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Showing results for tags 'Surgery - General'.
Found 487 results
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EventuntilAround 10% of people aged 65 and over live with frailty, with this figure rising to between 25%-50% for those over 85. It's estimated that 300,000 people living with frailty undergo surgery each year. Frailty is recognised as a significant risk factor for complications in both elective and emergency surgical patients and has a direct correlation to postoperative outcomes. This study day will review frailty in relation to surgery, the many aspects of risk to the frail patient, risk scoring and what we as perioperative practitioners can do to mitigate the risk of surgery. Topics will include: Recognising frailty and frailty scoring. Perioperative anaesthetic management. Hypothermia and venous thromboembolism. Skin integrity and managing continence. Intercurrent infections impacting on emergency surgery. Cognitive function and considerations for patients with dementia. Register
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Content ArticleThe number of patients who die from post-surgical complications in low- and middle-income countries is shockingly high. In Africa alone, more than 600,000 people die each year after surgery, mostly from causes that are relatively easy to treat. This blog by Pierre Barker, Chief Scientific Officer at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) looks at a method for reducing post-surgical death called the '5Rs for rescue': Risk stratification Recognise deterioration Respond Reassess Reflect/Redesign He describes how the IHI will test how to support the reliable implementation of the '5Rs for Rescue', which aims to reduce mortality by 25%.
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EventEnergy-based devices, lasers and diathermy are some of the most commonly used pieces of equipment in operating theatres today. Dangerous emissions can be produced that affect the respiratory systems of everyone in the operating theatre. This study day will look at the occupational hazards of exposure to surgical plume in the operating theatre, as well as the associated risks to the surgical team, patients and visitors. It will also highlight how to assess risk and mitigate against the dangers of surgical plume and how to implement changes. Topics Include: Electrosurgery/diathermy/laser. Anaesthetic airway fires. Laparoscopic surgery aerosolisation. Health and Safety and risk assessment. Surgical plume. Register
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News Article
Slimming jabs could see rise in unsafe treatment for excess skin, surgeons warn
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A rise in the use of slimming jabs could lead to an increase in unsafe treatment for tummy tucks and surgery to remove excess skin, UK surgeons have warned. Drugs such as semaglutide and liraglutide are approved for use on the NHS for certain groups of people with obesity, and could help people reduce their weight by more than 10%. Surgeons have warned that people using the jabs may not realise they could be left with excess skin. “Whilst the newly introduced weight-loss drugs are not likely to produce comparable weight loss to bariatric surgery there is always the possibility that accompanying weight loss, a patient might be left with a degree of deflation and redundant skin,” said Marc Pacifico, the president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. However, access to surgery on the NHS to remove excess skin is limited because the NHS do not fund post-weight loss plastic surgery any more, so it has to be undertaken in the private sector. That costs about £4,500 to £6,000 in the UK, so Mr Pacifico warned patients might seek cheaper procedures abroad.. “I would strongly warn against this as there might not be the safeguards and assurances that the drugs being used are of the same quality and provenance as those being prescribed in the UK,” he said. He also warned that there are risks associated with having weight-loss plastic surgery abroad, such as the inability to undertake proper research on a surgeon, as well as the risks associated with flying straight after significant surgery – such as blood clots, as well as a lack of accessible follow-up with the surgeon and clinic to treat post-operative wound infections. Read full story Source: The Independent, 29 March 2023 -
Content ArticleThis NatSSIPs 8 flow chart illustrates the sequential standards in the National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures 2 combined with the World Health Organization (WHO) surgical safety checklist.
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News Article
Trust fears medics will be ‘harassed’ if it publishes surgery report
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Two external reviews have been carried out into a trust’s general surgery services amid concerns about whether it is a ‘safe interpersonal working environment’. But University Hospitals Sussex Foundation Trust has refused to make the reviews – which were both completed last year – public, partly because of what it says are concerns that they could lead to “harassment” of doctors who spoke to the authors. Both reviews were into aspects of the general surgery services at the Royal Sussex County Hospitals in Brighton. The trust has had a series of highly critical Care Quality Commission reports into some of its surgical services and a “well led” report is expected to be released in the next few weeks. The trust has refused HSJ’s Freedom of Information Act request to release the reviews, arguing that those interviewed had been promised confidentiality, and the issues involved are “emotive and sensitive matters”. “Disclosure could cause those involved in the reviews damage, distress and upset and could even lead to harassment,” it said. Read full story Source: HSJ, 27 March 2023 -
News ArticleA young woman receiving end-of-life care says she is “just waiting to die” as an agonising three-year wait for a kidney transplant has left her “living like a prisoner”. Diana Isajeva is one of approximately 7,000 patients who are on the waiting list, according to the NHS Blood and Transplant service (NHSBT) – the highest figure in a decade. The 29-year-old was due to have a transplant last year but was denied it at the last minute, after the living donor she was matched with pulled out just 24 hours before her planned surgery. Data from NHSBT shows that the rate of families giving consent for their loved ones’ organs to be donated has dropped – despite a change in the law in 2020 aimed at boosting the number of organs available, which means that consent for donation is now presumed after death. Professor Peter Friend, transplant lead for the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS), said decreasing donor rates are a “big challenge” and that it is concerning that the number of donations has not yet recovered to its pre-pandemic level. Read full story Source: The Independent, 27 March 2023
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News Article
‘Fifth of UK hospitals cancelled operations’ during three days of 2022 heatwave
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A fifth of UK hospitals were forced to cancel operations during the three days in July last year when temperatures soared, research suggests. The findings, published in a letter to the British Journal of Surgery, are based on surveys from surgeons, anaesthetists and critical care doctors working during the heatwave from July 16-19 2022, when temperatures reached as high as 40C in some parts of the country. The researchers received 271 responses from 140 UK hospitals – with one in five (18.5%) reporting elective surgeries being cancelled due to the heatwave. The respondents also said surgical services were poorly prepared for heatwaves, with 41% of operating theatres having no means to control ambient temperature, while more than a third (35.4%) reported making changes to maintain routine surgical activity during the period. These include delayed discharge of high-risk patients, changes to surgical teams, selecting lower-risk patients to have surgery, and restricting surgical activity to day cases. Other measures included longer staff breaks, extra fluids to patients, and surgeries earlier in the morning when temperatures were lower. Read full story Source: The Independent, 23 March 2023 -
Content ArticleThe Operating Room Black Box, a system of sensors and software, is being used in operating rooms in 24 hospitals in the US, Canada and Western Europe. The device captures video, audio, patient vital signs and data from surgical devices in an effort to improve patient safety. This article in the Wall Street Journal looks at how Black Box technology at Duke University Hospital has identified several areas for improvement, including that the hospital needed a better system for sending and tracking specimens. The article also highlights some concerns raised by healthcare professionals about the use of Black Boxes, including fear that data collected might be used to punish staff, or that it may be used as evidence in medicolegal cases outside of hospitals' control.
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News Article
Warnings against 'reckless' weight loss surgery abroad
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Seven British patients who travelled to Turkey for weight loss surgery died after operations there, a BBC investigation into the trend has found. Others have returned home with serious health issues after having had gastric sleeve operations, during which more than 70% of the stomach is removed. The operations, used to treat morbid obesity, are carried out in the UK, but, because it can take years to get one through the NHS, some people are looking abroad for treatment. British doctors say that they're treating an increasing number of patients who have travelled to Turkey and returned with serious complications. Dr Ahmed Ahmed, a leading surgeon and member of council at the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society, says he's treated patients returning from Turkey who have had an entirely different operation to the one they understood they had paid for. The BBC has also been told that some people are being accepted for surgery who do not have a medical need for it. The BBC contacted 27 Turkish clinics to see if they would accept someone for treatment who was considered to have a normal BMI. Six of the clinics we approached were happy to accept someone with a BMI of 24.5 for extreme weight loss surgery. Separately, the BBC also found that some clinics who refused the treatment actually then encouraged patients to put on weight, to enable them to be accepted for surgery. One said: "You need to gain 6.7kg to have sleeve surgery. I think you can easily eat some food and then lose weight easily." Another asked: "How soon can you gain weight?" Dr Ahmed says the practices are "reckless" and "unethical". Read full story Source: BBC News, 21 March 2023 -
Content ArticleMaria Koijck's goal for this film was to create a movement within the pharmaceutical industry considering the waste it produces. In this film you see Maria lay in the middle of an incredible amount of waste from just one surgery, her surgery. In August 2019 Maria was diagnosed with breast cancer. Surgeons had to remove her entire left breast. After a successful recovery, she went to to have a deep lap surgery where they gave her an entire new breast of her own bodily materials. During this process she discovered that 60% of the surgery materials used for this operation is disposable. For example: the stainless steal scissors that are flown in from Japan, are used for one cut before they end up in the bin. Maria asked the doctors to collect all of the surgery materials used for her operation, to get a clear idea of how much it really was. She was shocked to see six bags full of plastic waste.
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Event
AfPP Annual Conference 2023
Patient Safety Learning posted an event in Community Calendar
untilAs one of the largest gatherings of perioperative professionals in the UK, the AfPP Annual Conference is essential for anyone working in the perioperative field. This year’s theme is ‘A Profession To Be Proud Of’. What better way to celebrate this incredible profession than by listening to fantastic speakers, asking exhibitors your burning questions and getting dressed up at our Gala Dinner! Join us at the University of York from 10 – 13 August. If you’re joining us for the entire conference or just for a day, there will be something for everyone. Virtual tickets are also available if you can’t make it to York. Our Annual Conference boasts a full programme of education, networking, hands-on workshops and entertainment. You’ll leave feeling informed, challenged and inspired. If you’re not proud of your profession when you arrive, you will be by the time you leave! Register -
EventuntilThe provision of safe and quality care is the most fundamental principle to consider for patients in perioperative practice. Alongside this commitment, is the safety and welfare of all staff and visitors within the setting. Risk assessment, staffing ratios, competency and skill are crucial to ensuring that the intended outcome for patients is achieved as far as is reasonably practicable. The discussion will outline how this can be achieved utilising the recommendations by the Association for Perioperative Practice (AfPP). Learning outcomes: Understanding risk and the process of risk assessment in perioperative practice. The components of a safe perioperative environment. How to calculate a safe staffing model for your environment based on the AfPP standard. Register
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Content ArticleThis article, originally published in HindSight magazine, details a conversation between Steven Shorrock and with Manoj Kumar, consultant general surgeon with a background also in safety, human factors, and training. Manoj provides insights and perspectives on the realities of work in healthcare, and the team’s role in improvement.
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News Article
NHSE aware of concerns over surgery nearly three years before suspension
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS England was aware of concerns about upper gastrointestinal surgery at a hospital nearly three years before the Care Quality Commission intervened to stop it being carried out, HSJ can reveal. NHSE in the South East commissioned a report into upper GI cancer services in parts of the region in January 2020. In particular, HSJ understands the review was prompted by concerns the small number of surgeries carried out at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton meant it may be unable to comply with parts of the service specification and face difficulties maintaining an adequate surgical workforce rota. Despite these concerns, Brighton continued to carry out upper GI surgery until the CQC suspended planned oesophagic-gastric resections last August. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 14 March 2023 -
Content ArticleThis systematic review in the British Journal of Surgery aimed to describe types of cognitive bias in surgery, their impact on surgical performance and patient outcomes, their source, and the mitigation strategies used to reduce their effect. The authors concluded that cognitive biases have a negative impact on surgical performance and patient outcomes across all points of surgical care. This review highlights the scarcity of research investigating the sources that give rise to cognitive biases in surgery and the mitigation strategies that target these factors.
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Content ArticleIn this report, the Public Accounts Committee, which examines the value for money of UK Government projects, programmes and service delivery, looks in detail at the implementation of NHS England’s three-year recovery programme for tackling the Covid-19 backlog of elective care.
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Content ArticleIn this blog, the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) reflects on the recent publication of the new National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures (NatSSIPs 2) by the Centre for Perioperative Care. It outlines how these standards can help NHS organisations provide safer care and reduce the number of patient safety incidents, including a comment on this from Deinniol Owens, Associate Director of National Investigations at HSIB.
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Event
Strike quickly to prevent SSIs
Patient Safety Learning posted an event in Community Calendar
When surgical site infection (SSI) rates began to climb at University of Wisconsin Health, a multidisciplinary group of surgical professionals assembled to drill down to the root causes of the infections. The Strike Team now has full authority to recommend changes to daily practices and retains final say in what must be done to improve patient care. Learn from the team’s evidence-based success by understanding how they use real-time data to identify gaps in care and implement proven protocols that improve infection prevention practices. Join a live webinar to discover: Evidence based successes in SSI prevention. How to use real-time data to identify gaps in care. Implementation strategies and protocols that improve infection prevention practices. Register -
News Article
Older and overweight patients ‘hampering efforts to clear NHS backlogs’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Older and overweight patients are making it harder to clear NHS surgery backlogs, anaesthetists have warned. New data reveal an “extremely worrying picture” of increasing age, rates of obesity and complexity of surgical patients across the UK, the Royal College of Anaesthetists said. The average age of patients requiring anaesthesia increased by 2.3 years, from 50.5 to 52.8, over the last decade, while their BMI also jumped from 24.9 (borderline normal/overweight) to 26.7 (overweight). The proportion of patients who are complex or have other comorbidities has also significantly increased, the study found. When patients are older, overweight and have other problems, this makes anaesthetic and surgical care more complicated and higher risk, the authors said. Managing these patients safely takes longer during surgery and can lead to slower recovery times, requiring more time in hospital. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 2 March 2023 -
Content ArticleIn this video, William Pileggi, a registered nurse anaesthetist, discusses the implementation of the Golden Eagle Project at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System to improve outcomes for veterans who may be prone to experiencing post-operative emergent delirium. Through assessments to prescreen for PTSD, staff training and using alternative drug therapies, his hospital has had zero injury events related to emergent delirium since 2018. With minor modifications, the program is replicable at civilian hospitals.
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Content ArticleThe Centre for Perioperative Care (CPOC) has published new safety standards (NatSSIPs2) to enable all hospitals in the UK to improve patient safety by applying a consistent and proportionate set of safety checks for all invasive procedures. Listen to the podcast from the Royal College of Anaesthetists on the new standards.
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News Article
Is Heatherwood Hospital a model for the future of the NHS?
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Pradeep Gill can see very little of the intense activity around him. He is leaning back in a reclining chair inside one of Heatherwood Hospital's operating theatres. Buzzing around him is the operating team, led by consultant orthopaedic surgeon Jeremy Granville-Chapman. For the surgeon and his team, this procedure is the very definition of routine. They have carried out more than 1,000 joint operations in the past 10 months. Heatherwood Hospital, part of the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, is a specialist elective hub where patients can come in for routine but life-changing surgery at a super-charged pace with theatres working at full tilt, six days a week. It is busy. But it is a good-busy, not the bad-busy we have come to associate with the NHS during this winter crisis. The site opened in March last year and Frimley's hospital executives are keen to stress the impact it has made. "As a specialist planned care facility, Heatherwood has been able to perform surgery six days a week with four out of its six state-of-the-art theatres dedicated to orthopaedic procedures," it said in a press release. "The hospital has also successfully reduced the length of time patients stay in hospital, with 40% of patients safely discharged within 24 hours." This is the practice the NHS wants to adopt as it battles a record seven-million-strong waiting list. Heatherwood can do that because the hospital is ring-fenced from acute pressures that affect other hospitals, as one its most senior orthopaedic surgeons, Mr Rakesh Kucheira, explained. "We have now realised that winter pressures are 12 months not just three months, which means the acute sites are not going to be able to do planned activity that they planned for, so we've got to create more space," he said. Read full story Source: Sky News, 9 March 2023 -
Content Article
Julie Smith, Topic Leader for the hub and Content Director at EIDO Healthcare, takes a look at how patient information can be used to help improve outcomes for those on long surgical waiting lists. -
News ArticleThousands of patients are being forced to wait more than 18 months for treatments such as knee and brain surgery as the health service is set to miss its flagship target because of NHS strikes. NHS England last week claimed it was “on track” to hit the mandated target, but senior sources have warned that the impact of prolonged walkouts combined with unprecedented demand for emergency care means that this is now unlikely. The sources say it is probable that up to 10,000 patients will still be waiting for 18 months or more by the end of March, as a knock-on effect of the cancellation of 140,000 appointments because of strike action. More walkouts are planned over the coming weeks. Patricia Marquis, RCN director for England, said the backlog was “yet even more evidence of what happens when you fail to invest in the workforce. If ministers are serious about preventing a further exodus and cutting the backlog, they need to hear the calls of NHS leaders and come to the table and talk about pay. Only then will patients receive the care they need and waiting lists start to come down.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 15 February 2023
