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News Article
Four trusts cancel planned operations as covid pressures mount
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
All non-urgent elective operations are being postponed for at least two weeks in a health system still seeing significant and growing pressure from coronavirus. The four acute trusts in Kent and Medway will still carry out cancer and urgent electives, but other work is being postponed. Relatively few elective operations are usually carried out around Christmas and New Year, meaning the county is likely to see little or no elective work for the next four weeks. In a covid update bulletin issued last night, the Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group acknowledged the pressure hospitals across its area were under but stressed cancer and other urgent operations would go ahead. It added: “However, we are now pausing non-urgent elective services. This will allow staff to move to support the increased number of covid-19 patients. “Initially this will be for a two-week period. We will keep this under weekly review and will contact individual patients where appointments need to be rescheduled.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 8 December 2020 -
News Article
Inhaled steroids to be tested as a possible treatment for COVID-19
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The NIHR-supported PRINCIPLE trial is to start investigating the inhaled corticosteroid budesonide to find out if it can help treat COVID-19 in patients who aren’t in hospital. Led by the University of Oxford, the PRINCIPLE is the UK’s national platform trial for COVID-19 treatments that can be taken at home. It is evaluating treatments that can help people aged over 50 recover quickly from COVID-19 illness and prevent the need for hospital admission. The study, funded by NIHR and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has so far recruited more than 2100 volunteers from across the UK with support from NIHR’s Clinical Research Network. Inhaled budesonide is often used to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, with no serious side-effects associated with short-term use. In some patients with COVID-19, the body’s immune response to the virus can cause high levels of inflammation that can damage cells in the airways and lungs. Inhaling budesonide into the airways targets anti-inflammatory treatment where it is needed most, and can potentially minimise any lung damage that might otherwise be caused by the virus. Patients taking part in the study will be randomly assigned to receive an inhaler in the post, alongside the usual care from their clinician. They will be asked to inhale two puffs twice a day for 14 days with each puff providing a 400 microgram dose of budesonide. They will be followed up for 28 days and will be compared with participants who have been assigned to receive the usual standard-of-care only. Read full story Source: National Institute for Health Research, 27 November 2020 -
News ArticleA woman has become blind after her monthly eye injections were delayed for four months during lockdown. Helen Jeremy, 73, said everything she enjoyed doing has "gone out of the window" after losing her eyesight. She has glaucoma and was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration four years ago. Monthly injections controlled the condition and meant she could still drive and play the piano. However, her appointments were cancelled when the pandemic struck and her eyesight deteriorated. "I was panicking. It was terrifying. Because I'm a widow I'm on my own and it was awful," she said. "Suddenly my eyesight was basically gone. By the time of my next appointment I was told there was no point in going on with these injections because the damage had been done to the back of my eye." Thousands more people in Wales are at risk of "irreversible sight loss" because of treatment delays, RNIB Cymru warns. The Welsh Government said health boards are working to increase services. Read full story Source: BBC News, 27 November 2020
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News ArticleA new NHS treatment programme targeting young people with eating disorders has been launched amid a rise in numbers needing treatment during the coronavirus pandemic. Recent NHS data showed record numbers of children and young people are currently being treated across England for eating disorders while waiting times in some places are dangerously long. On Monday, children’s charity NSPCC warned that counselling sessions for eating and body image disorders rose by 32% after lockdown was introduced in March. The new scaling up of intervention services for those with eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia will mean young people can gain access to rapid specialist NHS treatment across England. The service will be rolled out to 18 sites, building on a successful trial model at King's College London, where one patient described the treatment as the “gold standard” of care. Nadine Dorries, Minister for Health, said: “Eating disorders can have a devastating impact on individuals and their families – and can very sadly be fatal. I am committed to ensuring young people have access to the services and treatment they need which can ultimately save lives." Read full story Source: The Independent, 10 November 2020
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News Article
Trusts offering controversial trauma ‘treatment’ to new mums
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Several NHS trusts are offering a ‘treatment’ for birth trauma which uses a technique which lies outside national guidelines and which is criticised by specialists as potentially causing ‘more harm than good’. The ‘Rewind’ technique is promoted as a fast treatment for post-natal post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – also known as birth trauma - which involves the “reprocessing” of painful memories. HSJ has learned of several trusts, including East and North Herts Trust, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Foundation Trust and James Paget University Hospital FT, where the therapy is being offered. It is thought there are other trusts which are providing it or have explored it. Typically, it is provided by midwives who have undergone training in the technique. But Nick Grey, a clinical psychologist who was on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence panel which looked at PTSD, said it was “absolutely clear cut” that it was bad practice to offer the technique as a branded therapy for PTSD, although he said it could be embedded as part of other treatments. He told HSJ: “It should not be offered to mothers with PTSD… they are being done a disservice if they are not given evidence-based treatment. There is no evidence that this [provides] treatment for sub-clinical PTSD or trauma,” he said. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 11 November 2020 -
News ArticleCancer patients have had surgery cancelled because of coronavirus for the first time as pressure mounts on hospitals from the second wave, The Independent has learnt. Nottingham University Hospitals Trust has confirmed it had to postpone the operations because of the number of patients needing intensive care beds. While hospitals across the north of England have been forced to start cancelling routine operations in the last 10 days, maintaining cancer and emergency surgery had been a red line for bosses given the risk to patients from any delays. Cancer Research UK said it was “extremely concerning” that some operations had been postponed and called for urgent action and investment to make sure treatments were not curtailed further. In a statement to The Independent, Nottingham University Hospitals medical director Keith Girling said: “We’ve had to make the extremely difficult decision to postpone operations for four of our cancer/pre-cancer patients this week due to pressure on our intensive care units from both Covid-19 and non-covid related emergencies." “We expect to treat one of the postponed patients next week, and we’re in contact with the others to arrange a new date, which will be imminent. This delay, however short, will be incredibly hard for the patients and their families, and I’m truly sorry for any distress this will have caused. Read full story Source: The Independent, 27 October 2020
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News Article
Fears of 'two-tier' system as NHS waiting lists prompt more people to go private
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Concerns are growing that long NHS waiting times caused by the coronavirus crisis are exacerbating pre-existing health inequalities and creating a “two-tier” system, as more people turn to the private sector for quicker treatment. As leading doctors warn mass cancellations of NHS operations in England are inevitable this winter after waiting times reached the highest levels on record this summer, data shows a rise in the number of people self-funding treatment or investing in private health insurance. “COVID-19 has not impacted everyone equally, and there is clearly a risk that the backlog in routine hospital treatment is going to add to those inequalities if some people are able to get treatment faster because they’re able to pay,” said Tim Gardner, from the Health Foundation thinktank. As the NHS heads into winter and a growing second wave of the virus, experts stressed the need to help those affected by the backlog now. “There is a need to prioritise the most urgent cases, but simply because someone’s case isn’t urgent doesn’t mean it’s not important. It doesn’t mean that people aren’t waiting in pain and discomfort, or waiting anxiously for a diagnosis,” said Gardner. “We think it’s incumbent on the health service to make the best possible use of the capacity it’s got. But also it needs to make sure it’s supporting people while they’re waiting. We just can’t have people left in limbo.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 27 October 2020 -
News ArticleNHS bosses have denied claims that thousands of frail elderly people were denied potentially life-saving care at the peak of the pandemic in order to stop the health service being overrun. NHS England took the unusual step on Sunday of issuing a 12-page rebuttal to allegations in the Sunday Times that patients deemed unlikely to survive were “written off” by being refused intensive care. Prof Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, said: “These untrue claims will be deeply offensive to NHS doctors, nurses, therapists and paramedics, who have together cared for more than 110,000 severely ill hospitalised Covid-19 patients during the first wave of the pandemic, as they continue to do today." “The Sunday Times’ assertions are simply not borne out by the facts. It was older patients who disproportionately received NHS care. Over two-thirds of our COVID-19 inpatients were aged over 65. “The NHS repeatedly instructed staff that no patient who could benefit from treatment should be denied it and, thanks to people following government guidance, even at the height of the pandemic there was no shortage of ventilators and intensive care.” The newspaper claimed the high coronavirus infection rate in the UK before lockdown began on 23 March and the NHS’s limited supply of mechanical ventilators going into the pandemic meant that “the government, the NHS and many doctors were forced into taking controversial decisions – choosing which lives to save, which patients to treat and who to prioritise – in order to protect hospitals”. The Sunday Times said its claims were the result of a three-month investigation that involved speaking to more than 50 sources in the NHS and the government about the health service’s response to the pandemic. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 25 October 2020
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News Articlen the day Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital with COVID-19, Vivien Morrison received a phone call from a doctor at East Surrey Hospital in Redhill. Stricken by the virus, her father, Raymond Austin, had taken a decisive turn for the worse. The spritely grandfather, who still worked as a computer analyst at the age of 82, was not expected to survive the day. His oxygen levels had fallen to 70% rather than the normally healthy levels of at least 94%. Vivien says she was told by the doctor that her father would not be given intensive care treatment or mechanical ventilation because he “ticked too many boxes” under the guidelines the hospital was using. While ministers delayed lockdown, soaring cases were putting immense pressure on hospitals. This investigation from The Times shows officials devised a brutal ‘triage tool’ to keep the elderly and frail away. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Sunday Times, 25 October 2020)
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News ArticleMuch has been said about the delays to patient care during the first wave of COVID-19, but the full picture has been hard to pin down as statistics come in different forms and are released gradually. However, one recently-published poll performed by Ipsos Mori, with more than 2,000 UK adults aged between 18-75, revealed two-thirds of people who needed treatment for new or recently changed conditions had their care cancelled or delayed during March and July. The poll also revealed three-quarters of people missed out on routine treatment in the same timeframe. It is believed to be the hitherto largest patient-focused survey exploring the impact of the pandemic on non-COVID-19 care during its first peak. It found that – of the people who needed treatment for a new or changed condition – 23% chose to cancel their treatment while 42% had their treatment cancelled or delayed by their healthcare provider. Within the group of people requiring care for an ongoing problem, 31% of patients delayed or cancelled their treatment. Mark Davies, chief medical officer at IBM – which commissioned the poll – told HSJ the number of people with new or recently changed conditions choosing to cancel or delay their care was “really worrying”. “This survey backs up the anecdotal evidence we hear about people being worried about going into hospital during the pandemic,” he said. “It is striking that the proportion of this group of patients who did not get treatment is roughly similar to the proportion of patients requiring treatment for an ongoing health problem who cancelled or delayed their care." He said he would have expected the former group – those with new or changed conditions – to be more anxious to get treated, and warned of a “backlog of unmet need that is only going to emerge in the next few months”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 6 October 2020
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News ArticleThere could be a "tsunami" of cancelled operations this winter as the NHS copes with rising numbers of coronavirus patients, leading surgeons are warning. Members of the Royal College of Surgeons of England say they doubt the NHS can meet targets to restore surgery back to near pre-pandemic levels. Planned procedures such as hip replacements were paused to free up beds during lockdown in the spring. And hospitals have since been dealing with a backlog. In July, NHS England boss Sir Simon Stevens told trusts hospitals should by September 2020 be performing at least 80% of their September 2019 rates of: overnight planned procedures outpatient or day-case procedures And by October, this proportion should rise to 90%. But data suggests more than two million people have been waiting longer than 18 weeks for routine operations, with 83,000 waiting more than a year - up from 2,000 before the pandemic. Read full story Source: BBC News, 6 October 2020
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News Article
'Frail' people like me should not be denied lifesaving Covid care
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A frailty index is rationing treatment for older and disabled people who catch coronavirus, says Patience Owen. Patience has has a debilitating connective tissue disorder and, like thousands of others with rare conditions, is already in a minority within a minority, marginalised by our NHS, battling increasing disability day by day. Back in March, without consultation and days before the first lockdown, the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), a worldwide tool used to swiftly identify frailty in older patients to improve acute care, was adapted by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). It asked NHS staff in England to score the frailty of Covid patients. Rather than aiming to improve care, it seems the CFS – a fitness-to-frailty sheet using scores from one to nine – was used to work out which patients should be denied acute care. Nice’s new guidelines advised NHS trusts to “sensitively discuss a possible ‘do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation’ decision with all adults with capacity and an assessment suggestive of increased frailty”. "Checking the scale, I found I would score five, the 'mildly frail' category, and therefore should I get Covid I could be steered towards end-of-life care. Bluntly, if I catch the virus, the NHS may help me to die, not live," says Patience. By early April, there was a proliferation of illegal “do not resuscitate” (DNR) notices in care homes for people with learning disabilities, and for older people in care homes and in hospitals. Many acutely ill patients stayed at home with Covid symptoms in the belief that they risked being denied care in hospital. Following warnings by the healthcare regulator, the Care Quality Commission, and other medical bodies, that the blanket application of the notices must stop, and legal challenges by charities, exclusions were made to the NICE guidelines. These included “younger people, people with stable long-term disabilities, learning disabilities or autism”. Yet the guidelines remain in place, in spite of the fact that they appear to contravene the Human Rights Act (including the right to life, article 2, and the right to non-discrimination, article 14). A spokeswoman for NICE says it is “very aware of the concerns of some patient groups about access to critical care, and we understand how difficult this feels. Our COVID-19 rapid guideline on critical care was developed to support critical care teams in their management of patients during a very difficult period of intense pressure." “'Difficult' is a hollow word for the feeling of being selected to die," says Patience. "It’s difficult not to conclude that those with long-term conditions and disabilities, like myself, have become viewed as a sacrificial herd." Read full story Source: The Guardian, 29 September 2020 -
News Article
Leaked data gives first view of growing cancer waiting list post covid peak
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Official data from mid-September shows that nearly 6,400 people had waited more than 100 days following a referral to cancer services. The leaked data reveals for the first time the length of the cancer waiting list in the wake of the first pandemic peak, during which much diagnostic and elective cancer care was paused. The list consists of those waiting for a test, the outcome of a test, or for treatment. NHS England and Improvement only publish waiting times for patients who have been treated – not the number still waiting – so this information has been secret. The data, obtained from official emails seen by HSJ, showed the total number of people on the cancer waiting list grew substantially, from 50,000 to around 58,000, between the start of August and the middle of September. Of the 6,400 people recorded to be waiting more than 104 days on 13 September, 472 had a “decision to treat classification”, meaning they have cancer and are awaiting treatment. NHS England has said reducing the cancer waiting list would be overseen by a national “taskforce”, which is being chaired by national director for cancer Peter Johnson. Experts have warned the delays already stored up in the system could cost tens of thousands of lives as patients go undiagnosed or have their diagnosis and treatment later than they otherwise would. HSJ asked NHS England if harm reviews had been carried out for those on the waiting list and whether it had discovered if those waiting longer than104 days had been harmed, but did not receive an answer. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 29 September 2020 -
News ArticleDelays at the Great Ormond Street Hospital led to a boy dying an agonising death, a health watchdog has found. Arvind Jain, 13, who had Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, died in August 2009 after waiting months for an operation. The ombudsman's report found he had "suffered considerable distress" and criticised referral procedures as "chaotic and substandard". The Great Ormond Street Hospital said there were "failings in clinical care". Arvind's sister Shushma said: "To read that he was suffering all the time, that was disgusting. He had been asking us repeatedly if he would get the operation and we would be constantly reassuring him that he would not die." The degenerative disease Arvind, who lived in Cricklewood, north London, suffered from was not immediately life threatening but in January 2009 his condition had become acute enough for him to struggle with swallowing and feeding. He had a temporary medical solution where a tube was inserted through his nose to help him get the required nutrition. He also experienced a number of other medical complications although none of these was considered life-threatening. The permanent solution recommended by his consultant paediatric neurologist was a gastrostomy insertion which would allow Arvind to feed through his stomach. The Great Ormond Street Hospital Trust (GOSH) excels in such procedures, however, a series of communication errors meant despite repeated and urgent requests from his neurological consultant, proper investigations were not carried out into Arvind's suitability for the operation. After five months of delays he and his family were reassured that as soon as he got the operation he would be much more comfortable. Another hospital also offered to carry out the operation in the event that the delays continued. But the surgical team that was due to carry out the operation never managed to assess Arvind. His condition deteriorated to the point where he was not well enough to be operated on and Arvind died on 9 August 2009. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's report said he "suffered considerable distress and discomfort". It also describes a series of basic shortcomings in Arvind's care. The report said: "The standard of care provided for Arvind fell so far below the applicable standards as to amount to service failure." Read full story Source: BBC News, 23 September 2020
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News ArticleA survey of members of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has found that almost two thirds (60%) of doctors worry that patients in their care have suffered harm or complications following diagnosis or treatment delays during the pandemic, while almost all doctors (94%) are concerned about the general indirect impact of COVID-19 on their patients. This is also compounded by the difficulty doctors are finding in accessing diagnostic testing for their patients. Only 29% of doctors report experiencing no delays in accessing endoscopy testing (one of the main diagnostic tests used by doctors) for inpatients, decreasing to just 8% for outpatients. Only 5% of doctors feel that their organisations are fully prepared for a potential second wave of COVID-19 infection, and almost two thirds (64%) say they haven’t been involved in any discussions about preparations for a second wave of the virus. While the government’s promise to roll out flu vaccines to millions more people is welcome, the RCP recently set several more priorities to help prepare the health service for future waves of COVID-19, including the need to ensure the NHS estate is fully able to cope. Only 5% say they wanted an antibody test for COVID-19 but were unable to access one. Of those tested, a quarter (25%) were positive, with little or no difference when it came to gender, between white and BAME doctors, trainees and consultants or between London and the rest of England. Professor Andrew Goddard, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: “Delays to treatment are so often a major issue for the NHS but as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s fair to say we’ve reached crisis point. Doctors are, understandably, gravely concerned that their patients’ health will have deteriorated to the point where they will need much more extensive treatment than previously, at a time when NHS resources are already incredibly depleted." “We also cannot underestimate the need to prepare for a second wave of COVID-19 infection, which threatens to compound the situation. Without careful and rigorous preparation, a second wave coupled with the winter flu season, could overwhelm the NHS.” Source: Royal College of Physicians, 5 August 2020
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News Article
Early cancer diagnoses plummeted in England during Covid pandemic
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The number of people being diagnosed with cancer early in England has plummeted during the Covid pandemic, sparking fears that many will only be treated when it is too late to save them. Official figures show a third fewer cancers were detected at stage one, when the chances of survival are highest, in the early months of the pandemic than during the same months a year before. Cancer experts fear that the figures, which have been collected by Public Health England’s National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service, mean thousands of people have the disease but have not yet started treatment because of “a shift to later diagnosis”. They urged anyone with possible symptoms of the disease to get them checked out immediately. “While it’s fantastic that Covid rates are dropping and lockdown is easing, the knock-on impact of the pandemic on cancer care cannot be overstated,” said Steven McIntosh, the executive director of advocacy and communications at Macmillan Cancer Support. “We are likely to be dealing with Covid’s long shadow for many years to come.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 5 May 2021 -
News ArticleA cutting-edge child and adolescent mental health centre hopes to help prevent young people from experiencing mental health problems. As we look hopefully towards a June bonfire of pandemic regulations and restrictions, many recognise that soaring rates of mental health problems and distress amongst our children and young people must be near the top of a 21st century list of challenges in “building back better”. School closures, uncertainty and being cut off from friends and social and sporting events have seen more children and young people referred to CAMHS — a service that was facing growing demand even before the pandemic. The long-term impact is obviously still unknown. However, a cutting-edge child and adolescent mental health centre opening in south London two years from now will play a big role in responding to the likely increased demand for ongoing support — and in developing innovative treatment responses. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 27 April 2021
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News ArticleNICE will speed up patients’ access to the latest and most effective treatments, and dynamic guideline recommendations will be put in the hands of healthcare professionals more quickly under plans unveiled by NICE in its 5-year strategy launched on Monday (19 April 2021). NICE will transform key elements of its approach to ensure efficiency and speed while maintaining robust, trusted methods. The COVID-19 pandemic has reaffirmed the need to place science and evidence at the heart of health and care decision making and improve outcomes for all patients across the healthcare system. Ensuring the organisation is more proactive and engaged with the life science industry earlier in the innovation pathway will allow patients to access new treatments faster. Professor Stephen Powis, NHS England medical director, said: “Since its creation the NHS has always adapted quickly in response to new innovations, from world first transplants to more recently new cancer drugs and treatments during the pandemic which are enabling patients to get the care they need from the comfort of their own home." “At the heart of the NHS Long Term Plan is a commitment to rollout the latest treatments to patients as soon as they are approved and so we welcome NICE’s new strategy to speed up approvals of the latest and most effective treatments.” Read full story Source: NICE, 19 April 2021
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News Article
Covid: Asthma drug 'speeds up recovery at home'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A cheap drug, commonly used to treat asthma, can help people at home recover more quickly from COVID-19, a UK trial has found. Two puffs of budesonide twice a day could benefit many over-50s with early symptoms around the world, said the University of Oxford research team. There are also early signs the drug could reduce hospital admissions. The NHS says it can now be prescribed by GPs to treat Covid on a case-by-case basis from today. At present, there are few options for treating people with Covid who are not in hospital, apart from paracetamol. This widely-available asthma drug works in the lungs, where coronavirus can do serious damage, and could improve the recovery of at-risk patients who are unwell with Covid at home. Prof Stephen Powis, national medical director of NHS England, said he was "delighted" by the trial results so far and he said GPs could prescribe it after "a shared decision conversation" with patients. Read full story Source: BBC News, 12 April 2021 -
News ArticleFor the first time, a new linked health data resource covering 54.4 million people – over 96% of the English population – is now available for researchers from across the UK to collaborate in NHS Digital’s secure research environment. This resource will enable vital research to take place into COVID-19 and cardiovascular disease, with the aim of improving treatments and care for patients. This work has been led by the CVD-COVID-UK consortium in partnership with NHS Digital. The new resource links health data from GP records, hospital data, death records, COVID-19 laboratory test data and data on medications dispensed from pharmacies, and is accessible to CVD-COVID-UK consortium researchers in NHS Digital’s Trusted Research Environment (TRE) Service for England. The CVD-COVID-UK consortium is a collaborative group of more than 130 members across 40 institutions working to understand the relationship between COVID-19 and cardiovascular diseases. The consortium is managed by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Data Science Centre, led by Health Data Research UK. The ability to link different types of health data from almost the entire population of England provides a more complete and accurate picture of the impact of COVID-19 on patients with diseases of the heart and circulation than has been possible before now. It will also provide the data to understand whether patients with COVID-19 are more likely to go on to develop diseases of the heart and circulation, such as heart attack and stroke. Read full story Source: HDRUK, 24 February 2021
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News Article
NHS chiefs fear collision course with ministers over Covid backlog
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Hospital bosses are bracing themselves for a clash with ministers over how quickly they can clear the backlog of NHS care that built up during the pandemic. They are warning that it will take “years” to treat all those whose care was cancelled because Covid disrupted so many hospital services, particularly surgery and diagnostic tests. Staff shortages, exhaustion among frontline personnel after tackling the pandemic and their need to have a break mean that progress will be slower than the government expects, NHS trust chiefs say. “We can’t say with certainty how long it will take to tackle the backlog of planned operations because we don’t really know how big that backlog will end up being,” said Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers. “The NHS will obviously go as fast as it can, as we always do. But it’s already apparent that clearing the entire backlog will take years rather than months.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 18 March 2021 -
News Article
Covid online symptom checker 'may delay treatment'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The NHS Covid symptom checker has been criticised by a study which found it may not pick up some people who are seriously ill. By being told to stay at home rather than consult a doctor, they may not receive treatment quickly enough. NHS Digital says the 111 online service, used more than 3.9 million times in the past year, is not a diagnostic tool. The symptom checker has been constantly revised and updated, it adds. The NHS 111 online Covid symptom checker asks a series of set questions about symptoms in order to offer people advice on their condition and what to do next. The study, in BMJ Health and Care Informatics, used 50 simulated cases to compare online checkers used during the pandemic from four countries - UK, US, Japan and Singapore. It found the symptom checkers used by the UK and US were half as likely to advise people to consult a doctor as the systems used in Japan and Singapore. Japan and Singapore also had the lowest case fatality rates of the four nations. Despite improvements in the safety of the NHS 111 symptom checker since the research was carried out in April, the researchers said they still have "ongoing concerns". Read full story Source: BBC News, 9 March 2021 -
News Article
Six million ‘hidden’ patients could flood NHS waiting lists this year
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
As many as 6 million “hidden” patients could join the queue for NHS treatment in the coming months, swelling official waiting lists to records not seen for more than a decade, health chiefs have warned. In the wake of a Budget that offered no new investment for the health service ministers must level with the public that previous guarantees on waiting times are now impossible to meet, the head of the NHS Confederation has said. In an interview with The Independent, Danny Mortimer said some patients should expect to wait many months, or possibly even beyond a year, for their treatment. He said: “It's going to take many years to recover the waiting list position to where we want it to be. “We have to be realistic about the time that it will take us to address these issues, and the government have to be realistic about what it will take particularly if this week’s Budget is an indication that actually there won’t be money made available to the NHS to truly address these issues. “The government has to take responsibility for explaining to the public what the consequences of that are.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 7 March 2021, -
News ArticleWomen aged 70 or over are receiving substandard care to tackle ovarian cancer with one in five patients in their seventies getting no treatment whatsoever, a new study has found. A report from Ovarian Cancer Action revealed almost half of patients in their 70s do not undergo surgery to treat the disease, even though it provides the best long-term prognosis for one of the most common types of cancer in women. In total, around one in five (22%) of ovarian cancer patients aged 70 to 79 and three in five women with ovarian cancer who were over 80 years old were given no treatment for the disease. The inadequate healthcare given to older ovarian cancer patients causes a disproportionately high short term death rate for them, the study found. The study found older patients are substantially less likely to be referred by their GP for diagnostic tests such as ultrasounds when ovarian cancer symptoms surface. Dr Susana Banerjee, a consultant medical oncologist at The Royal Marsden, said: “With an ageing population, many more patients with ovarian cancer are over the age of 70, so there is an urgent need to understand the best way to effectively treat older women." “Optimising patients for treatment through frailty assessments and interventions, sharing best practice across cancer centres and representing older patients in clinical trials are important steps towards ensuring equal access to effective and tolerable treatment that could help more women live beyond their diagnosis, with a good quality of life, no matter their age.”
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News Article
NHS may ‘never catch up’ with ophthalmology surgery backlog caused by covid
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Delays due to the COVID-19 crisis have created tens of thousands of year-long waiters for ophthalmology treatment, and a surgery backlog which experts say may never be recovered. NHS England provisional data shows the number of people waiting 52 weeks or longer for ophthalmology treatment increased to more than 23,000 in December, up 57,580% on just 40 the year before. Experts say ophthalmology procedures have been hit particularly hard by the cancellation of elective work due to COVID-19 pressures. On average, roughly 130,000 ophthalmology patients completed treatment per month in England in 2019, most of which would likely have been cataract surgeries. Royal College of Ophthalmologists professional standards chair Melanie Hingorani told HSJ that many in the discipline feared “traditional” ways of working were too “fragmented” to address the size of the challenge. She said that without a “much more innovative” approach it would be “really difficult” to deal with the surgery backlog on ophthalmology and that clearing it could take “two years, maybe longer”. There remained a danger, however, she added that: “Maybe we never catch up”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 1 March 2021
