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Found 2,339 results
  1. News Article
    World leaders in infection control and disease prevention convened online at the inaugural iClean 2020 conference on 28 May to discuss innovative infection control reform in hospitals and aged-care facilities in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Keynote speaker Professor Didier Pittet* said there has never been a more pertinent time to address infection control in our healthcare systems. “During this devastating COVID-19 pandemic, up to one in five people who contracted the virus globally are healthcare workers, and we saw similar numbers in the SARs and MERS outbreaks." “Furthermore, aged-care residents accounted for 29% of COVID-19-related deaths in Australia, and this rate is even higher in Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom, who have been hardest hit by the pandemic,” Professor Pittet said. “We are therefore calling for urgent reform in our approach to cleaning and disinfection in hospitals and aged-care homes.” Professor Pittet explained that Clean Hospitals — an initiative aiming to create better procedures, training, auditing and management processes — would allow cleaning and infection control managers around the world to improve quality and outcomes. Read more Source: Hospital Healthcare, 1 June 2020
  2. News Article
    About 2.4 million people in the UK are waiting for cancer screening, treatment or tests, as a result of disruption to the NHS during the past 10 weeks, according to Cancer Research UK. It estimates 2.1 million have missed out on screening, while 290,000 people with suspected symptoms have not been referred for hospital tests. More than 23,000 cancers could have gone undiagnosed during lockdown. Chief executive Michelle Mitchell said COVID-19 has placed an "enormous strain on cancer services". "The NHS has had to make very hard decisions to balance risk," she said. "...there have been some difficult discussions with patients about their safety and ability to continue treatment during this time. Prompt diagnosis and treatment remain crucial to give people with cancer the greatest chances of survival and prevent the pandemic taking even more lives." To ensure no-one is put at risk from the virus now that cancer care is returning, Cancer Research UK said "frequent testing of NHS staff and patients, including those without symptoms" was vital. Read full story Source: BBC News, 1 June 2020
  3. News Article
    NHS pathology labs were given just two days to roll out thousands of antibody tests, amid a push to reach a COVID-19 testing target set out by Boris Johnson. Earlier this month the Prime Minister set a target of having a testing capacity of 200,000 per day by the end of May. Capacity currently stands at 161,000, Matt Hancock has said. Until now there has been very limited use of antibody tests, with most capacity used to deliver PCR tests that indicate whether someone currently has the virus. Antibody tests are intended to identify whether someone has previously had the virus. On 27 May, NHS England and Improvement wrote to local leaders giving them two days’ notice to put in place testing capacity for, and deliver, thousands of antibody tests of staff and patients. In one letter to leaders in the south east, seen by HSJ, the regulator said labs were expected to establish capacity and deliver 6,000 tests daily by 29 May. A senior source from London confirmed to HSJ the region had also been given a target of 6,000. There are seven local regions in the NHS, which would indicate around 42,000 tests per day, which if PCR testing continued at the current levels, could enable the government to meet the 200,000 target. One head of pathology at a trust said: “There is one obvious answer as to why there is suddenly such an urgency to roll this out. While it will be interesting to have the results, there is nothing meaningful we can do with this test data at the moment.” Another trust director involved in the scheme described the antibody tests as having “no clinical value”. Read full story Source: HSJ, 29 May 2020
  4. Content Article
    The International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) has set up a FIP COVID-19 information hub with guidance to support pharmacists and the pharmacy workforce in responding to the pandemic. The updated guidance document takes into account newly available evidence and recommendations.
  5. Content Article
    The Royal College of Nursing has undertaken two surveys of health and care staff to identify their experiences and ongoing issues with the supply of and access to personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This report details the findings of the second survey (May 2020).
  6. News Article
    The coronavirus pandemic is a “magnifier of inequality” that threatens the wellbeing of women, children, and adolescents worldwide, a roundtable of influential female leaders has heard. The United Nations has predicted that 47 million women could lose access to contraception resulting in 7 million additional unintended pregnancies over the next six months1 because of “deadly and disabling” COVID-19, the virtual event was told. There could also be 31 million additional cases of gender based violence in low and middle income countries. Policy makers have a clear duty to protect the most vulnerable and disadvantaged and to tackle the root causes of inequality with targeted policies and resources, the participants concluded. Henrietta Fore, executive director of Unicef, said that, in countries with already weak health systems, COVID-19 was disrupting medical supply chains and straining financial and human resources. Visits to healthcare centres are declining owing to lockdowns, curfews, and transport disruptions, and as communities remain fearful of infection. She cited recent research that indicated there could be an increase in child deaths amounting to an additional 6000 a day over the next six months, and 56 700 more maternal deaths. “This is a statistic we want to avoid. We are concerned about access to services,” she said. Read full story Source: BMJ, 29 May 2020
  7. News Article
    New data has shown the number of coronavirus patients being admitted to hospital and intensive care units across the country has risen as lockdown rules are set to be eased further on Monday. The Public Health England (PHE) data, published on Friday, covers 134 NHS trusts across the country and shows the daily rate of new patients admitted to hospital and critical care with COVID-19 has risen compared to recent weeks, with London experiencing a sharp spike in new admissions in the past week. The south east region also saw an increase. The surveillance data on the spread of COVID-19 throughout England has also revealed an increase in the number of people testing positive at their GP. Read full story Source: Independent, 31 May 2020
  8. News Article
    Pharmacy leaders in the black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities have expressed concern that assessments of BAME staff’s susceptibility to COVID-19 are not widespread enough in community pharmacy. NHS England wrote to community pharmacies on 29 April 2020 advising employers to “risk assess staff at potentially greater risk” of COVID-19 after “emerging UK and international data” suggested people from BAME backgrounds are “being disproportionately affected”. The Faculty of Occupational Medicine later published a risk reduction framework — backed by NHS England — to assist with the risk assessments on 14 May 2020. This was updated on 28 May 2020 to include guidance from the Health and Safety Executive to “help organisations identify who is at risk of harm”. But speaking to The Pharmaceutical Journal, Elsy Gomez Campos, president of the UK Black Pharmacists’ Association (UKBPA), said she had been told by a small number of community pharmacists that “nothing has been done” in terms of risk assessing BAME staff. “I know of a few people who have been assessed and that is mainly in hospital,” she said. “In terms of community pharmacists — who I’ve had contact with so far — they haven’t even been asked to have the risk assessment done.” However, she stressed that not many from the community pharmacy sector have come forward, but “the people who have come forward have said no, it has not been done”. “People are quite scared to ask as well because it can have repercussions on their employment or their relationships [at work],” she added. Read full story Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal, 29 May 2020
  9. News Article
    Some extremely vulnerable people have been told they have been removed from shielding lists via text message, without the knowledge of their GP. This has caused confusion, with charities demanding clearer guidance for this group as lockdown eases. GPs say they should be notified when their patients are added or removed from the lists. Shielding has now been extended until the end of June and is under constant review, the government says. Around 2.2 million people in the UK are staying at home to protect themselves from the virus because they were told they were at high risk of being seriously ill with COVID-19. But 40 healthcare charities say the lack of a clear plan for their future is causing anxiety and potentially putting their health at risk. Read full story Source: BBC News, 30 May 2020
  10. Content Article
    Resilience matters now more than ever in healthcare, with the COVID-19 pandemic putting healthcare providers and systems under unprecedented strain. In popular culture and everyday conversation, resilience is often framed as an individual character trait where some people are better able to cope with and bounce back from adversity than others. Research in the management literature highlights that resilience is more complicated than that – it’s not just something you have, it’s something you do. Drawing on research on managing unexpected events, coordinating under challenging conditions, and learning in teams, Barton et al. distill some counter-intuitive findings about resilience into actionable lessons for healthcare leaders.
  11. Content Article
    Watch as Dr Donna Prosser is joined by a panel of experts to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting mental health across the globe and share some tips for effectively managing these challenges.
  12. Content Article
    For a child, coming in to hospital can be pretty scary at the best of times, but it's especially daunting at the moment with all the doctors and nurses wearing their special personal protective equipment (PPE) for coronavirus. Edinburgh Children's Hospital Charity has created a video that explains, with help of some big and small superheroes, why various outfits – such as an astronaut's helmet or a firefighter's uniform – protect workers from different types of hazards. The idea is to help children in hospital feel more at ease while staff wearing PPE are caring for them.
  13. Content Article
    Dr Susan Whalley-Lloyd, Senior Lecturer in Human Factors/Ergonomics at Staffordshire University, discusses how the learning and research opportunities evolving from the coronavirus pandemic will add to our human factors knowledge base and gives us a unique opportunity to achieve new research in human factors and patient safety.
  14. Content Article
    This essay in The New Yorker summarises known weaknesses in US healthcare visible long before COVID-19—and discusses others more specific to the pandemic. The author suggests that efforts to change the system be informed by the COVID-19 experience. The work should not seek to return to the pre-pandemic state but instead aim to making changes based on what was revealed to improve health care delivery overall.  
  15. Content Article
    Most Americans are eager to see the country re-open. In this article Nicole Saphier and Marty Makary discuss why we need to be smart about how we do it and why we need accurate statistics.
  16. News Article
    NHS staff at a hospital that has stopped taking new patients amid a COVID-19 spike have lodged a series of concerns, including that they are not routinely being informed of when colleagues test positive for the virus. The concerns were laid out in a letter from union representatives to management at Weston general hospital in Somerset, which is now testing all staff while carrying out a deep clean. Another concern raised by Unison was that priority for testing was not being given to BAME staff. University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS foundation trust said on Wednesday that as many as 40% of staff from a cohort tested after contact with infected patients were found to be positive. The trust’s chief executive, Robert Woolley, told the BBC the figure was from a sample testing last week and authorities were now attempting to understand the scale of the infection. More than 60 patients were found to be infected last weekend. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 28 May 2020
  17. News Article
    Dental practices in England have been told they can reopen from Monday 8 June, if they put in place appropriate safety measures. All routine dental care in England has been suspended since 25 March. The British Dental Association (BDA) has welcomed the announcement but says key questions remain. Currently, any patient with an emergency dental problem is supposed to be referred to an Urgent Dental Care (UDC) hub for treatment. In a letter to all practices, NHS England's chief dental officer, Sara Hurley, said: "Today, we are asking that all dental practices commence opening from Monday, 8 June for all face-to-face care, where practices assess that they have the necessary IPC and PPE requirements in place." The BDA said that while dentists would be relieved by the announcement, the ability of practices to reopen would depend on the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE). "It is right to allow practices to decide themselves when they are ready to open. Dentists will be keen to start providing care as soon as is safely possible, but we will need everyone to be patient as practices get up and running," said BDA chairman Mick Armstrong. Read full story Source: BBC News, 28 May 2020
  18. Content Article
     In this commentary published in the Journal of Patient Safety and Risk Management, Gurses et al. describe how human factors and ergonomics (HFE) can contribute to the COVID-19 pandemic response. Specifically, the authors provide an example of how HFE methodologies informed workflow redesigns implemented as part of COVID-19 pandemic preparations in an academic paediatric ambulatory clinic. They identify key mechanisms and areas where HFE can contribute to and improve the effectiveness of a pandemic response: Just-in-time (JIT) training development, adapting workflows and processes, restructuring teams and tasks, developing effective mechanisms and tools for communication, engaging patient and families to follow the recommended practices (e.g., social distancing, revised hospital visitation policies), identifying and mitigating barriers to implementation of plans, and learning from failures and successes to improve both the current and future pandemic responses.
  19. News Article
    The first hospital dedicated to helping coronavirus patients recover from the long-term effects of the illness has received its first patients. Surrey's NHS Seacole Centre opened this month at Headley Court, a former rehab centre for injured soldiers. COVID-19 patients can be left with tracheostomy wounds from having a tube inserted in the windpipe or need heart, lung or muscle therapy, the NHS said. Others who have survived the virus may need psychological or social care. NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said: "While our country is now emerging from the initial peak of coronavirus, we're now seeing a substantial new need for rehab and aftercare." He said while patients had survived life-threatening complications, many would see a longer-lasting impact on their health. Read full story Source: BBC News, 29 May 2020
  20. Content Article
    This perspective published in the The New England Journal of Medicine examines the problem of racial disparities and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chowkwanyun and Reed highlight the importance of viewing the data emerging from the crisis in the appropriate socioeconomic and deprivation contexts to protect against ineffective compartmentalisation of the populations being affected. 
  21. Content Article
    Cancer diagnostics and surgery have been disrupted by the response of healthcare services to the COVID-19 pandemic. Progression of cancers during delay will impact on patient long-term survival. Sud et al., in a paper published in Annals of Oncology, found: Lockdown and re-deployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic is causing significant disruption to cancer diagnosis and management. 3-month delay to surgery across all Stage 1-3 cancers is estimated to cause >4,700 attributable deaths per year in England. The impact on life years lost of 3-6 month to surgery for Stage 1-3 disease varies widely between tumour types. Strategic prioritisation of patients for diagnostics and surgery has potential to mitigate deaths attributable to delays. The resource-adjusted benefit in avoiding delay in cancer management compares favourably to admission for COVID-19 infection.
  22. Content Article
    As the death toll from COVID-19 rapidly increases, the need to make a timely and accurate diagnosis has never been greater. Even before the pandemic, diagnostic errors (i.e., missed, delayed, and incorrect diagnoses) had been one of the leading contributors to harm in health care.  The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to increase the risk of such errors. Based on emerging literature and collaborative discussions across the globe, Gandhi and Singh propose a new typology of diagnostic errors of concern in the COVID-19 era. These errors span the entire continuum of care and have both systems-based and cognitive origins. While some errors arise from previously described clinical reasoning fallacies, others are unique to the pandemic. We provide a user-friendly nomenclature while describing eight types of diagnostic errors and highlight mitigation strategies to reduce potential preventable harm caused by those errors.
  23. News Article
    Deaths resulting from COVID-19 infection account for only half of the number of excess deaths taking place in private homes, expert analysis of latest data suggests. Figures from the Office for National Statistics from the seven weeks to 15 May show that more than 40 000 COVID-19 deaths have now taken place in hospitals, care homes, and private homes in England and Wales. The figures also show 14 418 excess non-covid deaths. Although COVID-19 was mentioned on death certificates 13 500 times in care homes and private homes over the past seven weeks, some 23 500 more non-covid deaths have taken place in the community than would be expected. Discussing the data, David Spiegelhalter, chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at the University of Cambridge, said that “as soon as the pandemic started we saw a huge immediate spike in non-covid deaths in [private] homes that occurred close to the time hospitals were minimising the service they were providing." “Over the seven weeks up to 15 May, as the NHS focused on covid, around 8800 fewer non-covid deaths than normal occurred in hospitals.” He added that these had not been “exported” to care homes, since fairly few care home residents normally died in hospitals. Instead, he said, it seemed that these deaths had contributed to the huge rise in extra deaths in private homes during this period. Read full story Source: BMJ, 27 May 2020
  24. News Article
    Problems with dispensing drugs during the COVID-19 crisis may be contributing to an “apparent increase” in deaths of patients receiving treatment for opiate addiction, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has said. The regulator has said the increase in deaths “may be a result of some services stopping all daily dispensing of opiates” and has taken enforcement action against a “large national provider of substance misuse services” which ”stopped all daily dispensing”. The provider has not been named by the CQC as it is “entitled to an appeal period,” but the regulator told HSJ the provider had not recorded their risk assessments for their clients in relation to changes in drug dispensing. The CQC said the provider had now “assured us” individualised risk assessments were in place. The CQC is now reviewing all deaths of people which have been reported by substance misuse services since 1 March due to concerns about the apparent increase and “that some of these deaths may be related to changes in prescribing practices in response to COVID-19”. Read full story Source: HSJ, 27 May 2020
  25. News Article
    Amid warnings that BAME nursing staff may be disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, a Royal College of Nursing (RCN) survey reveals that they are more likely to struggle to secure adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) while at work. The latest RCN member-wide survey shows that for nursing staff working in high-risk environments (including intensive and critical care units), only 43% of respondents from a BAME background said they had enough eye and face protection equipment. This is in stark contrast to 66% of white British nursing staff. There were also disparities in access to fluid-repellent gowns and in cases of nursing staff being asked to re-use single-use PPE items. The survey found similar gaps for those working in non-high-risk environments. Meanwhile, staff reported differences in PPE training, with 40% of BAME respondents saying they had not had training compared with just 31% of white British respondents. Nearly a quarter of BAME nursing staff said they had no confidence that their employer is doing enough to protect them from COVID-19, compared with only 11% of white British respondents. Dame Donna Kinnair, RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary, said: “It is simply unacceptable that we are in a situation where BAME nursing staff are less protected than other nursing staff. Read full story Source: Royal College of Nursing, 27 May 2020
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