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Found 2,339 results
  1. News Article
    Nearly 6 out of every 10 people who died with coronavirus in England last year were disabled, figures suggest. Some 30,296 of the 50,888 deaths between January and November were people with a disability, Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows. It also suggests the risk of death is three times greater for more severely disabled people. Charities have called for urgent government action, describing the data as "horrifying and tragic". The ONS figures suggest disabled people were disproportionately affected by the pandemic - accounting for 17.2% of the study population but nearly 60% of coronavirus deaths. Among women, the risk of death involving coronavirus was 3.5 times greater for more-disabled women - defined as having their day-to-day activities "limited a lot" by their health - compared with non-disabled women. For less-disabled women, defined as having their day-to-day activities "limited a little", the risk was two times greater. Compared to non-disabled men, the data showed that the risk was 3.1 times greater for more-disabled men, and 1.9 times greater for less-disabled men. Looking at people with a medically diagnosed learning disability, the risk of death involving Covid was 3.7 times greater for both men and women compared with people who did not have a learning disability. Read full story Source: BBC News, 11 February 2021
  2. News Article
    A drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis could cut the number of Covid deaths and speed up recovery, a new scientific trial has found. The drug, tocilizumab, could save the lives of one in 25 coronavirus patients in hospital and reduce the need for ventilators in intensive care. Researchers say around half of the people admitted to hospital with coronavirus could benefit from the treatment. Scientists from the nationwide Recovery trial said when tocilizumab was given alongside the steroid dexamethasone, it reduced the absolute risk of mortality by four percentage points. The medicine was already being used by the NHS to treat some coronavirus patients after early results last month showed it reduced the risk of death as well as time spent in hospital by up to 10 days. As a result of the latest findings, the health secretary said the drug would be made more widely available on the NHS to help treat Covid patients. Read full story Source: The Independent, 11 February 2021
  3. News Article
    People previously admitted to hospital or needing "continuous or repeated" steroid use because of asthma are to be prioritised for the Covid vaccine. The most severe cases will fall into priority-group four, the "clinically extremely vulnerable", who should have received a letter advising they shield. And the government has now confirmed the rest who meet the above category will be included in group six, the clinically "at risk", including some but not all those usually eligible for a free flu jab. It follows patients' calls for clarity. The government said it was following independent experts' advice. Read full story Source: BBC News, 11 February 2021
  4. News Article
    More than 100,000 people were waiting for ‘urgent’ priority two operations in late January, as planned care rates plummeted amid the covid third wave, according to NHS data seen by HSJ. However, the rate of elective procedures carried out last month appears to have been a lot higher than in the spring wave of coronavirus, despite there being more covid patients in hospital this time. In the three weeks to 20 December, the NHS was reporting around 110,000 day cases and 18,000 planned overnight admissions each week. But during January these totals dropped to around 85,000 day cases and 10,000 planned overnight admissions per week. This equates to a reduction of 23% and 44%, respectively. Regions that were more severely impacted by the third wave of coronavirus saw steeper reductions as covid pressures forced staff working in routine care services to be redeployed. In London and the South East, day case activity reduced by around 40% between the same periods, while elective overnight admissions fell by around 57%. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 10 February 2021
  5. News Article
    The MP leading an investigation into coronavirus fears long Covid could cost the UK around £2.5 billion a year. Layla Moran believes the emerging crisis is comparable to the impact rheumatoid arthritis has on the health service, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to be dealing with the condition for months. The ONS says around one in ten people who test positive will go on to develop long Covid, a catch all term to describe a host of ongoing symptoms in coronavirus patients. More than 1.7 million COVID-19 infections have been reported since Christmas Day in the UK. Speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk, Ms Moran – who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on coronavirus, said: "The amount of money that we are expecting to spend long term on long Covid could be similar to rheumatoid arthritis. How many people know someone with rheumatoid arthritis? It is going to be higher for long Covid." Read full story Source: The Metro, 10 February 2021
  6. News Article
    Elective activity levels were significantly lower in January than were achieved before Christmas, according to provisional NHS data seen by HSJ. In the three weeks to 20 December, the NHS was reporting around 110,000 day cases and 18,000 ordinary admissions each week. But during January these totals dropped to around 85,000 day cases and 10,000 ordinary admissions per week. This equates to a reduction of 23% and 44%, respectively. Regions that were more severely impacted by the third wave of coronavirus saw steeper reductions as covid pressures forced staff working in routine care services to be redeployed. In London and the South East, day case activity reduced by around 40 per cent between the same periods, while ordinary admissions fell by around 57%. Data for the Christmas fortnight was discounted, as activity always falls dramatically in this period. However, the activity levels in January appear to be significantly higher than those reported in the first wave of coronavirus in the spring. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 10 February 2021
  7. News Article
    Care home staff were without personal protective equipment (PPE) early in the pandemic because the government prioritised the NHS, MPs have said. The Commons Public Accounts Committee said care homes received only a fraction of the PPE needed compared with the health service. It said social care "was only taken seriously after the high mortality rate in care homes became apparent". The government said it worked "tirelessly" to provide PPE. The report from the Public Accounts Committee said many healthcare workers were put in an "appalling situation" where they had to care for people with Covid-19 or suspected Covid-19 "without sufficient PPE to protect themselves from infection". It said the social care sector did not receive "anywhere near enough" to meet its needs. Health and social care staff suffered PPE shortages, it said, with some forced to reuse single-use items as stocks ran "perilously low". Read full story Source: BBC News, 10 February 2021
  8. News Article
    The use of ten million surgical gowns, bought by the UK government, has been suspended for frontline NHS staff because of how the items were packaged. Sterile gowns were bought for £70m from a US firm last year, but safety concerns were raised when they arrived in one layer of protective packaging. The contract had not requested double packaging, as used in sterile settings. The government says all personal protective equipment (PPE) is quality assured, but Labour has called for an inquiry into the awarding of contracts. The BBC has been investigating the purchase of PPE - or personal protective equipment - for NHS staff since the beginning of the pandemic. It has already been revealed how millions of face masks bought by the UK government cannot be used in the NHS as intended. Read full story Source: BBC News, 8 February 2021
  9. News Article
    Tens of thousands of nurses across the UK have not had their first coronavirus vaccine, sparking fears that they could contract COVID-19 or infect patients. A Royal College of Nursing (RCN) survey of 24,370 nurses found that 85% had had at least one dose, with the remaining 15% unvaccinated. The findings show that the government is in danger of failing to deliver one of the main elements of its pledge that all 15 million Britons in the top four priority groups for immunisation – which includes all health and social care staff – should have been offered a first shot by next Monday, 15 February. “It is extremely worrying that, as our survey suggests, many thousands of nursing staff have yet to be given their COVID-19 vaccine less than a week before the government’s deadline,” said Dame Donna Kinnair, the RCN’s chief executive and general secretary. “With only days to go, every effort must be made to reach all nursing staff to ensure their protection and that of the patients and vulnerable people they care for.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 9 February 2021
  10. News Article
    One in three Covid patients put on a ventilator experience extensive symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to research, which adds to mounting evidence of the virus’s impact on mental health. The study of 13,049 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus, by Imperial College London and the University of Southampton, found that one in five who were admitted to hospital but did not require a ventilator also experienced extensive symptoms of PTSD. The most common PTSD symptom experienced by COVID-19 patients was intrusive images, sometimes known as flashbacks. Examples of these could be images of the intensive care unit (ICU) environment, ICU doctors wearing full personal protective equipment or other patients in the ICU. The study, published in the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ BJPsych Open, on Tuesday, found lower levels of extensive symptoms of PTSD for patients given medical help at home (approximately one in six) and patients who required no help at home but experienced breathing problems (one in ten). Dr Adam Hampshire, from Imperial College London, said: “We can see that the pandemic is likely to be having an acute and lasting impact, including for a significant proportion of patients who remained at home with respiratory problems and received no medical help. This evidence could be important for informing future therapy and reducing the long-term health burden of this disease.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 9 February 2021
  11. News Article
    People aged 70 or older in England who have not yet had their coronavirus vaccine but would like to are being asked to contact the NHS. A national booking system can be accessed online or people can call 119 free of change between 7am and 11pm. At a Downing Street news briefing, deputy chief medical officer Prof Jonathan Van-Tam urged people to get the vaccine "without delay". "Protect yourself against the clear and present danger," he said. He said the vaccines worked very well against the "immediate threat" of the Kent variant of coronavirus circulating in the UK. Read full story Source: BBC News, 8 February 2021
  12. News Article
    The NHS’ response to the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic saw the number of whistleblowing concerns raised with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) almost double in December, with the strength of local leadership among the most frequent complaints. Many parts of the NHS, particularly in the South East, were suffering major covid pressures in December, and the regulator received 204 whistleblowing concerns, compared to 105 in the same month in 2019. The most common complaints were around staffing levels, infection control and leadership. The rise in complaints was revealed by CQC chief inspector of hospitals Ted Baker in an interview with HSJ. Professor Baker also said the pandemic had proved that the NHS’ emergency care system lacked “resilience”. Trusts which the regulator has received concerns about in recent months have included Liverpool University Hospitals Foundation Trust, over poor staffing levels and infection controls, University Hospitals Birmingham FT, around staffing levels and leadership concerns, and Mid and South Essex FT, over concerns around the provision of oxygen. Professor Baker told HSJ: “One of the really positive things that has happened during the pandemic is an increase in the number of people raising concerns with us. It’s been really helpful for us in assessing the risk in the system." Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 8 February 2021
  13. News Article
    NHS hospitals are defying official rules to give nurses and doctors masks with greater protection amid fears over the spread of coronavirus within hospital wards. An analysis of the latest NHS data by The Independent shows more than 35,000 patients were likely to have been infected with coronavirus while already in hospital between 1 August and 31 January. NHS England has estimated as many as 20% of infections could be due to spread within hospitals. Outbreaks at some hospitals have seen whole teams of doctors or nurses affected, in some cases leading to wards having to be closed. The Independent has learnt several hospitals are now supplying higher grade masks to staff working in general wards, despite Public Health England saying only surgical masks are needed. Research this week suggested staff exposed to coughing were at greatest risk of infection from the virus. Read full story Source: The Independent, 7 February 2021
  14. News Article
    A trial of an experimental coronavirus vaccine detected the most sobering signal yet that people who have recovered from infections are not completely protected against a variant that originated in South Africa and is spreading rapidly, preliminary data presented this week suggests. The finding, though far from conclusive, has potential implications for how the pandemic will be brought under control, underscoring the critical role of vaccination, including for people who have already recovered from infections. Reaching herd immunity — the threshold when enough people achieve protection and the virus can’t seed new outbreaks — will depend on a mass vaccination campaign that has been constrained by limited supply. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, noted that it appears a vaccine is better than natural infection in protecting people, calling it “a big, strong plug to get vaccinated” and a reality check for people who may have assumed that because they have already been infected, they are immune. Read full story Source: The Washington Post, 6 February 2021
  15. News Article
    The MP leading an investigation into coronavirus fears Long Covid will be one of the biggest issues facing the UK for the next decade, after emerging research revealed most sufferers are still unable to work six months in. Layla Moran branded the scale of the problem ‘enormous’, as various experts warned that even healthy young adults have been left struggling to function for months on end. With hundreds of thousands of Brits now believed to have Long Covid, medics fear its impact on the world of work could herald another ‘massive economic crisis’. Workers in their 20s and 30s have told of a host of debilitating symptoms keeping them out of the office for much of last year and making simple tasks like walking to the toilet seem ‘like climbing a mountain’. Speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk, Ms Moran – who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on coronavirus – said: "The scale of this, in terms of the future prosperity of our country, is enormous. It is going to be, I think, one of the main issues that we are going to deal with not just in ten years but beyond." Read full story Source: Metro, 4 February 2021
  16. News Article
    In a Channel 4 documentary, emergency doctor Dr Ronx asks why more men die of COVID-19? Cancer and HIV too. They also challenge many dangerous gender assumptions in medicine impacting on women's health. View documentary (6 days left)
  17. News Article
    A hospital trust has admitted that ‘medically fit’ patients caught covid on its wards while waiting to be discharged, with some of the cases under investigation. Bedfordshire Hospitals FT board papers said that a “number” of medically fit patients “acquired [covid] infection while awaiting appropriate and safe discharge”. Trusts nationwide have struggled to discharge patients as quickly as they wanted, the reasons including a Department of Health and Social Care mandate to only allow designated care homes to accept covid patients; the resumption of NHS Continuing Healthcare tests; shortages of community beds; and capacity in the care sector. The trust, formed in April by the merger of Luton and Dunstable University Hospital FT and Bedford Hospital FT, said a “significant proportion of [its covid] cases [were] due to acquisition in the hospital”. It continued: “A significant additional factor was the length of stay for many patients who were medically fit for discharge but were unable to return to their place of residence. Case reviews have shown that a number of these patients acquired infection while waiting appropriate and safe discharge.” The board papers said its covid serious incident reviews covered “some deaths on both sites… and the majority [were] patients with very severe co-morbidity”. It said six out of 15 serious incidents being investigated at its Bedford hospital site were “of potentially avoidable nosocomial covid infection (hospital acquired)”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 4 Februrary 2021
  18. News Article
    Hospitals across the country are preparing for a significant increase in children needing treatment for a rare disease triggered by coronavirus. Paediatric departments across the NHS are recalling children’s nurses who have been redeployed to help care for adult patients as well as freeing up specialist intensive care beds to be ready for more cases of the rare condition first identified after the first wave last year. Because of how widespread COVID-19 infections have become in the last month, with the numbers of patients in hospital peaking at almost 40,000, experts believe they will see a larger number of children affected by the disease called Paediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (PIMS). Modelling by London’s Evelina Children’s Hospital, which treated around 110 children with PIMS during the first wave of the virus, suggested for every 200 adults admitted to hospital across London, there was one child admitted with PIMS at the Evelina. This modelling cannot be used to predict admissions across the country, but paediatric experts believe they will begin to see a larger number of children with the condition with a peak expected in the next three weeks. It is thought COVID-19 triggers an inflammatory response among a very small minority of children – of all children infected with COVID-19, less than half of one per cent went on to develop PIMS. Those that do suffer severe inflammation in their blood vessels and can have damage to their heart. Symptoms of PIMS include a rash, fever and abdominal pain. Read full story Source: The Independent, 4 February 2021
  19. News Article
    About one in three people recently given a Covid vaccine by the NHS report some side-effects. None was serious - a common one was some soreness around the injection site, the UK researchers who gathered the feedback found. Experts say the findings, from about 40,000 people - mostly healthcare workers - are reassuring for the millions having the vaccines now. The Zoe app team from King's College London found: 37% experienced some local "after-effects", such as pain or swelling near the site of the injection, after their first dose, rising to about 45% of the 10,000 who had received two doses 14% had at least one whole-body (systemic) after-effect - such as fever, aches or chills - within seven days of the first dose, rising to about 22% after the second dose These after-effects get better within a few days. All of the medical trials and real-world experiences so far suggest the vaccines are safe and effective. Read full story Source: BBC News, 4 February 2021
  20. News Article
    Care homes in England operated by profitable chains have been branded unsafe by inspectors, who found serious failures in efforts to control the spread of coronavirus in its latest wave. In the last month 40% of care homes inspected by the Care Quality Commission in England were judged to be inadequate or in need of improvement. Several handling fatal coronavirus outbreaks were revealed to have broken laws meant to keep residents safe. Some of the worst failings uncovered in reports filed in the last month include CCTV showing PPE being used wrongly on 63 occasions in one home, infected residents mixing in communal areas with Covid-free residents, chronic staff shortages, and a care home manager continuing to work after showing Covid symptoms. The spate of problems relates to a small minority of care homes but coincides with a tripling of fatalities linked to the virus among care residents in England and Wales. Read full story Source: 4 February 2021
  21. News Article
    The NHS has been urged to rethink safety for thousands of frontline staff after new research suggested that Covid patients’ coughing is putting them at far greater risk of catching the virus than previously thought. The study found that coughing generated at least 10 times more infectious “aerosol” particles than speaking or breathing – which could explain why so many NHS staff have fallen ill during the pandemic. The research has led to fresh demands that anyone caring for someone with Covid-19, or suspected Covid-19, should be provided with the most protective equipment – including FFP3 respirator masks – and that hospital ventilation should be improved. Health workers are up to four times more likely to contract coronavirus than the general population, with infection rates among those on general hospital wards approximately double those of intensive care unit (ICU) staff – who do have access to the most protective PPE. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 3 January 2021
  22. News Article
    Press release 3 February 2021 The charity Patient Safety Learning and patient group Long Covid Support are calling for the creation of a dedicated Minister for Long Covid to take a coordinated, multi-stakeholder approach to this issue.[1] Long Covid patients are people with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 who continue to struggle with prolonged, debilitating and sometimes severe symptoms months later.[2] Statistics indicate that there are currently hundreds of thousands of people living with Long Covid in the UK, with at least one in 10 people still experiencing symptoms 12 weeks after initial infection.[3] While there has been some progress to put in place support for people with Long Covid, there remains a complex spectrum of issues that need to be addressed. These are summarised in a blog, published by Patient Safety Learning and Long Covid Support today, calling for the UK Government to make urgent and significant improvements in their response to Long Covid.[4] Claire Hastie of the Long Covid Support, said: “Almost one year on from when many first fell ill, people with Long Covid are simply not getting the help they need. There is an urgent need to increase the pace and scale of the response to help the hundreds of thousands of people affected (including children). This needs to be driven by a dedicated minister with the power to affect change.” Helen Hughes, Chief Executive of Patient Safety Learning, said: “People living with Long Covid have too often been left ‘joining the dots’ trying to understand how they can access safe, quality treatment and support and what they can do to improve their health. Clinical advice and access to further investigations has been inconsistent, leaving many feeling abandoned, confused and understandably concerned for their future health outcomes. Long Covid not only impacts people’s physical and mental health, but also their ability to work and their economic circumstances. We believe the appointment of a Minister for Long Covid would help to provide leadership, accountability and a coordinated response to these challenges.” Notes to editors: [1] Patient Safety Learning is a charity and independent voice for improving patient safety. We harness the knowledge, insights, enthusiasm and commitment of health and social care organisations, professionals and patients for system-wide change and the reduction of avoidable harm. [2] The symptoms for those with Long Covid vary greatly but many are experiencing rashes, shortness of breath, neurological and gastrointestinal problems, abnormal temperatures, cardiac symptoms and extreme fatigue. [3] Office for National Statistics, The prevalence of Long Covid symptoms and Covid-19 complications, 16 December 2020. https://www.ons.gov.uk/news/statementsandletters/theprevalenceoflongcovidsymptomsandcovid19complications [4] Patient Safety Learning and Long Covid Support, Long Covid Minister needed to respond to the growing crisis, 3 February 2020. https://www.patientsafetylearning.org/blog/long-covid-minister-needed-to-respond-to-growing-crisis
  23. News Article
    People with a learning disability must be urgently prioritised for the coronavirus vaccine, charities have warned as new data shows they are almost twice as likely to die from the virus than the general population. The latest data for learning disability deaths shows 80% of deaths in the week to 22 January were linked to COVID-19. This compares to just 45% in the general population. The charity Mencap said everyone with a learning disability should be prioritised for the vaccine. According to its analysis of deaths reported to the Office for National Statistics and the national Learning Disabilities Mortality Review programme, the proportion of deaths among the learning disabled has been increasing every week since November when it was just above 35%. Harry Roche, an ambassador at Mencap who has a learning disability, said: “The death rate for 18- to 34-year-olds with a learning disability is 30 times higher than the rest of the population. I’m 32 years old and have a learning disability – this statistic scares me. I’m calling on Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock to rethink and prioritise everyone with a learning disability. We are too often forgotten, don’t ignore us now.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 3 February 2021
  24. News Article
    With the first phase of the UK’s vaccination programme now fully under way, the government’s self-congratulatory tone suggests all clinically vulnerable groups are soon in line for protection. There’s certainly reason to be positive: millions of people are on their way to safety. But look a little closer and many high-risk people are struggling to access the vaccine. When the vaccine was first introduced last year, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) put shielders – or the “clinically extremely vulnerable” (CEV) – as low as sixth on the priority list, behind older people with no underlying health conditions. It resulted in the baffling situation where a marathon-running 65-year-old was given priority for the vaccine over a 20-year-old with lung disease who needs oxygen support. The government U-turned after pressure, moving CEV people up to fourth spot behind healthy over-75s. These are complex calculations, but there are still fears some will miss out. Some young disabled people who don’t meet the government’s narrow criteria of CEV and are worried they won’t be prioritised at all. Shielders – many of whom are of working age and live with children – also have extra risk factors compared with older people. As the British Medical Association said this month, we need a more sophisticated vaccine delivery that takes into account circumstantial factors such as race, health inequality and employment. I’ve received many messages from shielders who are terrified of being forced out to work, or of schools reopening before they get their vaccine. There are also those with learning disabilities to consider. Currently, only older people with a learning disability, those who have Down’s syndrome or people who are judged as having a severe learning disability are on the priority list. This means that people with a mild or moderate learning disability aren’t prioritised at all. This is despite the fact all people with learning disabilities have a death rate six times higher than the general population. Young adults with a learning disability are 30 times more likely to die of Covid than young adults in the general population. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 3 February 2021
  25. News Article
    Coronavirus patients who call an ambulance but are not yet sick enough to go to hospital are being given new home oxygen monitoring kits to help spot those who may deteriorate earlier. Across the Thames Valley region, thousands of patients will be given the kits which include a pulse oximeter device to monitor blood oxygen levels, a diary to track their symptoms and advice on what to do if they become sicker. South Central Ambulance Service Trust (SCAS) has become the first ambulance service in the country to launch the scheme after research showed a small drop in oxygen levels among some patients could be an early warning sign of serious complications. Patients with pneumonia and non-Covid lung conditions often experience shortness of breath before a drop in oxygen levels. But with coronavirus, patients can suffer what has been called ‘silent hypoxia’ where their oxygen levels can fall before the patient becomes breathless and calls for help. Read full story Source: The Independent, 2 February 2021
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