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2023 September issue Serious hazards of transfusion (SHOT) report warns of alarming increase in transfusion errors and harm to patients. Doctors cut waiting list for breast cancer surgery patients. Study reveals surgeons need to improve how they communicate with patients about new procedures. Nurses’ intentions to quit increased during the pandemic despite their high resilience August issue Most common medical claims: How to avoid malpractice allegations. Report recommends packaging and labelling change to prevent implant ‘never event’. New guidance on safe injection practice in hospitals emphasises the importance of prefilled and labelled syringes in avoiding medication errors. Progress with the new hospital programme. Advancements in minimally invasive surgery: Techniques, instruments, and patient outcomes. July issue NHS must accept accountability and learn from mistakes. Simulation based education in healthcare higher education: In what ways does it impact perceived clinical confidence, knowledge, and skills acquisition in student Operating Department Practitioners? Risk reduction in endo-tracheal tube fixation. Historic plan launched to move Wales towards zero deaths from bowel cancer. Taking higher-than-recommended doses of Vitamin D for five years reduced the risk of atrial fibrillation. As complications from cosmetic tourism rise, UK and Turkish plastic surgeons unite to issue consumer guidelines. New research highlights opportunities to improve care of patients having major surgery. June issue How to THRIVE in the Operating Theatre Preoperative optimisation: The effect of prehabilitation interventions on the postoperative recovery of cancer patients undergoing colorectal surgery – Literature review and discussion based paper. Surgeons must tackle three global health challenges to save lives. “PERUSE before you Infuse”. Artificial Intelligence could speed up heart attack diagnosis, SurgiBox: Ukraine’s SurgiBox Project has been successfully demonstrating safe surgery to patients around the world May issue Reducing mortality in emergency surgery: Focussing minds through a national clinical audit in the NHS. Majority of NHS trusts do not offer training to prevent sexual harassment, study finds. Handwashing during ‘normal times’ can reduce burden of respiratory disease. The Surgical Education Checklist as a tool to improve teaching within the operating theatre. April issue NatSSIPs 2 Sequential Steps: The NatSSIPs Eight – Flowchart. Mobile operating theatre helping drive down waiting times in Yorkshire. Why hospitals and ICBs are seeking new intel to find hidden high-risk patients on waiting lists. March issues NHS Scotland first in world to ‘clean up’ anaesthetic gases. New standards to Improve the safety of invasive procedures in the NHS. Researchers suggest novel cutpoints for diagnosing cardiac hypertrophy in adolescents and young adults. NHS patients targeted to reduce risks as they wait for hospital treatment. February New standards to improve the safety of invasive procedures in the NHS. Delphi Study Round Three – A study across NHS England hospital trust operating theatres. Crash and burn(out) – Aviation-style safety checklist and confidential helpline for surgical community to prevent mental health crisis. A Wound Care Study: has the pandemic led to new and improved ways of working? HSIB investigation: Access to critical patient information at the bedside. Artificial intelligence, Patient safety and achieving the quintuple aim in anaesthesiology. January Delphi Study Round Two – A study across NHS England hospital trust operating theatres. Intercollegiate green theatre checklist Local Interventions to support the recovery of elective surgery at the University College London Hospitals department of theatres & anaesthesia. 2022 December issue Delphi Study Round One – A study across NHS England Hospital Trust operating theatres. Managing NHS backlogs and waiting times in England. Steroid injections worsen knee arthritis, according to two new studies. First robotic hysterectomy completed in Wales. World’s first algae-based local anaesthetic another step closer to reality. How new bacterial species siscovered in Asian soil could help battle against antibiotic resistance November issue New research calls for all health and care staff to be trained in AI Reducing noise in operating theatre improves children’s behaviour after surgery, study finds Brain tumour patient operated on awake while playing saxophone No difference between spinal versus general anaesthesia in patients having hip fracture surgery finds study October issue Why are intra-operative surgical Never Events still occurring in NHS operating theatres? Radical rethink needed to improve safety in health and social care. World Anaesthesia Day 2022: History, significance, celebrations and theme. £4 million “space-age” operating theatre will help bring down eye surgery backlog. Two thirds of nurses choosing between food and fuel as cost of living bites and one in five turn to food banks. ‘An inspirational story’: Hartlepool cleaner changes career to become hospital nurse. September issue Service evaluation of the current World Health Organisation’s Surgical Safety Checklist in spine surgery at the University Hospitals of Derby & Burton. Could this lead to a change in NHS Improvement? The Anaesthetic Gas Scavenging System Project. Cancelled operations could be prevented by an earlier anaemia test and time to prepare. The top 10 things experts need you to know about screening during Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month September 2022 £35.5m for New Friarage Hospital Operating Theatres. New robotic surgical system revolutionises patient care at UHCW. Insourcing: Giving NHS operating theatre teams a helping hand. Arterial stiffness raises blood pressure in adolescents via insulin resistance. Birmingham’s Public Health Chief is among sector leaders to receive university honours,

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.

Surgical treatment like facelifts and hair transplants should only be carried out by regulated professionals e.g. surgeons. But the landscape isn’t as clear for non-surgical treatments. The facts are as follows: Practitioners offering treatments such as lip fillers, anti-wrinkle injections (like Botox) and lasers do not need to be regulated by law (although legislation may change in the future) In theory, anyone can offer these treatments Anti-wrinkle injections require a prescription, but lip fillers don’t This means that if you’re having Botox (or similar), the prescriber should speak to you to assess your suitability for the procedure. There are no plans to make lip fillers prescription-only, but there are plans to reclassify them as ‘medical devices’. This should standardise the quality of filler products on the market and eliminate cheap imports from abroad.

The independent sector demonstrated its ability and willingness to work collaboratively with the NHS towards a common goal during the pandemic. It currently delivers 6% of diagnostic tests, and 9% of appointments or treatments that completed a patient pathway and removed them from the waiting list, with even more care delivered through close partnerships with NHS providers. All independent sector activity undertaken on behalf of the NHS is delivered free at the point of use (and independent sector providers (ISPs) are paid in line with NHS unit prices), upholding the founding principles of the NHS that access should be based on clinical need, not an individual’s ability to pay. ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Maximising the use of all NHS assets and available independent sector capacity is a key part of the plan to tackle the elective backlog and, while use of the independent sector is up, this is concentrated in specific specialties. The Elective Recovery Taskforce was set up in December 2022 to advise and inform the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Prime Minister on how to increase the volume of elective consultations and procedures by both the NHS and the independent sector as far as possible to tackle the backlog. The taskforce, chaired by Minister Will Quince, brought together leading voices from across the NHS, independent healthcare sector and patient representatives to collaboratively come up with solutions. The taskforce concluded at the end of March 2023, agreeing to work together to implement action in 4 core areas: empower patients to exercise their right to choice deliver a post-pandemic recovery enable longer-term system sustainability deliver this plan and go further The actions are set out in this implementation plan, with a summary at Annex A. Following the conclusion of the taskforce at the end of March 2023, the focus has turned to delivery and putting these actions into practice, with appointees invited to convene after 6 months to review progress.

The Patient Association worked closely with this group of patients to understand what information they needed to make an informed decision about opting for a surgical hub and what they felt would improve the overall process, including scheduling of appointments, and travelling to a surgical hub which may be in a different location to their local hospital. By watching this video you’ll learn about the purpose of surgical hubs to provide more capacity for non-emergency surgery, helping to reduce waiting times for your operation. The video also explains what is involved if you are offered the option to have your surgery at a hub and presents the experiences of patients who have used a hub.

The first half of the webinar featured the following subjects and speakers: Introduction - Professor Iain Moppett, CPOC NatSSIPs 2 Lead. The CPOC Perspective - Professor Scarlett McNally, CPOC Deputy Director. The Patient Safety Learning Perspective - Helen Hughes, Chief Exuecutive of Patient Safety Learning. Photo review of why NatSSIPs matters and what is new in NatSIPPs 2 - Dr Annie Hunningher, CPOC NatSSIPs 2 Lead. The Patient Perspective - Susanna Stanford, NatSSIPs 2 Patient Lead. The second half of the webinar featured the following subjects and speakers: Our NatSSIPs 2 workshop and how to consider a NatSSIPs gap analysis - Joe Allen, Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Trust. Team Training for NatSSIPs 2 - Philip Gamston, Perfusion Service Manager at Barts Health NHS Trust. Resources to support NatSSIPs 2 implementation - Dr Dr Annie Hunningher, CPOC NatSSIPs 2 Lead. Q&A - Professor Iain Moppett, CPOC NatSSIPs 2 Lead. Are you a healthcare professional interested in learning more about NatSSIPs? On the hub we host the National NatSSIPs Network, a voluntary group of healthcare professionals aiming to reduce the number of patient safety incidents related to invasive procedures. You can join by signing up to the hub today. When putting in your details, please tick ‘National NatSSIPs Network’ in the ‘Join a private group’ section’. If you are already a member of the hub, please email hello@patientsafetylearning.org.