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Found 2,335 results
  1. News Article
    A wide disparity in coronavirus mortality rates has emerged in English hospitals, with data seen by the Guardian showing that one hospital trust in south-west England had a death rate from the disease of 80% while in one London trust it was just 12.5%. The figures, which NHS England has compiled but never published, show the age-standardised mortality rates that all of the country’s 135 acute hospital trusts have recorded during the pandemic. Doctors regard age as the single biggest predictor or risk factor for dying from COVID-19. They cover the period from the start of the coronavirus crisis in March, through its peak in late March and April, up until 15 May, by which time 42,850 (85%) of the 50,219 deaths so far in all settings had occurred in England and Wales. It is the first such data to emerge about how many people have lived or died in each trust after being treated there because they had been left critically ill by the disease. They are based on patients who were treated in an intensive care or high-dependency unit or on a ward. Senior doctors said the dramatic gap in death rates of 67.5 percentage points between the trusts with the highest and lowest rates was notable and may mean that some hospitals needed to learn lessons from others. Read full story Source: Guardian, 14 June 2020
  2. News Article
    Some NHS trusts in England are yet to complete /cOVID-19 risk assessments for their staff from ethnic minority groups more than two months after the NHS first told them to do so, an investigation by The BMJ has found. On 29 April NHS England’s chief executive, Simon Stevens, wrote to all NHS leaders telling them to carry out risk assessments and make “appropriate arrangements” to protect ethnic minority staff, amid growing evidence that they were at greater risk of contracting and dying from COVID-19. However, The BMJ asked England’s 140 acute care trusts for details of risk assessments they had carried out and what subsequent actions they had put in place. Seventy trusts responded. Of these, 27 (39%) said that assessments were yet to be completed for all ethnic minority staff, and 43 (61%) indicated that assessments had been completed. But the other 70 trusts were unable to provide a response within the 20 day deadline, citing “unprecedented challenges” posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, so it is not known what stage they are at in risk assessing staff. Commenting on The BMJ’s findings, Chaand Nagpaul, the BMA’s chair of council, said, “Clearly, we know that a significant number of doctors have not been risk assessed. It is a shame that it has taken so long, because the risk assessments and mitigations would have been most useful and impactful during the peak of the virus.” Doctors’ leaders have suggested that systemic race inequalities in the workplace may have exacerbated delays in risk assessing staff. Nagpaul said, “The BMA survey found that doctors from a BAME [black, Asian, and minority ethnic] background felt under more pressure to see patients without adequate protection. So it does beg the question of whether there’s also been this added factor of BAME healthcare staff feeling unable to demand their right to being assessed and protected." “This is something the NHS needs to tackle. This is an issue that predates covid. It’s vital that we have an NHS where anyone is able to voice their concerns. No one should have to suffer or have fear in silence.” Read full story Source: The BMJ, 10 July 2020
  3. News Article
    A former senior NHS official plans to sue the organisation after he had to pay a private hospital £20,000 for potentially life-saving cancer surgery because NHS care was suspended due to COVID-19. Rob McMahon, 68, decided to seek private treatment after Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS trust told him that he would have to wait much longer than usual for a biopsy. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer after an MRI scan on 19 March, four days before the lockdown began. McMahon was due to see a consultant urologist on 27 March but that was changed to a telephone consultation and then did not take place for almost two weeks. “At that appointment, the consultant said: ‘Don’t worry, these things are slow-growing. You’ll have a biopsy but not for two or three months.’ I thought, ‘that’s a long time’, so decided to see another consultant privately for a second opinion.” A PET-CT scan confirmed that he had a large tumour on both lobes of the prostate and a biopsy showed the cancer was at risk of breaking out of the prostate capsule and spreading into his body. He then paid to undergo a radical prostatectomy at a private Spire hospital. “This is care that I should have had on the NHS, not something that I should have had to pay for myself. I had an aggressive cancer. I needed urgent treatment – there was no time to waste,”, he said. “With the pandemic, he added, “it was almost like a veil came down over the NHS. He worked for the NHS for 17 years as a manager in hospitals in London, Birmingham and Redditch, Worcestershire, and was the chief executive of an NHS primary care trust in Leicester.” Mary Smith of Novum Law, McMahon’s solicitors, said: “Unfortunately, Rob’s story is one of many we are hearing about from cancer patients who have been seriously affected by the disruption to oncology services as a result of COVID-19." Read full story Source: The Guardian, 11 July 2020
  4. News Article
    Coronavirus patients have continued to suffer from fatigue, breathlessness and forgetfulness more than 100 days after contracting the bug. Many COVID-19 survivors have found that they are not back to normal months after they tested positive. Louise Nicholls, from Litherland in Liverpool, is one of those people who found themselves suffering from curious symptoms long after she should have been back to normal. She was told she had coronavirus by her doctor on 1 April having gone in search of medical help after suffering from a number of respiratory symptoms. "I was trying to do my workouts and I was getting really short of breath," Louise said. "I couldn't put my finger on what was going on but it got worse every day. My chest started getting tighter and my lungs were burning. I didn't have a cough or a fever but I had shortness of breath and I was waking up with night sweats." Louise said her symptoms were dismissed as anxiety by those around her at first, but when her symptoms got worse she phoned the doctor who said it sounded like coronavirus. Louise said: "My doctor said it sounds like covid. She said 'you're young and fit, you'll be over it in a few weeks' and sent me on my way." Louise's breathing continued to get worse and she was given a steroid inhaler, which she is still taking today. Although Louise feels much better than she did at one time, she is still struggling with her breathing today and is continuing to use her inhaler. She said: "I feel much better than I was but I can't push myself too much... My chest feels tight if I don't take my inhaler every day." Read full story Source: Mirror, 12 July 2020
  5. News Article
    Doctors may be missing signs of serious and potentially fatal brain disorders triggered by coronavirus, as they emerge in mildly affected or recovering patients, scientists have warned. Neurologists are on Wednesday publishing details of more than 40 UK COVID-19 patients whose complications ranged from brain inflammation and delirium to nerve damage and stroke. In some cases, the neurological problem was the patient’s first and main symptom. The cases, published in the journal Brain, revealed a rise in a life-threatening condition called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (Adem), as the first wave of infections swept through Britain. At UCL’s Institute of Neurology, Adem cases rose from one a month before the pandemic to two or three per week in April and May. One woman, who was 59, died of the complication. “We’re seeing things in the way Covid-19 affects the brain that we haven’t seen before with other viruses,” said Michael Zandi, a senior author on the study and a consultant at the institute and University College London Hospitals NHS foundation trust. “What we’ve seen with some of these Adem patients, and in other patients, is you can have severe neurology, you can be quite sick, but actually have trivial lung disease,” he added. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 8 July 2020
  6. News Article
    Far fewer people are having surgery or cancer treatment because COVID-19 has disrupted NHS services so dramatically, and those who do are facing the longest waits on record. NHS figures reveal huge falls in the number of patients who have been going into hospital for a range of vital care in England since the pandemic began in March, prompting fears that their health will have worsened because diseases and conditions went untreated. Patients have been unable to access a wide range of normal care since non-COVID-19 services were suspended in hospitals in March so the NHS could focus on treating the disease. Many patients were also afraid to go into hospital in case they became infected, which contributed to a fall in treatment volumes. Tim Gardner, a senior policy fellow at the Health Foundation thinktank, said: “The dramatic falls in people visiting A&E, urgent referrals for suspected cancer and routine hospital procedures during lockdown are all growing evidence that more people are going without the care they need for serious health conditions." “Early diagnosis and prompt treatment of cancer is crucial to saving lives, and delays in referrals and treatment during the pandemic are likely to mean more people are diagnosed later when their illness is further advanced and harder to treat.” Read full story Source: Guardian, 9 July 2020
  7. News Article
    Patients with respiratory disease have been overlooked during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the NHS storing up problems for the winter months, a group of experts including the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has warned. Analysis by the 34-member Taskforce for Lung Health showed that referrals for lung conditions fell by 70% in April, with two-in-five (39%) of CCGs seeing no appointment bookings for respiratory conditions for the whole of May. On average, the group calculated a weekly average of 3,399 lung patients missing out on urgent and routine referrals during the COVID-19 lockdown, amounting to a total of at least 34,780 people, based on NHS England data. This was blamed in part on a general reduction in routine procedures during the pandemic, which will have affected all disease areas, but also the limitations on clinicians including GPs to carry out spirometry due to the risk of COVID-19 infection spread. But the taskforce - which includes the RCGP and the Primary Care Respiratory Society, as well as the Royal College of Physicians and Asthma UK - is now calling on NHS England to urgently restore services to pre-pandemic levels to tackle the backlog of lung patients requiring support. It said that failure to do so risked causing the premature death of patients who require urgent diagnosis as well as overwhelming the NHS during the winter season, when respiratory symptoms worsen. Read full story Source: Pulse, 9 July 2020
  8. News Article
    Health leaders have called for the routine recording of ethnicity and faith during the registration of deaths to help fight COVID-19, but the government appears to have rejected the idea. Leaders at West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership, the second largest integrated care system in England, wrote to registrar general Abi Tierney last month and said the lack of routine collection and analysis of this data “means there is a structural barrier to understanding of inequalities in mortality”. The Home Office replied and said it is considering “a range of reliable and proportionate ways to collect the necessary information”. But HSJ understands the Home Office has indicated no immediate action will be taken on the issue. The letter said: “This absence has undoubtedly led to delays in identifying the inequalities of COVID-19 mortality and means that we remain unclear about the disparities in deaths outside of hospital. These delays have risked contributing to further loss of life in our places in recent weeks, as we have not had robust data to enable us to address impacts at sufficient pace as we have been dealing with this crisis.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 8 July 2020
  9. News Article
    CAP-COVID are conducting essential research on how the COVID-19 pandemic affects pregnant women and their babies. If you are a pregnant woman at any stage of pregnancy, you can take part in the study. This includes whether you have just had a positive pregnancy test (even if you are unsure what to do about your pregnancy), whether you are in the middle of pregnancy, or you are about to have your baby. Take part
  10. News Article
    The Public Accounts Committee has given the Department of Health and Social Care two months to report back with a plan to ensure personal protective equipment (PPE) provision during a second COVID-19 spike. The influential group of MPs said they were 'extremely concerned' by PPE shortages faced by NHS and care workers during the first wave of the pandemic in the UK. According to the DHSC it never ran out of stock of PPE but rather Covid-19 had 'put supply chains and distribution networks under unprecedented strain', posing challenges with ensuring the right equipment was at the right place at the right time. BMA council chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul said: 'We may be past the first peak of this virus, but we should be under no illusion that the demand for PPE is over – especially as the NHS begins to manage the huge backlog of demand caused by the pandemic, all under tighter infection control measures.' In light of the threat of a second wave of Covid-19 doctors and colleagues 'need cast-iron guarantees from Government that the failures of the past months will not be repeated, that there will be enough of the right PPE and that it will be properly tested, quality-controlled and safe to use', Dr Nagpaul added. Read full story Source: Pulse, 8 July 2020
  11. News Article
    The NHS will be unable to meet the needs of patients unless significant action is taken to tackle staff shortages, an unprecedented coalition of health leaders has warned. Medical royal colleges, NHS trade unions and bodies representing senior hospital managers and other health organisations have joined together to warn bosses at NHS England and the government that they must act to ensure the health service workforce is supported in the wake of coronavirus. The organisations said they were united in the belief that meaningful action on long-standing workforce issues would be the best way to repay the efforts of NHS staff during the virus outbreak – calling for a public commitment to boost numbers, increase flexible working, and improve leadership and support for staff. Professor Carrie MacEwen, chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, which organised the statement, told The Independent: “Continued staff shortages in the NHS will be hugely damaging for patients. It has long been recognised that there is a serious shortage of doctors and nurses and right now we need to keep the staff we have, who have done a brilliant job during the pandemic, as well as increase the size of the workforce." Read full story Source: The Independent, 7 July 2020
  12. News Article
    Spain's large-scale study on the coronavirus indicates just 5% of its population has developed antibodies, strengthening evidence that a so-called herd immunity to COVID-19 is "unachievable," the medical journal the Lancet reported on Monday. The findings show that 95% of Spain's population remains susceptible to the virus. Herd immunity is achieved when enough of a population has become infected with a virus or bacteria – or vaccinated against it – to stop its circulation. The European Center for Disease Control told CNN that Spain's research, on a nationwide representative sample of more than 61,000 participants, appears to be the largest study to date among a dozen serological studies on the coronavirus undertaken by European nations. "In light of these findings, any proposed approach to achieve herd immunity through natural infection is not only highly unethical, but also unachievable," said the Lancet's commentary authors, Isabella Eckerle, head of the Geneva Centre for Emerging Viral Diseases, and Benjamin Meyer, a virologist at the University of Geneva. Read full story Source: CNN, 6 July 2020
  13. News Article
    NHS England is launching a new service for people with ongoing health problems after having coronavirus. The government says "tens of thousands" of people have long-term symptoms after catching COVID-19. "Your Covid Recovery" will be an online portal for people in England to access tutorials, contact healthcare workers and track their progress. The project will be rolled out in two phases, with the web portal launching later this month. It will only be accessible via a personal log-in and will be available to virus patients who had to be treated in hospital, as well as to those who managed their illness at home. Later in the summer, tailored rehabilitation will also be offered to those who qualify, following an assessment. Each programme will last a maximum of 12 weeks, the Department of Health and Social Care said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 5 July 2020
  14. News Article
    Figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that about two-thirds of fatalities from this disease during its peak from start of March to mid-May were people with disabilities. That is more than 22,000 deaths. Then dig down into the data. It indicates women under 65 with disabilities are more than 11 times more likely to die than fellow citizens, while for men the rate is more than six times higher. Even for older people the number of deaths was three times as high for women and twice as high for men. There are some explanations for such alarming figures, although they tend to reveal other profound concerns. Yet the report showed even when issues such as economic status and deprivation are taken into account, people with disabilities died at about twice the rate of their peers. So where was the fury over this obvious and deep inequality, even in death? Where was the fierce outcry over persistent failures that left many citizens and their families at risk, lacking even the most basic advice, support or protection from the state? Chris Hatton, the dedicated professor of public health and disability at Lancaster University, delved into all available data. He found people with autism and learning disabilities were in reality at least four times more likely to die at the peak of pandemic than other citizens. They also died at far younger ages. “Information released about deaths of autistic people and people with learning disabilities has been minimal, grudging and seems deliberately designed to be inaccessible,” he says. This adds up to one more shameful episode in the scandal of how Britain treats such citizens. Read full story Source: iNews, 5 July 2020
  15. News Article
    Most people experience COVID-19 as a short-term illness: once the infection has been fought off, they bounce back to health. But evidence is emerging of a significant minority – sometimes referred to as “long haulers” – who struggle with long-term symptoms for a month or longer. Anecdotal reports have abounded of people left with fatigue, aching muscles and difficulty concentrating. Online support groups on Facebook and Slack have sprung up, already hosting thousands of members who say they have not got better. Speaking to the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Matt Hancock said it was difficult to gauge the scale of the problem. “This is a really serious problem for a minority of people who have Covid,” the health secretary said. “Some people have long-term effects that look like a post-viral fatigue syndrome.” Scientists are only just beginning to investigate the potential causes of enduring fatigue, but say that there are likely to be a wide variety of reasons why some people face a longer road to recovery. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 5 July 2020
  16. News Article
    We’re swiftly learning the symptoms of Covid-19 may last longer than previously thought. One in 10 people are reporting a longer tail of symptoms, which exceeds the suggested two-week recovery time. It’s thought around 30,000 people in the UK could be impacted by a prolonged version of the illness – what some are calling ‘long covid’. These people are months into their recovery from the virus and still fighting a range of persistent symptoms. In some cases, the symptoms disappear for a while before coming back. In others, they’re gradually improving over time. Research from the Covid-19 Symptom Study in the UK, led by Professor Tim Spector of King’s College London, shows after three weeks of first reporting symptoms, a group of people continue to experience fatigue, headaches, coughs, loss of smell, sore throats, delirium and chest pain. People with mild cases of the disease are more likely to have a wide range of symptoms that come and go over an extended period, Prof Spector found. And these people are often flying under the radar because they’re not in hospital. Those who believe they’ve had ‘long covid’ are now calling on the government to recognise their plight, invest in research and put support in place. Read full story Source: Huffpost, 2 July 2020
  17. News Article
    The “hazardous” use of personal protective equipment (PPE) required because of COVID-19 is contributing to the spread of secondary infections in intensive care units and other hospital settings, a leading expert has told HSJ. Infection Prevention Society vice president Professor Jennie Wilson, said: “[PPE] has been used to protect the staff, but the way it has been used has increased the risk of transmission between patients. The widespread use of PPE particularly in critical care environments has exacerbated the problem (of patient to patient transmission). Unless we tackle the approach to PPE we will continue to see this major risk of transmission of infections between patients.” Professor Wilson warned this was espeically worrying as the risk includes spreading antibiotic resistant infections among ICU patients. There is increasing concern these are developing more often in covid patients due to widespread use of broad spectrum antibiotics in the early days of the pandemic, she added. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 3 July 2020
  18. News Article
    Psychiatrist Dr. Scott Krakower was diagnosed with the coronavirus in April and continues to have symptoms more than two months later, making him what’s known as a “long hauler.” Although Krakower said he's feeling better, he is not able to return to work. “Each day is different. Some days are up, some days are down. I would say the mornings are better for me and then by 1 or 2 o’clock is when my voice and my shortness of breath kick in more and then it’s harder to do things.” Krakower hasn’t had a clear answer about when he will recover or whether that may happen, although he takes solace in the fact that he is improving. Krakower continues to try and shake off the symptoms, a signature of long hauling. It’s a trait that has been on display before with MERS and SARS, says Dr Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. “What we’re seeing is that this is a byproduct of the inflammation from the virus itself. In other words, dead fragments of virus elicit an immune response. And as a result of this, the body reacts and produces certain types of substances that can really have adverse effects,” Glatter said. Read full story Source: Today, 1 July 2020
  19. News Article
    Staff working in care homes are to be tested every week starting on Monday, with residents tested every month, the government has said. The expansion of testing comes as a whistleblower at one of the testing laboratories revealed dozens of shifts had been cancelled throughout May and June because of a lack of test samples. Ministers hope that the expansion of testing will help to prevent the spread of infection to vulnerable residents. Read full story Source: The Independent, 3 July 2020
  20. News Article
    Waiting times for tests and treatment not related to COVID-19 are likely to increase significantly in the second half of 2020 because of the fallout from the pandemic, the head of NHS England has acknowledged. Giving evidence to the Commons health select committee on 30 June, NHS England’s chief executive Simon Stevens said that contrary to some commentary, the NHS’s overall waiting list actually dropped by over half a million people between February and April 2020 because fewer people were coming forward for treatment. But, he added, “As referrals return we expect that will go up significantly over the second half of the year.” Stevens said that there were 725 000 fewer elective admissions to NHS hospitals during March and April, but that number has begun to recover significantly. “As we speak, we think we’re now somewhere north of 55% of pre-covid-19 elective activity levels,” he said. He added that he hoped the NHS would return to around three quarters of normal activity levels by July or August. Stevens told MPs that the NHS would pursue a range of measures to increase capacity over the coming months, including extending the deal with the private sector to use its facilities, and repurposing some of the Nightingale hospitals for diagnostic testing. Read full story Source: BMJ, 1 July 2020
  21. News Article
    The government must set out plans for an inquiry into its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the health service ombudsman has said. This was not about blaming staff but about "learning lessons", he said. Ombudsman Rob Behrens said patients were reporting concerns about cancelled cancer treatment and incorrect COVID-19 test results. Ministers have not committed to holding an inquiry, but have accepted there are lessons to be learned. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) stopped investigating complaints against the NHS on 26 March, to allow it to focus on tackling the COVID-19 outbreak. But people had continued to phone in with these concerns, Mr Behrens said. "Complaining when something has gone wrong should not be about criticising doctors, nurses or other front-line public servants, who have often been under extraordinary pressure dealing with the Covid-19 crisis," he said. "It is about identifying where things have gone wrong systematically and making sure lessons are learned so mistakes are not repeated." Read full story Source: BBC News, 1 July 2020
  22. News Article
    Delays in going to the emergency department because of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown may have been a contributory factor in the deaths of nine children, a snapshot survey of consultant paediatricians in the UK and Ireland has shown. Three of the reported deaths associated with delayed presentation were due to sepsis, three were due to a new diagnosis of malignancy, in two the cause was not reported, and one was a new diagnosis of metabolic disease. Read full story (paywalled) Source: BMJ, 30 June 2020
  23. News Article
    A quarter of people who sought help for mental health problems during lockdown were unable to access NHS services, a new survey shows. A survey by the mental health charity Mind found that 25% of respondents who contacted primary care services could not get support. More than a fifth (22%) of adults with no previous experience of poor mental health now say that their mental health has deteriorated, according to the survey. Many people who were previously well will develop mental health problems as a “direct consequence of the pandemic and all that follows”, according to Mind. Two out of three (65%) adults aged 25 and over and three-quarters of young people aged 13-24 with an existing mental health problem reported worse mental health during the lockdown. Mind predicts that prolonged worsening of wellbeing and “continued inadequate access” to NHS mental health services will lead to a marked increase in people experiencing longer-term mental health problems. Read full story Source: The Independent, 30 June 2020
  24. News Article
    A new report by Research Australia details more than 200 ongoing COVID-19 studies that extend far beyond the search for a vaccine. Almost every COVID-19 research project being led by Australians has been in the new report, including studies of breastfeeding guidelines for parents with COVID-19, filter systems to remove the virus via air-conditioning systems, monitoring of sewage to detect the prevalence of COVID-19, and repurposing technology normally used to identify explosives to see if it can detect the presence of COVID-19. The report was compiled by Research Australia, the national peak body for health and medical research. It’s chief executive, Nadia Levin, said the report was not a complete catalogue of COVID-19 related research in Australia, but provided a useful insight into the scale of the response from the health and innovation sectors. “All of this Australian research kept popping up and we were blown away by the scale and scope of it, so we asked all of our members to share what they are working on,” Levin told the Guardian Australia. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 27 June 2020
  25. News Article
    The NHS will not be able to get back to providing its full range of services for as long as four years because of the huge disruption caused by COVID-19, hospital bosses have warned. Patients will face much longer waits than usual for operations and diagnostic tests because hospitals’ drive to remain infection-free means they are closing beds, and surgeons’ need to wear protective clothing means they are carrying out fewer procedures than before the pandemic. In a stark admission of the complexity of reopening the NHS, a key health service leader has predicted that some hospitals will be able to provide only 40% of the care they previously delivered. Hospitals are under pressure from ministers and health charities to restart services as soon as possible for patients with conditions such as cancer, obesity and joint problems. But the chief executives of three NHS trusts in England have told the Observer that the “sheer complexity” of getting back to normal amid the lingering effects of COVID-19 means progress will be very slow. “It could be four years before waiting times get back to pre-Covid levels. We could see that. It’s certainly years, not months,” said Glen Burley, the group chief executive of Warwick hospital, George Eliot hospital in Nuneaton and County hospital in Hereford. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 27 June 2020
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