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Showing results for tags 'Pneumonia'.
Found 36 results
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News Article
Emergency pneumonia cases surge to half a million a year in England
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The number of people requiring emergency care for pneumonia has risen by a quarter over two years to reach more than half a million cases, new figures show, amid warnings that preventable cases are adding pressure on overstretched A&E departments. Analysis of the most recent NHS England data from between April 2024 and March 2025 found that there were 579,475 cases of pneumonia requiring emergency hospitalisation, and this was likely to have risen further since, according to the charity Asthma + Lung UK. There were 461,995 cases between April 2022 and March 2023. Pneumonia is the single biggest cause of emergency admissions and is responsible for more than double the number of cases of the next biggest. It can also be deadly: between April 2022 to March 2025 more than 97,000 people died of pneumonia after ending up in hospital. Dr Andy Whittamore, the clinical lead at Asthma + Lung UK, said: “These alarming figures are the result of respiratory care being neglected and deprioritised for too long. “Following recommended basic care guidelines for respiratory conditions can save and transform lives. I’ve seen first-hand with my patients the dramatic effect good basic care has on reducing hospital admissions. “However, too often we’re not getting the basics right and the result is increasing A&E and hospital pressures, rising healthcare costs and people with lung conditions left to deteriorate without support.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 3 February 2026 -
Content ArticleThis National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) report highlights the care provided to adults presenting to hospital with a diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia and gives recommendations. Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is one of the most common infectious diseases seen in clinical practice. It results in many hospital admissions and has a high mortality, primarily as the patient group is often frail and older with multimorbidity. The diagnosis of CAP is not always apparent at the time of first clinical assessment, and in many hospitals, there is no specialist team that takes overall responsibility for the care of patients with CAP. Clinical teams need to be more accurate in making the diagnosis of CAP, assessing its severity and ensuring appropriate antibiotic therapy. Local leadership is key in developing an infrastructure to ensure the care of patients with pneumonia is organised appropriately and a programme of ongoing monitoring and improvement is introduced. In this study, the quality of care provided to patients aged 18 years and over, who had a diagnosis of CAP during the sampling period of 1st October 2021 to 31st December 2021, was assessed by analysing data from 767 clinician questionnaires, 149 organisational questionnaires and the output from the peer review of 401 sets of case notes.
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Content Article
This report from Asthma + Lung UK highlights that lung diseases such as COPD, asthma and pneumonia are the third leading cause of death in England, whilst the UK as a whole has the worst death rate from lung disease in Europe. Hospital admissions for lung diseases have doubled in the last 20 years and lack of proper testing for lung diseases is having an impact on patient safety, as GPs have to "guess" diagnoses. The report highlights three areas where policy changes should be implemented in order to improve care for people affected, reduce pressure on services and deliver massive savings for the NHS: Diagnosing lung disease early and accurately Keeping people healthy and out of hospital Providing treatments that work -
News ArticleA man with Down’s Syndrome and dementia died in hospital after not being fed for nine days. The 56-year-old was admitted to Poole hospital with a hip fracture after falling over at a Bournemouth care home, where he had been receiving care. On admittance, he was taken to the trauma and orthopaedics ward, where he was listed as ‘nil by mouth’, as he had trouble swallowing. Nine days later, he died of pneumonia after a ‘series of errors’ at the hospital. Now, the man’s father has been given £22,500 in compensation, after an incident investigation at the hospital. Allegations made against the hospital included a failure to feed the patient for nine days, causing "his subsequent severe deterioration and death". The hospital failed to adequately monitor and investigate his condition, while failing to provide senior doctors, it was alleged. This left unsupervised junior doctors who did not have access to senior staff or any way to escalate their concerns, allegations said. This, it was claimed, was not done when the patient was still nil by mouth after nine days, despite the fact he was suffering from pneumonia. Read full story Source: Yahoo News, 9 February 2024
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EventuntilThis webinar, moderated by Dr Charlotte Tai, will discuss the lessons learnt and advances in practice in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of Ventilator-associated Pneumonia. Speakers: The role of the oral cavity and the endotracheal tube in the aetiology of VAP Dr Matt Wise, Consultant Adult Critical Care, University Hospital of Wales Relationship between VAP and mortality Professor Saad Nseir, Professor of Critical Care at the Medical School of Lille, France Ventilator-associated pneumonia in critically ill patients with COVID-19 Dr Andrew Conway Morris, Honorary Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Panellists: Dr Mark Blunt, Lead Critical Care Consultant, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kings Lynn Helen Hughes, Chief Executive, Patient Safety Learning Register
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News ArticleGP surgeries are waiting up to a month for supplies of this winter’s flu vaccine amid unprecedented numbers of patients seeking jabs ahead of the second wave of COVID-19, family doctors have said. The Royal College of GPs (RCPG) has written to the health secretary, Matt Hancock, seeking assurances that they will have enough doses of the vaccine to cope with demand. The struggle to get jabs has prompted fears that vulnerable groups, including elderly people and those with underlying conditions, will go unprotected. “We have heard anecdotally that some surgeries are waiting up to a month for replenished supplies of vaccine, which raises concerns that there are significant distribution problems,” Prof Martin Marshall, the RCGP’s chair and a family doctor in London, said in the letter. One GP in Nottingham said there had been “a huge uptake compared to previous years, well over what we anticipated” at their surgery among groups eligible for the free jab, “so supplies ran out quickly”. “The next delivery is several weeks away and there are patients in at-risk groups who are having to wait. We have a patient aged 70 with heart disease who wants the vaccine but we currently have none to give her until the next delivery in mid to late October,” the GP said. Shortages mean that people aged 50 to 64, who are being offered a jab for the first time on the NHS, may have to wait until those with a greater medical need have been immunised first. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 4 October 2020
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News Article
Flu and COVID-19 at same time significantly increases risk of death
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Having flu and COVID-19 together significantly increases your risk of death, say government scientists who are urging all those at risk of getting or transmitting flu to get the vaccine in the coming weeks and months. The evidence for the double whammy is currently limited and comes mostly from a study with small numbers – 58 people – carried out in the UK during the early phase of the pandemic. “As I understand it, it’s 43% of those with co-infection died compared with 26.9% of those who tested positive for Covid only,” said England’s deputy chief medical officer, Prof Jonathan Van-Tam. These were people who had been hospitalised and had been tested for both viruses, he said, and so were very ill – but the rate of death from Covid alone in the study between January and April was similar to the known rate of Covid hospital mortality generally of around 25% or 26%. "I think it is the relative difference in size of those rates that’s rather more important than the absolute rate,” he said. The study may have been small and they would be doing further studies this season, but the findings tallied with other work that has been done, he said. “If you get both, you are in some serious trouble, and the people who are most likely to get both of these infections may be the very people who can least afford to in terms of their own immune system, or their risk for serious outcomes. So please protect yourself against flu, this year,” says said Prof Yvonne Doyle, medical director of Public Health England The government has bought 30,000,000 doses of flu vaccine, which is more than ever before. They will arrive in batches, so the elderly – over 65 – and those with medical conditions will be called for immunisation first. Relatives of those who are on the shielding list will also be called up. The letters will begin to go out this week. Because of the threat of Covid and the risk that people with flu could be infected if admitted to hospital, all those aged 50-64 will be offered flu vaccination, but not straight away. They should wait to be called by their GP. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 22 September 2020 -
News Article
Midwives and paramedics to deliver flu and Covid vaccines, proposes DHSC
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
An 'expanded workforce' will be delivering flu and a potential COVID-19 vaccine, under proposals unveiled by the Government today. The three-week consultation also focuses on a proposal of mass vaccinations against COVID-19 using a yet-to-be-licensed vaccine, if one becomes available this year. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is hoping new legislation could come into effect by October, ahead of the winter season. The consultation proposes to amend the Human Medicine Regulations 2012 to "expand the workforce legally allowed to administer vaccines under NHS and local authority occupational health schemes, so that additional healthcare professionals in the occupational health workforce will be able to administer vaccines". It said this would include 'midwives, nursing associates, operating department practitioners, paramedics, physiotherapists and pharmacists'. The consultation said: "This will help ensure we have the workforce needed to deliver a mass COVID-19 vaccination programme, in addition to delivery of an upscaled influenza programme, in the autumn." The consultation also said that "there is a possibility that both the flu vaccine and the COVID-19 vaccine will be delivered at the same time, and we need to make sure that in this scenario there is sufficient workforce to allow for this". Read full story Source: Pulse, 28 August 2020 -
News Article
Government delay could see people miss out on vaccines
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Pharmacies are warning people are at risk of not getting the flu jab unless an urgent decision is made over the winter vaccination programme. The Company Chemists’ Association, which represents large pharmacy groups, told HSJ the government and NHS England need to “urgently” clarify how many people it wants vaccinated for flu this year, as well as making changes to regulations. An expanded and successful winter vaccine programme is seen as key to avoiding potentially catastrophic demand for hospital beds, with flu demand coinciding with covid-19 surges. Malcolm Harrison, chief executive, said: “We need decisions made now. We have an ongoing dialogue with NHS England but they seem to be waiting on secretary of state’s decision on which groups need vaccinating. That is something [the health secretary, Matt Hancock] needs to make a decision about very, very soon.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 10 July 2020 -
Content ArticleA recording of the recent webinar, moderated by Dr Charlotte Tai, discussing the lessons learnt and advances in practice in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia. This is available for everyone to watch but you will need to provide an email address to request access.
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Content ArticleThe coronavirus has a high incidence of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Many patients infected with COVID-19 need to be admitted to the ICU for invasive ventilation. They are also at a high risk of developing secondary, ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).
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Content ArticleThe primary objective of this multicenter, observational, retrospective study from Giacobbe et al. was to assess the incidence rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in intensive care units (ICU). The secondary objective was to assess predictors of 30-day case-fatality of VAP.
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Content ArticleDuncan L Wyncoll and Peter J Young discuss 'Treating the symptom not the cause' of ventilator associated pneumonia.
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Content ArticleThe PneuX System is a novel endotracheal tube and tracheal seal monitor, which has been designed to minimise the aspiration of oropharyngeal secretions. Doyle et al. aimed to determine the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in patients who were intubated with the PneuX System and to establish whether intermittent subglottic secretion drainage could be performed reliably and safely using the PneuX System.
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Content ArticleThis document highlights practical recommendations in a concise format to assist acute care hospitals in implementing and prioritising strategies to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and other ventilator-associated events (VAEs) and to improve outcomes for mechanically ventilated adults, children, and neonates.
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Content ArticleThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide answers to FAQs about ventilator-associated pneumonia.
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Content ArticleVentilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) continues to be a clinically important hospital-acquired infection. In this paper, Marin H. Kollef discusses the financial impact.
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Content ArticleHealthcare associated infections (HAI), such as ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), are the most common and most preventable complication of a patient’s hospital stay. Their frequency and potential adverse effects increase in critically ill patients because of impaired physiology, including a blunted immune response and multi-organ dysfunction. Traditionally, VAP rates have been measured as an indicator of quality of care. Despite recent initiatives to measure complications of mechanical ventilation and a decrease in incidence over the past few years, VAP remains an issue for critically ill adults, with mortality estimated as high as 10%. This article from Boltey et al. reviews the top five evidence-based nursing practices for reducing VAP risk in critically ill adults.
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Content ArticleVentilator-associated pneumonia is an important healthcare-associated infection. Interventions for the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia are often used within bundles of care. Recent evidence has challenged widespread practices mandating a review of subject. This article outlines guidance for ventilator-associated pneumonia prevention.
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Content ArticleVentilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in ventilated critically ill patients. Muscedere et al. systematically searched for all relevant randomised, controlled trials and systematic reviews on the topic of prevention of VAP in adults that were published from 1980 to 1 October 2006. in order to develop evidence-based guidelines for the prevention of VAP.
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Content Article
COVID-19 therapies in the US
Claire Cox posted an article in Good practice and useful resources
This document designed by the Patient Safety Movement is a dynamic document that gives a summary of therapies given to COVID patients in the US. -
Content ArticleThis report, published by the Association of Anaesthetists, gives recommendations based on clinical experiences of managing patients throughout Italy. In particular, the authors describe key elements of clinical management, including: safe oxygen therapy; airway management; personal protective equipment; and non‐technical aspects of caring for patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019.
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Content ArticleThis cohort study in JAMA Network explored the incidence of and factors associated with inappropriate diagnosis of pneumonia in hospitalised patients. The results showed that older patients, those with dementia and those presenting with altered mental status had the highest risk of being inappropriately diagnosed. For those who were inappropriately diagnosed, full antibiotic duration was associated with antibiotic-associated adverse events.
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Content ArticleThis systematic review and meta-analysis in JAMA Internal Medicine aimed to explore whether there is an association between daily toothbrushing among hospitalised patients and prevention of hospital-acquired pneumonia. The authors found that hospital-acquired pneumonia rates were lower among patients randomised to daily toothbrushing, particularly among patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation. Toothbrushing was also associated with shorter duration of mechanical ventilation, shorter intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay and lower ICU mortality, whereas hospital length of stay and use of antibiotics showed no differences.
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Content Article
AvMA case study: Stuart's story
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Risk management and legal issues
This article tells the story of Stuart, who died as a result of medication errors while recovering from surgery at a private hospital in January 2013. Stuart had dystonia, an incurable condition that he managed by taking a careful balance of three medications. Following surgery to remove his larynx, the private neurological centre where he was staying ran out of clonazepam, a medication Stuart needed to control his dystonia. Stuart became very unwell, but instead of seeking advice from a doctor, the nurses treated his symptoms as a UTI. on 26 December he was found unresponsive in bed and rushed to ICU at a local hospital. but died a few weeks later from sever kidney and muscle damage. An inquest into Stuart's death found that the lack of clonazepam had caused an increase in Stuart’s muscle spasms, eventually leading to severe muscle and kidney damage. He then developed bronchopneumonia, which was the final factor in his death.
