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Found 982 results
  1. News Article
    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
  2. News Article
    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
  3. News Article
    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
  4. News Article
    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
  5. News Article
    GPs face “appalling and systemic” racism from patients and colleagues, a leaked NHS report has revealed. The first Health Education England report for London of its kind says racism and discrimination are widespread within primary care across the capital, and GPs in other parts of the country have raised similar concerns. Doctors speaking with The Independent have told stories of being called derogatory and racist names, of staff leaving due to the bigotry they’ve faced, and of patients asking to see a “white” or “English” GP. Senior GPs have warned patients will ultimately suffer as a result, as experienced doctors leave practices to avoid such abuse. Professor Simon Gregory, deputy medical director for Health Education England, said: “There is considerable evidence that the UK is systemically racist, and that the NHS is a systemically racist workplace. “This report is shocking evidence of terrible, indeed appalling, levels of discrimination across protected characteristics and with much intersectionality, but especially shocking levels of racial discrimination.” “The awful and painful narratives of so many colleagues over so many years cannot be ignored but thanks to London’s primary care educational leaders we now have firm evidence. Evidence that cannot be ignored.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 4 May 2022
  6. News Article
    Only 53,500 staff have used a flagship NHS staff wellbeing initiative in its first year of operation, HSJ can reveal, while separate analysis finds mental health sick days have soared in the last five years. Figures obtained via Freedom of Information requests reveal the NHS’s staff mental health and wellbeing hubs, set up in February 2021 in response to covid pressures, received 53,549 contacts from NHS and social care staff between then and January 2022. It is the first time such data has been published and it comes as HSJ’s analysis of separate figures shows mental health sick days taken across acute and specialist NHS trusts have risen sharply in the past five years (see box below). The total number accessing the hubs, which is inclusive of social care staff, equates to less than 4 per cent of the NHS workforce as of January 2022. Sean Duggan, mental health chief executive at NHS Confederation, said: “Given what we know about the pandemic and the toll it has paid on NHS staff, I would have expected bigger numbers. “We need to encourage more people to come forward. To me, this number says we certainly need to sustain the hubs with funding for years to come.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 3 May 2022
  7. News Article
    The Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) has expressed its support for the Whistleblowing Bill launched in Parliament last week, with its first reading in the House of Commons by Mary Robinson MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Whistleblowing. DAUK urged people to tweet their MP to show their support for the Bill. DAUK Chair Dr Jenny Vaughan said: "Healthcare staff need to be able raise patient safety issues all of the time. We’re trained to do that, expect it, point this out as best we can. But sometimes poor safety arises because of the way we are told to work. Then, it can be just as hard for staff to speak up as it is for anyone else, because we can also be threatened, sanctioned, isolated, ignored and bullied. "Blowing the whistle for us means saving lives, in the end. But we stand to lose as much as anyone. DAUK has supported many doctors who have been made to suffer because they spoke out, and there are many more who feel they should but are afraid to. That is why this Bill is so important. For all staff within healthcare. And most of all, for patients - the public. Stopping the greater harm for the greater good.” The most important changes in the private members bill, led by Baroness Kramer would: Require disclosures to be acted upon and whistleblowers protected. Provide criminal and civil penalties for organisations and individuals failing to do so. Establish a fully independent parliamentary body on whistleblowing, and provide easy access to redress. Read full story Source: Medscape UK, 26 April 2022
  8. News Article
    Three in four GPs have reported facing increasing patient abuse last year, according to a major survey by a medical defence organisation. The Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland (MDDUS) surveyed almost 2,000 members across the UK, including 668 GPs, about their experiences last year compared with 2020. It revealed that 76% of GPs reported an increase in verbal abuse from patients towards them and their practice staff. Half of these (38%) said this had ‘significantly increased’ and the other half that it had ‘somewhat increased’ throughout 2021. Female GPs were more likely to face verbal abuse or aggression than their male counterparts, with 81% reporting an increase in this compared with 72% of their male colleagues. The survey found that this has led to a ‘huge increase in work-related stress’, MDDUS said. Among GPs who experienced verbal abuse or aggression in the workplace, 83% said they felt ‘more stressed’ than they did in 2020. MDDUS chief executive Chris Kenny said: ‘The pandemic has stretched our healthcare professionals to the limit. For those at the very frontline, it is clear now that the levels of stress have reached an almost unsustainable point. ‘GPs urgently need recognition, reassurance and realism to support them so they can reset their relationship with patients.’ Read full story Source: Pulse, 22 April 2022
  9. News Article
    Pharmacy staff in England are facing growing abuse and aggression from patients frustrated that drug shortages mean they cannot get their usual medications, a survey reveals. The hostility, including swearing and spitting, comes as availability of medicines is becoming more uncertain as a result of Brexit, the Covid pandemic and ingredient supply problems. Hormone replacement therapy drugs are in short supply in many places, affecting women undergoing menopause, for example. Half of pharmacists and counter staff say the unpredictability is causing problems for customers managing their health, according to research by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC), which represents community pharmacies in England. The PSNC’s survey of 1,132 staff from and 418 bosses of 5,000 pharmacies found: 75% of pharmacies have seen patients turn aggressive when told they cannot have the medication they have been prescribed. 49% of staff say patient abuse is undermining their mental wellbeing. 51% believe supply chain issues affect patients every day. “It is really worrying to hear that pharmacy staff are so routinely facing aggression from patients,” said Janet Morrison, the PSNC’s chief executive. “Pharmacists tell us anecdotally that this can include verbal abuse, swearing, spitting and threatening to report staff to regulators. “Many community pharmacies are having to deal with medicine supply issues on a daily basis. This adds pressures on to already busy pharmacy teams and can also be worrying for patients if they have to wait longer for the medicines that they need.” Patients were left “frustrated and inconvenienced” by drug shortages, she added. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 25 April 2022
  10. News Article
    A significant relaxation of infection control guidance has been announced in a bid to free up more capacity to tackle substantial waiting lists and demand for emergency care. New guidance issued jointly by the Department of Heath and Social Care, the UK Health Security Agency, NHS England and health bodies in the devolved nations, recommends the relaxation of isolation requirements for inpatients who either test positive for Covid-19 or are considered close contacts of people with the virus. The isolation period for inpatients with Covid-19 can now be reduced from 10 days to seven if they have two negative lateral flow tests. The tests must be taken on two consecutive days from day six of the isolation period onwards, and the patient must also “[show] clinical improvement”. A letter from NHSE released to trust chiefs, sent last Thursday, also recommends the “[return] of pre-pandemic physical distancing in all areas,” including emergency departments, ambulances and “all primary care, inpatient and outpatient settings.” It also recommends the returning to pre-pandemic cleaning procedures outside Covid-19 areas. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 19 April 2022
  11. News Article
    Five thousand nurses at Stanford and Lucile Packard children’s hospital in Stanford, California, are preparing to strike in demand of wage increases, mental health and wellness support, better healthcare benefits, and a focus on hiring and retaining nurse staff. The union has set a strike date for 25 April. Stanford hospital at Stanford University in California has been consistently ranked among the top hospitals in the US by US News, but nurses say high turnover rates, understaffing, and inadequate proposed wage increases and benefits have contributed to high burnout rates. In a survey of union members, 45% of nurses reporting said they intend to leave their job within the next five years. Kathy Stormberg, a nurse in the radiology department at Stanford hospital for 19 years and vice-president of the Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement (Crona), blamed the strike on the hospitals’ continued reliance on contractors and its policy of pushing nurses to work overtime amid staff shortages, unfilled vacancies, and difficulties retaining enough nursing staff. “That is not sustainable,” said Stormberg. “Nurses have an overwhelming sense of guilt to work overtime when they are getting texts requesting nurses to come in every four hours on their days off.” In January 2022, a nurse on a contract at Stanford hospital walked out of their shift and killed themself, highlighting the need for better mental health and wellness support services and for improvements to the poor working conditions that nurses have faced through the Covid-19 pandemic. “The working conditions that we have now are just no longer sustainable,” said Leah McFadden, a nurse in Stanford’s surgical trauma unit since October 2019. “Over the last two years, we’re starting to run on empty, we aren’t having a chance to decompress, or even just get away from the hospital as much as we should.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 13 April 2022
  12. News Article
    Nurses have spoken of the shocking abuse they face from patients as the NHS struggles to cope with a rise in demand for care. Both patients and staff are becoming increasingly frustrated with the situation the NHS is in, with staff shortages and a patient backlog of six million people causing already stretched services extra strain. "As we are the faces that the public see we do get the brunt of a lot of their anger as they are becoming increasingly frustrated with the situation that the NHS is in," one nurse wrote on Nursing Standard’s Facebook page. "Staff are equally frustrated with the whole situation and knackered from working long hours and covering for the many staff still absent." Nurses given the task of conveying ‘unwelcome messages about the limitations of resources’ Another said: "Working in an ED abuse occurs on a daily basis… it is not acceptable but even when you Datix these incidents nothing gets done, staff are reduced to tears and frightened to walk into patient waiting areas, it is not acceptable." It comes as former chief inspector of social services Lord Herbert Laming accused health service managers of putting nursing staff in the public firing line during a House of Lords debate on reducing abuse of nurses in the NHS. Read full story Source: 12 April 2022, Nursing Standard
  13. News Article
    An ambulance trust has appointed a former senior trust executive to lead an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the unexplained death of a staff member, HSJ has learned. East of England Ambulance Service Trust also shared the terms of reference for the investigation withHSJ, which follows the trust being forced to launch a similar probe in 2020 after three young staff members died in 11 days in December 2019. The latest investigation is into the death of Nick Lee, 46, from Ovington in west Norfolk, who died on 3 December 2021. Mr Lee was an operations manager for the trust in the west Norfolk area and had worked for the trust for nearly 20 years. The cause of death is yet to be officially established. Margaret Pratt has been appointed by the trust to lead the investigation. A trust statement issued to HSJ said: “The purpose of the investigation is to look at the events leading up to the death, review the circumstances of the death and consider whether there is anything that the trust can learn to contribute to improving the support provided to staff.” The investigation follows a prolonged period of years in which the trust has been dogged by high-profile and deeply ingrained cultural and bullying problems. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 29 March 2022
  14. News Article
    Burnout is not a strong enough term to describe the severe mental distress nurses and other NHS staff are experiencing, says a doctor who has led efforts to improve care for health professionals. Medical director of the NHS Practitioner Health service Dame Clare Gerada told MPs radical action was needed to improve the mental well-being of NHS staff. She said nurses and other healthcare staff should be entitled to one hour of paid reflective time per month to be written into NHS employees’ contracts, alongside mentoring, careers advice and leadership training built in throughout people’s careers. Dr Gerada was among senior clinicians who gave evidence this week to the Health and Social Care Committee, which is looking at issues around recruitment and retention of staff. She told the committee the term ‘burnout’ simply did not cover the level of stress and mental anguish experienced by NHS workers. ‘Burnout is too gentle a term for the mental distress that is going on amongst our workforce,’ she said. High suicide rates among nurses and doctors, high levels of bullying and staff being sacked because they have long-COVID are all signs the health service is failing to look after its employees, she said. ‘The symptoms we have got are the symptoms of an organisation that is unable to care for its workforce in the way that it should be caring,’ she said. Read full story Source: Nursing Standard, 25 March 2022
  15. News Article
    "Absolutely soul destroying" is how one paramedic describes his job. He is not alone. Over the past few months, BBC Wales has been contacted by employees from the Welsh Ambulance Service who paint a dire picture of a service under immense pressure. Ambulance waiting times have climbed and climbed throughout the pandemic. The impact that has on patients is well known - but what about those on the other side? Mark, who did not want to disclose his real name or show his face for fear that he would lose his job, described the stress of his shifts with a radio strapped to his chest, hearing "red calls waiting, red calls waiting". "That is the potential of somebody's life waiting in the balance - and you can't get there. It's absolutely soul-destroying. We wouldn't treat animals this way, why are we treating humans?", he said. Mark said the job has always come with pressure and anxiety. But over the course of the pandemic that has intensified and he has "never known as many people looking for other jobs as they are at the moment". The stress has become so bad that he is now on antidepressants. Read full story Source: BBC News, 25 March 2022
  16. News Article
    A regulator that sets standards on staff wellbeing and holds the NHS to account should be established to help protect doctors from burnout, a champion of physicians’ wellbeing has said. The proposal was one of several put forward by Clare Gerada, president of the Royal College of General Practitioners, who recently stepped down as medical director of the confidential mental health support service NHS Practitioner Health. She was speaking on 22 March to MPs on the House of Commons health and social care committee about how the Covid-19 pandemic had increased the number of doctors struggling with mental health problems, particularly in general practice. Read full story (paywalled) Source: BMJ, 24 March 2022
  17. News Article
    NHS staff face unacceptable health risks as a result of “retrograde” changes to the government’s guidance on preventing spread of Covid-19, doctors’ leaders have warned. The BMA said on 16 March it was concerned over updated guidance issued by the UK Health Security Agency covering use of personal protective equipment. It said the guidance failed to properly acknowledge that SARS-CoV-2 infection can spread in the air during the routine care of patients as they cough or sneeze and not just when specific processes known as aerosol generating procedures (AGPs) are being undertaken. “This is a retrograde step as it once again means that healthcare workers will not be routinely provided the right level of protective masks and equipment they need to be safe at work when looking after covid patients,” said Chaand Nagpaul, the BMA’s chair of council. The BMA said it was crucial that any staff looking after patients with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, or in other situations where a local risk assessment required it, had access to respiratory protective equipment such as filtering face piece (FFP3) masks. Nagpaul said, “All healthcare workers who are caring for Covid-19 patients are putting themselves at risk, each and every day, and the very least the government should do is to provide surety that staff will be given the best protection possible.” Respirators such as FFP3 masks are designed to protect the wearer from ingress of contaminated air and are fitted to ensure no gaps. They offer higher protection than surgical masks, which block the outward escape of droplets from the wearer. The BMA’s concern follows a supposed clarification of the main messages regarding airborne transmission in the latest infection and prevention and control guidance issued on 15 March 2022. The guidance said that respiratory protective equipment (FFP3 masks) are recommended when caring for patients with a suspected or confirmed infection spread “predominantly” by the airborne route (during the infectious period). The word “predominantly” has been added to the previous guidance update, which was issued on 17 January 2022, and is the crux of doctors’ concern, one leading scientist said. Read full story Source: BMJ, 18 March 2022
  18. News Article
    Healthcare leaders have written an open message to NHS staff, drawing attention to “the dangerous level” of abuse many are confronted with, “simply for going to work”. In the message, more than 40 NHS leaders in London said that every year “tens of thousands” of NHS staff are “confronted with violence and aggression from patients”. “Now, the abuse is at a dangerous level, with many of our once hailed heroes fearing for their safety,” they said. “We, leaders of the NHS in London, are speaking with one voice to say that aggression and violence towards our staff will not be tolerated.” Signatories include Andrew Ridley, the NHS England London interm regional director, integrated care system leaders, leaders from general practice and community pharmacy, and many trust bosses from the capital, including Central and North West London FT chief executive and national director for mental health Claire Murdoch. The message thanked NHS staff for continuing to care for people and encouraged the reporting of “all forms of verbal and physical abuse from patients, their families and friends so that we may take action”. They also sent a message to patients and their families: “We will strive to do our best for you and your loved ones. People who are most unwell do need to be seen most urgently, but all our patients are important to us and will receive the care needed. While we are thankful for the support shown by so many, to those who show violence and aggression let it be known: abusing our staff is never ok.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 21 March 2022
  19. News Article
    A doctor who has suffered violent shakes and hallucinations during her ongoing 15-month battle with long COVID has criticised the government's plan to "live with the virus". Dr Kelly Fearnley told Sky News she contemplated ending her own life due to the debilitating long-term effects of coronavirus, which she caught while working on a COVID ward in November 2020. The 35-year-old from Leeds, who was previously fit and healthy, initially had flu-like symptoms before she suffered shortness of breath and painful rashes over her body, as well as swelling around her eye. More than a year later, she is still unable to return to work due to the effects of long COVID, which have included violent shakes lasting up to 14 hours at a time, hallucinations, night terrors, severe pins and needles in her arms and legs, and a resting heart rate of 140 beats per minute. With Prime Minister Boris Johnson set to unveil his "living with COVID" plan on Monday, Dr Fearnley branded it a "strategy of denial, driven by the need to cut costs" and she felt "angry and let down". Read full story Source: Sky News, 20 February 2022
  20. News Article
    Ambulance staff are experiencing “horrific” abuse from the public as attacks on workers increased by 23% in the wake of the pandemic. Assaults against female ambulance staff have risen by 48% in the last five years, according to a new report from the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE). In response to rising attacks, the NHS has launched a #workwithoutfear campaign to prevent abuse of ambulance staff. Last year there were 11,749 attacks against ambulance staff, equating to 32 workers being abused or attacked every day. AACE said incidents included kicking, slapping, headbutting and verbal abuse, and ranged from common assault to serious attacks involving knives and weapons. Daren Mochrie, chair of AACE and chief executive of North West Ambulance Service said ambulance staff “face the possibility of violence, assault and aggression” on every shift. “When they occur, these attacks have a significant and lasting impact on the team member, affecting every aspect of their life." Read full story Source: The Independent, 28 February 2022
  21. News Article
    The government has rejected calls for an overhaul of NHS workforce planning amid concerns of staff shortages and a mounting backlog of patients. It comes after a House of Commons health and social care committee report in 2021 found burnout among nurses and other healthcare professionals had reached an emergency point. MPs had called for immediate action to support exhausted staff through a plan to cover staffing needs for the next two decades, led by Health Education England. But in a government response to the report, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) rejected calls for independent annual reports on workforce shortages and future staffing requirements. Instead, a new duty in the recently introduced Health and Care Bill will require the health and social care secretary to publish reports on workforce planning in England every five years. The duty is intended to compliment ‘investment on workforce planning and supply already underway’, the government’s response states. But UNISON national nursing officer Stuart Tuckwood said a lack of an independent view on what is needed to support the NHS workforce risked the government focusing on cost ‘above all else’. "The urgent focus for this year must be on preventing further gaps from appearing in the workforce, including nursing teams." "The failure to grade staff properly for the jobs they do, ensure fair pay for additional hours and deliver flexible work patterns are all reasons cited by nurses, healthcare assistants and other staff for leaving." Read full story Source: Nursing Standard, 17 February 2022
  22. News Article
    Doctors have warned the decision to remove face mask guidance in healthcare settings is "playing Russian roulette" with staff and patients' welfare. It was withdrawn in May in hospitals, dentists and GP surgeries having been in place since June 2020. Doctors from the British Medical Association (BMA) Scotland condemned the decision at the time. Now, the Scottish Healthcare Workers Coalition has written to ministers to highlight the "very serious flaws" in changing the guidance. The group is made up of Scottish healthcare workers who worked throughout the pandemic and are now living with long Covid or another chronic post-viral illness or disability. In the letter, the coalition states the updated guidance is not based on the science of coronavirus transmission and "represents a flawed and dangerous decision which will result in more infection in health and social care settings". Dr Shaun Peter Qureshi, of the Scottish Healthcare Workers Coalition, said: "At-risk patients have entirely legitimate concerns that they may endanger their health by visiting their GP or hospital. "With at least 4% of NHS staff now living with chronic post-Covid complications, the Scottish government must follow the evidence and improve protections from the airborne spread (of the virus) in healthcare settings, not reduce them." Read full story Source: BBC News, 17 July 2023
  23. News Article
    A former breast cancer surgeon has said the NHS needs a MeToo movement because of sexual harassment in hospitals. Dr Liz O'Riordan said she experienced sexual harassment from colleagues on a weekly to monthly basis in some of her jobs as a junior doctor. In her first week as a junior doctor, she recalled a colleague asking if she "got an erection" after removing an 11-year-old boy's appendix. "We need to be able to say this is not good enough," said Dr O'Riordan. "When you are a trainee in a practical field, you are relying on your boss to let you operate to show you how to cut; it is a craft that you learn." "Basically you are naked in scrubs stood from shoulder, to hip, to knee, next to someone all squeezed in; a lot of body contact; you are relying on them to let you cut, and if you call them out they may say 'I don't like you, you are not coming to theatre today'. "It's very, very, very hard to stand up for yourself and say 'that is not on' and the minute you let them get away with it, it is accepted and they can carry on getting away with it." Read full story Source: BBC News, 12 July 2023 Related reading on the hub: Under the knife: Life Lessons from the operating theatre by Liz O’Riordan Calling out the sexist and misogynist culture within healthcare: a blog by Dr Chelcie Jewitt, co-founder of the Surviving in Scrubs campaign
  24. News Article
    GP trainers are more at risk of burnout than the average for all specialties, according to the GMC’s annual training survey results. The survey of over 70,000 doctors who are trainees or trainers found that 15% of GP trainers are at high risk of burnout, which is higher than the average of 12% and ranked second only to emergency medicine at 24%. The results also showed that 24% of GP trainers said that every working hour is tiring for them, compared to 11% of public health trainers. Last month, GP leaders raised concerns about how trainers and experienced GPs will handle the long-term workforce plan’s expansion of training places, especially given the existing pressures and lack of retention measures. Read full story Source: Pulse, 11 July 2023
  25. News Article
    A struggling trust has been warned by regulators that it could see its junior doctors removed, after concerns about clinical supervision and safety at a hospital whose A&E closes at night. NHS England inspectors who visited Cheltenham General Hospital found emergency patients – including potential surgical patients – became the responsibility of the overnight medical team when its accident and emergency closed in the evening. One night, 26 patients had been handed across, the inspectors were told, and some patients were felt to be inappropriate for medical referral. A surgical registrar could be telephoned at Gloucester Royal Hospital about surgical patients. They were told that although there were no incidents of serious harm, there had been many “near misses” and juniors felt “unsafe and unsupported in terms of consultant clinical supervision, overall clinical/nursing staffing support or logistically in managing patients in this setting or arranging transfers”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 7 July 2023
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