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Showing results for tags 'Staff safety'.
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Content ArticleThis report aims to understand the NHS response to racism, what trusts and healthcare organisations do about it and how effective they are at addressing it. It brings together key learning from a number of significant tribunal cases and responses from 1,327 people to a survey about their experiences of raising allegations of racism within their organisations.
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- Race
- Whistleblowing
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Content ArticleThis is part of our series of Patient Safety Spotlight interviews, where we talk to people working for patient safety about their role and what motivates them. Kevin talks to us about the role research plays in improving staff and patient safety. He explains how his own research has uncovered the extent of violence experienced by student nurses and the underreporting of sharps injuries among healthcare students. He also highlights how research can help universities improve awareness of issues facing students across all healthcare courses and provide more effective support.
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Content ArticleHealthcare students are at high risk of sharps injuries, which can negatively impact their confidence and wellbeing. This study audited three clinical skills simulation wards at a UK university to determine the incidence of sharps injuries in this educational setting. The authors found that sharps injuries were the most common type of incident in clinical skills simulation wards, with student nurses being at highest risk. They suggest that intervention is needed to improve safety in this educational setting, including sharps handling training, with greater focus on existing regulations.
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- Simulation
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Content ArticleStudies have reported evidence on sharps injuries among nursing, medical and dental students but little is known about the amount, type and causes of sharps injuries affecting other healthcare students. This narrative review aimed to identify the extent, type and causes of sharps injuries sustained by healthcare students, especially those not in nursing, medicine or dentistry. The review highlights that some groups of healthcare students, including those studying pharmacy, physiotherapy and radiography, sustain sharps injuries from similar devices as reported in research on such injuries in nursing, medical and nursing students. Sharps injuries happen in a range of healthcare environments, and many were not reported by students. The main cause of a sharps injury identified was a lack of knowledge.
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- Staff safety
- Students
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Content Article
Psychological safety newsletter
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Suggest a useful website
Each week this newsletter contains new, useful, insightful or controversial content all about psychological safety research, applications, practice and opportunities to collaborate.- Posted
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- Psychological safety
- Staff support
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News Article
Waiting times focus ‘overshadows misconduct’, finds NHSE review
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Ambulance trusts have often prioritised capacity and response times over dealing with cases of misconduct, a review of culture in the sector for NHS England has found. The review says ambulance trusts need to “establish clear standards and procedures to address misconduct”. The work was carried out by Siobhan Melia, who is Sussex Community Healthcare Trust CEO, and was seconded to be South East Coast Ambulance Service Foundation Trust interim chief from summer 2022 to spring last year. Her report says bullying and harassment – including sexual harassment – are “deeply rooted” in ambulance trusts, and made worse by organisational and psychological barriers, with inconsistencies in holding offenders to account and a failure to tackle repeat offenders. She says “cultural assessments” of three trusts by NHSE had found “competing pressures often lead to poor behaviours, with capacity prioritisation overshadowing misconduct management”, adding: “Staff shortages and limited opportunities for development mean that any work beyond direct clinical care is seen as a luxury or is rushed. “Despite this, there is a clear link between positive organisational culture and improved patient outcomes. However, trusts often focus on meeting response time standards for urgent calls, whilst sidelining training, professional development, and research.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 15 February 2024- Posted
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- Ambulance
- Organisational Performance
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Content ArticleA forthcoming three-part ITV drama Breathtaking, set in a fictionalised London hospital, tells the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic through the eyes of Acute Medical Consultant Dr Abbey Henderson. The series is based on Dr Rachel Clarke’s book of the same name. She worked on Covid wards and is also one of the writers on the series. Rachel joins Women's Health host Emma Barnett to discuss it. Listen from 1:40
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- Pandemic
- PPE (personal Protective Equipment)
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Content ArticleHow does it feel to confront a pandemic from the inside, one patient at a time? To bridge the gulf between a perilously unwell patient in quarantine and their distraught family outside? To be uncertain whether the protective equipment you wear fits the science or the size of the government stockpile? To strive your utmost to maintain your humanity even while barricaded behind visors and masks? Rachel is a palliative care doctor who looked after some of the most gravely unwell patients on the Covid-19 wards of her hospital. Amid the tensions, fatigue and rising death toll, she witnessed the courage of patients and NHS staff alike in conditions of unprecedented adversity. For all the bleakness and fear, she found that moments that could stop you in your tracks abounded. People who rose to their best, upon facing the worst, as a microbe laid waste to the population.
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- Pandemic
- PPE (personal Protective Equipment)
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Content ArticleIn December 2022, a newly formed group called 'Long Covid Doctors for Action' (LCD4A) conducted a survey to establish the impact of Long Covid on doctors. When the British Medical Association published the results of the survey, the findings were both astonishing and saddening in equal measure.[1] The LCD4A have now decided that enough is enough and that it is now time to stand up and take positive action. They have initiated a group litigation against those who failed to exercise the ‘duty of care’ that they owed to healthcare workers across the UK during the pandemic. In this blog, I summarise how and why I feel our healthcare workers have been let down by our government and why, if you are one of these healthcare workers whose life has been effected by Long Covid, I urge you to join the group litigation initiative.
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- Pandemic
- Patient death
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Content ArticleThis study aimed to explore the experience and psychological impact on nursing students of sustaining a sharps injury. A qualitative approach was taken, using two methods to gather data, namely a Twitter chat and interviews. Some nursing students reported psychological impacts after sustaining the sharps injury, which affected both their professional and personal life. The qualitative findings were synthesised into eight themes.
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- Staff safety
- Students
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Content ArticleConcerns have been voiced about the possibility of health risks to operating room staff from exposure to surgical smoke generated from electrocautery. This study reviewed available literature to try and assess this risk. The authors concluded that: Regulations on Surgical Smoke that supersede the best judgement of the surgeon are not warranted. The extent of particulate pollution from surgical smoke has been overstated and drawing parallels between exposure to surgical smoke and cigarette smoking is not justified. Numerous studies consistently report negligible levels of pollutants associated with surgical smoke within the operating room's breathable air. While transmission of HPV through surgical smoke is a theoretical concern, conclusive evidence supporting the claim is yet to be established.
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- Staff safety
- Surgery - General
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News Article
‘Failure to act with candour’ over unsafe gas, report finds
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
There was an “unacceptable delay” and “failure to act with candour” in how a trust responded to a serious risk from staff nitrous oxide exposure, an independent investigation has found. Mid and South Essex Foundation Trust found levels of nitrous oxide far above the workplace exposure limit at Basildon Hospital’s maternity unit during routine testing in 2021. However, staff were only notified and a serious incident declared more than a year later. The exposure related to a mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen, commonly known as gas and air, used during births. While short-term exposure is considered safe, prolonged exposure to nitrous oxide could lead to potential health issues. Chief executive Matthew Hopkins has apologised, after a report by the Good Governance Institute said: “The inquiry found that there was an unacceptable delay in responding to and mitigating a serious risk that had been reported… As a result of this failure to act on a known risk, midwives and staff members on the maternity unit were exposed to unnecessary risk or potential harm from July 6 2021 to October 2022." Read full story (paywalled) HSJ, 14 February 2024- Posted
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- Duty of Candour
- Health and safety
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Content Article
Doctors in Distress website
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Suggest a useful website
Doctors in Distress is a UK-based independent charity that promotes and protects the mental health of all healthcare workers and prevents suicides in the medical profession. It was set up in 2018 by Amandip Sidhu following the suicide of his brother Jagdip, a consultant cardiologist, with the aim of providing support for healthcare staff facing burnout and mental health difficulties. The charity runs free online support groups and webinars for healthcare professionals and students. Previous webinars can be viewed on the Doctors in Distress YouTube channel.- Posted
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- Doctor
- Staff safety
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News ArticleThe first time she was groped at work, Freya says she was 24 years old, a newly qualified paramedic, and was cleaning out the cupboards of the ambulance station crew room. "He came behind me without me realising. I was cleaning away, and he put his hands around my body and grabbed my breasts," said Freya, which is not her real name. "Then he said, 'Well, I won't bother doing that again'. "People just laughed, some didn't even look up from the TV. Like it was nothing, completely normal." Her story mirrors that of other current and former paramedics who, in several interviews with Sky News, painted a picture of widespread sexual harassment and a toxic culture of misogyny. The head of the College of Paramedics, Tracy Nicholls, said: "Problems exist in every [NHS] trust, across all four countries in the United Kingdom." NHS England told Sky News that any form of sexual misconduct was "completely unacceptable" and every trust had committed to an action plan to improve sexual safety. Laura - not her real name - is currently a paramedic for a different ambulance service. She describes sexual harassment as "incessant" in the profession. She says students and new recruits are routinely referred to as "fresh meat", subjected to sexual comments, questions and jokes - even in front of patients - and are continually sexualised by some male colleagues. "It's exhausting," she said. "You come to work wanting to help your patients but every day you're dealing with inappropriate behaviour and sexual comments." Read full story Source: Sky News, 8 February 2024
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Content ArticleThe Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh 'Let's remove it' hub is a platform to tackle bullying and undermining across the surgical workforce.
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- Organisational culture
- Surgery - General
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News ArticleA nurse whistleblower has described her eight years of hell as she fights the NHS over its failure to properly investigate claims she was sexually harassed by a colleague. Michelle Russell, who has 30 years of experience, first raised allegations of sexual harassment by a male nurse to managers at the mental health unit where she worked in London in 2015. Years of battling her case saw the trust’s initial investigation condemned as “catastrophically flawed” while the nursing watchdog, the Nursing Midwifery Council, has apologised for taking so long to review her complaint and has referred itself to its own regulator over the matter. With the case still unresolved, Ms Russell will see her career in the NHS end this week after she was not offered any further contract work. Speaking to The Independent she said: “If I’m going to lose my job, I want other nurses to know that this is what happens when you raise a concern. I want the public to know this is what happens to us in the NHS when we are trying to protect the public. “I have an unblemished career. They’re crying out for nurses. I’ve dedicated my life to the NHS. I haven’t done anything wrong.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 6 February 2024
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- Nurse
- Whistleblowing
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Content ArticleIn this blog, Louise Roe, an investigator at the Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations (MNSI) programme, looks at how the questions you ask as a patient safety investigator can affect the quality of the information you receive from staff, as well as having an impact on how they feel about the interview. Louise lays out her journey to obtain higher-quality information from interviews while protecting staff involved in patient safety incidents. She discusses how to ask questions that uncover the 'whys' around decision making at the time of an incident.
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- Investigation
- Staff safety
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Content ArticleAn innovative approach to managing behaviour in the operating room (OR) using posters with eye symbols has seen positive results. A team of Australian researchers conducted a successful trial to address offensive and impolite remarks within ORs by implementing ‘eye’ signage in surgical rooms. These posters, placed on the walls of an Adelaide orthopaedic hospital’s operating theatre without explanation, effectively reduced poor behaviour among surgical teams. The lead researcher, Professor Cheri Ostroff from the University of South Australia, attributed this outcome to a sense of being ‘watched’, even though the eyes are not real. The three-month experiment targeted a prevalent culture of bullying and misconduct in surgical settings, a problem pervasive not only in healthcare but across various high-stress industries. Professor Ostroff emphasised that besides affecting staff morale and productivity, rude behaviour also has a detrimental impact on patients, particularly in compromising teamwork and communication during surgery, potentially leading to poorer outcomes.
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- Surgery - General
- Organisational culture
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Content ArticleHundreds of doctors - led by campaign group Long Covid Doctors for Action - are planning to sue the NHS over claims that inadequate PPE provision has left them with Long Covid. One of those, Dr Nathalie MacDermott, joins Women's Health host Emma Barnett to discuss it. Listen from 2:40
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- Long Covid
- Staff safety
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Content ArticleGreat Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the world’s leading children’s hospitals, receiving 242,694 outpatient visits and 42,112 inpatient visits every year (figures from 2021/22). This paper seeks to provide an overview of the safety systems and processes Great Ormond Street Hospital has in place to keep patients, staff, and healthcare environments safe.
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- System safety
- Safety management
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News ArticleA group of doctors with Long Covid are preparing to launch a class action for compensation after contracting SARS-CoV-2 at work. The campaign and advocacy group Long Covid Doctors for Action (LCD4A) has engaged the law firm Bond Turner to bring claims for any physical injuries and financial losses sustained by frontline workers who were not properly protected at work. On 25 January Bond Turner, which specialises in negligence cases, complex litigation, and group actions, launched a call to action inviting doctors and other healthcare workers in England and Wales to make contact if they believe that they contracted covid-19 as a result of occupational exposure.1 Sara Stanger, the firm’s director and head of clinical negligence and serious injury claims, said that the ultimate aim was to achieve “legal accountability and justice for those injured.” She told The BMJ, “I’ve spoken to hundreds of doctors with long covid, and many of them have had their lives derailed. Some have lost their jobs and their homes; they are in financial ruin. Their illnesses have had far reaching consequences in all areas of their lives.” Read full story Source: BMJ, 25 January 2024 Nurses, midwives, and any other healthcare workers who are suffering with Long Covid and which they believe they contracted through their work and who wish to join the action should visit the Bond Turner website here: https://www.bondturner.com/services/covid-group-claim/. Although this action has been initiated by doctors in the first instance, it is not limited to doctors. Further reading on the hub: Questions around Government governance My experience of suspected 'Long COVID' How will NHS staff with Long Covid be supported?
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- Virus
- Long Covid
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Content Article
Suicide by female nurses: a brief report (June 2020)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Staff safety
This report, authored by the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health (NCISH), was commissioned by NHS England/NHS Improvement in response to a report by the Office for National Statistics that identified female nurses as having a risk of suicide 23% above the risk in women in other occupations. This was a brief study aimed to establish preliminary data about women who died by suicide while employed as nurses. To do this, NCISH carried out an examination of Office for National Statistics (ONS) data on female nurses who died by suicide during a six-year period (2011-2016) was carried out with a detailed analysis of female nurse suicides using the NCISH database of people who died by suicide within 12 months of mental health service contact, including comparison with other female patients.- Posted
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- Staff safety
- Self harm/ suicide
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Content ArticleConnections are critical junctures and points of access along intravenous (IV) lines. Microorganisms may colonise these connections, potentially leading to catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs). For patients, CRBSIs are a significant cause of morbidity and death, and for healthcare facilities these infectious complications lead to unnecessary costs. Safe connections may help reduce the risk of needlestick injuries for healthcare professionals (HCPs) and the occurrence of CRBSIs for patients. In this webinar recording, Nancy Trick, Registered Nurse and Adjunct Instructor at Perdue Global University in West Lafayette, USA, discusses CRBSIs and presents solutions to help prevent them. After watching this webinar, you should be able to: describe open versus closed infusion systems in VAM. briefly discuss the clinical risks of open infusion systems. discuss clinical practice change. consider how evidence-based standards of practice recommend using closed IV access/needleless connectors.
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- Adminstering medication
- Medical device / equipment
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Content Article
Left-handedness—A handicap for training in surgery? (2010)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Surgery
Left-handedness was historically considered a disability and a social stigma, and teachers would make efforts to suppress it in their students. Little data are available on the impact of left-handedness on surgical training and this report aimed to review available data on this subject. The review revealed 19 studies on the subject of left-handedness and surgical training. Key findings include: Left-handedness produced anxiety in residents and their trainers. There was a lack of mentoring on laterality. Surgical instruments, both conventional and laparoscopic, are not adapted to left-handed use and require ambilaterality training from the resident. There is significant pressure to change hand laterality during training. Left-handedness might present an advantage in operations involving situs inversus or left lower limb operations.- Posted
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- Surgeon
- Surgery - General
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Content ArticleIn the intricate world of healthcare, where patient safety is paramount, the ability to speak up is a crucial component of a culture of safety. However, the complexities surrounding voicing concerns or challenging the status quo in a healthcare environment can be extremely daunting. Speaking up to those who are respected, who are perceived as more powerful or more influential is not easy. Even asking questions, let alone questioning others can create tension or even risk relationships. We are too often silenced by others or are purposefully silent ourselves because it is the easier thing to do. In this blog, Suzette Woodward discusses the barriers to speaking up and what we can do.
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- Speaking up
- Organisational culture
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