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Showing results for tags 'Womens health'.
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News ArticleA woman says she was forced to pay around £25,000 for private healthcare to treat endometriosis after her symptoms were “overlooked” for eight years. Aneka Hindocha, 34, started voicing her concerns about painful periods when she was aged 25 but says she was initially told by doctors this was normal. Ms Hindocha, who described the pain of endometriosis as “someone ripping your insides out”, says the condition should have been diagnosed sooner but argued women’s pain often gets overlooked and ignored. Endometriosis is a very common chronic inflammatory condition, impacting an estimated 1.5 million women in the UK. An inquiry by the All-Party Political Group found that like Ms Hindocha, it takes an average of eight years to get a diagnosis. The condition sees tissue comparable to womb-lining grow in other places in the body - with symptoms often debilitating and spanning from infertility to painful periods, tiredness, pain while having sex, as well as depression and anxiety. “I was told painful periods were normal, which they are not, but I believed that at the time,” Ms Hindocha told The Independent. “I thought the issue was me. I thought I was being a hypochondriac.” Her health massively deteriorated in the summer of 2020 and she became bedbound for three days. “I needed someone to find out what was wrong with me,“ Ms Hindocha added. “I was crying I was in so much pain.” She says that two years later she still had not received her laparoscopy despite the fact her pain was getting more severe and so she ended up paying for a private scan. She finally got diagnosed with stage 4 endometriosis a week later. “By the time of having my surgery at the end of February 2022, it had been nearly two years on the NHS waiting list and I was still being told to wait.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 18 October 2022
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News Article
Buffer zone to be set up outside Bournemouth abortion clinic
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
An extensive buffer zone is being put in place around a clinic in Dorset in order to prevent anti-abortion campaigners harassing service users and staff. The zone will cover six streets around the British Pregnancy Advice Service clinic in Bournemouth and will be in force for 12 hours a day, five days a week for the next three years. Anyone caught protesting, harassing, intimidating or photographing visitors or staff could incur a fixed penalty notice of £100 or be liable for conviction at a magistrates court. Women have complained of being followed into the clinic or accosted when they leave. They have reported being told “the baby loves them” or asked whether they know they “murder babies” inside the building. One worker told the Guardian she has witnessed “many distressed clients”, including one who injured herself trying to climb a wall to avoid walking past the protesters. In another serious incident, an individual dressed in a monk’s cassock followed a staff member along the street in the dark while recording her. One service user said: “It was really intimidating. You’re in a really vulnerable situation and you have all these people shouting at you and saying you’re going to hell.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 11 October 2022 -
News Article
Give all women a menopause check at 45, MPs told
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Women should be invited for a menopause check-up when they turn 45, a report for MPs says, criticising the current support as completely inadequate. The Menopause All-Party Parliamentary Group says it has listened carefully to women's experiences, including difficulties getting a diagnosis and accessing hormone-replacement therapy (HRT). Many had long waits or were offered antidepressants, against guidelines. The report covers a year-long inquiry. It says action is needed to improve the situation for those going through the menopause, and the families, friends and colleagues affected by it. And a health check offered to all women in their mid-40s, as they approach the perimenopause - when hormones decline and menopausal symptoms, such as hot flushes and night sweats, can begin - should help ensure the necessary support and care as early as possible. The inquiry heard a 39-year-old who suspected she was perimenopausal was turned away by her GP and told to "wait and see". Some 18 months later, she was "almost at the verge of collapsing, struggling to keep my usually happy marriage on track and not functioning well physically or mentally". The report also warns a socio-economic divide is emerging between women able to access the right treatment and those who lose out in the postcode lottery and do not have the financial means to seek treatment elsewhere. Read full story Source: BBC News, 12 October 2022 -
News Article
NI 'needs mother and baby mental health unit'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
An appeal to establish a dedicated Mother and Baby Perinatal Mental Health Unit will be delivered to the Nothern Ireland health minister later. Individual women, charities and other organisations will hand over a public letter urging Robin Swann to act. Northern Ireland is the only place in the UK which has no dedicated in-patient service for women with serious post-partum mental health issues. The units admit mothers with their babies so that they can be with them. About 70 women a year in Northern Ireland are admitted to hospital with post-partum psychosis. The health minister approved some funding for perinatal mental health last year. However, no decision has been made on in-patient services. Read full story Source: BBC, 10 October 2022 -
News Article
More than 400 pregnant women prescribed topiramate in the past year
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Between April 2021 and March 2022, more than 400 pregnant women were prescribed the anti-epileptic medicine topiramate, which has been found to cause congenital malformations, figures published by NHS Digital have revealed. The data, published on 29 September 2022, covers prescribing of anti-epileptic drugs in females aged 0–54 years in England from 1 April 2018 through to 31 March 2022. Overall, it shows a reduction in the number of females prescribed sodium valproate; from 27,441 in April 2018 to 19,766 in March 2022. However, the numbers also show that sodium valproate, which can cause birth defects, is still being prescribed during pregnancy, with 42 women being prescribed the drug at some point during their pregnancy between April 2021 and March 2022, compared with 43 in the previous year. In addition, the data show that, during that same time period, 430 females were prescribed topiramate, which is used for treatment of migraines as well as epilepsy, during their pregnancy. In 2021, a safety review, carried out by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) found that carbamazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin and topiramate were associated with an increased risk of major congenital malformations. In July 2022, the MHRA launched a further review looking specifically at the safety of topiramate, after study results showed an increased risk of autism, developmental disorders and learning difficulties among babies exposed to the medicine during their mother’s pregnancy. Daniel Jennings, senior policy and campaigns officer at Epilepsy Action, said it was “concerning” to see that prescribing figures for valproate had not decreased, compared with the previous year, and that despite the MHRA identifying other epilepsy medicines that could pose a risk if taken in pregnancy, there had been “little or no communication” about these risks. “There is also still a large group of epilepsy medicines where we don’t have an adequate bank of evidence about their safe use during pregnancy,” he added. “The MHRA and NHS England need to work together to communicate the risks and carry out research to protect women with epilepsy.” Read full story Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal. 7 October 2022 -
News ArticleRussell-Cooke personal injury and clinical negligence partner Grant Incles recently represented Mrs Karen Preater in a clinical negligence case over vaginal mesh surgery performed on her at a hospital in north Wales in 2014. Wrexham County Court found in favour of Mrs Preater, and roundly dismissed allegations made by the defendant in this case, the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, that the claimant had lied in the presentation of her case, as part of a Fundamental Dishonesty defence. Mrs Preater underwent vaginal mesh surgery in January 2014 - to which she had not been properly consented. The surgery itself was performed negligently and as a result she suffered a life-changing chronic pain condition. In late 2020, the defendant carried out intrusive video surveillance of Mrs Preater and trawled through her life on social media, proceeding to launch a defence of Fundamental Dishonesty pursuant to S.57 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015. The defendant alleged that the claimant was seeking to lie to the Court about her ability to work and need for care and assistance which, if found to be correct by the Court, would have meant that Mrs Preater would have lost all of her claimed compensation, and which may well have led to an application by the defendant to have her committed to prison for her alleged dishonesty. The case was fought to trial over seven days in July 2022. HHJ Howells found that Mrs Preater had not sought to deceive any party at any time and should be fully compensated for her grave suffering since being injured over eight years ago. Read full story Source: Russell-Cooke, 4 August 2022 Court judgement: 22081101.Preater v BCUHB approved judgment dated 4 August 2022.pdf
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News ArticleHundreds of thousands more women than men have been prescribed powerful anti-anxiety drugs which experts warn are harder to come off than heroin, The Independent can reveal. New information obtained under freedom of information (FOI) laws shows women in England were 59% more likely to be prescribed benzodiazepines – better known by the brand names of Valium, Xanax and Temazapam – than men between January 2017 and December 2021. Benzodiazepines are commonly prescribed for anxiety and insomnia, with the drug’s withdrawal symptoms including depression, acute anxiety, insomnia, vivid nightmares, headaches, vomiting, shakes, cramps and, in the worst cases, seizures which can cause death. Many countries explicitly state benzodiazepines should not be taken for more than four weeks, while research has found benzodiazepines can cause memory loss and Alzheimer’s. In September 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration announced its “black box warning” must be placed on all benzodiazepines to inform patients withdrawal from the drugs can be life-threatening. Stephen Buckley, head of information at Mind, a leading UK mental health charity, told The Independent it was difficult to “know the exact reasons behind why women are more likely to be prescribed benzodiazepines than men” but said the FOI “findings support others which show gender discrepancies in prescribing have been occurring for a long time”. “Previous research in some parts of the world has found that male prescribers were more likely to prescribe benzodiazepines to female patients than male patients. Research into the reasons behind gender differences in prescribing psychiatric medication is important.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 3 October 2022 Related reading: Medicines, research and female hormones: a dangerous knowledge gap Gender bias: A threat to women’s health
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News Article
Women's symptoms ignored by GPs
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Too many women feel fobbed off or not listened to when they raise concerns about their health, according to a women's health campaign group. The Women's Health Wales coalition says women are often misdiagnosed or have to push for a diagnosis. The theme has emerged repeatedly during BBC Wales interviews with women. The Welsh government said it had set out what's expected of the NHS on women's health, and a full plan is due to be published this autumn. "From the moment I went to my GP about my symptoms in my late teens, I have always felt dismissed," said Jessica Ricketts, 35, who was diagnosed with endometriosis. But the feeling of being fobbed off has cropped up in countless conversations with women whether it be in relation to a heart attack, UTI, stroke, autism or even brain tumour. Patients have told us that clinicians thought they were having a panic attack rather than a heart attack," said Gemma Roberts, policy and public affairs manager at British Heart Foundation Cymru, and co-chair of the Women's Health Wales coalition. "We hear from patients and from clinicians that women have to see their GPs multiple times before they get a diagnosis. Women often aren't listened to. "They are told that pain is a normal part of the female experience but actually that isn't the case. I think we need to be listening to women more about what's going on with their own bodies." The coalition wants: Greater focus on women's health from the very beginning of medical training. Health data to be broken down by protected characteristics because "the stories of women with those backgrounds goes untold". Equitable access to healthcare, including specialist care, regardless of where women live in Wales. Read full story Source: BBC News, 28 September 2022 Related blogs on the hub ‘Women are being dismissed, disbelieved and shut out’ The normalisation of women’s pain Gender bias: A threat to women’s health -
News Article
Women with type 2 diabetes have 60% increased chance of early death
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Women in the UK with type 2 diabetes have a 60% increased risk of an early death and will live five years less than the average woman in the general population, early research suggests. Scientists have also found that men with the disease have a 44% increased risk of dying prematurely and live 4.5 years less. Results also suggest that smoking shortens the life expectancy of people with type 2 diabetes by 10 years, while diagnosis at a younger age cuts life expectancy by over eight years. The findings, presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Stockholm, Sweden, are based on a cohort of nearly 12,000 patients at the Salford Royal Hospital in Salford. “A woman with type 2 diabetes, for example, might live five years less than the average woman in the general population, while someone diagnosed at a younger age might lose eight years of life expectancy. “It is vital that the groups at the highest risk are made aware of not just the increased risk that they face but also the size of the risk." “Doing so may make the health advice they are given seem more relevant and so help them make changes that can improve their quality – and length – of life.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 21 September 2022 -
News ArticleRegina Stepherson needed surgery for rectocele, a prolapse of the wall between the rectum and the vagina. Her surgeons said that her bladder also needed to be lifted and did so with vaginal mesh, a surgical mesh used to reinforce the bladder. Following the surgery in 2010, Stepherson, then 48. said she suffered debilitating symptoms for two years. An active woman who rode horses, Stepherson said she had constant pain, trouble walking, fevers off and on, weight loss, nausea and lethargy after the surgery. She spent days sitting on the couch, she said. In August 2012, Stepherson and her daughter saw an ad relating to vaginal mesh that mentioned 10 symptoms and said that if you had them, to call a lawyer. Vaginal mesh, used to repair and improve weakened pelvic tissues, is implanted in the vaginal wall. It was initially — in 1998 — thought to be a safe and easy solution for women suffering from stress urinary incontinence. But over time, complications were reported, including chronic inflammation, and mesh that shrinks and becomes encased in scar tissue causing pain, infection and protrusion through the vaginal wall. More than 100,000 lawsuits have been filed against makers of mesh, according to ConsumerSafety.org, making it “one of the largest mass torts in history.” Read full story Source: Washington Post, 20 January 2019
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News Article
US abortion bans leave grey areas in complicated pregnancies
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Moments after unveiling a bill that would ban all abortions in the United States at 15 weeks, US Senator Lindsey Graham was interrupted by a mother with a devastating story. "I did everything right and at 16 weeks we found out that our son would likely not live," Ashbey Beasley told a crowded room. "When he was born, for eight days he bled from every orifice of his body," she said. But, she said, at least she got to choose how to handle her difficult pregnancy, while Mr Graham's law would take away that choice. "What do you say to someone like me?" Since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v Wade this summer, states across the US have pushed through abortion bans or severely restricted the procedure. But as such laws have gone into effect, unintended consequences have followed. Doctors and patients say that confusing standards and the vague language of these laws have had a chilling effect on the medical field in anti-abortion states, leaving tragedies in their wake - and more in the making. For the last year, Amanda Horton, a Texas doctor who specialises in high-risk pregnancies, has struggled to care for patients with pregnancy complications. At times, Dr Horton must inform families that their babies have been diagnosed with a fatal foetal anomaly. These conditions are rare and likely to lead to the death of a foetus in utero, or shortly after birth. But under a strict abortion ban in Texas, her hands are tied. Read full story Source: BBC News, 17 September 2022 -
News Article
All Northern Ireland health trusts missing smear test target
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Some women in Northern Ireland are waiting more than three times longer than they should for smear test results. BBC News NI's Evening Extra programme learned that all health trusts were breaching the target of 80% of samples being reported within four weeks. The Department of Health (DoH) and Public Health Agency (PHA) said it was due to pressures on pathology services. This included a shortage of available trained staff across the UK to carry out the screening, they said. Unlike the rest of the UK, each sample in Northern Ireland has to be individually examined by a scientist. In Great Britain, HPV primary screening is used. This tests the sample of cells taken at the appointment for a virus that can cause cervical cell changes to develop into cancer. The DoH said it intended to implement this in Northern Ireland and the project involved significant work to reconfigure services. Read full story Source: BBC News, 15 September 2022 -
Content ArticleOn the 20 January 2023 the Health and Social Care Select Committee published a reported with reviewed the progress that the UK Government has made in implementing the recommendations of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, sometimes referred to as the Cumberlege Review. This paper sets out the UK Government’s response to the recommendations set out in this report. Related reading: Health and Social Care Select Committee: Follow-up on the IMMDS report and the Government’s response (20 January 2023) Patient Safety Learning: Response to the Select Committee report on the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review (20 January 2023)
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Content ArticleIn this blog, Carl Heneghan, Professor of Evidence-based Medicine at the University of Oxford and Clinical Epidemiologist Tom Jefferson look at the long-term consequences of inadequate regulation and approval of pelvic mesh devices. They argue that regulators and health systems around the world failed to heed the early warnings, which lead to thousands of women being irreversibly harmed. They highlight that as early as 1999, a study of 34 women who had ProteGen mesh implants showed that 50% of mesh devices had eroded through the vaginal wall. Boston Scientific voluntarily recalled 20,000 devices as a result. In spite of this, the FDA continued to approve vaginal mesh devices, citing ProteGen as their predicate device.
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Content ArticleExposure to ionising radiation during image guided procedures has been associated with a higher incidence of breast cancer in female healthcare workers. Lead or lead equivalent gowns are used to reduce radiation exposure during image guided procedures, but studies have shown that current gowns provide inadequate protection to breast tissue as they leave the upper outer quadrant and axilla exposed. Isobel Pilkington and colleagues discuss the risk and the steps that must be taken to ensure full protection of breast tissue in this BMJ Editorial.
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Content ArticleJoint safety alert from the British Menopause Society, Faculty of Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare, Royal College of General Practitioners, Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists, Society for Endocrinology and the Royal College of Nursing Women’s Health Forum.
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Content ArticleWe often hear the mesh scandal blamed on poor surgeon skill. We also hear the argument that high use mesh implanting surgeons are likely to have fewer patients suffering mesh complications, than a less experienced surgeon. However, this study published in JAMA in October 2018, based on NHS data, shows that high mesh implanting surgeons produce the same or even more mesh complications compared to low volume implanters.
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Content ArticleIn the UK, maternal mortality for Black women is currently almost four times higher than for White women, and significant disparities also exist for women of Asian and mixed ethnicity. In this report the Women’s and Equalities Select Committee reviews what is currently understood about the reasons for disparities in maternal deaths, analyses Government and NHS action to date and existing recommendations for change and consider the ongoing challenges to addressing disparities.
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Content ArticleOutpatient and daycase hysteroscopy and polypectomy (OPHP) are widely recognised methods for the treatment of endometrial polyps. There have been concerns regarding pain affecting satisfaction and tolerability of the outpatient procedure. Dr Bhawana Purwar and colleagues from the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust conducted a service evaluation of their outpatient hysteroscopy and polypectomy (OPHP) and compared it with their daycase procedures. They concluded that the OPHP is cost-effective and efficient method with reasonable acceptability. It is well tolerated with remarkable success rates and excellent patient satisfaction. As compared to daycase group, it requires less time for recovery and sooner returns to work.
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Content ArticleIn this special edition episode of 'I forgot to ask the doctor', host Dr Gail Busby interviews Professor Justin Clark and Dr Helgi Johnannsson about the options for pain relief for the important procedure of hysteroscopy.
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Content ArticleThere has been increasing public concern that COVID-19 vaccination causes menstrual disturbance regarding the relative effect of vaccination compared to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The objectives of this study, published in Science Direct, were to test potential risk factors for reporting menstrual cycle changes following COVID-19 vaccination and to compare menstrual parameters following COVID-19 vaccination and COVID-19 disease.
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Content ArticleCervical cancer disparities persist for Black women despite targeted efforts. Reasons for this vary; one potential factor affecting screening and prevention is perceived discrimination in medical settings. This US study in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities aimed to describe experiences of perceived discrimination in medical settings for Black women and to explore the impact on cervical cancer screening and prevention. The authors concluded that Black women engaging in healthcare are experiencing perceived discrimination in medical settings. They suggest that future interventions should address the poor quality of medical encounters that Black women experience.
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Content ArticleResearch paper by Toye et al. published in the Lancet on the experience of women reporting damage from vaginal mesh.
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Content ArticleIn this article for Chamber UK magazine, Lyn Brown MP warns that hysteroscopy could be the next big women's health scandal and calls for dramatic improvements in care. She describes the accounts of women being encouraged to undergo hysteroscopy without anaesthesia and appropriate pain relief, and how lack of informed consent is leaving women feeling violated and scared to undergo future gynaecological procedures. She also describes how she raised the issue in the House of Commons and outlines the failure of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology's new 'Good Practice Paper' to properly address the decision making process and acknowledge the severity of the pain experienced by many women who undergo hysteroscopy. The article can be found on page 64 of the e-magazine.
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Content ArticleThis is Patient Safety Learning’s submission to the consultation by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists seeking views on a draft Green-top Guideline on outpatient hysteroscopy. The aim of this guideline is to provide clinicians with up to date, evidence-based information regarding outpatient hysteroscopy, with particular reference to minimising pain and optimising the patient experience. The consultation is now closed.
