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Content ArticleThis study, published in BMJ Open, seeks to evaluate variation in Illinois hospital nurse staffing ratios. It attempts to determine how higher nurse workloads are associated with mortality and length of stay for patients, and cost outcomes for hospitals. In their conclusion, the authors suggest that if nurses in Illinois hospital medical–surgical units cared for no more than four patients each, thousands of deaths could be avoided, and patients would experience shorter lengths of stay, resulting in cost-savings for hospitals.
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News Article
Give FFP3 masks to NHS staff during Omicron, doctors say
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS staff treating Covid patients should be given much more protective facewear than thin surgical masks to help them avoid getting infected during the Omicron rise, doctors say. The British Medical Association (BMA), Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) and Doctors’ Association UK are calling for frontline personnel to be given FFP3 masks. Making the much higher-quality face masks standard issue would save the lives of health workers who fall ill as a result of treating Covid patients, the BMA said. “At this critical point in the pandemic this is extremely urgent – a matter of life and death,” said Prof Raymond Agius, the acting chair of the doctors’ union’s occupational health committee. FFP3 masks, also known as filtering facepiece respirators, have been shown in a trial in Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge to reduce the number of healthcare staff who become infected. However, the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) guidance on personal protective equipment, updated last week, only recommends their use in limited circumstances. “With a high transmissible new strain now circulating, and clear evidence that Covid-19 spreads in small airborne particles, healthcare workers must be given the best possible protection against the virus. Surgical masks don’t give the necessary protection against airborne transmission of Covid,” Agius said. The BMA has written to every hospital trust in England demanding that any health professional treating patients who are or may be Covid-positive should be routinely issued with FFP3s, which are much more expensive than the surgical masks usually provided. Surgical masks are “unsuitable” given the threat Covid poses, the BMA believes. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 27 December 2021 -
Content ArticleThis leaflet by the Royal College of Midwives provides information for patients on how to prepare for a home visit from a midwife. It covers steps that patients should take to reduce the risk of spreading Covid-19 including handwashing, wearing a face mask and reducing the number of people in the room.
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Content ArticleIn this HSJ article, workforce correspondent Annabelle Collins looks at the workforce issues facing the NHS as the Omicron variant of Covid-19 spreads rapidly across the UK. She highlights that staff absences are at their highest since March 2020, with the situation particularly worrying in London, where 1 in 13 doctors are currently off sick. The author discusses the role of PPE in protecting staff and reducing absences and quotes Patient Safety Learning's Chief Executive Helen Hughes, who highlights "inconsistencies" in the UK approach, saying the IPC guidance needs to be “urgently updated” so HEPA/FPP3 masks are provided for NHS staff, in line with World Health Organization recommendations: “Today the World Health Organisation is issuing updated guidance for health workers, recommending the use of either a respirator or a medical mask, in addition to other personal protective equipment, when entering a room where there is a patient with suspected or confirmed covid.” The article also examines the government's lack of workforce plans and the Treasury’s unwillingness to publish workforce predictions, despite repeated calls for them over the past few years.
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Content ArticleThis toolkit published by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) aims to support healthcare professionals to consider and manage risks associated with the transmission of respiratory infections, specifically Covid-19. It is designed to aid local decision making about the level of personal protective equipment (PPE) required to protect healthcare professionals while at work.
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Content ArticleThe Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF) has launched an oxygen safety campaign aimed at people working at patient bedsides within hospitals. They have consulted with clinicians, fire safety experts and a wide range of allied professional bodies to design the campaign, which has been launched in response to the anticipated national surge in hospital patients as a result of the Omicron variant. Inevitably, the use of oxygen will be very high and issues such as oxygen leakage can cause major fire risks.
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EventuntilThe pandemic has made clear that safer care for all starts with the ones in the centre of healthcare: patients and their providers. Leaders also play a key role in creating a safe environment, especially as healthcare workers face record levels of stress and burnout in the workplace. In order to recover and build resilience, we need to draw on the experiences of healthcare workers to understand and create safer healthcare. In this webinar we’ll deep-dive into the experiences and perspectives of the panellists, by asking, "How can we improve provider safety, and thus patient safety, to emerge stronger post-pandemic?" Panellists include: Jennifer Zelmer, President and CEO, Healthcare Excellence Canada Dr. Michael Gardam, CEO, Health PEI Danielle Bellamy, Director of Continuing Care – SE (Network 3, 4 & 5), Yorkton & District Nursing Home (Saskatchewan Health Authority) Alice Watt, Senior Medication Safety Specialist, Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada (ISMP Canada) and Hospital Pharmacist Wendy Nicklin, Member, Patients for Patient Safety Canada Event timings 12.00-1.00pm ET, (5.00-6.00pm GMT) Register for this event
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Content ArticleA surgical fire is one that occurs in, on or around a patient undergoing a surgical procedure and is an internationally recognised patient safety issue. On 16 December 2021, Members of Parliament held a general debate on preventing surgical fires in Westminster Hall. In this article, the Association for Perioperative Practice (AfPP) sets out its response to issues raised in the debate.
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Content Article
COVID Nursing and PTSD (December 2021)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Blogs
In an article for the Patient Safety Journal, Cassandra Alexander, a nurse, shares what it is like on the front lines and the toll it has taken on her mental health—a deeply personal and painful story, yet a traumatic experience shared by many nurses around the United States. -
News Article
NHS hospitals are not ‘scaremongering’ about a winter Covid wave
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
David Oliver, NHS consultant physician and a columnist for the BMJ makes a plea on behalf of his colleagues as they face a surge of admissions due to the spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19 this Christmas. "Pandemic health protection measures are not all about you and your own personal risk or appetite for it, your own ‘natural immunity’ or fitness, your own liberty or freedom. They are about protecting everyone else. It might be your own parent, grandparent or sibling that dies from COVID-19 or from lack of access to overwhelmed services. It might be your neighbour’s or someone in another town or from another social class or ethnic group, This isn’t a game and we need to take it seriously and stop posturing and point-scoring, before, once again, we have left it too late to act" Read full story Source: Byline Times, 21 December 2021 -
Content ArticleThis is a debate from the House of Commons on 16 December 2021 on the issue of preventing surgical fires in the NHS.
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Content ArticleA post on Doctors in Unite website argue that COVID-19 guidelines are fundamentally flawed and not fit for purpose, putting health care workers and patients at serious risk. IPC authorities are increasingly isolated in their view that COVID-19 is spread by droplets and not through the air, a position which is directly contradicted now by official government policy. This article takes a more detailed look at the issues, which demonstrates how unscientific, out of touch and indeed hazardous the guidelines are for health workers and patients.
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Content ArticleIn this opinion piece for the BMJ, the authors argue that shortcomings in protection from contracting Covid-19 at work arise from legislation being ignored. They argue that government departments, including the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education, did not adequately emphasise the legal obligations of employers to protect their employees health during the pandemic. The article states that laws dating back to the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act make it a legal requirement for employers to ensure the health of their employees and of patients, students, and site visitors.
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Content ArticleThe Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has created an information hub containing resources related to their campaign for safe staffing, including: principles for staffing for safe and effective care: accountability, numbers, strategy, plans, education. information about safe staffing law and the RCN's campaigning work across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. RCN Nursing Workforce Standards. advice for nurses in dealing with unsustainable pressure at work.
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News Article
Health staff 'kicked, spat at, hit and scratched'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Attacks against health and social care workers in Northern Ireland have risen sharply during the pandemic, available data suggests. Workers have reported being bitten, spat at, hit, scratched, kicked, abused on social media and sexually assaulted. Most of the 5,500 attacks recorded in the six months to March were physical, said a forum representing local health bodies and the Fire and Rescue Service. It has called on politicians and the public to support their staff. The abuse affected staff across the sector, and those targeted were often already exhausted and caring for people in difficult conditions, said the chairman of the Health and Social Care Chairs' Forum, Peter McNaney. "This is beyond intolerable," he added. GPs, pharmacy, dental and ophthalmology staff had all been affected, and some had resigned as a result, said Eileen Mullan, chairwoman of the Southern Health and Social Care Trust. "Even just in the last few days, with the uptake of the vaccinations across our centres, we've seen a significant increase in the amount of verbal abuse at those centres when people are waiting," she said. "Some are abusing our staff while they are there." Read full story Source: BBC News, 15 December 2021 -
Content Article
This is the second of a short series of blogs in which we take a look back at our work in five areas of patient safety during 2021. In this blog, we look at our work to highlight key patient and staff safety issues resulting from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Through our work, Patient Safety Learning seeks to harness the knowledge, insights, enthusiasm and commitment of health and social care organisations, professionals and patients for system-wide change and the reduction of avoidable harm. We believe patient safety is not just another priority; it is a core purpose of health and social care. Patient safety should not be negotiable. -
News ArticleNHS bosses have warned the high prevalence of long Covid among staff is adding to rising healthcare pressures, amid growing concern that the new omicron variant could further drive infections and absences in the workforce. Some 40,000 (3.26%) of healthcare workers in the UK are estimated to have long Covid, according to the Office for National Statistics. This figure has risen by 5,000 since July. Many will be unable to work, though others are continuing to work despite their debilitating symptoms, experts say. “Trust leaders have told us they are concerned about the prevalence of long Covid amongst health and care staff,” said Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers. “Staff who are unwell need time to recover with support. But this may worsen unavoidable absences and sickness levels in the NHS at a time when pressures on the health service are mounting.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 9 December 2021
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EventuntilThis face-to-face event by The Royal College of Emergency Medicine will look at research around burnout and other psychological impacts of working in the emergency department. It will feature talks from clinicians promoting staff wellbeing and explore opportunities to work with the Sustainable Working Practice Committee. View the event programme Book this event. Reduced fees are available for RCEM members and student members LMIC clinicians and students.
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News Article
Female ambulance staff subjected to ‘macho and sexualised’ culture
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A ‘macho’ culture within ambulance trusts is leading to widespread abuse of female staff. HSJ has been told of multiple cases including sexual misconduct, harassment or abuse against staff in the last two and a half years. These include: women being told that giving sexual favours would help them get on to paramedic training a woman who was told she would pass her driving course if she gave oral sex to a superior a student on placement who could not take off her jacket without comments being passed on her breasts, and therefore would wear it even on the hottest days a student given a lift by her supervisor who then proceeded to rub his hands up and down her legs during the journey. In a freedom of information request, the 10 ambulance trusts in England were asked for the number of incidents in which allegations of sexual misconduct, harassment or abuse had been made against staff. The trusts reported 221 cases since April 2019, of which at least 27 resulted in dismissal and at least 44 resulted in other disciplinary action, with some cases still under investigation. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 7 December 2021 -
News Article
Republic of Ireland: Most HSE staff felt negative change at work during pandemic
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The vast majority of HSE staff in the Republic of Ireland felt supported during the COVID-19 pandemic but more than half felt there has been a negative change in their working environment, a new survey has found. Staff across the health service were asked about their work, and responses from almost 13,000 staff showed a mixed impact since the pandemic with staff saying they were more enthusiastic about their job than in 2018 but were less optimistic about their future in the health service. Three in 10 said they had been subject to assault from the public in the past two years. One in three felt more positively towards the HSE since before the pandemic began. The survey found there had been an increase in the satisfaction with the level of care delivered since 2018 but almost 4 in 10 felt the service delivered was deteriorating. There was a strong sense of job security among staff, but satisfaction levels have fallen back on the previous survey three years ago. A third said they were dissatisfied at present. Despite the fact that an anti-bullying taskforce was set up after the previous survey, the same number of staff reported experiences of being bullied by a colleague as in 2018. Three in 10 said they had experienced bullying or harassment at work from a manager, team leader or other colleagues. Read full story Source: The Irish Times, 6 December 2021 -
Content ArticleThis special article in Mayo Clinic Proceedings outlines practical recommendations for diabetes injections and infusions, developed at the Forum for Injection Technique and Therapy: Expert Recommendations (FITTER) workshop held in Italy in 2015. These recommendations were informed by a large international survey of current practice and were written and vetted by 183 diabetes experts from 54 countries. Recommendations are organised around the themes of anatomy, physiology, pathology, psychology and technology and aim to produce more effective therapies, improved outcomes and lower costs for patients with diabetes.
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EventuntilThis free webinar from the Patient Safety Movement Foundation in the US takes place at 7.30am PT (3.30pm GMT). Healthcare professionals around the world are facing immense burnout at unprecedented level. Yet the systems they work in perpetuate burnout due to unnecessary waste. The panelists in this webinar will identify actionable recommendations for healthcare leaders and professionals to minimise burnout on individual, organisational and system-wide levels. Objectives: Identify root causes of burnout within the healthcare setting. Recognise signs of burnout in self and colleagues. Examine ways to mitigate burnout at an individual and organisational level. Moderator: Vonda Vaden Bates, CEO, 10th Dot, Medical Safety Advocate Panelists: Kimberly A. Baker MSN, RN, CARN, NPD-BC, Behavioral Health Programmatic Nurse Specialist, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Presbyterian Hospital Oscar San Roman Orozco, MD, MPH, Applied Global Public Health Initiative, Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro, Mexico Louis Stout, RN, MS, Colonel (Retired), US Army Nurse Corps, Chief Nursing Officer, Madigan Army Medical Center Register for this webinar
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Content Article
Special investigation: The voice of nursing on mute (1 December 2021)
Sam posted an article in Whistle blowing
The Nursing Times has carried out an investigation into nurses’ experiences of speaking out in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, revealing disturbing findings about the current state of openness in the NHS. -
Content ArticleThe rapid review was commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement, following concerns raised by staff at The Christie Hospital in relation to the Research & Innovation department. The review makes a number of recommendations and the Trust will be developing and action plan to address these.
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News Article
Unsupportive Government ‘indirectly puts GP patient lives at risk’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A lack of support for general practice is indirectly putting patient lives at risk, amid escalating abuse in GP practices, the England LMCs conference has heard. A debate around abuse saw 99% of conference delegates agree that ‘the abuse of primary care staff directly affects patient care and puts patient safety at risk’. And 98% agreed that ‘when Government and [NHS England] choose not to support NHS staff, they directly affect patient safety and knowingly put lives at risk’. The conference also voted to ‘demand that healthcare policy is decided based on high-quality evidence on population health, and not the whims of a handful of vitriolic media’, with the vote unanimous on the topic. Speaking in the debate, which focussed on GP abuse and wellbeing, Dr Abel Adegoke of Wirral LMC told delegates that the NHS "runs on the blood of GPs" He said: "About four weeks ago, my younger sister was being buried and I had to watch via Zoom because that was taking place in Nigeria – yet I was still seeing patients. That was the day I felt so sad about being a GP because despite that sacrifice, I was still abused by a patient who wanted to be seen urgently for an absolutely non-urgent condition." "We are being taken for granted." Read full story Source: Pulse, 30 November 2021
