Search the hub
Showing results for tags 'UK'.
Found 184 results
-
Content ArticleNever Events are serious, largely preventable patient safety incidents that should not occur if healthcare providers are following national guidance and safety recommendations. In this blog John Tingle, a lecturer at Birmingham Law School, raises concerns about the number of Never Events that continue to take place within health services, the lack of public awareness about Never Events and the need to develop a safety culture that allows learning from Never Events to actually take place.
-
Content ArticleThis guidance from The Royal College of Radiologists aims to provide radiologists with guidance on how to implement the duty of candour, recognising the unique circumstances they face. It includes real-world examples and provides an approach which will help radiologists navigate an unfamiliar process in the best possible way. The guidance covers: The principles of candour Why this can be difficult in a radiological context Candour in different situations (reactive and proactive candour) and departmental disclosure policies Candour processes in practice The difference between discrepancy assessment and education/Radiology Events and Learning Meetings (REALM) Specific considerations (interventional radiology and remote reporting within an imaging network).
-
Content ArticleThis analysis from the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies provides a review of developments in financing, governance, organisation and delivery, health reforms and performance of the health systems in the United Kingdom.
-
Content ArticleThis study in Clinical Epidemiology aimed to investigate the long-term complications associated with surgical mesh devices used to treat stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP). The authors looked at rates of diagnoses of depression, anxiety or self-harm (composite measure) and sexual dysfunction, and rates of prescriptions for antibiotics and opioids in women with and without mesh surgery, with a diagnostic SUI/POP code, registered in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) gold database. The study found that mesh surgery was associated with poor mental and sexual health outcomes, alongside increased opioid and antibiotic use, in women with no history of these outcomes and improved mental health, and lower opioid use, in women with a previous history of these outcomes. The authors highlight the need to carefully consider the risks and benefits of mesh surgery on an individual basis.
-
Content ArticleThis retrospective cohort study in the British Journal of General Practice aimed to identify opportunities for timely investigations or referrals in patients presenting with potential symptoms of colon and rectal cancer, or abnormal blood tests. The study found evidence that patients with these cancers presented with low haemoglobin, high platelets and high inflammatory markers as early as nine months pre-diagnosis, and the authors suggest that starting cancer-specific investigations or referrals earlier may be beneficial in patients with some of these diagnostic markers.
-
Content ArticleThis report outlines the results of a survey of 10,000 nursing staff in the UK carried out by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). The survey highlighted stark differences in career progression and treatment in the workplace between White nurses and those from a mixed ethnic background, and Black and Asian nurses. In the 35-44 age group, 66% of White and 64% of respondents from mixed ethnic backgrounds said they’d been promoted. This dropped to just 38% of Asian and 35% of Black respondents. Black respondents working in both hospital (39%) and community (32%) settings are more likely to report having experienced physical abuse than respondents of other ethnic backgrounds. In response to these findings, the RCN is calling on the UK Government to reform human rights law to help tackle workplace racism, including introducing a legal requirement to eliminate disparities in recruitment, retention and career progression. They also want employers to have greater responsibility to protect minority ethnic groups from racism in all its forms.
-
Content ArticleIn 2020, the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety (IMMDS) Review made specific recommendations that the government provide justice and redress to thousands of women who have been harmed by surgical mesh implants. Surgical mesh, also known as transvaginal tape, is a medical device surgically implanted to support organs and tissue. It is primarily used to treat urinary incontinence in women, but is also used to treat hernias and to reinforce abdominal areas where women have had tissue removed to reconstruct their breasts after mastectomy. In this article for the Mail Online, John Naish highlights that two years after the IMMDS, none of its recommendations have been implemented properly and surgical mesh is still being used. He examines the case of Kelly Cook, a 37 year-old mother who has been left with constant pain, nerve issues and incontinence after mesh surgery in 2018. In spite of the impact the mesh is having on her life, she has been told she may not be seen at one of the new specialist mesh centres for two years due to the length of the waiting list. The article also highlights the fact that no financial redress has yet been offered to mesh victims, that women's pain is still not being seen as a serious issue, and that there is a concerning lack of research into the safety of mesh devices.
-
Content ArticleSafety voice is the act of speaking up about safety in order to prevent accidents and physical harm. This systematic review in the journal Safety Science aimed to determine how safety voice differs conceptually from employee voice, is described across levels of analysis and could be best investigated. The authors found that there are important challenges for safety voice in terms of developing methodologies and interventions.
-
Content ArticleThe pandemic led to major disruption to services right across health and social care, as well as a huge shift in where patients are dying, with more than 105,000 extra deaths at home in the UK over the first two years of the pandemic. The reasons for this are not fully understood, but have profound implications for the experience of people dying and their families and carers, and for the type and quality of care they receive. There is currently a large gap in our understanding of the services that the hospice sector provides across the UK. This report by the Nuffield Trust seeks to begin to close that gap by analysing the important role of hospices in supporting people at the end of life and their families, both in hospice settings and at home.
-
Content ArticleComplexity is often talked about in health services research, but it has not been sufficiently studied. In this article in the journal BMC Medicine, the authors argue that in open systems characterised by dynamically changing inter-relationships and tensions, conventional research designs must be augmented by the study of how we can best deal with uncertainty, unpredictability and emergent causality. They propose an agenda for future research and invite researchers to contribute to the conversation.
-
Content ArticleFormal evaluations of programmes are an important source of learning about the challenges faced in improving quality in healthcare and how they can be addressed. The authors of this narrative review in BMJ Quality & Safety aimed to integrate lessons from evaluations of the Health Foundation's improvement programmes with relevant literature. They argue that securing improvement may be hard and slow and faces many challenges, but formal evaluations assist in recognising the nature of these challenges and help in addressing them.
-
Content ArticleClinical governance can be defined as ‘the framework through which healthcare organisations are accountable for continuously improving the quality of their services and safeguarding high quality of care’. This article aims to provide an introduction to clinical governance based on UK practice. The article defines and examines how UK health systems priorities safe care, effective care, person-centred care and assured care.
-
Content ArticleIn this article for The Guardian, journalist Sirin Kale speaks to Janet Williams about the impact the epilepsy drug sodium valproate has had on her family. Janet took the medication to treat her epilepsy throughout her two pregnancies in 1989 and 1991, but had never been warned about the potential risks to her babies. Foetal valproate syndrome can cause spina bifida, congenital heart defects and developmental delays and is believed to have affected around 20,000 children in the UK. Both of Janet's sons were affected by the medication and require full time care as a result. Janet describes how being told about the risks would have enabled her to make an informed decision about whether to have children, and how her experience led her to help set up In-FACT (the Independent Fetal Anti Convulsant Trust) in 2012.
-
Content ArticleThese tools and resources from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) accompany the NICE guidance on Hypothermia: prevention and management in adults having surgery. Resources available for download include: Audit and service improvement baseline assessment tool Implementation support advice document Education information Shared learning information Practical steps to improving the quality of care and services using NICE guidance
-
Content ArticleThis letter from NHS Confederation to Thérèse Coffey MP, the new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, sets out what needs to be done to support the delivery of an emergency winter plan for health and social care services. It outlines the views of NHS Confederation members on what will be needed to deliver the ‘ABCD’ highlighted as priorities by the Secretary of State: ambulances, backlogs, care and doctors and dentists.
-
Content ArticleIn this blog, Jeremy Hunt MP, Founder of Patient Safety Watch, outlines six priorities for the new Health Secretary, Therese Coffey MP. He argues that these patient safety priorities will help reduce elective and emergency pressures and save money.
-
Content ArticleIn this blog, Bob Matheson, Head of Advice and Advocacy at the charity Protect, explains the case of Dr Chris Day and how it highlights the vital importance of reforms to UK whistleblowing law. Protect is campaigning for Reform of whistleblowing legislation in the UK. The author highlights loopholes in UK law that Dr Day has faced throughout his long legal battle with Health Education England (HEE). These gaps mean that whistleblowers lack certain important legal rights and protections, and this in turn may prevent individuals from raising concerns.
-
Content ArticleThis National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) report highlights the results of a study into quality of care received by people aged 0-24 receiving long-term ventilation (LTV). It aimed to identify remediable factors in the care provided to children and young people who were receiving, or had received, LTV.
-
Content ArticleThis report by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) examines the quality of care provided to patients aged 16 years and over who were admitted to hospital following an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). The report is based on the findings of a study that looked at the clinical care delivered to patients from the time of an OHCA to discharge from hospital or death. The review of the clinical pathway included the community and emergency service response, hospital admission and inpatient care (in particular cardiac and critical care services). Data were also collected to assess organisational aspects of care within acute hospitals.
-
Content ArticleThis NCEPOD report looks at the quality of care provided to patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) aged 16 years and over who were admitted to hospital when acutely unwell. It highlights the findings of a review into the pathway of care for patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) which explored multidisciplinary care and organisational factors in the process of identifying, screening, assessing, treating and monitoring their ability to swallow. You can view and download the following diagrams related to the report: Full report Summary report Summary sheet Recommendation checklist Infographic Slide set Commissioners' guide Fishbone diagram Recommendations Audit toolkit
-
Content ArticleNaaheed Mukadam and colleagues investigated the incidence of diagnosed dementia and whether age at diagnosis and survival afterward differs among the UK's three largest ethnic groups. They used primary care electronic health records, linked Hospital Episode Statistics and mortality data for adults aged ≥65 years. They compared recorded dementia incidence 1997–2018, age at diagnosis, survival time and age at death after diagnosis in White, South Asian, and Black people. The study found that dementia incidence was higher in Black people. South Asian and Black people with dementia had a younger age of death than White participants and Black participants. The authors concluded that South Asian and Black peoples’ younger age of diagnosis and death means targeted prevention and care strategies for these groups should be prioritised and tailored to facilitate take-up.
-
Content ArticleThis review by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) looks at current NCEPOD data to identify themes relating to healthcare inequalities. It was was commissioned by Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) on behalf of the Healthcare Inequalities team at NHS England and NHS Improvement, as part of the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP). The review identifies four area of healthcare inequalities: Protected characteristics - age and disability Socioeconomic deprivation Inclusion health groups Organisation of healthcare services
-
Content ArticleWith Liz Truss becoming the new Prime Minister today after winning the Tory leadership contest, what are the health and care commitments from the 2019 Conservative Party Manifesto that she inherits? Mark Dayan, Lucina Rolewicz and Jessica Morris explore the progress of the main health and care promises that were made. Which are on course to be delivered and which are not?
-
Content ArticleScrutiny of NHS chief executive officers (CEOs) has tended to focus on the generally short tenure of their position. The implications of high turnover have been assessed but there has been limited research looking at CEOs who remain in post for long periods, whether in the same organisations or in multiple ones. This study by researchers from the University of Manchester draws on interview data collected in 2019 with 10 long serving CEOs in the English NHS, with an average tenure of 17 years.
-
Content ArticleThe General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has written via email to pharmacists and owners of pharmacies with the GPhC’s voluntary internet pharmacy logo, to address ongoing patient safety concerns affecting the online sector. The emails highlight that over 30% of the GPhC's open Fitness to Practise cases relate to online pharmacy—a disproportionate number for the sector of the market that online services occupy. Common issues raised in these cases include: medicines being prescribed to patients on the basis of an online questionnaire alone, with no direct interaction between the prescriber and either the patient or their GP . prescribing of high-risk medications or medications which require monitoring without adequate safeguards. prescribing of medicines outside the prescriber’s scope of practice. high volumes of prescriptions being issued by the prescriber in short periods of time. The emails also recognise the benefits and risks of online pharmacies, outline how the GPhC may take enforcement action against an online pharmacy, and recommend what actions pharmacists and pharmacy owners should take in response to the patient safety concerns raised. You can view the emails in full: Email to owners of pharmacies with the internet pharmacy logo Email to pharmacists
