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Showing results for tags 'Healthcare associated infection'.
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Content ArticleThese infographics are from the summary HSIB report (22 October 2020) entitled "COVID-19 transmission in hospitals: management of the risk – a prospective safety investigation". The exec report can be found here. They explain the five main aspects related to the nosocomial transmission of infection, and how the risks of this happening can be properly managed.
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News Article
Hospital Covid ‘hotspots’ mapped out in a new HSIB report
Clive Flashman posted a news article in News
Hospital hotspots for COVID-19 have been highlighted in a new report by safety investigators. The report by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) makes a series of observations to help the health service reduce the spread of coronavirus in healthcare settings. Hospital hotspots for COVID-19 included the central nurses’ stations and areas where computers and medical notes were shared, the HSIB found. The investigation was initiated after a Sage report in May which found that 20% of hospital patients were reporting symptoms of Covid-19 seven days following admission – suggesting that their infection may have been acquired in hospital. In response to the report, NHS England and NHS Improvement confirmed they would publish nosocomial – another term for hospital acquired infections – transmission rates from trusts, the HSIB said. Read full story Source: Express and Star, 28 October 2020 -
News Article
Structural racism led to worse Covid impact on BAME groups
Clive Flashman posted a news article in News
Minority ethnic people in UK were ‘overexposed, under protected, stigmatised and overlooked’, new review finds. Structural racism led to the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus pandemic on black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, a review by Doreen Lawrence has concluded. The report, commissioned by Labour, contradicts the government’s adviser on ethnicity, Dr Raghib Ali, who last week dismissed claims that inequalities within government, health, employment and the education system help to explain why COVID-19 killed disproportionately more people from minority ethnic communities. Lady Lawrence’s review found BAME people are over-represented in public-facing industries where they cannot work from home, are more likely to live in overcrowded housing and have been put at risk by the government’s alleged failure to facilitate Covid-secure workplaces. She demanded that the government set out an urgent winter plan to tackle the disproportionate impact of Covid on BAME people and ensure comprehensive ethnicity data is collected across the NHS and social care. The report, entitled An Avoidable Crisis, also criticises politicians for demonising minorities, such as when Donald Trump used the phrase “the Chinese virus”. The report, which is based on submissions and conversations over Zoom featuring “heart-wrenching stories” as well as quantitative data, issued the following 20 recommendations: Set out an urgent plan for tackling the disproportionate impact of Covid on ethnic minorities Implement a national strategy to tackle health inequalities Suspend ‘no recourse to public funds’ during Covid Conduct a review of the impact of NRPF on public health and health inequalities Ensure Covid-19 cases from the workplace are properly recorded Strengthen Covid-19 risk assessments Improve access to PPE in all high-risk workplaces Give targeted support to people who are struggling to self-isolate Ensure protection and an end to discrimination for renters Raise the local housing allowance and address the root causes of homelessness Urgently conduct equality impact assessments on the government’s Covid support schemes Plan to prevent the stigmatisation of communities during Covid-19 Urgently legislate to tackle online harms Collect and publish better ethnicity data Implement a race equality strategy Ensure all policies and programmes help tackle structural inequality Introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting End the ‘hostile environment’ Reform the curriculum Take action to close the attainment gap Read full story Source: The Guardian, 28 October 2020 -
Content ArticleBased on an analysis of surgical data received through the Patient Safety Organization, plus detailed research and expert evaluation, this Deep Dive identifies and provides actionable recommendations and tools on six key risk categories of adverse event reports related to operative procedures: complications patient and OR readiness retained surgical instruments contamination equipment failures wrong surgery. There are common themes echoed through each of the six event types examined in this Deep Dive. These include the following: Communication problems are an underlying issue. Problems with communication—whether between the scheduler and the OR team, between clinical staff and the patient, or among the OR team—can lead to adverse events or near misses. Organisations should promote a team approach. Taking a team approach to surgical procedures can help avoid many of the adverse events reported in this Deep Dive. Such an approach is an element of a culture of safety and should be emphasised through team-building exercises. Organisations should focus on addressing preventable events. Some events are not preventable, meaning that no matter how well the team prepares, the event would likely have happened anyway. For example, the patient could have an allergic reaction resulting from an unknown anesthesia allergy, or a rare but known risk of surgery occurring. Focusing on preventable events can help focus the surgical team’s attention, however, thereby reducing the risk of unpreventable events as well. Quality improvement should be emphasized to reduce risk. Clinical staff should apply a quality improvement mentality to any problems that emerge, and focus on actions that can be taken to prevent such problems in the future.
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News ArticleAn investigation into the outbreak of a bacterial infection that killed 15 people has found there were several “missed opportunities” in their care. Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group has released the outcome of a 10-month investigation into a Strep A outbreak in 2019, which killed 15 people and affected a further 24. The final report was critical of Provide, a community interest company based in Colchester, as well as the former Mid Essex Hospital Services Trust (now part of Mid and South Essex Foundation Trust). It said: “This investigation has identified that in some cases there were missed opportunities where treatment should have been more proactive, holistic and timely. These do not definitively indicate that their outcomes would have been different.” Investigators found that 13 of the 15 people that died had received poor wound care from Provide CIC. They reported that inappropriate wound dressings were used and record keeping was so poor that deterioration of wounds was not recognised. Even wounds that had not improved over 22 days were not escalated to senior team members for help or referred to the tissue viability service for specialist advice, with investigators told this was often due to concerns over team capacity. The report, commissioned by the CCG and conducted by consultancy firm Facere Melius, said: “[Some] individuals became increasingly unwell over a period of time in the community, yet their deterioration either went unnoticed or was not acted upon promptly. Sometimes their condition had become so serious that they were very ill before acute medical intervention was sought”. Other findings included delays in the community in the taking of wound swabs to determine if the wound was infected and by which bacteria. It said in one case nine days elapsed before the requested swab took place. Even after Public Health England asked for all wounds to be swabbed following the initial outbreak, this was only conducted on a single patient. In other cases there were delays in patients being given antibiotics and this “could have had an adverse impact on the treatment for infection”. It also found that sepsis guidelines were not accurately followed, wounds were not uncovered for inspection in A&E, and some patients were given penicillin-based antibiotics despite penicillin allergies being listed in their health records. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 17 September 2020
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1,000-year-old eye infection potion found to tackle antibiotic-resistant infections
Clive Flashman posted a news article in News
Antibiotic resistance is an increasing challenge for modern medicine as more naturally occurring antimicrobials are needed to tackle infections capable of resisting treatments currently in use. New research from the University of Warwick has investigated natural remedies to fill the gap in the antibiotic market, taking their cue from a 1,000-year-old text known as Bald's Leechbook. Read the full article here. -
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COVID-19: Information from the Intensive Care Society
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Guidance
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NHS: How to wash your hands
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Good practice and useful resources
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WHO: Guidelines on hand hygiene
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Good practice and useful resources
My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene The My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene approach defines the key moments when healthcare workers should perform hand hygiene. This evidence-based, field-tested, user-centred approach is designed to be easy to learn, logical and applicable in a wide range of settings. This approach recommends health-care workers to clean their hands: before touching a patient, before clean/aseptic procedures, after body fluid exposure/risk, after touching a patient, and after touching patient surroundings. -
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Content ArticleThe aim of the audit was to assess the standard of care provided to patients with lower leg ulceration and to understand who provides care and where this care is provided. The specific objectives within the audit were: To ascertain the number of people presenting with lower leg ulceration. To assess the standard of care provided to people with lower leg ulceration. To assess the provision and uptake of training amongst health care professionals. To determine if health and social care trusts have policies and documentation in place for the treatment of lower leg ulceration. To provide information to assist in establishing regional best practice guideline and care standards for the delivery of lower leg ulceration in Northern Ireland.
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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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NHS bed occupancy beyond safe levels ahead of Christmas
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Hospital wards across the country are having to look after an unsafe number of patients, with hundreds of beds closed due to an outbreak of norovirus. NHS England has said that on average almost 900 beds were closed each day during the week to Sunday 15 December. Hospitals have reported fewer empty beds with bed-occupancy rates reaching as high as 95 per cent, 10 per cent higher than the recommended safe level. Read full story Source: The Independent, 20 December 2019 -
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Royal Derby Hospital: Disposable sterile hijabs introduced
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A hospital trust believes it is the first in the UK to introduce disposable sterile headscarves for staff to use in operating theatres. Junior doctor Farah Roslan, who is Muslim, had the idea during her training at the Royal Derby Hospital. She said it came following infection concerns related to her hijab that she had been wearing throughout the day. It is hoped the items can be introduced nationally but NHS England said it would be up to individual trusts. Ms Roslan looked to Malaysia, the country of her birth, for ideas before creating a design and testing fabrics. "I'm really happy and looking forward to seeing if we can endorse this nationally," she said. Consultant surgeon Gill Tierney, who mentored Ms Roslan, said the trust was the first to introduce the headscarves in the UK. "We know it's a quiet, silent, issue around theatres around the country and I don't think it has been formally addressed," she said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 19 December 2019 -
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