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Showing results for tags 'Medical device / equipment'.
Found 90 results
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Content Article
Prevention of Future Deaths report – Ann Geraghty
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Coroner reports
While under continual cardiac monitoring from the 6– 8 March 2021, Ann Geraghty experienced two periods of ventricular standstill which were recorded but missed. Had these been detected she would have been admitted into a Critical Care Unit, though the Coroner noted that her subsequent cardiac arrest could not have been prevented. The Coroner raises concerns that: The Philips central monitoring station used by the hospital detected the two periods of ventricular standstill but its alarm notification self-terminated when the heart rhythm had corrected. Following the Trust’s i -
News ArticleAfter three Covid-19 patients died at the make-shift Nightingale Hospital in London following a breathing tube mix-up, NHS trusts in England could be issued tougher ventilation guidance. In each of the cases, filters which prevent the build-up of fluid were not attached to the machines, resulting in dangerous blockages, but it has not yet been determined if these incidents contributed to their deaths. Coroner Nadia Persaud has said the way the machines vary from model to model can be "confusing" and may lead to future deaths, also ruling that the classification and colour coding was "wor
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Content ArticleRead the full article: Primodos, Mesh and Sodium Valproate: Recommendations and the UK Government’s response Other articles by this author: Primodos: The next steps towards justice (November 2020) Sodium Valproate: The Fetal Valproate Syndrome Tragedy Mesh: Denial, half-truths and the harms (March 2021) Related reading: A year on from the Cumberlege Review: Initial reflections on the Government’s response (Patient Safety Learning, 23 July 2021) Government response to the report of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review (21 July
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Content ArticleThe Coroner highlights concerns raised by an independent expert in regards to the non-standardised colour coding used by the manufacturers of the filters on breathing systems of intensive care ventilators, noting that there is widespread confusion among Intensive Care Unit staff about their classification and colour coding. The report states this issue is not confined to Nightingale hospitals, but relates equally to all intensive care settings. It was sent to the Royal College of Anaesthetists and Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine for action and response.
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News Article
Covid: Pulse oxygen monitors work less well on darker skin, experts say
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Experts have warned that a device used to detect signs of oxygen level drops may not work as well on darker skin. According to NHS England and MHRA, pulse oximeters may sometimes overestimate oxygen levels. Now, NHS England is updating their guidance advising patients patients from black, Asian and other ethnic minority groups to seek advice from their healthcare professional, but to continue using pulse oximeters. "We need to ensure there is common knowledge on potential limitations in healthcare equipment and devices, particularly for populations at heightened risk of life-changi -
News ArticleThe Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are warning that thermal cameras and other such “temperature screening” products, some of which make direct claims to screen for COVID-19, are not a reliable way to detect if people have the virus. In July 2020 the Agency told manufacturers and suppliers of thermal cameras that they should not make claims which directly relate to COVID-19 diagnosis, and now are reminding businesses to follow Government advice on safe working during COVID-19. Graeme Tunbridge, MHRA Director of Devices, said: "Many thermal cameras and
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Content ArticleSafety recommendations HSIB recommends that NHS England and NHS Improvement amends the ‘Saving Babies’ Lives care bundle version 2’ to enhance the role of the ‘fetal monitoring lead’ to include, training and competency checks of all maternity staff on the use and functionality of cardiotocograph (CTG) equipment. HSIB recommends that NHS England and NHS Improvement amends the ‘Saving Babies’ Lives care bundle version 2’ to remove specific references to DawesRedman and instead use a generic term such as ‘computerised cardiotocograph (CTG) analysis’. HSIB recommends that the Nat
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Needlestick injuries – making the point for safety
Becky T posted an article in Staff safety
Needlestick injuries account for 17% of accidents to NHS staff and are the second most common cause of injury, behind moving and handling (nhsemployers.org). The major risk of needlestick injuries is that they can transmit infectious diseases to healthcare workers, especially blood-borne viruses. Many occupational exposure incidents could have been avoided by adopting precautions and by disposing of clinical waste appropriately (nhsemployers.org). Needlestick injuries are wounds caused by needles that accidentally puncture the skin (ccohs.ca). When penetrating the skin, this is called a p -
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Alert over hospital air devices after 120 ‘never events’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS trusts are to be told to remove devices linked to more than 120 never events caused by ‘unconscious errors’. A national patient safety alert is being drafted by NHS England which urges trusts to remove all air flowmeters from wall medical gas outlets. It is likely to be published next month. The alert comes after 121 never events in the last three years involved staff members accidentally connecting patients to air instead of oxygen. This number is close to 10% of all never events recorded during that period. These types of never events have been recorded by 57 NHS organisat -
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Europe must act now to stop the spread of deadly diseases due to COVID-19
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Healthcare workers and patients are being put at risk not only from COVID-19 but other deadly diseases as a result of an increase in sharps injuries due to the pandemic. Sharps injuries are accidents where a needle or other medical sharp instrument penetrates the skin with the potential to transfer blood borne viruses, including HIV or hepatitis B or C, from the patient to healthcare worker and vice versa. Sharps injuries cause increased costs and disruption in the healthcare system, which have all been exacerbated by the pandemic anyway. Sharps injuries also have a major emotional and m -
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Corruption, greed and deceit, sound like the basis of a gripping crime novel or a binge-worthy Netflix series, but for patient campaigners it’s what we find on an alarming basis when it comes to the lucrative world of healthcare. We’re in an age of miracles where modern medicine can achieve remarkable things, but this can lead to patient safety taking a backseat when shareholders have dollar signs in their sights. We hear how tragedies such as the mesh scandal, Primodos, Valproate, metal hips and PIP breast implants must never happen again. But until we have tougher regulations, alongside -
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News ArticleDeborah Stanford is one of many women who have received a Boston Scientific implant and suffered complications. She has joined Shine Lawyers’ class action, which was filed today in the Australian Federal Court, to hold the manufacturers to account for the continuous pain she has endured since the Obtryx sling was implanted on 12 September 2012. Ms Stanford’s bladder was sitting in the birth canal and the sling was placed, on medical advice, to reposition her bladder. “It has been 9 years of suffering." “If I knew how hard this was going to be, I never would have gone through it,
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News ArticleHospitals across Europe, including Britain, as well as the Middle East and Africa are scrambling to replace millions of pieces of equipment used to treat patients, as fears grow that they could cause infections after a company was discovered to have falsified sterilisation records for more than a decade. The Independent has learned the problem affects more than 230 different types of infusion lines, connectors and associated kit, along with six infusion pumps used to deliver medicine and fluids into patients’ veins. Medical devices company Becton Dickinson, or BD, has issued a recall
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News Article
Essure: Women in England take legal action against sterilising-device maker
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Lawyers have begun legal action on behalf of 200 UK women against the makers of a sterilisation device, after claims of illness and pain. The device, a small coil called Essure, was implanted to prevent pregnancies. Manufacturer Bayer has already set aside more than $1.6bn (£1.2bn) to settle claims from almost 40,000 women in the US. It has withdrawn the device from the market for commercial reasons but says it stands by its safety and efficacy. The metal coil was inserted into the fallopian tube to cause scarring, blocking the tube and preventing pregnancy. Introduced in -
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NHS Resolution: Manual handling (19 October 2020)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Patient management
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News Article
DHSC tells care homes to destroy batch of COVID-19 tests over safety fears
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Care homes have been ordered to destroy a batch of faulty COVID-19 test kits after it was discovered that the swabs could break off while being used to gather samples from residents’ tonsils and noses. Care home managers were told on Sunday not to use the tests because they had “brittle stems at risk of snapping”. The kits were manufactured by Citotest, a company based in China, and were distributed by the government’s COVID-19 care home testing programme. It is tasked with providing tests for all staff and residents in care settings, not just people displaying symptoms. The affected -
News ArticleAn Independent Patients' Commissioner is set to be appointed to act as champion for people who have been harmed by medicines or medical devices. Baroness Cumberlege, who recommended the new role in a landmark report earlier this year, announced that the government had budged on the issue after initial resistance. She welcomed the move saying: "Had there been a patient safety commissioner before now, much of the suffering we have witnessed could have been avoided." But she added "the risk still remains" and further urgent action is needed to protect patients from potentially h
