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Survey shows 60% of health visiting teams affected by Covid-19 redeployment

The redeployment of health visitors to support the national coronavirus response has left remaining staff with increased workloads, worsened mental health and fears that the needs of children are being missed, a new survey has revealed.

In the wake of Covid-19, University College London (UCL) gathered the views of 663 health visitors in England to find out how the pandemic had affected their work. Overall, 60% of respondents reported that at least one member of their team had been redeployed between 19 March and 3 June. Of teams that had lost staff, 41% reported that between six and 50 colleagues had been moved elsewhere during that period.

The combination of increased caseloads and limited face-to-face contacts left “widespread concern” among health visitors that the needs of many children would be missed in the peak of the outbreak, found the survey. Study authors raised concerns about the “significant negative impacts” that increased workload and pressures had on staff wellbeing and mental health.

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Leeds Teaching Hospitals launch patient and volunteer support fund

Leeds Teaching Hospitals has launched a support fund for patients, their relatives and volunteers who may be struggling financially due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The fund is intended to assist (but is not limited to):

  • Bereaved relatives facing immediate financial pressures until their personal financial affairs are sorted eg having weekly bills to meet and no immediate access to bank accounts
  • Patients isolating for 14 days in advance of admission to hospital and suffering income loss, excess cost or other financial hardship as a result
  • Patients, their immediate families or volunteers who have experienced significant household income loss as a result of the pandemic and are struggling with financial obligations
  • Those experiencing significant increases in costs as a direct result of the pandemic, eg increased childcare costs

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Fifth of GP partners remove BAME staff from patient-facing work in pandemic

More than one in five GP partners said they removed practice staff away from face-to-face care due to ethnicity during the pandemic, a Pulse survey has revealed. 

The survey in June revealed that 84 of the 378 respondents said that ‘ethnicity was a crucial factor in removing anyone in your practice away from face-to-face assessments’.

Around 70% of respondents said they had been counting ethnicity as a factor when risk assessing staff.

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Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey pilot: England, 24 July 2020

Initial data from the COVID-19 Infection Survey. This survey is being delivered in partnership with IQVIA, Oxford University and UK Biocentre.

Full article here

Table of contents in the report:

 

1.       Main points

2.       Number of people in England who had COVID-19

3.       Regional analysis

4.       Incidence rate

5.       Test sensitivity and specificity

6.       COVID-19 Infection Survey data

7.       Collaboration

8.       Glossary

9.       Measuring the data

10.    Strengths and limitations

11.     Related links

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Coronavirus: Thousands of COVID-19 survivors could be diagnosed with sepsis, charity warns

People are being warned to familiarise themselves with the symptoms of sepsis after a study found that as many as 20,000 COVID-19 survivors could be diagnosed with the condition within a year.

One in five people who receive hospital treatment for the coronavirus are at risk, according to the UK Sepsis Trust.

Sepsis is triggered when the body overreacts to an infection, causing the immune system to turn on itself - leading to tissue damage, organ failure and potentially death.

If spotted quickly, it can be treated with antibiotics before it turns into septic shock and damages vital organs.

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Whistleblowers’ lawyers “fear retaliation” over NDA

 

Lawyers acting for whistleblowers have told MPs and peers that they can feel intimidated to raise concerns over non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) because of the threat of retaliation.

Whistleblowers themselves have also accused employers’ law firms of using underhand tactics in employment tribunal cases, and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Whistleblowing said it would move on to look in more detail at the role of lawyers.

The findings came in the group’s first report – focusing on ‘the voice of the whistleblower’ – which found that, although the UK “remains a leading authority on whistleblowing legislation”, the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA) needed “a radical overhaul”.

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1,000-year-old eye infection potion found to tackle antibiotic-resistant infections

Antibiotic resistance is an increasing challenge for modern medicine as more naturally occurring antimicrobials are needed to tackle infections capable of resisting treatments currently in use.

New research from the University of Warwick has investigated natural remedies to fill the gap in the antibiotic market, taking their cue from a 1,000-year-old text known as Bald's Leechbook.

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Falls team on the up thanks to North Wales volunteers

A dedicated team of 32 volunteers are hitting the roads across North Wales assisting the Welsh Ambulance Service in dealing with fallers.

Based out of the Ambulance headquarters in St Asaph, the Community First Responder Falls Team was launched on 30 April this year and has already assisted almost 250 people.

The team was created to use the talents and experience of the familiar Community First Responders (CFRs) who had to be stood down from their normal duties at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Lego builds anaesthesia skills according to new study

Lego could be used as a practical tool to train doctors in anesthetic skills according to new research that has shown a simple task using the building bricks can help improve technical skills—a finding that could improve medical training and patient safety.

Scientists from the University of Nottingham's School of Psychology and School of Medicine developed a task where people copied shapes using bricks that they could see in a mirror. They found this simple training improved student performance in an ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia task. The results of the study have been published in British Journal of Anesthesia

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Largest Independent Randomized Controlled Trial of a Digital Therapy against Chronic Pain

In the largest independent randomized controlled trial (RCT) of its type, a multimodal digital therapy program for patients with non-specific chronic low back pain has outperformed standard-of-care treatment across all medical outcomes.

Results of the study, published in the Journal of Pain Research, show that patients using Kaia, the back pain management app developed by leading digital therapeutics company Kaia Health, reduced pain levels, anxiety, depression, stress, and improved wellbeing and body functionality significantly more compared to standard-of-care treatments, e.g. pain killers, surgeries, physical therapy.

“This large-scale study demonstrates the significant benefits for people managing low back pain when using Kaia to deliver a multimodal treatment through a digital device, such as a smartphone,” says Thomas R. Toelle, M.D., Ph.D., Head of the Pain Center of the Technical University Munich, Germany. “These results add to the growing body of medical evidence that supports the use of digital multimodal treatments for chronic conditions, such as back pain.”

Low back pain is one of the leading causes of global disability, with an enormous cost for healthcare systems worldwide. 1,2 According to a 2018 report on the impact of musculoskeletal pain on employers, chronic pain, including back pain, accounts for 188.7 million lost work days, and $62,4 billion in lost productivity cost.3

Kaia is an app-based, multimodal digital therapy program for chronic back pain, which focuses on Physical therapy, Relaxation exercises, and Medical education.

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'We will live with this for years': virus expert on debilitating after-effects of Covid-19

One of the world’s foremost virus experts has said survivors will be living with the effects of Covid-19 for “years to come” after he was struck down by a severe infection, and called for added support for those who have recovered from the disease. 

Professor Peter Piot, who as director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has been at the forefront of the academic response to the pandemic, has spent his entire career studying viruses such as Ebola and HIV. 

Prof Piot spent a week at the Royal Free Hospital in London in early April after contracting the disease. “I spent a week in isolation on a ward with three other men. I couldn’t leave the room. When I came out the thing I remember most is seeing the sky. London was deserted - it was in acute lockdown,” he said.

The fever and splitting headache he had felt before being admitted were gone and apart from chronic exhaustion he was feeling better, he said. Getting out of bed was a struggle and he had to take rests when going up the many flights of stairs of his tall Georgian townhouse. But a week later he took a turn for the worse - he became breathless and his heart rate shot up to over 100. 

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Improving patient safety in the NHS with point-of-care scanning

A new report has highlighted how point-of-care scanning in the NHS can help to improve patient safety, saving the NHS millions of pounds.

Six NHS hospital trusts which implemented regular point-of-care scanning have ensured complete traceability of healthcare items to help improve patient safety while securing millions of pounds of savings and releasing thousands of hours of clinical time, a new report reveals.

‘A scan of the benefits: the Scan4Safety evidence report’ details the results at hospital trusts that took part in a national two-year programme, known as Scan4Safety, to investigate the benefits of point-of-care barcode scanning in the NHS.

Full article here

We wonder if @Richard Price might like to post more about what the impact of Scan4safety has been at University Hospitals Plymouth. Perhaps here:
https://www.pslhub.org/learn/commissioning-service-provision-and-innovation-in-health-and-care/digital-health-and-care-service-provision/other-health-and-care-software/ 

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Investigation launched into safety of maternity equipment used in NHS

A national investigation has been launched into the equipment used by NHS staff to monitor babies heart rates during labour because of concerns they could be contributing to deaths and disabilities.

The independent Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB), which investigates systemic safety risks in the NHS, has opened an inquiry after reviewing hundreds of maternity incidents.

It found equipment used to record cardiotocographic (CTG) traces were linked to 138 maternity investigations since 2018 with more than 238 separate findings referencing the use of CTG as a factor in the error.

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CDC: One-third of COVID-19 patients who aren't hospitalized have long-term illness

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged last week that a significant number of COVID-19 patients do not recover quickly, and instead experience ongoing symptoms, such as fatigue and cough.

As many as a third of patients who were never sick enough to be hospitalized are not back to their usual health up to three weeks after their diagnosis, the report found.

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NHS maternity safety to come under investigation after scandals involving mother and baby deaths

The safety of maternity services in the NHS are to be investigated by MPs after a string of scandals involving the deaths of mothers and babies highlighted by The Independent.

The Commons health select committee, chaired by former health secretary Jeremy Hunt, has announced it will hold an inquiry looking at why maternity incidents keep re-occurring and what needs to be done to improve safety.

The committee will also examine whether the clinical negligence process needs to change and the wider aspects of a “blame culture” in the health service and its affects on medical advice and decision making.

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Most people in England to be offered flu vaccine

Most people in England, about 30 million, are to be offered a free flu vaccine this year, the government says.

It is to prepare for a winter that could see the annual flu season coincide with a surge in coronavirus.

The traditional flu programme will include all over-50s for the first time, as well anyone on the shielding list and the people they live with.

Also for the first time, children in their first year of secondary school will all be offered the vaccine.

Plans for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have not yet been announced.

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New patient safety research by Northumbria University achieves global accolades

Looking to improve practice through learning

Errors, mishaps and misunderstandings are surprisingly common in medicine and around one in 10 patients suffer avoidable harm, impacting on patients, their families, health care organisations, staff and students. However a research project seeking to improve patient safety across Europe, led by Newcastle-based Northumbria University, has received international acclaim as it looks to improve practice through learning.

The SLIPPS (Shared Learning from Practice to improve Patient Safety) project is Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, and is led by Professor Alison Steven, a Reader in Health Professions Education at Northumbria University.  Professor Steven has a longstanding interest in the use of education to raise standards of care and ensure patient safety. Considering the rapid spread of Covid 19, she says improving patient safety and standards of care across Europe and beyond, has never been more important.

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How to support loved ones in hospital during the coronavirus pandemic

To help stop the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the majority of hospitals have stopped or severely restricted visits. This article explains how you can still help a loved one even when you can't see them face to face.

During the coronavirus crisis, most hospitals and care homes in the UK have stopped visits. If you have a loved one in a healthcare setting, not being able to go to see them will be incredibly difficult. But these temporary measures have not been taken lightly. Restricting visits to hospitals and care homes is important to reduce the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19 as much as possible. This way hospital and care home residents, and healthcare staff, can be better protected during the pandemic.

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Covid-19: Government failed to protect staff during height of pandemic, experts tell MPs

Healthcare staff working at the height of the covid-19 pandemic in England were not properly protected and were forced to work in an unsafe environment, MPs have been told.

Appealing before the health and social care committee on 21 July, experts criticised the government and NHS management for their failure to provide staff with sufficient testing and personal protective equipment (PPE). The committee was gathering evidence for its inquiry into the management of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Paul Nurse, director of the Francis Crick Institute, said he believed that the failure to implement better testing systems in the early days of the pandemic had contributed significantly to the problems.

He said, “At the height of the pandemic, our own research—which backs up what’s been done elsewhere—found that up to 45% of healthcare workers were infected and they were infecting their colleagues and infecting patients, yet they weren’t being tested systematically.

“In the healthcare environment we weren’t providing proper protection, and it’s important because it protects the most vulnerable in our society and it protects our healthcare workers. They deserve to work in a safe environment, and some of them are dying because of what they do. They deserve better.”

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Source: BMJ, 22 July 2020

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A third of GP practices may take year or longer to return to pre-Covid capacity

A third of GPs believe it will take up to a year or longer for their practice to return to pre-Covid levels of capacity, even with ‘no future spikes’ of the virus.

The data comes from the BMA’s latest COVID-19 tracker survey, which polled almost 2,000 GPs in England and Wales.

GPs have previously warned that they are battling a backlog of referrals and patients who have been ‘overlooked’ during the coronavirus crisis.

Around 26% of the 1,770 GP respondents said consultations would take between three and 12 months to return to normal when asked how quickly their practice will ‘return to full pre-Covid levels of capacity... assuming there are no future Covid spikes’.

And a further 7% of GPs believed it could take ‘longer’ than a year or that consultations would ‘never’ return to pre-Covid levels.

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Source: Pulse, 23 July 2020

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Regulator launches independent review into care of vulnerable man

NHS England and Improvement have launched an independent review into the care and death of a man with learning disabilities, following concerns raised by HSJ. 

The regulator has appointed Beverley Dawkins to carry out an independent review of the case of Clive Treacy, as part of the learning disability mortality review programme.

Clive, who died in 2017, had previously been denied a review under LeDer and, according to emails seen by HSJ, his death was never officially recorded by the programme, which is meant to record all deaths of people with a learning disability.

NHS England and Improvement overturned the decision earlier this year after HSJ presented evidence of a series of failures in his care between 2012 and 2017.

Today, it was confirmed to us that Ms Dawkins has been commissioned to carry out the review, and that it would review his care throughout his life, as well as his death.  

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Source: HSJ, 23 July 2020

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Mental health leave for paramedics in England nearly triples since 2011

The number of paramedics taking time off with mental health conditions has almost tripled over the last decade, a Guardian analysis has found.

In 2019, paramedics took 52,040 days off due to anxiety, stress, depression and other psychiatric illnesses, up from 18,184 in 2011 – an increase of 186%.

While the overall number of paramedics has increased slightly over the period, the rate of mental health leave has increased more, resulting in the average number of days taken off per paramedic in a year rising from 2.8 to 5.8.

Unison’s head of health, Sara Gorton, said: “Crisis-level staffing has increasingly become the norm within the NHS in recent years, even before the pandemic. Working long hours without breaks, in demanding conditions, it’s no wonder it’s taken a toll on the mental health of workers across the health service. And the coronavirus challenges have piled on more pressure.”

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Source: The Guardian, 23 July 2020

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All patients' Covid test results to become visible to GPs

GP systems will now be updated in 'near-real time' to reveal the result of Covid-19 tests taken by all of their patients.

GPs will not need to act on the information, which will be visible on systems whether the patient tested positive or negative. This will apply to all patients where it has been possible to identify the patient's NHS number, NHS Digital said.

EMIS Health chief medical officer Shaun O’Hanlon said: "Technology has played a pivotal role in the response to COVID-19 across the board and keeping the medical record up to date with COVID-19 test results means everyone who can share that record has a full picture of the patient’s health, including the patient themselves via Patient Access."

"This will not only help day to day patient care, and it will also help on a wider population health level, as data-led insight relies on full and complete medical records as analysts continue to research COVID-19 and its short- and long-term impact on the nation."

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Source: Pulse, 20 July 2020

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SECAmb introduces new spinal care guidelines

South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) is the first ambulance service in the country to introduce new pioneering guidance aimed at improving the treatment of spinal injury patients.

The guidance includes the ending of the use of neck braces or semi-rigid collars on spinal injury patients. The ground-breaking approach is only currently in place in three other countries – Australia, Norway and Denmark. While collars are often seen as synonymous with spinal care, there is growing evidence that they could cause further harm, while providing little or no benefit.

Instead, for ‘standard patients’, spinal precautions will be undertaken with manual in-line stabilisation followed by head blocks, tape and placement on a scoop stretcher secured in a non-rigid vacuum mattress.

For a group of ‘non-standard’ patients – which may include older patients, those who are frail or have pre-existing spinal conditions, those with communication difficulties, pregnant patients, young children, bariatric patients or agitated and uncooperative patients – transport on a scoop stretcher is not beneficial. In these cases, a position of comfort approach will be used to minimise spinal motion and a special lanyard will be applied to the patient in order to alert the receiving emergency department of the patient’s status.

Soon to be adopted nationally by the Joint Royal Colleges Ambulance Liaison Committee, (JRCALC), SECAmb has been assigned as an ‘early adopter’ while the national guidelines are formalised.

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Source: South East Coast Ambulance Service, 15 July 2020

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