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Found 301 results
  1. News Article
    German public research funder Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) is conducting an audit of the clinical trials it has supported in the past. The audit was announced in response to a request from TranspariMED asking DFG for a list of all its trials completed between 2009 and 2017, to which DFG replied that it currently has no such comprehensive dataset. DFG stated that it is "currently preparing an evaluation of its clinical trials programme. In the framework of this evaluation the data you requested will be collected and analysed, as the outcomes of trials supported by DFG is of high interest including for DFG itself." TranspariMED, an organisation which aims to end evidence distortion in medicine, sees this development as a good opportunity for DFG to check whether and when clinical trials were registered and their results made public. Previous research has shown that nearly a third of German academic trials never make their results public. This not only wastes public money, but also harms patients because it leaves gaps in the evidence base on the efficacy and safety of drugs, medical devices, and non-drug treatments. Due to gaps in German law, there is still no legal obligation to make the results of many German clinical trials public. Read full story Source: TranspariMed, 20 December 2022
  2. News Article
    A week after Donna Ockenden published her damning report on the catastrophic failures in maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust in March last year, she was contacted by families in Nottingham asking her to investigate how dozens of babies had died or been injured in their city hospitals. Six months later, Ockenden — herself a senior midwife — was put in charge of another inquiry by the government and yet again she is finding a culture of cover-ups and lies in maternity care. “Of the families that I have met in Nottingham to date, some of them have expressed concerns to me that the trust were not truthful in discussions around their cases,” she tells the Times Health Commission. “We have all the systems and structures in place that should be able to spot maternity services in difficulty and here we are again. Families are having to fight to get answers.” The woman who has done more than anyone to highlight the problems with maternity care is reluctant to use the word “crisis” but she warns: “I think that without urgent and rapid action, from central government downwards — on funding and workforce and training — mothers and their babies are not going to be able to receive the safe, personalised maternity care that they deserve and should expect". Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 21 April 2023
  3. News Article
    An independent group overseeing the reviews into a toxic culture at University Hospitals Birmingham have raised concerns over a possible ‘cover up’ of key reports. The cross-party reference group, which includes MPs, council and Healthwatch officials, has demanded transparency over key decisions, and says there are continuing concerns over the trust’s leadership. It has been scrutinising a review into patient safety concerns at UHB, which found the trust’s executive had become “overzealous and coercive”. On the day this review was released, it was revealed that UHB’s former CEO David Rosser had decided to retire. The group, chaired by MP Preet Gill, said in a statement: “The allegations made by whistleblowers were not isolated incidents, but the result of a deep-seated and toxic culture. While Dr Rosser has recently announced his retirement, one member of staff, albeit a chief executive, cannot be responsible for this alone. Feedback from staff has made it clear that there must be collective accountability by the senior leadership for the distressing culture afflicting the trust." Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 5 April 2023
  4. News Article
    Cancer drug information leaflets for patients in Europe frequently omit important facts, while some are “potentially misleading” when it comes to treatment benefits and related uncertainties, researchers have found. Cancer is the biggest killer in Europe after heart conditions, with more than 3.7m new cases and 1.9m deaths every year, according to the World Health Organization. Medicines are a vital weapon against the disease. But critical facts about them are often missing from official sources of information provided to patients, clinicians and the public, according to a study led by researchers from King’s College London, Harvard Medical School and the University of Sydney, among others. “Regulated information sources for anticancer drugs in Europe fail to address the information needs of patients,” the study’s authors wrote in The BMJ journal. “If patients lack access to such information, clinical decisions may not align with their preferences and needs.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 29 March 2023
  5. News Article
    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
  6. Content Article
    This short blog highlights the situations where patients, carers, parents and relatives are failed by healthcare systems and by the leadership. They are left to stand alone against powerful institutions, because when staff speak up and 'blow the whistle' it often results in retaliation. Investigating and resolving the patient safety issue then becomes buried under an employment issue.
  7. Content Article
    This Sky News investigation looks at one of the pharmaceutical industry's biggest scandals—the hormone pregnancy test Primodos which was prescribed to pregnant mothers in the UK between 1958 and 1978. Primodos was found to lead to birth defects, miscarriages and stillbirth, and regulatory failings led to avoidable harm to thousands of babies.
  8. Content Article
    This video from the Irish Health Services Executive (HSE) tells the story of Barry, a paediatric nurse who made a medication error when treating a critically ill baby. Barry describes how the incident and the management response to it affected his mental health and confidence over a long period of time. He also describes how he had to fight to ensure the family were told the full story of what had happened, and the positive relationship he developed with the baby's mother as a result. The baby received the treatment they needed and recovered well.
  9. Content Article
    In this article for NHS Confederation, Sir Chris Ham reflects on progress made against his recommendations on the conditions ICSs need to succeed and on next steps for the Hewitt review. He argues that progress has been made in acting on some of the recommendations in the report Governing the Health and Care System in England. This can be seen in plans to create a new NHS England (NHSE), reduce staffing at the centre and regions and co-produce the operating framework. However, he highlights that more work is needed to reduce the number of national NHSE programmes, ensure greater consistency in how these programmes work and bring an end to constant bidding for funds tied to specific priorities. He recommends that high priority be given to an organisational development (OD) programme to support the development of collaboration, mutual respect and trust and determine how peer support, shared learning and improvement collaboratives can play a bigger part in improving performance in future. Sir Chris highlights that the Hewitt review offers an opportunity for these and other issues to be addressed with priority being given to ensuring that planning guidance for 2023/24 is short and focused on a small number of national priorities, leaving scope for ICSs to add local priorities. Leaders in the DHSC and NHSE must recognise the exceptional pressures facing the health and care system and set out what a realistic set of medium-term objectives for ICSs looks like under current circumstances.
  10. Content Article
    In December 2022, the All Party Parliamentary (APPG) for Whistleblowing heard evidence on the state of the NHS following the recent report on the avoidable deaths and life changing injuries caused to mothers and babies at the East Kent Trust. The culture at this hospital was described as one where “everyone knew the problems” and where whistleblowers were “thrown to the lions”. A culture attributed to 45 of the 65 baby deaths reviewed.  This blog first appeared on the Whistleblowers UK website in December 2022.
  11. Content Article
    In this blog for Medpage Today, US doctor Diane Solomon talks about the power of apologising to patients. Outlining the tendency of healthcare professionals to defend their practice, she describes how being honest and open with patients about errors demonstrates humanity and compassion. She talks about the importance of being sincere when apologising and outlines how taking responsibility builds trust and can positively change future outcomes.
  12. Content Article
    This cross-sectional study in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine aimed to understand the relationship between financial conflicts of interest and recommendations for atrial fibrillation (AF) screening in the UK. The authors looked at whether the UK media recommend for or against screening for AF and the financial conflicts of interests of AF screening commentators. The authors found that the vast majority of UK media promotes screening for AF, in contrast to the position of the independent UK National Screening Committee, which recommends against screening. Most commentators, internal NHS organisations and UK charities promoting screening had a direct or indirect financial conflict of interest. Independent information was rare and the reasons for this are unknown. They recommend readers consider the potential impact of financial conflicts on recommendations to screen.
  13. Content Article
    On 31 January 2023, the clinical trial information system (CTIS) will become the single entry point for sponsors and regulators of clinical trials in the European Union (EU). The CTIS includes a public searchable database for healthcare professionals, patients and the public. This webpage contains information on how clinical trials are regulated in the EU, and what changes the CTIS will make to how clinical trials are registered, performed and regulated.
  14. Content Article
    The third leading cause of death in the US is its own healthcare system—medical errors lead to as many as 440,000 preventable deaths every year. To Err Is Human is an in-depth documentary about this silent epidemic and those working quietly behind the scenes to create a new age of patient safety. Through interviews with leaders in healthcare, footage of real-world efforts leading to safer care, and one family’s compelling journey from being victims of medical error to empowerment, the film provides a unique look at the US healthcare system’s ongoing fight against preventable harm.
  15. Content Article
    The workforce crisis engulfing the health and care system is well documented. In the NHS, increases in staff numbers are not keeping pace with demand for staff and services; in 2021/22, for the first time, the number of people working in adult social care in England fell, and there are now 165,000 vacancies.  In this long read, Sally Warren, Director of Policy at The King's Fund, looks at a report by Bill Morgan, commissioned by The King's Fund and Engage Britain, to consider why politicians have failed to act, where only they can, to deliver the workforce that the health and care system needs. The article covers the following areas: Transparency in workforce planning assumptions   Training and international recruitment Retention: it’s not just about pay More than a numbers game, getting the culture and leadership right Productivity and skill mix Action at all levels Service improvement ambitions matched to the available workforce
  16. Content Article
    This is a summary of a presentation given by NHS England's Lauren Mosley and Tracey Herlihey to discuss the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) to the law firm Browne Jacobsen. The session covered key elements of PSIRF, what it means for coroners, litigation and trusts. There was also feedback from an early adopter trust,
  17. Content Article
    The Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) sets out the NHS’s approach to developing and maintaining effective systems and processes for responding to patient safety incidents for the purpose of learning and improving patient safety. In this video, Megan Pontin, Patient Safety Incident Investigator at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, talks about her experience as an early adopter of PSIRF. She describes the process of engaging staff, patients and families in incident investigations, and how PSIRF enables people to share what happened from their perspective. She talks about the open way in which investigation reports are compiled and reviewed to ensure everyone involved is happy with the way events are presented.
  18. News Article
    More than 200 families in south-east England will learn today the results of a major inquiry into the maternity care they received from a hospital trust. The investigation into East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust follows dogged campaigning by one determined bereaved grandfather. Derek Richford's grandson Harry died at East Kent Hospitals after his life support system was withdrawn. Sixty one-year-old Derek had never campaigned for anything in his life. His initial approach was to wait for East Kent Hospitals Trust to investigate the death, as it had promised. However, one nagging issue that was to become central to Derek's view of the trust, was the hospital's continual refusal to inform the coroner of Harry's death. The family repeatedly requested it, but the trust said it was unnecessary as it knew the cause, namely the removal of the life support system. The hospital also recorded Harry's death as "expected" - again because his life support system had been withdrawn. On both points, the family were left confused and increasingly angry. In early March 2018, some four months after Harry's death, the family finally received the outcome of the trust's internal investigation - known as the Root Cause Analysis (RCA). The RCA indicated multiple errors had been made in Harry and Sarah's care and treatment, and his death was "potentially avoidable". Prior to the meeting, Derek wrote to the Kent coroner's office outlining in general the circumstances of Harry's case, asking if that was the type they would expect to be notified of. The email response from the coroner's office was clear. It said: "Based on the facts you have presented, this death should have been reported to the coroner." Despite this, at the meeting with the trust, the lead investigator into Harry's death told the family: "If we have a clear cause of death by and large we do not involve the coroner." The family's insistence eventually paid off - five weeks after that meeting, the trust informed the coroner of Harry's death. While his son and daughter-in-law started trying to recover from the trauma of losing Harry, Derek turned his attention to investigating East Kent, one of the largest hospital trusts in England. "When I started investigating what was going on with Harry, it was very much like peeling back an onion. 'Hang on a minute, that can't be right, that doesn't add up.' Ever since I was a small kid, justice has been so important to me. "What I found was that, up to that point, no-one had ever joined the dots. And that's so important. I think this had to happen, someone had to do it. There will be families before us that wish they did it. We will be saving a level of families after us." Read full story Source: BBC News, 19 October 2022
  19. News Article
    NHS hospitals have claimed that babies born alive were stillborn, a Telegraph investigation has found, prompting accusations they were trying to avoid scrutiny. Six children who died before they left hospital were wrongly described as stillborn. Several of the children lived for minutes and one lived for five days. Coroners are not able to carry out inquests into stillbirths, leaving some families unable to get answers until the error was corrected. In one case, an obstetrician told a coroner in Stockport that he had been pressured by an NHS manager to say a baby he had delivered had definitely been stillborn, in order to be “loyal” to the trust. His comments are likely to raise fears that some NHS trusts in England have used the stillbirth label to avoid having coroners examine any errors that may have been made by staff. The revelations raise questions over transparency at some NHS trusts. The babies identified by The Telegraph should have been recorded as neonatal deaths, but staff claimed they were stillbirths – babies that never had any signs of life outside the mother’s body, even for a single moment. All the NHS trusts that wrongly classified neonatal deaths as stillbirths have apologised to the babies’ parents, and say they have changed their practices. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 16 October 2022
  20. News Article
    An inquiry into alleged efforts to cover up care failings at an ambulance trust has been criticised by a key whistleblower for being too limited in scope. NHS England recently commissioned the inquiry into North East Ambulance Service, which has been accused of withholding key details from coroners in a number of deaths. Whistleblowers have raised concerns about disclosure in more than 90 cases. Draft terms of reference for the review, seen by HSJ, say it will examine cases which occurred over a 12-month period up until December 2019. Paul Calvert, a coroners’ officer at NEAS who raised concerns about the issues, said this effectively means only five cases will be scrutinised. He added: “The terms of reference are clearly designed to not include the ongoing malpractice, only focusing on a limited time period and limited cases." “The fact that the [inquiry] has chosen such a narrow time window and a handful of cases, is designed to perpetuate that after 2018 and 2019, the mistakes of the past were remedied. This is simply incorrect, misleading and dishonest to suggest.” He said concerns about information being withheld continued “well into 2021” and the terms of reference risked “continuing the cover up of univestigated deaths”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 13 October 2022
  21. News Article
    If doctors had tested a nine-year-old girl's blood sooner they may have changed the treatment she received before her death, an expert witness has confirmed to a medical tribunal. The hearing was told this was a "significant failure" in the care of Claire Roberts. Claire died at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children in 1996. In 2018 a public inquiry concluded she died from an overdose of fluids and medication caused by negligent care. At the time, her parents were told a viral infection had spread from her stomach to her brain. The General Medical Council (GMC) said one of the doctors involved in Claire's care, Dr Heather Steen, acted dishonestly in trying to conceal the circumstances of her death. Dr Steen denied allegations that she acted dishonestly and engaged in a cover-up. The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) heard from a defence expert witness on Monday who said doctors not checking the sodium levels in Claire's blood earlier was a "significant failure" in her care. Dr Nicholas Mann told the tribunal he would have ordered more blood tests on Claire on the morning after she was admitted to hospital but he said he did not know if this would have prevented her death. "There should have been more attention to her fluids and electrolytes on the day after admission. Whether that would have altered the final outcome I don't know but certainly it would have been sensible to do that," he said. The tribunal also heard that Claire's death was not referred to a coroner, despite this being something all of the doctors caring for her would have had a duty to do. It was also told that a letter sent to Claire's parents from the hospital in 2005 contained inaccuracies. During questioning of Dr Mann, a barrister for the GMC highlighted the involvement of Dr Steen in compiling the letter which was signed by another doctor. Tom Forster KC said it was the GMC's case that Claire's family were given incorrect information about potential causes of her death despite these not being definitively diagnosed. Read full story Source: BBC News, 3 October 2022
  22. News Article
    Hospital authorities in Wales have been accused of attempting to cover up failings in the delivery of a baby born with significant brain damage. Gethin Channon, who was born on 25 March 2019 at Singleton Hospital, in Swansea, suffers from quadriplegic cerebral palsy, a severe disability that requires 24/7 care. There were complications during his birth, due to him being in an abnormal position that prevented normal delivery, and he was eventually born via caesarean section. An independent review commissioned by Swansea Bay University Health Board (SBUHB), which manages Singleton Hospital, found “several adverse features” surrounding Gethin’s delivery that were omitted from or “inaccurately specified” in the hospital’s internal report. The investigation, carried out by obstetrician Dr Bill Kirkup, said SBUHB had “significantly” downplayed the “suboptimal” care received by Gethin and his mother, Sian, and had erroneously attributed his condition to a blocked windpipe. It also suggests that amendments were retrospectively made to examination notes taken by staff during the course of Ms Channon’s labour. The family said that SBUHB, which was flagged by national inspectors in the months after Gethin’s birth due to “concerns” over its ability to deliver “safe and effective” maternity care, had “covered up” the failings in their case. SBUHB said it had been “working tirelessly” with the family to investigate and address their concerns, and that it would be inappropriate to comment on specific allegations as the process was ongoing. Read full story Source: The Independent, 2 September 2022
  23. News Article
    An NHS trust has “not covered itself in glory” in its dealings with the family of a vulnerable young woman who killed herself after being refused admission to hospital, a coroner has found. The three-day hearing looked at evidence withheld from the original inquest into the death of Sally Mays, who killed herself in 2014 after being turned away from a mental health unit. Mays was failed by staff “neglect” at Miranda House in Hull, a 2015 inquest ruled, after a 14-minute assessment led to her being refused a place, despite being a suicide risk. Her parents, Angela and Andy Mays, won a high court battle in December to hear details of an informal chat outside the building between Laura Elliot, a community mental health nurse who was supporting Mays, and the consultant psychiatrist Dr Kwame Fofie, which only later came to light. This was ruled to be “neither a clinical conversation nor an attempt to escalate her care” by senior coroner Prof Paul Marks on Wednesday. He said: “It was a conversation between colleagues in which the frustrations of the working day were vented.” But, he said: “The trust has not covered itself in glory with regard to its dealings with the family and the disclosing of documents.” The Mays have spent the last seven years fighting to hear details of the car park conversation, which could have changed their understanding of what happened before their daughter died. Angela Mays added: “I never considered myself to be a campaigner. I have only considered myself to be a mother who actually wants the truth about the facts relating to her daughter’s death.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 28 September 2022
  24. News Article
    Families have blasted a NHS Trust after it said it did not intend to publish an independent review into their loved ones deaths. Three young people died in nine months at the same mental health unit. A Coroner was told last week that the review will be "ready" this month. Rowan Thompson, 18, died while a patient at the unit, based in the former Prestwich Hospital, Bury, in October 2020, followed by Charlie Millers, 17, in December that year, and Ania Sohail, 21, in June last year. Earlier this year, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH), which runs the hospital, commissioned an 'external report' into the deaths. A pre-inquest hearing into the death of Rowan - who used the pronoun 'they' - heard that the full report would be available for the coroner to read 'on or around September 30'. Asked by the Manchester Evening News if the review would be published a spokesperson for the Trust said the Trust "always act on the wishes of the family regarding publication of reports," adding "and so in line with this we have no immediate plans to make the report public." But the parents of both Rowan Thompson and Charlie Mllers said they wanted the report publishing. Charlie's mother, Sam, said: "We want it published. It needs to be put out there, otherwise there is no point in having it. We are hoping they (The Trust) will learn lessons. We want answers but it should also be published for the benefit of the wider public - and the parents of other young people who are being treated in that unit." Read full story Source: The Manchester News, 13 September 2022
  25. News Article
    An ambulance trust accused of withholding key evidence from coroners was previously warned its staff needed training to ‘understand the real risk of committing criminal offences’ in relation to inquests into patient deaths. North East Ambulance Service, which has been accused by whistleblowers of withholding details from coroners in more than 90 deaths, was told by its lawyers in 2019 about serious shortcomings in its processes for disclosing information, according to internal documents obtained by a campaigner. According to the documents, the lawyers said trust staff could “pick and choose” documents to release to coroners “regardless of relevance.” The following year, an audit report said the issues had not been addressed. Whistleblowers’ concerns about the trust were first reported by The Sunday Times in the spring, with a review highlighting several cases between 2018 and 2019 where key facts were omitted in disclosures to coroners. But campaigner Minh Alexander has since obtained new details of warnings that were being made to internally, from lawyers and auditors who were advising the trust. Read full story Source: HSJ, 20 September 2022
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