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Showing results for tags 'Womens health'.
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Content ArticleThis article describes how a radiology group in Arizona allegedly missed dozens of breast malignancies, some of which were obviously cancer. Breast surgeon Dr Beth Dupree and a team of expert radiologists identified 25 missed cancer diagnoses that required either surgery, chemotherapy, radiation or a mastectomy at Northern Arizona Healthcare between 2016 and 2018. The team felt that there was a high chance of the number of women with missed cancers being higher than those uncovered by the review, but their request to expand the investigation did not go ahead.
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Content ArticleThe APPG held their annual general meeting in Parliament. Baroness Cumberlege was re-elected as Co-Chair of the group and in light of Jeremy Hunt’s recent appointment as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sharon Hodgson MP was elected as Co-Chair, having previously supported the Group as Vice-Chair over the last calendar year. Sharon is is an Officer of the APPG for Valproate and other Anti-Epileptic Drugs in Pregnancy and Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Surgical Mesh. The current serving Vice-Chairs were re-elected, with the addition of Baroness Ritchie also joining as Vice-Chair. The Group looked back on a year of significant activity and progress, including the appointment of Dr Henrietta Hughes as the first Patient Safety Commissioner in England, and agreed that a renewed focus on seeking the implementation of redress schemes should be a priority for the Group over the next year.
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Content ArticleThe MBRRACE-UK collaboration, led from Oxford Population Health's National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU), has published the results of their latest UK Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths and Morbidity. These annual rigorous reports are recognised as a gold standard in identifying key improvements needed for maternity services. The latest Saving Lives, Improving Mothers' Care analysis examines in detail the care of all women who died during, or up to one year after, pregnancy between 2018 and 2020 in the UK. This is the first report to include data that demonstrates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal deaths.
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Content ArticleThis survey by In-FACT (Independent Fetal Anti Convulsant Trust) is intended to provide patients, no matter what anti-epileptic drug (AED) they are prescribed or what condition the AED is prescribed for, the opportunity to report problems and worries about taking their medication during pregnancy. The results will be used to inform In-FACT's ongoing work to improve medication safety and their engagement with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
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Content ArticleThis opinion piece in the New Scientist looks at the persistence of the gender pain gap and highlights research that demonstrates its persistence in healthcare systems. An increasing number of studies have shown how bias against women’s expressions of pain negatively affect diagnosis and treatment of their health conditions; misinterpretations of female pain as anxiety contribute to women being around 50% more likely to be misdiagnosed after a heart attack. It also looks at how women who are Black, Asian or from ethnic minority backgrounds experience more underestimation of their pain by healthcare professionals than white women. The author argues that gendered myths about pain have had a powerful impact on centuries of scientific and biomedical advances.
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Content ArticleIn this blog, Gurpreet Kaur, who had to use a wheelchair for five years due to the severity of her endometriosis, talks about her firsthand experience of gender bias in pain management. She recalls sexist and inappropriate comments made to her by male healthcare professionals, describing how they belittled her pain and treated her as a 'hysterical woman'. She also highlights that research clearly demonstrates that women of color are more disproportionately affected by dismissals of their pain.
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Content ArticleWorldwide, most Caesarean sections (CS) are performed under neuraxial anaesthesia. However, neuraxial anaesthesia can fail and intraoperative breakthrough pain can occur. The aim of this study from Roofthooft et al. was to evaluate the incidence of breakthrough pain in consecutive CS and to describe the potential risk factors for breakthrough pain. In a two centre, prospective audit all CS performed under neuraxial anesthesia were included and the occurrence of breakthrough pain as well as all possible risk factors of breakthrough pain were recorded as well as the alternative anesthetic strategy.
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Content ArticleIn this letter, campaign group Hysteroscopy Action, have written to Women’s Minister, Maria Caulfield, to raise its concerns about the levels of pain and trauma experienced by many women undergoing outpatient hysteroscopy procedures. The letter, which has over 20 signatories, including Helen Hughes, Chief Executive of the Patient Safety Learning charity. It calls for more theatre space for women to have procedures under general anaesthetic as well as offering women the choice of intravenous sedation. Related reading Horror as women are facing major medical procedures without anaesthetic, warn experts Guidance for outpatient hysteroscopy: Consultation Response (Patient Safety Learning) Patient experiences shared with us in our community thread Pain during ambulatory hysteroscopy: A presentation by Richard Harrison (3 minute video) 2020: Raising awareness about painful hysteroscopies (8 minute video) Pain-free day surgery? Evaluating pain and pain assessment during hysteroscopy Ministers respond to concerns about painful hysteroscopies: Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales Read the letter to Maria Caulfield in full below.
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Content ArticleVaginal mesh implants were introduced in the late 1990s as a routine treatment for stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, common complications following childbirth. However, these flexible plastic scaffolds have led to life-altering complications for many women including nerve damage, chronic pain, and several reported deaths. This blog outlines the story of vaginal mesh, from the 1990s to the present day.
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Content ArticlePlease help the Campaign Against Painful Hysteroscopy uncover the circumstances, quantify the contributing factors, and evidence the consequences of painful and distressing hysteroscopies. The survey is anonymous. The results will be put in the public domain to be used to help improve hysteroscopy services for future patients.
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Content ArticleThis report by the US non-profit organisation the Emergency Care Research Institute (ECRI) was commissioned by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to determine the safety profile of polypropylene (PP) mesh used in a variety of surgical procedures. ECRI performed a comprehensive literature search and systematic review to identify the current state of knowledge about how patients' bodies respond to PP mesh.
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In this blog, Kath Sansom, founder of the Sling the Mesh campaign, unpacks the findings of a medical device performance study into polypropylene mesh published by the Emergency Care Research Institute (ECRI) in the US. The document highlights significant gaps in evidence about the risk of complications associated with polypropylene (PP) surgical mesh. -
Content ArticleWhen Joe Fassler's wife was struck by mysterious, debilitating symptoms, their trip to the ER revealed the sexism inherent in emergency treatment.
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The Surviving in Scrubs campaign, created by Dr Becky Cox and Dr Chelcie Jewitt, gives a voice to women in healthcare to raise awareness and end sexism, sexual harassment and sexual assault in healthcare. In this blog for the hub, co-founder Dr Chelcie Jewitt tells us more about the campaign. -
Content ArticleThis is the transcript of a Westminster Hall debate in the House of Commons on Black Maternal Health Awareness Week 2022, dedicated to raising awareness about disparities in maternal outcomes.
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Content ArticleThe aim of this paper is to raise awareness of the impact menopause is having on the workforce, as well as to issue recommendations and help healthcare organisations, managers, and employers to better support health care workers so that they do not leave the workforce or suffer in silence if they struggle with managing menopause symptoms.
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Content ArticleReports showing that babies and mothers died or were harmed as a result of failures by, and sometimes heartless cruel treatment in, NHS maternity units are becoming worryingly common. Dr Bill Kirkup’s just-published 192-page exposé of an appalling catalogue of failings at East Kent NHS trust between 2009 and 2020 is the second in the last 12 months. As many as 45 babies and 23 mothers in East Kent died avoidably during that time because their care was substandard, his inquiry found. March brought Donna Ockenden’s grim findings about poor maternity care at the Shrewsbury and Telford trust. And Kirkup produced the first detailed exposition of what inadequate care of women and their offspring during childbirth looked like when in 2015 he laid bare “serious and shocking” lapses in care at Morecambe Bay trust. A fourth official inquiry, again being led by Ockenden, is under way into death, brain damage and other horrendous outcomes at the Nottingham trust. Families affected claim that, despite coroners’ findings, close scrutiny of the trust by regulators, media coverage of lapses in care and pressure for change, “babies, mothers and their families continue to be harmed”. No wonder Rob Behrens, the NHS Ombudsman, says: “The phrase ‘never again’ is starting to ring hollow.”
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Content ArticleThis article by Carrie Murphy looks at the practice of inserting a 'husband stich' or 'daddy stitch', where midwives or obstetricians make an unnecessary extra stitch when repairing episiotomies or tearing from birth. The belief is that it will make the vaginal opening tighter and therefore increase pleasure for the woman's sexual partner. The author highlights that this is a real practice that has been carried out on women for many years, and describes the ongoing impact it can have on women affected, many of whom don't realise they have been given too many stitches. This misogynistic and unethical practice can cause additional pain for women during sex. The women featured in this article state that they did not consent to the practice, being vulnerable after childbirth and in many cases unaware of what a 'husband stitch' was. Angela Sanford reports only finding out that she had a 'husband stitch' five years after birth at a cervical screening appointment where the nurse expressed concern. Murphy expresses her concern that the practice may still be carried out without women's consent, leaving them feeling violated and in pain.
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Content ArticleMany are still reporting minimisation of their Long Covid symptoms – and it’s partially attributable to the fact that female patients are routinely dismissed. Five women share their experiences.
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Content ArticleSurgical menopause is the removal of both ovaries (bilateral oophorectomy) before a woman goes through biological menopause. Symptoms of surgical menopause are generally similar to that of a natural or chemically induced menopause, with a few established differences. Due to the sudden loss of ovarian function in surgical menopause, pre-menopausal women might experience more severe consequences, including increased rates of overall mortality, coronary heart disease, stroke, cognitive impairment, osteoporosis and sexual dysfunction. Surgical menopause can have significant consequences both short term and long term. Clear information and advice should be provided both before and after surgery to both the patient and their primary care team.
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Raising awareness of surgical menopause
Anonymous posted an article in Women's health
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World Menopause Day is held every year on 18 October to raise awareness of the menopause and the support options available for improving health and wellbeing. In this blog, I want to raise awareness of surgical menopause, which affects over 4000 young women a year, specifically around the lack of information and support received before and after surgery. -
Content ArticleThis video by Joyce Harper, Professor of Reproductive Science at the Institute for Women's Health at University College London, highlights short-term and long-term menopause symptoms, outlines their causes and suggests ways that women can deal with them. Her key message is that everyone should understand these symptoms and anyone suffering should go to see their health professional—no one should have to put up with symptoms that affect their life.
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Content ArticleThis article* is an update from Dr Henrietta Hughes, Patient Safety Commissioner for England.
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Content ArticleSpecialist centres for those affected by mesh implants, as recommended by the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, became operational formally in April 2021. HSJ analyses how they performed in their first year.
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Content ArticleThis guide by the charity Menopause Support offers advice for women who may be experiencing menopause symptoms about how to approach an appointment with their GP. It covers preparing for the appointment with research, making a note of your symptoms, how to ask questions, taking a friend or family member to support you, and further support you can request during the consultation.
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