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News Article
New COVID-19 saliva test effective at finding symptomless cases
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A new COVID-19 test that is able to detect even asymptomatic cases of the virus through saliva is being piloted in the UK. The new LamPORE test, developed by UK-based company Oxford Nanopore, will be tested in mobile laboratories in four areas across the country. It is already being used in Aberdeen, with plans to roll it out in Telford, Brent and Newbury, and results so far have shown it is even effective at detecting the virus in people who are not showing symptoms. LamPORE will allow for additional testing capacity where it is needed for large numbers of people and be used -
News Article
Boris Johnson’s plans to test millions of schoolchildren for coronavirus every week appear to be in disarray after the UK regulator refused to formally approve the daily testing of pupils in England, the Guardian has learned. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) told the government on Tuesday it had not authorised the daily use of 30-minute tests due to concerns that they give people false reassurance if they test negative. This could lead to pupils staying in school and potentially spreading the virus when they should be self-isolating. The regulator’s deci -
News Article
COVID-19: Controversial rapid test policy divides doctors and scientists
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The UK government’s new policy of distributing rapid coronavirus tests to local authorities in England has divided the medical and scientific community, with some calling for the tests to be halted because they could falsely reassure people and increase the spread of COVID-19. Critics are also concerned that the policy, announced on Sunday 10 January, was being rolled out without sufficient provision for people who test positive, such as putting them in hotels and compensating them financially. Supporters say the tests are a valuable additional tool in public health interventions to ident -
Content Article
LATEST Patient Safety Weekly Update #21 (18 February 2020) Patient Safety Weekly Update #20 (11 February 2020) Patient Safety Weekly Update #19 (4 February 2020) Patient Safety Weekly Update #18 (28 January 2020) Patient Safety Weekly Update #17 (21 January 2020) Patient Safety Weekly Update #16 (14 January 2020) Patient Safety Weekly Update #15 (7 January 2020) Patient Safety Weekly Update #14 (17 December 2020) Patient Safety Weekly Update #13 (10 December 2020) Patient Safety Weekly Update #12 (3 December 2020) Patient Safety Weekl -
News Article
The lateral flow devices used in the community testing pilot in Liverpool only picked up half the COVID-19 cases detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and missed 3 out of 10 cases with higher viral loads, according to the government’s own policy paper. Given the low sensitivity of the Innova lateral flow devices when used in the field, experts are questioning how they can be used to allow care home residents to have contact with relatives over Christmas safely or for students to know for certain that they are not infected before returning home. The information can only be -
Content Article
The pandemic’s effect on non COVID-19 care and treatment While the healthcare system has rightly focused its attention on the deadly effects of COVID-19, we made the case this year that we need to pay attention to patient safety now more than ever; the pandemic has both magnified existing patient safety issues and created new challenges. One major area of our focus has been the pandemic’s impact on non COVID-19 care and treatment, and the consequences for patient safety. To develop our understanding of this issue, in March we launched our #safetystories campaign, asking for patients w- Posted
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Content Article
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News Article
Incorrect covid tests spark harm review for staff and patients
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Trusts are carrying out harm reviews after a ‘contamination issue’ affecting hundreds of samples resulted in some staff and patients being wrongly told they had coronavirus, HSJ can reveal. The error happened in mid-October and involved swabs from five trusts in the South East region, which were being processed by the NHS-run Berkshire and Surrey Pathology Services. HSJ understands it is thought that around 100 people across several trusts were given false positive results, and subsequently tested negative. The trusts involved are the Royal Surrey Foundation Trust, Frimley Healt -
News Article
Inspectors moving between Covid-hit England care homes without tests
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Health inspectors in England have been moving between care homes with high levels of COVID-19 infection without being tested, raising fears they have put more residents at risk of catching the virus, leaks to the Guardian have revealed. In recent weeks all care home inspections carried out in the north of England have been of infected homes, including a facility where 38 of the 41 people receiving care and 30 staff – almost half of the workers – had tested positive, internal documents from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) show. Over the last two months inspectors have been checking -
News Article
Dido Harding to speak tomorrow (Thursday) at HSJ provider summit
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS Test and Trace chief Baroness Dido Harding will be interviewed by HSJ editor Alastair McLellan at 9am tomorrow as part of HSJ’s virtual provider summit. HSJ’s subscribers working in the NHS or a non-profit organisation can register to attend the summit here. Other speakers will include new Health Education England chief executive Navina Evans and King’s Fund chief executive Richard Murray. The subjects due to be covered include how the NHS will tackle the drive to recover routine care, the service’s workforce challenges and how forthcoming legislation may impact the governance o -
News Article
Hancock calls for routine flu testing as part of major diagnostics expansion
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Matt Hancock has called for British people to routinely get tested for the flu, saying covid diagnostic capacity should be kept and used for “everything” once the pandemic dies down. Speaking at the Commons health and social care committee this morning, the health and social care secretary said the nation “must hold on to” the mass diagnostic capacity it has created for coronavirus. Going further, he called for a change in culture to one of “if in doubt, you get a test”, and for a long-term expansion of diagnostics. Mr Hancock said: “Why in Britain do we think it’s acceptable to- Posted
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Content Article
Consider your balance between remote and face to face care – have you got it right and how might it need to change in the months to come? Think about how you are going to manage respiratory symptoms over the winter and be aware of the issues with COVID-19 in children and what to do if resuscitation is needed.Shielding is paused and is unlikely to return in the same form as at the start of the pandemic.Know about the standard operating procedure (SOP) for primary care Appraisal is restarting in a very light-touch way and there are other changes to administration.Continue to wear PPE w- Posted
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- Primary care
- Virus
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News Article
NHS staff to get twice-weekly home covid tests with immediate effect
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The NHS will rollout twice-weekly asymptomatic testing for all patient-facing staff by the end of next week, according to a letter from NHS medical director Stephen Powis. Government said only last week that universal asymptomatic staff testing would start in December, but government has now agreed it will bring this forward to this week for a first tranche of 34 trusts; and all others next week. The tests at 34 trusts this week will cover “over 250,000 staff,” Professor Powis said. He set out plans for the new testing regime in a letter to Commons health and social care committee ch -
News Article
A mass testing pilot of the government's "operation moonshot" has begun in Liverpool. The pilot scheme will see half a million people offered tests, including a new form of rapid testing, even if they do not have symptoms, as Botis Johnson banks on technological advances to steer the nation out of a second wave of COVID-19. Around 2,000 members of the military are helping NHS staff to administer a combination of swab tests and new lateral flow tests which give results within an hour without the need of a lab. Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) tests, which can give re -
News Article
COVID-19: Liverpool to pilot city-wide coronavirus testing
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
People in Liverpool will be offered regular COVID-19 tests under the first trial of whole city testing in England. Everyone living or working in the city will be offered tests, whether or not they have symptoms, with follow-up tests every two weeks or so. Some will get new tests giving results within an hour which, if successful, could be rolled out to "millions" by Christmas, the government says. Liverpool has one of the highest rates of coronavirus deaths in England. The latest figures show the city recorded 1,754 cases in the week up to 30 October. The average area in England had -
News Article
A total of 338 patients with a diagnosis of COVID-19 were discharged from Scottish hospitals into care homes in the three months from March this year, says a report from Public Health Scotland. The discharges were necessary to free up space in hospitals for COVID-19 patients but some care home owners have claimed that it introduced the virus into their premises, causing almost 2000 deaths across Scotland.2 Public Health Scotland says that most of the 3599 discharges that took place in the busiest month of March were among people who had never been tested. Of the 650 who were tested, -
News Article
Almost half of hospital patients have been discharged without receiving the results of their coronavirus test – including some patients who were sent to care homes, new research from Healthwatch and British Cross has revealed. Independent national patient body Healthwatch England said it had learned many patients were discharged from hospitals between March and August this year without proper assessments with many vulnerable people sent home without medication, equipment or the care they needed. At the start of the pandemic thousands of patients were discharged to care homes as NHS E -
Content Article
Key findings 82% of respondents did not receive a follow-up visit and assessment at home and almost one in five of these reported an unmet care need. Some people felt their discharge was rushed, with around one in five (19%) feeling unprepared to leave hospital. Over a third (35%) of people were not given a contact who they could get in touch with for further advice after discharge, despite this being part of the guidance. Overall patients and families were very positive about healthcare staff, praising their efforts during such a difficult time. Around a third (30 -
Content Article
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News Article
Trust in NHS ‘poor and diminishing’ among communities hit hardest by covid
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
There is growing distrust for the NHS and government in communities that are of fundamental importance to the national effort to counter covid, according to research by NHSX. People in so-called “hard to reach” communities are faced with stigma and racism due to the covid pandemic but have dwindling trust in the health service, the research found. They are worried about how their personal data will be used by the NHS and other state bodies. They are particularly concerned that their details will be passed on to the police or immigration services. Read full story (paywalled) -
News Article
More than 200 people who went through hotel quarantine in Victoria, Australia, must be screened for HIV amid fears of cross-contamination from incorrect usage of blood glucose test devices. Several such devices were used on multiple people in quarantine between 29 March and 20 August, necessitating screenings for blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis B and C and HIV. These monitors, which take a small sample of blood from a fingertip, are intended for repeated use by only one person. While the needle is changed between usages, microscopic traces of blood can remain within the body o- Posted
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News Article
Ministers have denied care home inspectors access to weekly testing for coronavirus – despite fears they could contribute to the spread of COVID-19 as cases rise across the country, The Independent can reveal. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) was told by the Department of Health and Social Care last month it could not have access to regular testing for inspection teams as the watchdog prepares for 500 inspections of care homes during the next six weeks. Officials said the teams, who are assessing care conditions for the vulnerable and elderly, did not get close enough to people to p -
News Article
Leaking vials supplied for NHS test and trace, say whistleblowers
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Leaking vials and suspected contamination were identified in a batch of more than 500,000 test tubes produced for the NHS Covid test and trace operation over the summer, whistleblowers have said. The test tubes were provided by a small UK-based company, Life Science Group (LSG), which produces materials for the diagnostics industry. According to the whistleblowers, there have been repeated problems with test tubes filled by LSG leaking. Stocks of some 600,000 test tubes were inspected in August as a result, and records seen by the Guardian describe the discovery of what looked like h -
Content Article
The ACT-Accelerator is organized into four pillars of work: diagnostics, treatment, vaccines and health system strengthening. Each pillar is vital to the overall effort and involves innovation and collaboration. Dr Jake Suett from the UK, has been selected as a community and civil society representative on the WHO ACT-accelerator diagnostics pillar. You can hear more about Jake's own experience of Long Covid on the hub. To read more about the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, follow the link below.- Posted
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News Article
NHS England at loggerheads with Test and Trace over staff testing
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The introduction of weekly covid tests for NHS staff in ‘high risk areas’ will mean other groups missing out or waiting longer, well-placed sources have told HSJ. There is also understood to be a standoff between NHS England and Test and Trace over the regular testing of asymptomatic staff, which was announced for the North of England on Monday. NHS trust labs don’t have enough capacity to test all their staff; and there is not enough spare in “pillar two” commercial labs to carry out hundreds of thousands of additional tests. National bodies are said to be in disagreement over who s