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Showing results for tags 'Recovery'.
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News Article
Long Covid health staff 'abandoned and forgotten'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Healthcare workers with Long Covid say the government needs to do more to support those left with life-changing disabilities since catching the virus. Nurse Rachel Hext, 37 from Paignton, insisted she caught Covid in her job as a nurse in a small community hospital in Devon. "We were clapped and called heroes, and now those of us who have been bereaved or disabled by it have been forgotten," she said. The government said it knew Long Covid could have a debilitating impact on people's physical and mental health, that there was a "range of support for staff" and it was funding research into it. Mrs Hext is one of a group of healthcare workers with long Covid who have taken their fight to the High Court to try to sue the NHS and other employers for compensation. The staff, from England and Wales, said they believed they first caught Covid at work during the pandemic and said they were not properly protected from the virus. She said: "I want acknowledgement and I want support for the people who need it. "Long Covid is absolutely life-changing. It's devastated us as a family." Read full story Source: BBC News, 20 March 2025 Related reading on the hub: "Forgotten heroes" – the sequel: a blog and resources from David Osborn The pandemic – questions around Government governance: a blog from David Osborn Healthcare workers with Long Covid: Group litigation- Posted
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News Article
Patients with Long Covid regain sense of smell and taste with pioneering surgery
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Doctors in London have successfully restored a sense of smell and taste in patients who lost it due to long Covid with pioneering surgery that expands their nasal airways to kickstart their recovery. Most patients diagnosed with Covid-19 recover fully. But the infectious disease can lead to serious long-term effects. About six in every 100 people who get Covid develop Long Covid, with millions of people affected globally, according to the World Health Organization. Losing a sense of smell and taste are among more than 200 different symptoms reported by people with Long Covid. Now surgeons at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) have cured a dozen patients, each of whom had suffered a profound loss of smell after a Covid infection. All had experienced the problem for more than two years and other treatments, such as smell training and corticosteroids, had failed. In a study aiming to find new ways to resolve the issue, surgeons tried a technique called functional septorhinoplasty (fSRP), which is typically used to correct any deviation of the nasal septum, increasing the size of nasal passageways. This boosts airflow into the olfactory region, at the roof of the nasal cavity, which controls smell. Doctors said the surgery enabled an increased amount of odorants – chemical compounds that have a smell – to reach the roof of the nose, where sense of smell is located. They believe that increasing the delivery of odorants to this area “kickstarts” smell recovery in patients who have lost their sense of smell to Long Covid. Prof Peter Andrews, a senior consultant surgeon in rhinology and facial plastic surgery who led the research, said surgery increased the airway by about 30%, so airflow also increased by about 30%. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 7 March 2025- Posted
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Content Article
Around 5–10% of people with Covid infections go on to experience Long Covid, with symptoms lasting three months or more. Researchers have proposed several biological mechanisms to explain Long Covid. However, in a perspective article published in the latest Medical Journal of Australia, the authors argue that much, if not all, Long Covid appears to be driven by the virus itself persisting in the body. Since relatively early in the pandemic, there has been a recognition that in some people, SARS-CoV-2 – or at least remnants of the virus – could stay in various tissues and organs for extended periods. This theory is known as “viral persistence”. While the long-term presence of residual viral fragments in some people’s bodies is now well established, what remains less certain is whether live virus itself, not just old bits of virus, is lingering – and if so, whether this is what causes long COVID. This distinction is crucial because live virus can be targeted by specific antiviral approaches in ways that “dead” viral fragments cannot. Viral persistence has two significant implications: when it occurs in some highly immunocompromised people, it is thought to be the source of new and substantially different-looking variants, such as JN.1 it has the potential to continue to cause symptoms in many people in the wider population long beyond the acute illness. In other words, long COVID could be caused by a long infection.- Posted
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Content Article
The aim of the Long Covid webinar held on 5 July 2023 was to discuss where we are now with Long Covid clinics and research. The presentation videos from the webinar can be accessed from the link below.- Posted
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In a new Lancet Respiratory Medicine Series about Long Covid, Sally J Singh and colleagues discuss the origins of respiratory sequelae and consider the promise of adapted pulmonary rehabilitation programmes and physiotherapy techniques for breathing management. Pratik Pandharipande and colleagues review the epidemiology and pathophysiology of neuropsychological sequelae of COVID-19-related critical illness, highlighting the combined threat of long COVID and post-intensive care syndrome (PICS), and outline potential mitigation strategies. Finally, Matteo Parotto and colleagues discuss pathophysiological mechanisms of diverse, multisystem sequelae in adult survivors of critical illness, including longitudinal effects of endothelial and immune system dysfunction, and consider the challenges of providing appropriate care and support for patients.- Posted
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Content Article
Successful day surgery requires a day surgery team with the correct knowledge and skills to enable safe, early recovery and discharge but there is an absence of national guidance on supporting competencies. Applying in-patient competency criteria is inappropriate as this pathway is not aimed at promoting early discharge. This joint publication between AfPP and BADS (the British Association Of Day Surgery) provides recommendations for core competencies for adult day surgery through (1) admission, (2) anaesthetic room, (3) theatres, (4) first-stage recovery and (5) second-stage recovery and discharge. They are relevant for staff new to or after a long absence from day surgery and acknowledge some members of the day surgery team may include non-registered practitioners. All can be used as a reference for workbook competency documents in place or in development.- Posted
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The AHRQ Safety Program for Improving Surgical Care and Recovery (ISCR) Toolkit helps hospitals improve patients' surgical experience by adopting enhanced recovery practices. Enhanced recovery practices are evidence-based processes that are supported by multidisciplinary teams and span the continuum of perioperative care. Hospitals can use the toolkit to apply the evidence for enhanced recovery within the proven principles and methods of AHRQ's Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) to prevent complications such as surgical site infections, venous thromboembolism, and urinary tract infection, and improve perioperative safety culture. -
Content Article
In this episode of the Medicine and the Machine podcast, Scottish GP Gavin Francis talks about the need to reconsider the importance of convalescence. He discusses the role of GPs in supporting patients through recovery after a hospital admission or period of illness and talks about a lack of awareness of the principles of convalescence amongst patients. -
Content Article
Delayed discharges from hospital are a widespread and longstanding problem that can have a significant impact on both patients’ recovery and the efficiency and effectiveness of health and care services. In England, it has become normal practice for government to provide additional one-off funding to reduce delays every winter, as the problem is particularly acute during the colder months. The King's Fund interviewed commissioners and service providers in six local areas to find out how they experienced the process of receiving additional funds, making plans, and delivering and monitoring the plans in winter 2022–23. Although they welcomed extra funding, they said that it came with insufficient advance notice for effective planning, sometimes having to be spent on residential care that was available at short notice rather than developing more services to support people at home. Commissioners and service providers also wanted to be able to use the funds to prevent avoidable hospital admissions, and strongly criticised burdensome monitoring requirements. Some areas did manage to use the funding to put services in place and support the social care workforce but were not confident they were spending funding as effectively as possible. -
Content Article
The pandemic is not gone but it is largely forgotten. Especially the first year, with its two devastating waves in which over 140,000 people died. The NHS reorganised itself completely to deliver care to the thousands of very sick Covid patients, alongside continuing care for other patients throughout. The system strained and buckled and staff were pushed to their limits and beyond. The impact continues today as the NHS is weaker, less resilient and with much longer waits than before. In this article, Christina Pagel looks back at the reality of the first year and its aftermath and hears anonymous testimony from staff at the NHS front line. “Staff sitting in literal cupboards crying alone because staff weren’t allowed to sit together & we couldn’t take all the death around us. It was utterly traumatising” -
Content Article
Surgical Voices podcasts
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Surgery
A series of podcasts from Molnlycke UK, with host Steve Feast, discussing topics such as sustainability, patient safety and more. Episodes: Sustainability in the operating theatre - guest speakers Tod Brindle, Molnlycke Medical Director, and Toby Cobbledick, Molnlycke Sustainability Specialist. Preventing surgical site infections: pre-surgery - guest speaker Lindsay Keeley, Patient Safety and Quality Lead AfPP. Preventing surgical site infections: post-surgery - guest speaker Lindsay Keeley, Patient Safety and Quality Lead AfPP. Supporting patients in their recovery from surgery - guest speaker Helen Hughes - Chief Executive of Patient Safety Learning.- Posted
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- Surgery - General
- Infection control
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News Article
The ‘wrecked’ lives of forgotten Long Covid sufferers
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Nearly four years since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, you could be forgiven for believing the pandemic is behind us. But for many, it feels far from over. Close to two million people face a daily battle with debilitating symptoms of Long Covid – the lasting symptoms of the virus that remain after the infection is gone – with some now housebound, unable to walk and even partially blind. Alan Chambers, 49, is among those who have been grappling with the illness for years, having caught coronavirus in March 2020. Mr Chambers went from being “a fit, healthy, working member of the community who would do anything to help anyone” to being “ill and isolated in our bedroom”, blind in one eye and no longer able to walk unaided, his wife Vicki said. As of March, an estimated 1.9 million people in the UK have experienced coronavirus symptoms for more than four weeks, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics. Of those, 1.5 million reported the condition had adversely affected their day-to-day activities. It comes as coronavirus case rates have shown an overall increase since July, with fears the approaching winter will bring a further surge in infections. Yet in May, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that coronavirus no longer represents a global health emergency, which was seen as a symbolic step towards the end of the pandemic. Dr Jo House, founding member and health advocacy lead at Long Covid Support, said the advocacy group now has 62,000 members, with about 250 more people joining every month. “In their words, they feel ‘forgotten, unheard, disbelieved, isolated, unemployed, disabled, immobile’. NHS England admitted to The Independent that access to necessary support, treatment and care for Long Covid patients is still lacking. It said there was “still more to do to ensure support is there for everyone who needs it”, so that patients requiring specialist assessment and treatment for Long Covid can access care in a timely way. Read full story Source: The Independent, 29 November 2023- Posted
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News Article
Brain fog after Covid linked to blood clots - study
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Blood clots in the brain or the lungs might explain some common symptoms of "Long Covid", including brain fog and fatigue, a UK study suggests. In the study, of 1,837 people admitted to hospital because of Covid, researchers say two blood proteins point to clots being one cause. It is thought 16% of such patients have trouble thinking, concentrating or remembering for at least six months. But the research team, from the universities of Oxford and Leicester, stress: Their findings are relevant only to patients admitted to hospital. They are "the first piece of the jigsaw" but further research is needed before they can propose or test any potential treatments. They tracked cognitive problems at six and 12 months only and through tests and questionnaires, which may "lack sensitivity". Identifying predictors and possible mechanisms was "a key step" in understanding post-Covid brain fog, study author Prof Paul Harrison, from the University of Oxford, said. Leicester's professor of respiratory medicine, Chris Brightling, said: "It's a combination of someone's health before, the acute event itself and what happens afterwards that lead on to physical and mental health consequences." Read full story Source: BBC News, 31 August 2023- Posted
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Content Article
This study from Walker et al. describes self-reported characteristics and symptoms of treatment-seeking patients with Long Covid and assesses the impact of symptoms on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and patients’ ability to work and undertake activities of daily living. It found that a high proportion were of working age with over half reporting moderately severe or worse functional limitation. There were substantial impacts on ability to work and activities of daily living in people with Long Covid. Clinical care and rehabilitation should address the management of fatigue as the dominant symptom explaining variation in functionality.- Posted
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This podcast series from Julie Taylor aims to raise awareness of Long Covid, provide a platform of support, education and the lived experience. Julie is a registered nurse in the UK and became unwell with Covid in May 2020 while working on the frontline, during the first wave of the pandemic. She now lives with Long Covid and POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome). In this podcast series, Julie shares her journey and lived experience, the symptoms and how each impacts daily life, not only the physical issues but also the impact this has had mentally and emotionally.- Posted
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Content Article
Primary care, like many parts of the NHS and health systems globally, is under tremendous pressure – one in five people report they did not get through or get a reply when they last attempted to contact their practice. The Fuller Stocktake built a broad consensus on the vision for integrating primary care with three essential elements: streamlining access to care and advice; providing more proactive, personalised care from a multidisciplinary team of professionals; and helping people stay well for longer. The joint NHS and Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) plan is an important first step in delivering the vision set out in Dr Claire Fuller’s Next steps for integrating primary care. This plan from NHS England has two central ambitions: 1. To tackle the 8am rush and reduce the number of people struggling to contact their practice. Patients should no longer be asked to call back another day to book an appointment, and we will invest in general practice to enable this. 2. For patients to know on the day they contact their practice how their request will be managed. a. If their need is clinically urgent it should be assessed on the same day by a telephone or face-to-face appointment. If the patient contacts their practice in the afternoon they may be assessed on the next day, where clinically appropriate. b. If their need is not urgent, but it requires a telephone or face-to-face appointment, this should be scheduled within two weeks. c. Where appropriate, patients will be signposted to self-care or other local services (eg community pharmacy or self-referral services).- Posted
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Content Article
In this blog, published by the World Health Organization, we hear about one family's experience of long Covid. Claire Hastie and her children are yet to recover and continue to experience numerous debilitating symptoms that prevent them from taking part in their pre-covid occupations. WHO/Europe has also been working with patient groups to define priority areas where action is needed. It is now calling upon governments and authorities to focus attention on long COVID and its sufferers through greater: recognition: all services must be adequately equipped, and no patient should be left alone or have to struggle to navigate through a system that is not prepared to, or not capable of, recognizing this very debilitating condition; research and reporting: data gathering and reporting of cases, and well-coordinated research with full participation of patients, are needed to advance understanding of the prevalence, causes and costs of long COVID; and rehabilitation: this cost-effective intervention is an investment in building back healthy and productive societies.- Posted
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News Article
Nearly 70 healthcare workers with Long Covid will take their fight to the High Court later to sue the NHS and other employers for compensation. The staff, from England and Wales, believe they first caught Covid at work during the pandemic and say they were not properly protected from the virus. Many of them say they are left with life-changing disabilities and are likely to lose income as a result. The Department of Health said "there are lessons to be learnt" from Covid. The group believe they were not provided with adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) at work, which includes eye protection, gloves, gowns and aprons. In particular, they say they should have had access to high-grade masks, which help block droplets in the air from patient's coughs and sneezes which can contain the Covid virus. But the masks they were given tended to be in line with national guidance. Rachel Hext, who is 36, has always insisted that she caught Covid in her job as a nurse in a small community hospital in Devon. "It's devastating. I live an existence rather than a life. It prevents me doing so much of what I want to do. And it's been four years." Her list of long Covid symptoms includes everything from brain fog and extreme fatigue to nerve damage, and deafness in one ear. Solicitor Kevin Digby, who represents more than 60 members of the group, describes their case as "very important". He says: "It's quite harrowing. These people really have been abandoned, and they are really struggling to fight to get anything. "Now, they can take it to court and hope that they can get some compensation for the injuries that they've suffered." Read full story Source: BBC News, 6 March 2024 Related reading on the hub: Healthcare workers with Long Covid: Group litigation – a blog from David Osborn The pandemic – questions around Government governance: a blog from David Osborn- Posted
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- PPE (personal Protective Equipment)
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News Article
‘Brain fog’ from Long Covid has measurable impact, study suggests
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
People experiencing Long Covid have measurable memory and cognitive deficits equivalent to a difference of about six IQ points, a study suggests. The study, which assessed more than 140,000 people in summer 2022, revealed that Covid-19 may have an impact on cognitive and memory abilities that lasts a year or more after infection. People with unresolved symptoms that had persisted for more than 12 weeks had more significant deficits in performance on tasks involving memory, reasoning and executive function. Scientist said this showed that “brain fog” had a quantifiable impact. Prof Adam Hampshire, a cognitive neuroscientist at Imperial College London and first author of the study, said: “It’s not been at all clear what brain fog actually is. As a symptom it’s been reported on quite extensively, but what our study shows is that brain fog can correlate with objectively measurable deficits. That is quite an important finding.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 29 February 2024- Posted
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Event
This Westminster conference will discuss the future for Long Covid research, services, and care. It will be an opportunity to assess Long Covid: the NHS plan for improving Long Covid services and how its ambitions for improving access to services, patient experience and outcomes for patients can be achieved. Further sessions examine priorities for research and improving understanding of Long Covid, looking at implementing the latest developments in research to improve services, and the long-term health implications of Long Covid. There will also be discussion on addressing concerns around inequalities, capacity and wait times for Long Covid services, as well as the primary care referral system, and utilisation of investment. Sessions in the agenda include: latest developments: trends - key issues - assessing the NHS plan for improving long COVID services. clinical research: taking forward the understanding of Long Covid - advancing clinical trials - utilising data - funding and investment. improving patient outcomes, prediction and prevention - accelerating the development of effective treatments - areas for focus, such as cardiology. examining the increased risk of long-term health conditions and impacts of reinfection for Long Covid patients. improving specialist Long Covid services: progress made so far and priorities for moving forward. options for increasing capacity - addressing inequalities in provision, access to services and information - applying latest developments from research. children’s Long Covid services: assessing delivery - implications for child development and attainment. primary care: tackling key challenges for diagnosis and referral. the workforce: priorities for education and training - support for long COVID patients in the workforce. Register -
Event
The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted nearly all countries’ health systems and diminished their capability to provide safe health care, specifically due to errors, harm and delays in diagnosis, treatment and care management. “Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for patient safety: a rapid review” emphasises the high risk of avoidable harm to patients, health workers, and the general public, and exposes a range of safety gaps across all core components of health systems at all levels. The disruptive and transformative impacts of the pandemic have confirmed patient safety as a critical health system issue and a global public health concern. The objectives of the WHO event are : provide an overview of implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for patients, health workers, and the general public highlight importance of managing risks and addressing avoidable harm in a pandemic situation discuss implications of the pandemic for patient safety within broader context of preparedness, response and recovery lay the foundation for follow-up work around generating more robust evidence and supporting countries in their efforts to build resilient and safer health care systems. Register -
Event
Long COVID Physio International Forum
Sam posted an event in Community Calendar
untilLong COVID Physio will host the Long COVID Physio International Forum in partnership with Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions and Fisiocamera, sponsored by Kaiser Permanente and Realize Canada. The two day online forum will bring the lived experience to Long COVID, disability and rehabilitation. The Long COVID Physio International Forum is suitable for any audience, including health and social care professionals, people living with or affected by Long COVID or other conditions, academics, service providers, policymakers, students of allied health and rehabilitation professions, and people wanting to learn more. The Long COVID Physio International Forum programme will be released soon. Programme content will be delivered live and available on demand, covering three different streams: Science - learn the most up to date research from leaders in the field. Discussion - the hot discussions and debates on the topics we all want. Workshop - share knowledge and skills that make a difference. Registration will open June 15th 2022. Further details can be found here.- Posted
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untilThis webinar is part of the HSJ Elective Care Recovery Virtual Series. To clear the waiting list backlog, hospitals will need to drive more elective activity within capacity and resource constraints. It demands the need to think differently and to work differently, questioning assumptions about the ‘normal’ ways of doing things. In this session we’ll explore innovative ideas, digital interventions and transformation programmes designed to free up time in elective pathways. Key topics include: Patient-initiated follow-ups Reducing outpatient appointments Pre-operative transformation / digitisation Investing in digital tools to improve efficiency in elective care pathways Register- Posted
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untilIn the first of the Health Services Journal (HSJ) Elective Care Recovery Virtual Series, we’ll be exploring the requirements of the Elective Recovery Plan – which was published in February - and the role that digital innovations can play in tackling long waiting lists and ensuring patients are prioritised by clinical need. We will start by hearing from Sir Jim Mackey, chief executive, Northumbria Healthcare Trust and national director for elective care recovery about the broad direction of the plan and its key asks of NHS organisations. Then we will look at the role that digital innovations can play in supporting patients and clinicians and hear from some examples where this has been put into practice. Viewers will be able to pose questions to the panellists during the discussion. Speakers include: Sir James Mackey, national director of elective recovery and chief executive, Northumbria Healthcare Foundation Trust Viki Jenkins, heart failure advanced nurse practitioner and echocardiographer, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board James Illman (Chair) Register- Posted
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untilThe UK may have now past the worse of the pandemic, but the burden of Long Covid is only going to intensify in the weeks and months ahead. Estimates suggest that well over a million people are suffering from the condition, nearly half of whom have struggled with persistent symptoms for at least a year. Many will have developed Long Covid after the recent Omicron wave, which fuelled millions of weekly infections over the Christmas period. Yet support and treatment for these individuals has been in short supply. The NHS’ dedicated long Covid clinics have struggled to cope with high demand from patients, who feel neglected and ignored by the health system. Some ‘long haulers,’ as they’re known, have come together to form support groups and have regularly petitioned the government for more help and recognition of their plight. Despite the many challenges that lie ahead, there is some hope on the horizon: scientists are starting to make progress in better understanding long Covid and closing in on some of the biggest questions surrounding the condition. To discuss all of these themes, join out expert panel hosted by The Independent's Health Correspondent Rebecca Thomas and Science Correspondent Samuel Lovett, with Dr Elaine Maxwell, Professor Amitava Banerjee and Professor Brendan Delaney. Register- Posted
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