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Showing results for tags 'Urinary tract infections'.
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Content Article
Safety thermometer tool (NEQOS)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Quality Improvement
The aim of the NHS Safety Thermometer is to provide a local improvement tool for measuring, monitoring and analysing patient harms and ‘harm free care’. Data is collected by Trusts on pressure ulcers, falls, urinary tract infections (UTI), and Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) assessments, prophylaxis and treatment. The North East Quality Observatory Service (NEQOS) Safety Thermometer Tool allows trusts to compare themselves against their peers (for improvement purposes) as well as to undertake internal comparisons across different service areas within the Trust. Produced quarterly, the tool uses National Safety Thermometer data published by NHS Digital and presents this by Trust across the North East & North Cumbria (NENC) area, providing comparisons between peers as well as with the national average, with breakdowns by service areas for detailed analysis. -
Community Post
Better use of data for medication safety in hospitals
Kenny Fraser posted a topic in Medicine management
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NHS hospital staff spend countless hours capturing data in electronic prescribing and medicines administration systems. Yet that data remains difficult to access and use to support patient care. This is a tremendous opportunity to improve patient safety, drive efficiencies and save time for frontline staff. I have just published a post about this challenge and Triscribe's solution. I would love to hear any comments or feedback on the topic... How could we use this information better? What are hospitals already doing? Where are the gaps? Thanks- Posted
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Content ArticlePhysicians raised a concern to the Quality Department about patients who were diagnosed in the emergency department (ED) with a urinary tract infection (UTI) but who later were clinically reviewed and found to be without disease. These patients were often admitted and treated with potentially unnecessary antibiotics.
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Community PostHave you attempted to access treatment for a urinary tract infection (UTI), or recurrent UTIs? We'd love you to share your experiences with us. Did you feel listened to by your doctor or healthcare professional? Did they take your symptoms seriously? Did you receive timely and appropriate treatment?
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News ArticleResearch by Garmin finds 40% of young women say they have been accused of over-exaggerating symptoms of UTIs. While it’s clear that already strained services and a lack of funding contributed to the impact of the pandemic on the healthcare system, health inequality isn’t something that’s unique to Covid-19. Instead, it’s often the result of commonly misunderstood, misrepresented and mistreated conditions that disproportionately affect women, such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis and urinary tract infections (UTIs). New research from fitness company Garmin, published by The Independent, found that 40% of young women say they have been accused of over-exaggerating symptoms of UTIs or being “overdramatic” about their wellbeing when seeing a doctor. 45% also said they’ve had their UTI symptoms written off as “part of being a woman”. According to the Chronic Urinary Tract Infection Campaign (CUTIC), 50% of all women will suffer at least one UTI episode in their lifetime, one third of these by the age of 24. “Statistics show that UTI is the most common infection seen by GPs,” says CUTIC. “In fact, doctors are so familiar with UTIs that they are frequently dismissed as merely a woman’s problem, rooted in the ‘flawed female anatomy’. “With little training in UTI management, GPs and urologists rely heavily on discredited laboratory tests which miss up to 60% of infections." “The medical training for UTI diagnosis is inadequate and most doctors are not aware of the complexity of this illness. They are trained to accept the test results and look no further,” CUTIC suggests. “It is clear from the recent government probe into menopause that women’s health has not been an area of priority. Conditions which primarily affect women are underfunded and under researched – this includes UTIs. Women are frequently patronised and not believed when they describe symptoms relating to UTIs, peri-menopause, menopause and vaginal atrophy. Medical training fails to include proper diagnosis and effective treatment for such conditions. Change is needed now.” Read full story Source: The Stylist, 2 February 2022 Have you attempted to access treatment for a urinary tract infection (UTI), or recurrent UTIs? We'd love you to share your experiences with us? Share your experience on the hub.
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Content ArticleThe European Network for Safer Healthcare (ENSH) joined forces with the European Association of Urology Nurses (EAUN) to work on a policy campaign to prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) in Europe as a path to improving patient safety and preventing anti-microbial resistance (AMR) through: Improvement of adherence to existing European guidelines to prevent CAUTI. Development of European indicators to support the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and/or national surveillance systems.
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Content ArticleIn this insightful and informative review by Dr Shaffi from Cleveland Clinic learn how you can target Zero catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) through close attention to practice - from patient selection through management of the catheter lifecycle and delivery of data driven practice learn the changes that matter.
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News ArticleThe NHS has publicly recognised that chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs) exist and has updated its advice for patients following pressure from campaign groups. For many patients who develop a UTI, their experience is extremely painful but short-lived. But for thousands of others, a one-off acute attack turns into a chronic infection that dominates their lives and lasts for months or even years. NHS Digital updated its website to last week to provide information around chronic bladder infections where previously there was none. Campaigners say this is a “huge step forward” but there is still a long way to go in improving testing and treatments for the condition. Chronic UTI sufferer Leah Herridge has been pushing for the change alongside Chronic Urinary Tract Infection Campaign (CUTIC) and Bladder Health UK. The NHS website’s Cystitis page has been updated to include mentions of chronic UTI and to acknowledge that current tests may not pick up these infections. Previously, the NHS made no mention of chronic UTIs, meaning GPs and even consultants would often default to misdiagnosing patients with interstitial cystitis. Specialists say the infections, which often begin as an acute bout of cystitis, can occur when bacteria become embedded within the bladder wall and become difficult to treat with short courses of antibiotics. “People tend to think chronic means really bad. What it means is everlasting,” said Carolyn Andrew, from CUTIC. In August 2021, Ms Herridge sent a letter to NHS Digital demanding the web page be updated. The campaign was backed by CUTIC and Bladder Health UK as well as 100 other chronic UTI sufferers who also wrote letters. “NHS Digital has actually been really, really fantastic at working with us and I do feel like they have really co-produced, certainly the interstitial cystitis page with the leading professionals in the area, the charities and myself,” said Ms Herridge. Read full story Source: iNews, 14 March 2022
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News Article
UTI testing '50 years out of date'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A painful infection that mainly affects women is too often dismissed as "women's problems". One in every two women suffer a urinary tract infection (UTI) and they are the second most common infection globally. Among those affected is Hannah Hanratty, 36, who suffered months of agony despite multiple negative tests. During her pregnancy, Mrs Hanratty felt the "razor-blade burning pain" when passing urine. It soon developed into a constant pain. Two weeks after giving birth she needed antibiotics following a routine procedure and said the pain immediately went. "It was a UTI all along that just hadn't been picked up by the tests," she said. Now Dr Emma Hayhurst, a senior lecturer in Molecular Biology at the University of South Wales, has developed a device to improve testing and said the current system is "50 years out of date". At the moment a UTI patient may be asked to provide a urine sample which is sent for analysis, with tests back in two to three days. "That's not good enough, we need to make it quicker," said Dr Hayhurst, explaining that the device she's working on would reduce that. "Within 30 minutes the clinician will be able to say what bacteria is causing the UTI and indeed whether there is a UTI in the first place." Dr Hayhurst has received a £50,000 Women in Innovation Award to further her work, but also in recognition of her position as a female role model in the field of science, technology, engineering and medicine - or STEM subjects, as they're also known. "We should be listening to the women who are telling us this is a problem in their lives, but we know many feel like they are being dismissed," she said. Wales' Health Minister Eluned Morgan is due to publish a quality statement on women's health in the summer, and has announced funding for each health board to have a specialist endometriosis nurse. "I feel I have particular responsibility, as the first woman health minister in a long time, to make sure we look at the issue of women's health in a lot more detail," she said. "There are clearly some gaps, certainly when it comes to research, but also in terms of where people are concentrating their efforts and investment. "Quite often, women are not heard in the same way as men are heard and we've really got to make sure we are rebalancing that unconscious bias." Read full story Source: 7 March 2022 -
News ArticleWomen suffering from chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs) are facing mental health crises after being “dismissed and gaslighted” by health professionals for years, according to a leading specialist. Daily debilitating pain has left patients feeling suicidal, with those in recovery describing lingering mental health problems “akin to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)”, said Dr Rajvinder Khasriya, an NHS consultant urogynaecologist at the Whittington Hospital in London. Patients have said they feel crippling anxiety over planning ahead to ensure there is always a toilet around, even after their condition has been controlled with treatment. Vicky Matthews, who searched for a diagnosis for three years after a recurrent UTI became chronic, said the condition caused a “gradual decline” in her mental health as medical professionals were unable to pinpoint what was causing her pain. "I questioned my pain. I questioned what was going on. I questioned whether it was actually real and that was a pretty awful thing to be dealing with on top of having physical pain,” the 43-year-old said, describing what she felt was “mental torture”. Read full story Source: I News, 12 February Further reading on the hub The clinical implications of bacterial pathogenesis and mucosal immunity in chronic urinary track infection
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Content ArticleThis Quality Standard from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has been updated to instruct healthcare professionals to diagnose women under the age of 65 with a urinary tract infection (UTI) if they have two or more key symptoms.
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Content ArticleUrinary tract infections (UTIs) exert a significant health and economic cost globally. Approximately one in four people with a previous history of UTI continue to develop recurrent or chronic infections. This review aims to present a novel perspective on chronic UTI by linking microbiology with immunology, which are commonly divergent in this field of research. It also describes the challenges in understanding chronic UTI pathogenesis and the human bladder immune response, largely conjectured from murine studies. Lastly, it outlines the shortcomings of current diagnostic methods in identifying individuals with chronic UTI and consequently treating them, potentially aggravating their disease due to mismanagement of prior episodes. This discourse highlights the need to consider these knowledge gaps and encourages more relevant studies of UTI in humans.
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Content ArticleIn this blog, Carl Heneghan, Urgent Care GP and Professor of Evidence-based Medicine at the University of Oxford, looks at how the shortage of doctors working in urgent care is affecting patient safety. He tells the story of a patient with a blocked catheter, highlighting that with early intervention, this should cause few complications, but if not treated promptly, it can cause bladder damage and chronic kidney failure. This example highlights the need to ensure patients are seen quickly if they have an urgent need in the community. The blog points out that current Government plans to scale up urgent community response teams are inadequate as they only cover 12 hours a day and there is a shortage of GPs willing to work in urgent care.
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Content ArticleThis customisable, educational toolkit published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) aims to help ICUs reduce rates of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) and catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI). The materials can be used to assess current safety practice, implement new approaches and overcome particular challenges related to CLABSI and CAUTI in ICUs.
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Content ArticleAntibiotic resistance is a growing issue for medicine globally, so finding alternative medications is a priority for medical research. This study in The BMJ aimed to test and compare the efficacy of methenamine hippurate with the current standard use of daily low dose antibiotics to prevent recurrent urinary tract infections in women. The authors of the study concluded that non-antibiotic prophylactic treatment with methenamine hippurate might be appropriate for women with a history of recurrent episodes of urinary tract infections. The study demonstrated that the treatment had a similar success rate as daily antibiotic prophylaxis.
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Content ArticleUrinary tract infections are painful - but usually short lived. For thousands of women and children though, the problem can last years. Is relief in sight?
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Content ArticleIn this article for The Independent, Hannah Fearn looks at the issues women face when seeking treatment for urinary tract infections (UTIs). New research from Garmin has found that 40% of young women say they have been accused of over-exaggerating symptoms or being “over dramatic” about their wellbeing when seeing a doctor. The author highlights several personal stories of women who have experienced debilitating recurring urinary tract infections (UTIs), describing dismissive and discriminatory treatment from both GPs and secondary care doctors. She also looks at the work of the UK's only dedicated research centre focused on recurrent UTIs for women, based at London’s Whittington Hospital, and highlights new treatments that are becoming available for women with recurrent UTIs.
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Content ArticleElizabeth Beech's presentation at the Royal Society of Medicine's Improving Patient Safety & Care Conference.
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Content Article
Premature Waters Breaking (PPROM awareness)
PatientSafetyLearning Team posted an article in Maternity
PPROM is the acronym for Preterm Pre-labour Rupture Of Membranes. This is otherwise known as when the waters break prior to 37 weeks during pregnancy. These waters, known as the amniotic fluid, protect the baby from injury. It also helps in preventing infection being passed from mother to baby. As soon as the waters break the risks of infection to both mother and baby are high. Therefore good management of care at this stage is key to treating this condition successfully. Little Heartbeats raise awareness of PPROM, help patients share their experiences and promote the use of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecology leaflet which contains the guidelines set out for UK hospitals to follow in the event of PPROM. -
Content Article
AHSN: Improving safety in care homes
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in AHSNs
This report from the AHSN Network shines light on ways we can do more to improve safety for residents of care homes. The publication showcases over 30 examples of projects delivered by England’s 15 Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) and the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) which host them. They include case studies in medicines safety, dementia, monitoring and screening, and workforce development.
