Francis Health System campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Police in Tulsa say the gunman, Michael Louis, had gone to the hospital for back surgery 19 May and was treated by Dr Preston Phillips. Louis was discharged from the hospital 24 May and subsequently called Dr Phillips' office several times complaining of pain and seeking additional treatment. The surgeon saw Mr. Louis on 31 May for more treatment, police said. On 1 June, Mr Louis called Dr Phillips' office again complaining about pain and seeking additional care. Mr Louis purchased an AR-15-style rifle that afternoon, just hours before the shooting, police said. Dr Phillips was killed in the shooting and was the gunman's primary target, police said. "He blamed Dr Phillips for the ongoing pain following surgery," Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said at a news conference. Read full story Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 2 June 2022
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News Article
Attacks in Wales on workers up to almost 3,000
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
"I shouldn't have to work out my escape route when I walk into a property." Paramedic Joanna Paskell was a victim of one of the near-3,000 attacks on emergency workers in Wales last year. The patient who punched her got a 12-month community order, but it left the 45-year-old suffering with anxiety and meant she was off work for four months. "It took four security guards to calm her down so she could be treated," said Mrs Paskell, who has worked with the ambulance service for more than 25 years. She said at first she tried to laugh it off, but it was only when getting ready for her next shift, five days later, that she felt the emotional toll. "All I want to do is make a difference - that's why I joined this job. We can't do that if we're working in fear of our own safety." Last year there were 2,838 assaults against police officers, firefighters, ambulance staff, NHS workers and prison staff - a 4.9% rise. Read full story Source: BBC News, 30 May 2022 -
Content ArticleThis report considers the extent of the gap between the diversity in the workforce and local population of London, and that visible among NHS trust boards and senior management. It highlights the impact of this gap on the effectiveness of healthcare provision and patient experience, in light of research demonstrating that a diverse workforce in which all staff members’ contributions are valued is linked to good patient care.
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Content ArticleRecent years have seen a surge in interest in the study of resilience in medical professionals. Concern has been expressed about the psychological wellbeing of doctors in general and of surgeons specifically, with increasing individual doctors’ resilience being suggested as a possible solution.1 However, there are potential risks as well as benefits to this focus on individual resilience. This article from Bolderston et al. explores both sides of the resilience coin, and considers potentially helpful ways of addressing psychological wellbeing and resilience in surgeons, including the development of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based intervention.
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Content ArticleThe Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on patient safety, revealing a range of challenges across all healthcare systems, at all levels and in all settings. At the Health Plus Care conference on the 18 May 2022, Patient Safety Learning's CEO Helen Hughes, in a keynote speech, reflected on the impact of the pandemic on patient safety and work being undertaken by the World Health Organization to assess this. See attached her presentation slides.
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News Article
Safety regulator refused to investigate some NHS staff Covid deaths
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Britain’s safety at work regulator refused to investigate reports from NHS trusts that 10 frontline staff had died as a result of catching Covid-19 during the pandemic. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) declined to look into at least 89 dangerous incidents that NHS trusts said involved healthcare workers being exposed to Covid, including 10 deaths. The stance taken by the HSE, which oversees workplace health and safety and can bring prosecutions, is disclosed in freedom of information requests by the Pharmaceutical Journal. It has prompted concern that the regulator is too strict in its definition of workplace harm. It found that 173 trusts in England submitted at least 6,007 reports about employees’ exposure to Covid-19 in the course of their duties to the HSE between 30 January 2020 and 11 March 2022, under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR). They included 213 “dangerous occurrences”, which are incidents that have the potential to cause significant harm; 5,753 cases where a staff member had caught Covid-19; and 41 deaths among people who had been exposed to the disease at their workplace. However, the HSE refused to look into five Covid deaths reported under the RIDDOR scheme by the Yorkshire ambulance service (YAS) because of what it considered a lack of evidence. The regulator also decided not to look into the Covid deaths of five staff at University College London hospital acute trust, despite the trust’s belief they had caught it at work. “The HSE found that there was no reasonable evidence that the infection was contracted at work,” a trust spokesperson said. Shelly Asquith, the health, safety and wellbeing officer at the Trades Union Congress, said the HSE’s decisions and claimed lack of evidence was “really concerning”. It suggested a continued “element of denial about Covid being airborne and it not being possible to necessarily pinpoint where exactly somebody was exposed once it’s in the air”, she added. Read full story Source: Guardian, 26 May 2022 -
Content Article
Safety Chats: Part 2 – Safety as measured
Gina Winter-Bates posted an article in Good practice
In a series of blogs, Gina Winter-Bates, Associate Nurse Director Quality and Safety at Solent NHS Trust, shares her experience of implementing Safety Chats. In her first blog, Gina explained what motivated her to introduce Safety Chats into her Trust. In part 2, Gina reflects on how we know we are safe and the safety measures her Trust has put in place. -
News ArticleViolence against healthcare workers has become a “global crisis”, with 161 medics killed and 188 incidents of hospitals being destroyed or damaged last year, according to a new report. Data collected from 49 conflict zones by the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC), also found that 320 health workers were wounded in attacks, 170 were kidnapped and 713 people were arrested in the course of their work. The US-based group said on Tuesday that, although the total number of attacks was similar to those recorded in recent years, there had been an increase in violence in areas of new or renewed conflict in 2021, “underlining the fact that attacks on healthcare are a common feature in many of today’s conflicts”. Christina Wille, director at Insecurity Insight, which led the data collection and analysis, said: “Violence against healthcare resulted in widespread impacts on public health programmes, vaccination campaigns and population health, contributing to avoidable deaths and long-term consequences for individuals, communities, countries and global health writ large.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 24 May 2022
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Content ArticleIn this article for The BMJ, Matthew Limb looks at the findings of the British Medical Association's (BMA's) review of the UK's management of the pandemic. The review found that many doctors had traumatic experiences during the pandemic, and highlights the following areas where the government could have better supported doctors: Preparedness including chronic underfunding of the NHS Personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages Inadequate infection prevention and control guidance Testing failures Lack of risk assessment and failure to protect vulnerable staff Deaths Long Covid Exhaustion Mental health and emotional wellbeing Anxiety and moral injury Isolation Lack of support Career prospects The review did also highlight the vaccination campaign and rollout as a notable success in the government's response to the pandemic.
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Content ArticleAlready familiar to a number of NHS Trusts, Work In Confidence is a platform providing anonymity to those who wish to raise concerns.
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Content Article"Shaming and punishing healthcare workers when an incident occurs sets a dangerous precedent for the industry. This will lead to a culture where healthcare workers avoid reporting near misses or errors for fear of repercussions, allowing process inefficiencies and systemic problems to occur." In this letter, Michael Ramsay, CEO of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, highlights the negative ways in which criminalising healthcare workers who make mistakes will affect patient safety. He refers to the case of RaDonda Vaught, a nurse who was convicted of criminally negligent manslaughter in March 2022 for a medication error made while working at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.
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News Article
Government failed health staff in pandemic, says BMA
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The UK government failed in its duty of care to protect doctors and other healthcare staff from avoidable harm and suffering in its management of the covid-19 pandemic, a major review by the BMA has concluded. Two reports published on 19 May document the experiences of thousands of UK doctors throughout the pandemic, drawing on real time surveys carried out over the past two years, formal testimonies, data, and evidence sessions. The reports will form part of a wider review by the BMA into the government’s handling of the pandemic, with three further instalments to come. The evidence lays bare the devastating impact of the pandemic on doctors and the NHS, with repeated mistakes, errors of judgment, and failures of government policy amounting to a failure of a duty of care to the workforce, the BMA said. Chaand Nagpaul, BMA chair of council, said, “A moral duty of government is to protect its own healthcare workers from harm in the course of duty, as they serve and protect the nation’s health. Yet, in reality, doctors were desperately let down by the UK government’s failure to adequately prepare for the pandemic, and their subsequent flawed decision making, with tragic consequences. “The evidence presented in our reports demonstrates, unequivocally, that the UK government failed in its duty of care to the medical profession.” Read full story Source: BMJ, 19 May 2022 -
News Article
60,000 NHS workers living with PTS after battling pandemic
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Around 60,000 NHS staff members have post-traumatic stress after working through the Covid-19 pandemic, new research suggests. Nine out of 10 health workers say it will take them years to recover from the ordeal and one in four had lost a colleague to coronavirus, according to NHS Charities Together The charity, NHS staff and mental health experts are now calling for more support from the health service and UK government to support those struggling in the aftermath of the pandemic. “I think it’s quite clear there hasn’t been enough support to help NHS workers recover from their experiences during the pandemic. As a result, a lot of people are feeling incredibly jaded,” said Dr Ed Patrick, an NHS anaesthetist who worked in a Covid-19 intensive care unit from the beginning of the pandemic. On his experiences of working on the front lines of the health service, Dr Patrick said: “Like everyone else in the world, we lost our outlets for release. Everything was shut down and for NHS workers, our lives just became the hospital." He described the long and gruelling hours and the emotional burden of working at the height of the pandemic: “We all had an overwhelming feeling of powerlessness. There was also a deep sadness because everything you would normally do to help patients just wasn’t working. Read full story Source: The Independent, 17 May 2022 -
Content Article“Freedom to Speak Up requires leadership commitment throughout the health and care system,” writes Dr Jayne Chidgey-Clark in a blog for the Health Service Journal. “In this way, we can foster the speak up, listen up, follow up culture, which will give workers, and ultimately those who use our services, the health and care sector they deserve.” She encourages all senior leaders to under take training to understand their role in forster a good speaking up culture that promotes organisational learning and improvement.
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Content ArticleBoth the US Senate and the House of Representatives passed a bill to “improve the mental and behavioral health among health care providers” that President Biden signed on Friday. The Dr Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act is named after Lorna Breen, a New York City emergency medicine physician who died by suicide in April 2020, as Covid-19 raged across the city and the country. By all accounts a tireless worker, she was ultimately overwhelmed by what she experienced during those dark early days of the pandemic. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, health care institutions were struggling with maintaining the wellness of their workforces. Rates of burnout, depersonalisation, and emotional exhaustion were all significantly higher among healthcare workers than in the general population. Even more alarming, physicians and nurses complete acts of suicide at rates significantly higher than workers in other professions. The pandemic added fuel to this fire, as healthcare workers fought to provide care to legions of sick patients amid staffing and equipment shortages. Before the pandemic, approximately 40% of health care workers reported feeling burnt out. Now, between 60% and 75% of US healthcare workers report feeling emotionally drained and depressed. Clearly, something has to change. With the Breen bill, Congress hopes to halt this tragic wave of depression and burnout among health care workers by providing grants to hospitals and other health care organisations to “promote mental health and resiliency among health care providers.” Yet the solution the Breen bill proposes will not lead to meaningful change. Giving hospitals money to “promote wellness” will not magically heal healthcare workers. During the pandemic, hospitals across the country put up signs lauding their workers as heroes. Though hospital administrators may have given themselves pats on the back for such efforts, the signs meant little to those working without adequate personal protective equipment, or telling family members they could not visit dying loved ones, or wondering if they'd bring Covid home to their families and friends. The signs haven’t stopped scores of workers from leaving the healthcare field.
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Content ArticleThe Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act in the USA aims to reduce and prevent suicide, burnout, and mental and behavioural health conditions among healthcare professionals. Healthcare professionals have long experienced high levels of stress and burnout, and COVID-19 has only exacerbated the problem. While helping their patients fight for their lives, many health care professionals are coping with their own trauma of losing patients and colleagues and fear for their own health and safety. This bill helps promote mental and behavioural health among those working on the frontlines of the pandemic. It also supports suicide and burnout prevention training in health professional training programs and increases awareness and education about suicide and mental health concerns among health care professionals.
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News Article
Jeremy Hunt ‘ignored’ NHS staff shortages while health secretary
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Jeremy Hunt has been accused of ignoring serious NHS staff shortages for years and driving medics out of the profession while health secretary after he intervened this weekend to warn of a workforce crisis. Promoting his new book, 'Zero: Eliminating Unnecessary Deaths in a Post-Pandemic NHS', Hunt said tackling the “chronic failure of workforce planning” was the most important task in relieving pressure on frontline services. Now the chair of the health and social care committee, he said the situation was “very, very serious”, with doctors and nurses “run ragged by the intensity of work”. But his comments drew sharp criticism from healthcare staff, who said Hunt – the longest-serving health secretary in the 74-year history of the NHS – failed to take sufficient action to boost recruitment while in the top job between 2012 and 2018. Instead, critics said, his tenure saw health workers quit the NHS in droves for jobs abroad or new careers outside medicine. There are now 100,000 vacancies in the NHS, and the waiting list for treatment has soared to 6.4 million. “There’s an avalanche of pressure bearing down on the NHS. But for years Jeremy Hunt and other ministers ignored the staffing crisis,” said Sara Gorton, the head of health at Unison, the UK’s largest health union. “The pandemic has amplified the consequences of that failure. Experienced employees are leaving at faster rates than new ones can be recruited.” “Hunt has recently been an articulate analyst of current issues, particularly workforce shortages, but these haven’t come out of the blue,” said Dr Colin Hutchinson, the chair of Doctors for the NHS. “At the time he could have made the greatest impact, his response was muted. We have to ask: was the service people were receiving from the NHS better, or worse, at the end of his time in office? At the time when it most mattered, he was found wanting.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 15 May 2022 -
Content ArticleSurgical smoke or surgical plume is the smoke created by electrical and cauterisation devices used in surgery. When surgical staff are exposed to this smoke, it may cause harm, with some studies finding that exposure increased cancer risk for surgeons. This study in the journal Scientific Reports aimed to compare the concentration of surgical smoke produced by different tissues and electric diathermy modes, and to measure the effectiveness of different local exhaust ventilations. The authors found that: there were varying levels of particulates given off by different devices and different tissues. in the cutting setting, all three smoke extractors had more than 96% efficiency in clearing surgical smoke. adapting an electric diathermy device with a urethral catheter is a simple and effective way to exhaust smoke in surgical operations. They highlight the need for more research to ensure surgical staff are well protected from the risks of surgical smoke.
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Content ArticleAnalysis suggests potential instability and workforce gaps in the US healthcare sector. A call to action for all stakeholders could help. COVID-19 has altered many US nurses’ career plans. Over the past two years, McKinsey has found that nurses consistently, and increasingly, report planning to leave the workforce at higher rates compared with the past decade. Even as COVID-19 cases fluctuate, US healthcare providers are still experiencing the workforce and operational challenges exacerbated by the pandemic. Patient demand is expected to rise, given the growing and aging population of the United States. Without addressing this potentially wider divide between patient demand and the clinical workforce, with a specific focus on nurses, the US health sector could face substantial repercussions. If no actions are taken, there will likely be more patients in the United States who will need care than nurses available to deliver it. This report from McKinsey& Company provides context for how COVID-19 changed the nursing workforce, the long-term implications for nurses and healthcare stakeholders, and actions to consider to increase the odds of closing the gap. In the last section, it highlights how healthcare providers, federal and state governments, the private sector, the nursing workforce, and broader society could encourage those who are training to be nurses.
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News Article
Dangerous staffing levels in Borders hospitals, says union
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A trade union has written to every politician representing the Scottish Borders to highlight "dangerous staffing levels" in local hospitals. Unison claims serious breaches of safety guidelines are occurring daily due to a lack of nurses, auxiliaries and porters. The letter says staff are unable to take proper rest breaks or log serious incidents in the reporting system. NHS Borders said patient and staff safety was its number one priority. Unison said working conditions in the area were regularly in breach of regulations. Greig Kelbie, the union's regional officer in the Borders, said: "We are getting regular messages from our members to tell us about the pressure they are under - and that they can't cope. "The care system was under pressure before Covid, but the pandemic has exasperated the situation, particularly at NHS Borders. "The NHS has been stretched to its limits and it is now at the stage where it is dangerous for patients and staff - we're often told about serious breaches of health and safety, particularly at Borders General Hospital where there are issues with flooring and staff falling. "We work collaboratively with NHS Borders to do what we can, but we also wanted to make politicians aware of how bad things have become. "We need our politicians to step up and implement change - we want them to make sure the Health and Care Act is brought to the fore and that it protects our members." Read full story Source: BBC News, 13 May 2022 -
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 Article
Hospitals are rejecting GP referrals for investigations and outpatient treatment at an increasing rate. In this blog, Patient Safety Learning looks at the patient safety issues caused by rejected referrals and lack of capacity in outpatient specialities. We call for the government and NHS leaders to investigate the problem and take action to mitigate risks to patient safety. -
Event
A practical guide to psychological safety in healthcare teams
Sam posted an event in Community Calendar
This conference focuses on developing psychological safety in your clinical team or healthcare organisation. This conference will enable you to: Network with colleagues who are working to deliver and enhance psychological safety. Understand the concept of psychological safety and how it can improve staff wellbeing and patient safety. Learn from outstanding practice in local, national and international psychological safety programmes. Implement practices and steps that improve psychological safety. Develop your skills in compassionate leadership. Take part in an interactive session led by the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman about techniques for embedding cultures of psychological safety and learning from investigations where lack of psychological safety was a factor. Understand how you can implement a framework for psychological safety in healthcare teams. Identify key strategies for embedding psychological safety into freedom to speak up. Explore the inter relationship between Human Factors, Psychological Safety & Kindness/Civility in Teams. Self assess and reflect on your own practice Supports CPD professional development and acts as revalidation evidence. This course provides 5 Hrs training for CPD subject to peer group approval for revalidation purposes For further information and to book your place visit https://www.healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk/conferences-masterclasses/psychological-safety or email kate@hc-uk.org.uk hub members receive a 20% discount. Email: info@pslhub.org Follow this conference on Twitter @HCUK_Clare #PsychologicalSafetyNHS
