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Showing results for tags 'Surgeon'.
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News Article
Sweden: surgeon convicted of bodily harm over synthetic trachea transplant
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A Swedish court has found an Italian surgeon, once hailed for pioneering windpipe surgery, guilty of causing bodily harm to a patient, but cleared him of assault charges. Paolo Macchiarini won praise in 2011 after claiming to have performed the world’s first synthetic trachea transplants using stem cells while he was a surgeon at Stockholm’s Karolinska University hospital. The experimental procedure was hailed as a breakthrough in regenerative medicine. But allegations soon emerged that the procedure had been carried out on at least one person who had not been critically ill at the time of the surgery. During the May trial, held in the Solna district court, prosecutors argued that the surgeries on three patients in Sweden constituted assault, or alternatively bodily harm due to negligence, as Macchiarini disregarded “science and proven experience”. The district court agreed with the prosecutors, but cleared Macchiarini on two counts as the patients’ health was in such a dire state. “Given the patients’ condition, the district court finds that the procedures on the first two patients were justifiable,” it said in a statement. However, in the third patient, the court found him guilty of "causing bodily harm". "At the time of the third procedure, the experience from the first procedures was such that the surgeon should have refrained from letting yet another patient go through the operation", the court said. Macchiarini was handed a suspended sentence. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 16 June 2022 -
News Article
Breast surgeon's victim wants faster improvements
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Victims of breast surgeon Ian Paterson said independent inquiry improvements are not being implemented fast enough. Paterson was jailed in 2017 after he was found to have carried out needless operations on patients across Birmingham and Solihull. The 2020 report's recommendations include the recall of his 11,000 patients to assess their treatment. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it is working to stop future patients facing similar harm. On Sunday, ITV screened a documentary 'Bodies of Evidence: The Butcher Surgeon' which featured victim and campaigner Debbie Douglas, who was instrumental in getting the inquiry established. She said the government needs "to put pace behind" the work to implement the 15 recommendations it made. "It is important those recommendations are embedded in legislation, it is important there is governance over those recommendations to stop another Paterson, it is important that there is a proper consent procedure," she said. The recommendations called for consultants to write directly to patients to explain proposed surgical treatment as standard practice, a public register to detail which types of operations surgeons are able to perform and for patients to be given time to reflect on their diagnosis and treatment options before they are asked to consent to surgery. Read full story Source: BBC News, 14 June 2022 -
News ArticleTwo talented physicians, a patient who sacrificed his life and a selfless receptionist were the four people killed on 1 June 1 a shooting inside a medical office building on the Saint Francis Health System campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Police in Tulsa say the gunman, Michael Louis, had gone to the hospital for back surgery 19 May and was treated by Dr Preston Phillips. Louis was discharged from the hospital 24 May and subsequently called Dr Phillips' office several times complaining of pain and seeking additional treatment. The surgeon saw Mr. Louis on 31 May for more treatment, police said. On 1 June, Mr Louis called Dr Phillips' office again complaining about pain and seeking additional care. Mr Louis purchased an AR-15-style rifle that afternoon, just hours before the shooting, police said. Dr Phillips was killed in the shooting and was the gunman's primary target, police said. "He blamed Dr Phillips for the ongoing pain following surgery," Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said at a news conference. Read full story Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 2 June 2022
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News ArticleA Bristol woman says her life has 'never been the same' since receiving unnecessary operations on her bowel more than ten years ago. Following a recent review, Mandy Giltrow is one of more than 200 patients who received a mesh bowel procedure - which she says may not have been needed. The operations were all conducted by surgeon Tony Dixon who has been sacked by the North Bristol NHS Trust. Mandy Giltrow underwent a mesh bowel procedure which was performed by Mr Dixon at Frenchay Hospital in April 2011. Following the surgery her symptoms continued. Following follow up appointments Mandy, a mum-of-four, underwent a further procedure in April 2013. Mr Dixon carried out a further operation in October 2014 at Spire Bristol to replace mesh. However Mandy, who is 49 and lives in Staple Hill, continues to suffer issues including stomach and bowel pain as well as recurrent water infections. She also has a hernia near her surgery scars. North Bristol NHS Trust has since admitted liability. Mandy told ITV West Country: "I got anxiety for all the different operations I had and then I physically could not do anything. I was stuck for three months in a bubble." "I couldn't go out, I couldn't do anything with my children not even take them to school." Mandy says her mental health was badly affected by the operations leading to a nervous breakdown and agoraphobia, meaning she could not lead the house. "You have an operation. It doesn't resolve the original problem and now you have another problem which is twice as bad." Read full story Source: ITV, 30 May 2022
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Content ArticleRecent years have seen a surge in interest in the study of resilience in medical professionals. Concern has been expressed about the psychological wellbeing of doctors in general and of surgeons specifically, with increasing individual doctors’ resilience being suggested as a possible solution.1 However, there are potential risks as well as benefits to this focus on individual resilience. This article from Bolderston et al. explores both sides of the resilience coin, and considers potentially helpful ways of addressing psychological wellbeing and resilience in surgeons, including the development of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based intervention.
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News Article
Bristol surgeon ‘harmed’ 203 women with unnecessary operations
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
More than 200 women were harmed when a rogue surgeon carried out operations on them unnecessarily, an NHS inquiry has found. Some of the women were left with life-changing physical problems or unable to work, while many also suffered trauma and serious psychological harm as a result. Overall, 203 women on whom Anthony Dixon performed procedures between 2007 and 2017 came to harm, according to a review by the North Bristol NHS trust (NBT). Dixon, who for years was Britain’s most influential pelvic surgeon, worked for both the trust and the private Spire hospital in the city. In 2017, NBT launched a review of Dixon’s performance and suspended him after dozens of women he had performed procedures on complained that they had experienced appalling consequences, including unmanageable pain and incontinence. The Guardian revealed in late 2017 that 100 women were suing him for medical negligence. Some cases have since been settled, but dozens are ongoing. NBT sacked Dixon in 2019 and he is currently banned from practising in the UK. During the review, 378 women were recalled and asked to set out their dealings with Dixon. All had undergone a procedure called laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy (LVMR), in which plastic mesh is inserted to repair weakened tissue in the pelvic floor. In papers presented to NBT’s board on Thursday, board members were told that the inquiry had concluded. “The trust has notified 203 NHS patients that, although their LVMR operation was carried out satisfactorily, they should have been offered alternative treatments before proceeding to surgery. We have defined these patients as suffering ‘harm’ as a result,” it said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 26 May 2022 -
News ArticleThe United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a new Surgeon General’s Advisory highlighting the urgent need to address the health worker burnout crisis across the country. Health workers, including physicians, nurses, community and public health workers, nurse aides, among others, have long faced systemic challenges in the health care system even before the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to crisis levels of burnout. The pandemic further exacerbated burnout for health workers, with many risking and sacrificing their own lives in the service of others while responding to a public health crisis. Promoting the mental health and well-being of our nation’s frontline health workers is a priority for the Biden-Harris Administration and a core objective of President Biden’s national mental health strategy, within his Unity Agenda. The Surgeon General’s Advisory Addressing Health Worker Burnout lays out recommendations that the whole-of-society can take to address the factors underpinning burnout, improve health worker well-being, and strengthen the nation’s public health infrastructure. “At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and time and time again since, we’ve turned to our health workers to keep us safe, to comfort us, and to help us heal,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra. “We owe all health workers – from doctors to hospital custodial staff – an enormous debt. And as we can clearly see and hear throughout this Surgeon General’s Advisory, they’re telling us what our gratitude needs to look like: real support and systemic change that allows them to continue serving to the best of their abilities. I’m grateful to Surgeon General Murthy for amplifying their voices today. As the Secretary of Health and Human Services, I am working across the department and the U.S. government at-large to use available authorities and resources to provide direct help to alleviate this crisis.” “The nation’s health depends on the well-being of our health workforce. Confronting the long-standing drivers of burnout among our health workers must be a top national priority,” said Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. “COVID-19 has been a uniquely traumatic experience for the health workforce and for their families, pushing them past their breaking point. Now, we owe them a debt of gratitude and action. And if we fail to act, we will place our nation’s health at risk. This Surgeon General’s Advisory outlines how we can all help heal those who have sacrificed so much to help us heal.” Read full story Source: HHS, 23 May 2022
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Content ArticleSurgical smoke or surgical plume is the smoke created by electrical and cauterisation devices used in surgery. When surgical staff are exposed to this smoke, it may cause harm, with some studies finding that exposure increased cancer risk for surgeons. This study in the journal Scientific Reports aimed to compare the concentration of surgical smoke produced by different tissues and electric diathermy modes, and to measure the effectiveness of different local exhaust ventilations. The authors found that: there were varying levels of particulates given off by different devices and different tissues. in the cutting setting, all three smoke extractors had more than 96% efficiency in clearing surgical smoke. adapting an electric diathermy device with a urethral catheter is a simple and effective way to exhaust smoke in surgical operations. They highlight the need for more research to ensure surgical staff are well protected from the risks of surgical smoke.
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News ArticleHeart surgery patients in London have died “unnecessarily” and faced increased risk of death as botched NHS investigations into dozens of deaths reduced a hospital’s ability to treat people, a coroner has warned. “Unnecessary” patient deaths have occurred as a result of heart surgery at St George’s University Hospital Trust being restricted and emergencies diverted to other “over stretched” hospitals, following investigations by national NHS bodies. The warning that deaths have occurred and may occur in the future, comes following the conclusion of a series of inquest hearings in March, during which it was found the NHS’ wrongly blamed a team of cardiac surgeons for the deaths of dozens of patients. Coroner Fiona Wilcox, in a report published on Wednesday, has now said the “inadequate” NHS led investigations, which criticised the care of 67 patients, led to people being put increased risk of death. The NHS’ investigations into the deaths of 67 patients ruled there were “shortcomings” in care. It led to complex operations being diverted elsewhere and doctors being referred to the General Medical Council. Two doctors have sinced been exonerated following GMC hearings. According to the coroner’s findings, capacity within cardiac surgery at the unit is down by 60% and staff are becoming “deskilled.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 11 May 2022
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Content Article
“There’s no problem with the mesh”: A personal account of the struggle to get vaginal mesh removal surgery
Anonymous posted an article in Women's health
In this blog, a woman who has suffered from severe pain and complications for 17 years due to transvaginal mesh shares her experience. She talks about how the device has changed her life, how her symptoms have been repeatedly dismissed by surgeons, and the variation she has witnessed between different specialist mesh centres.- Posted
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Content ArticleMr David O’Regan, Director of the Faculty of Surgical Trainers, offers this new video series exploring topics that are pertinent to surgical training and trainers. He looks beyond the field of surgery and interviews internationally recognised professionals in their own fields. He also features conversations with a select group of esteemed surgeons who are recognised for their impact on effective training – both giving and receiving – has had on their career and their legacies. Role modelling, situation awareness and team playing are key to reading any training scenario and David will discuss with his guests how a variety of skills required across a huge range of industries can benefit discussions and offer best practice in Surgical Training.
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Content Article
The IPP (Innovation, People and Practice) magazine
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Surgery
Published 10 times a year by the Association for Perioperative Practice, the IPP covers a variety of topics relevant for perioperative practitioners. Ranging from news and information, special focus pieces, industry interviews and profiles of company leaders in an easy-to-read format. -
Content Article
This is a joint blog by Patient Safety Learning and Sling the Mesh, highlighting key areas of concern included in their recent response to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists consultation on a new Mesh Complications Management Training Pathway. -
Content Article'The Theatre: Surgical Learning & Innovation Podcast' is a podcast by the Royal College of Surgeons of England. This episode features a panel discussion on the nature of “human factors” in surgery, presented by Peter Brennan, consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon, Louise Cousins, trainee general surgeon, Neil Tayler, British Airways pilot and trainer, and Graham Shaw, also a British Airways pilot and Director of Critical Factors, a consulting and training service for professionals operating in safety-critical environments.
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Content ArticleSurgery is lifesaving or life-enhancing for millions of patients every year. However, the operation is not in itself an isolated ‘event’: it is part of a process which includes preparation and recovery. Ensuring the quality of the entire perioperative pathway is important to achieving the best possible outcome for every patient. This guidance is intended to be used by primary care, surgeons, anaesthetists, perioperative teams and preoperative assessment (POA) services. It applies to all patients who are being considered for surgery, or are on a waiting list for surgery in the non-emergency setting, irrespective of the magnitude of procedure or the type of anaesthesia contemplated. Its recommendations will support the care of individual patients, the recovery of elective services, and achieving key goals of the NHS Long Term Plan including reducing health inequalities and preventing serious health deterioration.
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News Article
Coroner concerned with Barts NHS trust after woman 'unlawfully killed'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Barts Health NHS Trust has been told to take action to prevent future deaths after an elderly woman was unlawfully killed at one of its hospitals. East London acting senior coroner Graeme Irvine sent a report to the trust in which he raised concerns over the death of 78-year-old Surekha Shivalkar in 2018. The report follows an inquest into Mrs Shivalkar's death, which reached a narrative conclusion incorporating a finding of unlawful killing. A Barts spokesperson said the trust had made a number of changes after carrying out an investigation. Mrs Shivalkar underwent hip replacement revision surgery at Newham Hospital on September 28, 2018 in a procedure estimated to last between four and five hours, the coroner wrote. She had a number of serious conditions, including ischaemic heart disease, osteoporosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. But Mr Irvine said an inaccurate risk of death of less than 5% was given, as no formal risk assessment tool was used. The surgery took longer than seven and a half hours, during which time Mr Irvine said Mrs Shivalkar sustained a "prolonged and dangerous" period of hypotension, or low blood pressure. He said the anaesthetist failed to communicate this to the surgical team and agreed to prolong surgery at the six hour point. Mr Irvine said: "Poor communication between the orthopaedic surgical team and the anaesthetist during surgery led to a collective failure to identify a critically ill patient." Read full story Source: Newham Recorder, 17 January 2022 -
Content ArticleSurekha Shivalkar was a 78-year-old woman who was scheduled for elective total hip replacement revision surgery. Following surgery she suffered a cardiac arrest and subsequently died. The conclusion of the inquest was that died from multi-organ failure and complications arising during anaesthesia and hip revision surgery, which led to hypotension and hypoperfusion in a woman with ischaemic heart and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In his report, the Coroner raises concerns about the lack of a use of a formal risk assessment tool prior to her surgery, communication failures between the orthopaedic surgical team and the anaesthetist and the departure of the Senior Consultant surgeon prior to the surgeries conclusion.
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Content ArticleSurgical morbidity and mortality (M&M) meetings have a central function in supporting services to achieve and maintain high standards of care. Throughout the UK, practices provides advice on the following topics: around the structure and content of M&M meetings vary widely and so does their quality. According to Good Surgical Practice, all surgeons should regularly attend morbidity and mortality meetings as a key activity for reviewing the performance of the surgical team and ensuring quality.
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News Article
Liver-branding transplant surgeon struck off medical register
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A surgeon who burned his initials on to the livers of two patients during transplant surgery has been struck off the medical register. Simon Bramhall, 57, admitted using an argon beam – used to stop livers bleeding during operations and to highlight an area to be worked on – to sign “SB” into his patients’ organs in 2013 while working at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth hospital. On Tuesday, a review by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) concluded Bramhall’s actions were “borne out of a degree of professional arrogance” and that they “undermined” public trust in the medical profession. Bramhall, of Tarrington, Herefordshire, was first suspended from his post as a consultant surgeon in 2013 after another surgeon spotted the initials during follow-up surgery on one of his patients. A photograph of the 4cm-high branding was taken on a mobile phone. During his sentencing hearing in 2018, Bramhall was told one of the victims suffered serious psychological harm as a result of the branding. The surgeon later told police he branded the organs to relieve operating theatre tensions following difficult and long transplant operations. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 11 January 2022 -
News Article
Women 32% more likely to die after operation by male surgeon, study reveals
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Women who are operated on by a male surgeon are much more likely to die, experience complications and be readmitted to hospital than when a woman performs the procedure, research reveals. Women are 15% more liable to suffer a bad outcome, and 32% more likely to die, when a man rather than a woman carries out the surgery, according to a study of 1.3 million patients. The findings have sparked a debate about the fact that surgery in the UK remains a hugely male-dominated area of medicine and claims that “implicit sex biases” among male surgeons may help explain why women are at such greater risk when they have an operation. “In our 1.3 million patient sample involving nearly 3,000 surgeons we found that female patients treated by male surgeons had 15% greater odds of worse outcomes than female patients treated by female surgeons,” said Dr Angela Jerath, an associate professor and clinical epidemiologist at the University of Toronto in Canada and a co-author of the findings. “This result has real-world medical consequences for female patients and manifests itself in more complications, readmissions to hospital and death for females compared with males. “We have demonstrated in our paper that we are failing some female patients and that some are unnecessarily falling through the cracks with adverse, and sometimes fatal, consequences.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 4 January 2022 -
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 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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News Article
Government commits to public repository of consultant details “in principle”
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The government has committed “in principle” to creating a public repository of consultants’ practice details that sets out their practising privileges and key performance data, including how many times they have performed a particular procedure and how recently. The commitment was part of the response to an independent national inquiry, launched in 2017, following the malpractice of rogue surgeon Ian Paterson. Now serving a 20 year prison sentence, Paterson had undertaken numerous unnecessary breast operations in both private and NHS practice, causing harm to hundreds of patients. The inquiry, published February 2020, found that Paterson was able to harm patients over more than decade because of the “dysfunctional” healthcare system. It outlined 17 recommendations for the government to respond to, mainly focusing on improving oversight and governance, as well as ensuring greater scrutiny of private providers. At the time, some saw the report as a missed opportunity to tackle the systemic patient safety risks of the private hospital business model, such as financial incentives which can lead to overtreatment. Read full story Source: BMJ, 17 December 2021 -
Content ArticleThis report from the Department of Health and Social Care sets out the Government’s response to the Independent Inquiry into the Issues raised by Paterson.
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News Article
Surgery 'may have played role in woman's death'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
An inquest into whether a pioneering surgery technique played any role in a Gloucestershire woman's death has opened. Jacqui Kingston, from Marshfield, died on 16 March 2020 after having mesh fitted for a prolapsed bowel at Southmead Hospital in Bristol. On Monday an inquest opened at Avon Coroner's Court examining whether the surgery performed by colorectal surgeon Tony Dixon contributed to her death. It is due to run until Thursday. Pathologist Edward Sheffield told the hearing that the use of the mesh for a prolapsed bowel - which was fitted in 2016 - may have contributed to her death. The inquest heard that Mrs Kingston was a fragile patient with many underlying health conditions who developed complications. Mr Dixon was dismissed by the North Bristol NHS Trust in 2019 after dozens of his patients were told they should have been offered alternative treatment first. Read full story Source: BBC News, 13 December 2021
