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News Article
Infection control experts issue open letter on care home visiting
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A group of experts in nursing and infection prevention and control (IPC) is today warning against the use of IPC measures as a “rationale” for stopping safe and compassionate visits in care homes during the Covid-19 pandemic. In a new open letter published in Nursing Times, the specialists say that preventing people from visiting loved ones in social care settings in the name of IPC is a “misinterpretation and at times even abuse” of IPC principles. The letter is the brainchild of independent global health consultant and former Infection Prevention Society (IPS) president, Jules Storr. Among the signatories are five former IPC presidents, current president Pat Cattini as well as incoming president Jennie Wilson. Dr Ron Daniels, chief executive of the UK Sepsis Trust, is also on the list, Helen Hughes, chief executive of Patient Safety Learning, as well as leading IPC nurse specialists, nurse academics, a GP and carers. Ms Storr, a nurse by background, and the hub topic lead, said she was motivated to take action after hearing “the most heart-breaking” stories from health professionals and relatives of residents about restricted visits in the UK in the wake of COVID-19. Some had not seen relatives for weeks or months, whilst others were only allowed to see their loved one once a week for 20 minutes at a distance, she said. One individual had told her how when their father had died only one family member was permitted in the home and they were not allowed to sit close enough to hold his hand. Ms Storr said these practices were “absolutely outrageous and wrong from an infection prevention point of view”. Read full story Source: Nursing Times, 16 October 2020 -
News Article
Social care at breaking point in England after 'lost decade'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Policymakers’ failure to tackle chronically underfunded social care has resulted in a “lost decade” and a system now at breaking point, according to a new report. A team led by Jon Glasby, a professor of health and social care at the University of Birmingham, says that without swift government intervention including urgent funding changes England’s adult social care system could quickly become unsustainable. Adult social care includes residential care homes and help with eating, washing, dressing and shopping. The paper says the impact has been particularly felt in services for older people. Those for working-age people have been less affected. It suggests that despite the legitimate needs of other groups “it is hard to interpret this other than as the product of ageist attitudes and assumptions about the role and needs of older people”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 9 August 2020 -
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Content ArticleIt is no secret that social care was under immense pressure well before the spread of the COVID-19. Those involved in social care have been calling for the introduction of long-term reforms to ensure that it is fit for purpose, that care workers are invested in and that appropriate support is in place for unpaid carers. Going into the 2019 General Election, all parties recognised the need to reform the system and the Conservative Party was elected on a pledge to find a long-term solution for social care.[ As the impact of the pandemic now takes hold, the ability of the social care system to respond to these issues is beginning to come into focus. In this blog, we look at the emerging patient safety issues the pandemic is creating in the sector, focusing on four main areas: Staff safety and lack of access to appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). The pandemic’s impact on existing social care and provision for non COVID-19 patients. The impact on carers and families of those receiving social care. The reporting of COVID-19 deaths outside of hospitals. In response to these issues, Patient Safety Learning have identified some essential steps that that can be taken at a national and local level to tackle some of the most urgent patient safety concerns: Staff safety PPE distribution to social care should be treated with the same urgency as it is for healthcare. Clear guidance should be provided on PPE requirements for specific social care roles. Clear guidance should be provided on what steps staff can take to report problems accessing PPE. Steps must be taken to ensure that there is enough staffing and volunteer capacity to enable staff to work safely. Patient safety All patients and social care service users should receive the care requirements outlined in their care packages. There should be clear guidance on what steps families and staff can take to report problems in service provision or to report safety concerns. Mitigating the impact on existing care and treatment The rollout of testing for COVID-19 in social care needs to increase as soon as possible to identify and isolate outbreaks. We need to work with care providers to support the continued provision of services and provide adequate staffing levels during this period. We must work with third sector organisations to help provide guidance and support for carers and families. We need to ensure that the extra funding committed to the healthcare system is also available to provide to social care.
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News Article
Residential homes 'desperate' for PPE, as two care workers die
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The first two coronavirus deaths among care workers in England were announced, as industry leaders hit out at chronic shortages of protective equipment and urged the government to start treating social care as “a second front line”. Carol Jamabo, 56, a community carer for Cherish Elderly Care in Bury in Greater Manchester, died last Wednesday. Another carer died in a home run by MHA, the UK’s largest charitable social care provider, which said it was unclear where she contracted the virus. The death of a West Dumbartonshire care worker that emerged on Sunday was also confirmed by the Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon. The fatalities came amid rising concern that those working in social care still do not have the protection they need amid the Covid-19 pandemic and that, without testing for the virus, staff risk contaminating care homes where elderly people are supposed to be “shielded”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 6 April 2020 -
News Article
Non-acute services to receive 30 million PPE products
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Adult social care services are to receive millions of personal protective equipment products following a national audit of personal protective equipment (PPE), HSJ can reveal. The government will deliver more than 30 million items to local resilience forums in the coming days, for distribution among social care and other front-line services, according to a letter seen by HSJ. The stock should not be sent to acute trusts or ambulance services, the letter, from health and social care secretary Matt Hancock and housing, communities and local government secretary Robert Jenrick, stated. Describing an “urgent need” for PPE in front-line services, Mr Hancock and Mr Jenrick asked local planners to distribute this latest batch of stock “only where there is a clear and pressing need”. Read full story Source: HSJ, 6 April 2020 -
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Coronavirus: Nearly 400 care groups 'face protection shortages'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Almost 400 care companies which provide home support across the UK have told the BBC they still do not have enough personal protective equipment (PPE). Without protection, providers say they may not be able to care for people awaiting hospital discharge. Of 481 providers, 381 (80%) said they did not have enough PPE to be able to support older and vulnerable people. The government said it was working "around the clock" to give the sector the equipment it needs. The BBC sent questions to the nearly 3,000 members of the UK Homecare Association. About a quarter of respondents said they have either run out of masks or have less than a week's supply left. Read full story Source: BBC News, 6 April 2020 -
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Far Beyond the Pale
Claire Cox posted an article in By patients and public
This short, moving, animation has been produced to support the Justice for LB campaign. -
Content Article
Delirium awareness and management of delirium superimposed dementia
Claire Cox posted an article in Dementia
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Content ArticleThe resources include peer-reviewed content on identifying and managing sepsis in the community, in older people and in children from Emergency Nurse, Nursing Children and Young People, Nursing Older People and Primary Health Care.
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News ArticleAlthough community-based treatment can improve outcomes for people with eating disorders, it must not be at the expense of vital inpatient services, says Lorna Collins in an article today in the Guardian supporting Eating Disorders Awareness Week. No single treatment or approach works for every patient experiencing an eating disorder and it is extremely hard to get help; there is too little money in the system to provide enough care. "Speaking to patients, carers and clinicians, I am struck by the sheer desperation of so many people saying the system has failed them. Too many find that nothing is done until they are at death’s door. Others say no one talks about binge-eating disorder, which is still too often seen as a weakness or a problem that dieting can fix, rather than a real eating disorder," says Lorna. Clinicians, too, paint a gloomy picture of the state of services. Oxford-based eating disorder consultant Agnes Ayton, who chairs the faculty of eating disorders at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, is frank about the problems. She believes NHS eating disorder services are on their knees and desperately need more money after years of austerity. However, there are some encouraging signs. In West Yorkshire and Harrogate, consultant psychiatrist William Rhys Jones, who works for the Connect community and inpatient eating disorders service, says he is seeing real change. Connect’s community outreach teams deliver home-based treatment for people with severe and enduring eating disorders. This is one of the NHSE new care models and Jones says results so far have been very positive. Clinical community services and early intervention result in a good prognosis, he says – and it is cost effective. While inpatient treatment costs about £434 a day, community treatment costs about £20 to £35 a day, with similar or even improved clinical outcomes. While there are concerns about limiting inpatient treatment and prioritising community treatment simply because it may be cheaper, positive examples like this can help hold the NHS to its promise to make treatment truly open to all who need it. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 2 March 2020
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Content ArticleThis guideline includes recommendations on: hand decontamination use of personal protective equipment safe use and disposal of sharps waste disposal long-term urinary catheters enteral feeding vascular access devices. Who is it for? commissioners and providers healthcare professionals working in primary and community care settings, including ambulance services, schools and prisons children, young people and adults receiving healthcare for which standard infection-control precautions apply in primary and community care, and their families and carers.
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Content ArticleKey points: Analysis of a national linked dataset identifying permanent care home residents aged 65 and older and their hospital found that on average during 2016/17 care home residents went to A&E 0.98 times and were admitted as an emergency 0.70 times. Emergency admissions were found to be particularly high in residential care homes compared with nursing care homes. A large number of these emergency admissions may be avoidable: 41% were for conditions that are potentially manageable, treatable or preventable outside of a hospital setting, or that could have been caused by poor care or neglect. Four evaluations of initiatives to improve health and care in care homes carried out by the Improvement Analytics Unit (IAU) in Rushcliffe, Sutton, Wakefield and Nottingham City show reductions in some measures of emergency hospital use for residents who received enhanced support. There are key learnings from these IAU evaluations, including a greater potential to reduce the need for emergency admissions and A&E attendance in residential care homes and the benefit of coproduction between health care professionals and care homes.
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Content ArticleKey learning points Sharing information with the multi-disciplinary team helps break down barriers and reduce anxiety. Women should have an opportunity to discuss concerns and have questions answered face-to-face rather than a written response. There is a huge benefit for women to have access to a service that supports closure and shared understanding following a poor experience whether from the birth or postnatally. Providing reassurance that their concerns are addressed and there is organisational learning from their feedback. Women are at the centre of midwifery care. Always listening to what women want/need to ensure a positive birth experience improves the quality of care delivery. Passionate patient engagement is essential. Staff working within the service must value patient feedback and be driven to use it to develop services not just resolve a complaint. It’s important to not be afraid of saying ‘sorry’, this simple word can validate someone’s feeling and has made a huge difference. Enabling parents to feel positive about their birth reduces anxieties, increase confidence and reduces mental health problems following the birth.
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Content ArticleMedication errors are not usually required to be reported to the CGC unless in these circumstances: death injury abuse, or allegation of abuse incident reported to or investigated by the police. Challenge: How do social care and non-NHS providers ensure that concerns are raised and there is a safe reporting culture?
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Content ArticleWhat will I learn? How you should be involved in decisions about your care What an advocate is The needs assessment The conversations you should expect About the care and support plan Personal budgets
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News Article
Coronavirus ‘drive through’ testing service
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The NHS is currently rolling out services on NHS sites to test people for coronavirus, including a new service now in action in west London, offering ‘drive through’ coronavirus testing. The new service, provided by Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust in Parsons Green, is only accessed through a referral from NHS 111, and means people worried about the virus can safely and quickly get checked close to home. The model is one of the ways in which community testing and home testing are being rolled out nationwide, with the NHS’ strategic incident director for coronavirus, asking health services in every part of England to set up home and community testing. After being referred through NHS 111, people are invited to an appointment in their car, during which two community nurses carry out a swab in the nose and mouth, which are checked and assessed within 72 hours. People are asked to self-isolate while checks are completed, to prevent any potential onward transmission of the virus. Dr Joanne Medhurst, medical director for Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “Anyone who is worried about coronavirus should call NHS 111 for up to date advice. We’ve set up the ‘drive through’ service to make sure people in our community can get safe, convenient and quick checks for coronavirus, as part of NHS efforts to keep everyone safe." “It’s crucial that, as a community service, we help residents in our area to get accurate, timely advice while managing extra pressure on the NHS, and so far this week we’ve had good feedback from people that the swabbing service offers reassurance at what can be a difficult time.” Read full story Source: NHS England, 28 February 2020 -
News Article
Former minister says government would lose human rights challenge
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Sir Norman Lamb, chair of South London and Maudsley Foundation Trust and a former Liberal Democrat MP, has suggested the government would lose a legal challenge over its national programme for patients with learning disabilities and said the national Transforming Care programme was at the “very least a partial failure”. “I regard this as a human rights issue. We’re locking people up when we don’t need to lock them up. We’re subjecting them to force, when we shouldn’t do so, and this is how I think we need to frame it. If the government were challenged in court on this, I think there’s a very good chance, as an ex-lawyer, that they would lose.” Transforming Care was launched in 2011 following the Winterborne View scandal and aimed to discharge patients with learning disabilities and autism out of institutional inpatient units into the community. However, the most recent figures, from NHS Digital, show there were still more than 2,000 patients within inpatient units, ahead of the national programme’s expiration this month. Kevin Cleary, deputy chief inspector for hospitals and lead for learning disability and mental health services for the CQC, said: “We have allowed our patients to be placed within places like Whorlton Hall. I think the NHS provides very few services of this type, it has withdrawn from providing these services, and has become comfortable with providing that service, within the independent sector, several hundred miles away and that’s not right… absolutely not right." “We cannot say we are providing patient centred care or say we are placing the patient at the heart of everything we do and have that response from the system. We are all responsible for that.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 10 March 2020 -
Content ArticleWith staff shortages and increased pressure on the NHS, it can be difficult for staff to consistently provide humane and compassionate care. Schwartz rounds are a simple, easily implemented way to support staff in providing compassionate humane care and improve their own wellbeing. Rounds are now held in over 200 NHS organisations and in many more health organisations in the US, where they were first developed. In this article, Richard discusses the origins of Schwartz rounds and his experience of attending two Schwartz rounds, one in a hospice and one in an acute trust.
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News Article
Dementia patients being 'dumped in hospital'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Dementia patients are being dumped in hospitals in England because of a lack of community care, a charity says. The Alzheimer's Society called for action, highlighting data showing one in 10 dementia patients spends over a month in hospital after being admitted. The figures also suggested the overall number of emergency admissions among people with dementia is rising - with some patients yo-yoing back and forth. Ministers said they were "determined" to tackle the problems. Central to this, the government said, would be plans for reforming the social care system, which encompasses care home places and support in people's homes. Alzheimer's Society Chief Executive Jeremy Hughes said people were falling through the "cracks of our broken social care system". "People with dementia are all too often being dumped in hospital and left there. Many are only admitted because there's no social care support to keep them safe at home. They are commonly spending more than twice as long in hospital as needed, confused and scared." Read full story Source: BBC News, 22 January 2020
