Search the hub
Showing results for tags 'Treatment'.
Found 457 results
-
News Article
Trusts told to treat more COVID-19 patients at home
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Hospitals should ramp up their treatment of COVID-19 patients at home to free up more beds during the peak of the pandemic, under plans announced by NHS England/Improvement. All NHS trusts will receive up to 300 oximeters, which measure oxygen saturation levels and can be used to monitor COVID-19 patients in their own homes, rather than in hospital beds. NHSE has “recommended” that all areas of England “pursue immediate roll-out” given the “intense pressure on hospital beds right now”, according to a letter from medical director Steve Powis and two other national directors. Currently, nearly 60 trusts have COVID-19 patients in at least a third or more of their beds, and the total number of COVID-19 patients is peaking at around 37,000. There have been particular strains on hospital discharge, particularly of covid patients, whom many care homes are unable or unwilling to receive. The scheme, dubbed “covid virtual wards”, has been used at some trusts since the pandemic’s first wave. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 19 January 2021 -
Content ArticleHeavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) affects one in four women of reproductive age. It is a condition that impairs the quality of life of many women who are otherwise healthy. Every year in England and Wales, an estimated 50000 women with HMB are referred to secondary care in the NHS. This constitutes approximately 20% of referrals to specialist gynaecology services, and approximately 28000 women undergo surgical treatment. In the majority of women, the cause of their HMB is not known. Medical treatments for HMB include (oral) medication and the levonorgestrel -releasing intrauterine system(LNG-IUS). Surgical treatment, including endometrial ablation (EA) and hysterectomy, is an option if medical treatment is ineffective or undesirable. In this paper, Geary et al. investigate the factors that determine whether women who have been referred to secondary care for HMB get surgical treatment. The study explores the impact that symptom severity, treatment received in primary care and patient characteristics including age, ethnicity and socioeconomic deprivation have on the chance that women receive surgical treatment in the first year after their referral to secondary care.
-
News Article
Large trial of new covid treatment begins in UK
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A large-scale trial of a new treatment it is hoped will help stop COVID-19 patients from developing severe illness has begun in the UK. The first patient received the treatment at Hull Royal Infirmary on Tuesday afternoon. It involves inhaling a protein called interferon beta which the body produces when it gets a viral infection. The hope is it will stimulate the immune system, priming cells to be ready to fight off viruses. Early findings suggested the treatment cut the odds of a COVID-19 patient in hospital developing severe disease - such as requiring ventilation - by almost 80%. It was developed at Southampton University Hospital and is being produced by the Southampton-based biotech company, Synairgen. Read full story Source: BBC News, 13 January 2021 -
News ArticleMore than 1,000 people needing urgent cancer surgery in London have no date for their treatment, HSJ can reveal. A document leaked to HSJ showed that, at the end of last week, more than 1,000 of London’s cancer surgery patients without an appointment date were defined as P2 (priority two), meaning they needed to be seen within four weeks or risk their condition worsening. The report seen by HSJ also showed more than 300 P2 patients had their surgery postponed in the past week, a statistic NHS England London has so far refused to disclose. Hospitals in the capital are facing their highest-ever COVID-19 occupancy rates, with surgical lists at many trusts being cancelled. Meanwhile, a separate NHSE London document reported in the press this week revealed: “Most NHS Green sites [those cancer surgery sites intended to be covid-free to avoid risk to very frail patients] are now compromised with only a limited number of cases being undertaken in NHS sites this week”. The papers also said the current plans to increase indepedent sector capacity usage were “insufficient to offset the NHS shortfall”, and noted there was a two week lead-in time to move patients into private hospitals “based on clinical rotas, theatre bookings, [and] patient isolation”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 12 January 2021
-
News ArticleTwo more life-saving drugs have been found that can cut deaths by a quarter in patients who are sickest with Covid. The anti-inflammatory medications, given via a drip, save an extra life for every 12 treated, say researchers who have carried out a trial in NHS intensive care units. Supplies are already available across the UK so they can be used immediately to save hundreds of lives, say experts. The UK government is working closely with the manufacturer, to ensure the drugs - tocilizumab and sarilumab - continue to be available to UK patients. As well as saving more lives, the treatments speed up patients' recovery and reduce the length of time that critically-ill patients need to spend in intensive care by about a week. Both appear to work equally well and add to the benefit already found with a cheap steroid drug called dexamethasone. Read full story Source: BBC News, 7 January 2021
-
News ArticleAn experimental treatment involving stem cells from umbilical cords could significantly reduce deaths and quicken recovery time for patients suffering the most severe form of COVID-19, a study suggests. US researchers reported a 91% survival rate in seriously ill patients given the stem cell infusion, compared to 42% in a second group who did not receive the treatment. Researchers said the treatment also appeared to be safe, with no serious adverse reactions reported. Read full story Source: The Independent, 5 January 2021
-
Content ArticleNeonatal herpes simplex virus (HSV) disease is a rare, and potentially fatal, disease which usually occurs in the first four weeks of a baby's life. Early recognition and treatment of the virus has been shown to significantly improve babies' chances of making a full recovery. Kit Tarka Foundation works to prevent newborn baby deaths; primarily through raising awareness of neonatal herpes, funding research and providing advice for healthcare professionals and the general public.
-
Content Article
This guideline covers identifying, assessing and managing the long-term effects of COVID-19, often described as ‘Long COVID’. It makes recommendations about care in all healthcare settings for adults, children and young people who have new or ongoing symptoms 4 weeks or more after the start of acute COVID-19. It also includes advice on organising services for Long COVID. -
Content ArticleThe National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)-supported RECOVERY trial has found no clinical benefit from the antibiotic azithromycin for hospitalised patients with severe COVID-19.
-
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
-
Content ArticleIf you have a rare disease, the search for a diagnosis can often feel like the longest detective investigation - with no clues, lots of blind alleys and, occasionally, disbelieving authorities. It may seem like things are going nowhere, even for years. Sometimes this is because information on the condition just isn’t available and not enough research has been done; other times it’s difficult to find someone knowledgeable enough to spot the signs of a rare disease. After all, these diseases are so rare that many doctors have never come across them in their careers. Either way, a person with a rare disease can end up playing investigator in their own personal medical mystery – and in some situations even end up solving the case, or devising treatment, for themselves! Read some stories from patients.
-
Content ArticleNew analysis by the Health Foundation shows there were 4.7 million fewer people referred for routine hospital care – for things like hip, knee and cataract surgery – between January and August 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, representing a potential hidden backlog of unmet care needs. The research highlights the scale of the challenge facing the NHS as it looks to resume services following the disruption caused by the first wave of COVID-19. The number of patients in hospital with COVID-19 is growing as we head into winter, a time when the NHS always experiences greater pressures from flu and other seasonal illnesses. If the virus is not controlled and emergency pressures surge, even more routine treatment will need to be postponed which will only add to the challenge of recovering from the pandemic.
-
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
-
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 -
Content Article
Prostate Cancer UK: Best practice pathway
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Men's health
Developed to support healthcare professionals at the front line of prostate cancer diagnosis and care, Prostate Cancer UK's Best Practice Pathway uses easy to follow flowcharts to guide healthcare professionals deliver best practice diagnosis, treatment and support. It sets out how to achieve an early diagnosis in men at higher than average risk of the disease. It also supports use of the most up-to-date, cutting-edge research-led innovations - so that healthcare professionals are equipped and supported to provide the very latest evidence-based best practice to their patients. -
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
-
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
-
Content Article
Illuminating the rare reality (28 February 2019)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Rare diseases
This report is a culmination of findings from Rare Disease UK and Genetic Alliance UK to evidence the experiences of those living with a rare condition. The report underpins their call for a refresh and review of the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases focussing on five key areas: diagnosis, rare disease care and treatment, information and support, rare disease research and keeping the strategy up to date. -
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)
-
Content ArticleThe purpose of this Royal College of Nursing (RCN) document is to provide standards and sample assessment tools for training in genital examination in women for registered nurses working in sexual and reproductive health settings, and related health and social care settings. It is envisaged that this document could be used by registered health care professionals who would require training in genital examination in order, for example, to undertake the following procedures: cervical sampling including liquid based cytology and colposcopy taking swabs as part of a sexual health examination inserting, checking or removing intrauterine devices and IUS vaginal ultrasound hysteroscopy nurses working within early pregnancy and acute gynaecology settings and as part of any extended role in history taking and examination for the assessment of symptomatic women.
-
Content ArticlePatient Safety Learning’s response to the announcement by the NHS on the 7 October 2020 of a new five-part package of measures to boost support for Long Covid patients.
-
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
