Search the hub
Showing results for tags 'Staff safety'.
Found 996 results
-
Content ArticleIn this opinion piece for The BMJ, Partha Kar, consultant endocrinologist and NHS England National Specialty Advisor for Diabetes, looks at the crisis facing primary care in the UK. He highlights that many primary care professionals are feeling burnt out due to the intense pressure and negative attention GPs are currently experiencing. The cost of relying on primary care for the vaccination programme is that treatment for mental health and long term conditions has been neglected. GPs are at the receiving end of patients' frustrations about delays to their care. Partha highlights the need to: prepare well in advance for potential future waves of Covid-19, including by developing a vaccine delivery workforce that is not reliant on primary care. ensure vaccines are distributed to less developed countries, and move away from seeing vaccination as an issue of nationalism. increase funding for primary care in a focused and sustained way.
-
Content ArticleThis poster from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) provides information for midwives and midwife support workers on appropriate PPE for different scenarios in maternity care. It covers what to wear in different stages of care in both hospital and community settings if a patient has, or does not have, confirmed or suspected Covid-19.
-
Content Article
My career of treating patients has ended (4 July 2019)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Blogs
A harrowing account from an anonymous physician on why he and colleagues are leaving the medical profession. -
Content Article
You ok doc? Supporting doctors' mental health
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Staff safety
How often do we visit our doctor for guidance on our health, however, who asks after the doctor's health? When faced with life or death situations on a daily basis, that demands scrupulous attention to detail, across unsocial shift patterns; the option of ‘normal’ life seems unimaginable. In the last decade alone we have seen a rise in mental health issues for those working in healthcare. A recent study by the British Medical Association identified that almost 80% of all doctors are at high risk of burnout. An issue that used to arrive at the maturity of one's career, is now common in its nascency and is equating to growing rates of suicide. With a growing crisis around a serious issue, there is an urgent need to tackle the cultural taboos, training and opinions that are associated with mental health in our industry. 'You ok doc' is committed to not only supporting doctors' mental health through services like 'The Huddle', but also empowering doctors' wellbeing through bespoke mental and emotional health aids. -
Content ArticleIn this article in Becker's Hospital Review, Mackenzie Bean highlights five of the most pressing safety issues for healthcare systems and hospitals to address in 2022:Foundational safety workSupporting the healthcare workforceIntegrating equity into safety workDiagnostic harmHealthcare-associated infections
-
Content ArticleClinician burnout in healthcare is a growing area of concern, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic stretches on. Research from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Regenstrief Institute looked at ways organisations can address burnout.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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. -
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.
-
Content ArticleThis is a debate from the House of Commons on 16 December 2021 on the issue of preventing surgical fires in the NHS.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Content ArticleStaff are pulling together to meet increasing demands in an overstretched health service; working more intense hours, routinely missing breaks and dealing with inadequate rest facilities. We know this is bad for staff and our patients. This charter from the BMA outlines simple steps that can be taken to improve facilities and reduce fatigue, so we can safely, effectively and efficiently care for our patients.
-
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.
-
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 ArticleUsing a number of analytical approaches, this working paper from the World Health Organization (WHO) attempts to estimate the global number of deaths in health and care workers due to Covid-19. It includes a breakdown of deaths by WHO region and country. It demonstrates that data reported to WHO has greatly underestimated the scale of infection and death among health and care workers, and calls for targeted approaches to increasing vaccination uptake in health and care workers worldwide.
-
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. -
Content ArticleA doctor describes why they left clinical practice for the sake of their mental health and how healthcare organisations can create more supportive environments.
-
Content ArticleThis is a video recording of a Health Service Journal (HSJ) Patient Safety Congress webinar, in association with BD, considering some of the key emerging patient safety issues for 2022. The panel discuss the legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic patient and staff safety, what needs to be done to ensure that patient safety is designed into elective care recovery plans and the important role for co-production as part of this.
-
Content ArticleA midwife in England shares their experiences of working in the NHS in 2021. They describe the mental and physical impact of having to work beyond capacity on a daily basis, a situation caused by a staffing crisis in the midwifery workforce. The impact of this is that more midwives are leaving the NHS as they are unable to cope with these pressures, which makes the workload for remaining staff even heavier.
