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Patient Safety Learning

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  1. Patient Safety Learning
    Racism, sexism, and homophobia is widespread in hospital operating theatres across England, according to an independent report.
    In a damning verdict on the atmosphere in some surgical teams, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC said the ‘old boys’ network of alpha male surgeons was preventing some doctors from rising to the top and had fuelled an oppressive environment for women, ethnic minorities and trainee surgeons.
    The report was commissioned by the Royal College of Surgeons and lays bare the "discrimination and unacceptable behaviour" taking place in some surgical teams.
    Baroness Kennedy told The Telegraph the field of surgery was "lagging behind" society, adding: "It is driven by an ethos which is very much alpha male, where white female surgeons are often assumed to be nurses and black women surgeons mistaken for the cleaner. And this is by the management.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 18 March 2021
  2. Patient Safety Learning
    There was a "gross failure in basic care" which led to a baby being starved of oxygen during birth, a coroner said.
    Zak Ezra Carter died at the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, two days after being born in July 2018 at Ystrad Fawr Hospital in Caerphilly county.
    Gwent coroner Caroline Saunders said the monitoring of Zak and his mother Adele Thomas fell "well below the standards expected". She said she was reassured the health board had taken steps to improve care.
    Ms Thomas told the Newport hearing she felt "scared" and staff "didn't care" when she arrived to give birth on 20 July 2018. In a statement to the inquest she described being turned away from the centre after going into labour on three occasions, before being admitted on the fourth.
    Ms Thomas said she was initially offered paracetamol as pain relief at the midwife-led centre.
    She described "a lot of arguing between nurses", one of whom was "bolshie and rude and rough handled me", adding the midwives "did not appear to be in any rush". 
    When Zak was born, he was described as being "white and pale" and without a heartbeat. He did not cry and was taken away to a room for resuscitation. Zak was transferred to the Royal Gwent Hospital where he died two days later.
    During the first stage of labour, Prof Sanders said "everything was progressing at a normal healthy rate and the fetal heart rate was recorded as completely normal". But she said it was "highly unusual" for the heart rate to not be documented contemporaneously, and the midwives had not been able to explain why they had not done so.
    Recording a narrative conclusion, Ms Saunders said the monitoring of Ms Thomas and her baby had "fallen well below the standards expected", leading to a "gross failure in basic care" of them in the later stages of labour.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 18 March 2021
  3. Patient Safety Learning
    Hospital bosses are bracing themselves for a clash with ministers over how quickly they can clear the backlog of NHS care that built up during the pandemic.
    They are warning that it will take “years” to treat all those whose care was cancelled because Covid disrupted so many hospital services, particularly surgery and diagnostic tests.
    Staff shortages, exhaustion among frontline personnel after tackling the pandemic and their need to have a break mean that progress will be slower than the government expects, NHS trust chiefs say.
    “We can’t say with certainty how long it will take to tackle the backlog of planned operations because we don’t really know how big that backlog will end up being,” said Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers.
    “The NHS will obviously go as fast as it can, as we always do. But it’s already apparent that clearing the entire backlog will take years rather than months.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 18 March 2021
     
  4. Patient Safety Learning
    A website is helping healthcare professionals and the public recognise whether a rash could be a sign of COVID-19.
    The covidskinsigns site carries more than 400 images of rashes collected via the COVID Symptom Study app, which was set up during the first wave of the pandemic to gather information from the public about the signs and symptoms of virus.
    According to the British Association of Dermatologists, which developed the website, the most common skin rashes are urticaria (a hive-like rash), a ‘prickly heat’ or chickenpox-type rash, and redness that looks like chilblains on the fingers or toes.
    Rash was added as a sign to the app, which has been downloaded by 4 million people in the UK – reports emerged last spring of rashes in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.
    In August 2020, Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust vascular nurse consultant Leanne Atkin warned discoloured toes could be a sign of COVID-19. She spoke out following a rise in the number of patients presenting to vascular clinics with signs that could be attributable to arterial disease. However, Dr Atkin said these patients often go on to test positive for COVID-19.
    Dubbed ‘COVID toe’, the condition can have a similar appearance to chilblains, which commonly cause swelling and redness at the ends of toes and fingers, and was first identified as a sign of COVID-19 by podiatrists in Spain in April 2020.
    Read full story
    Source: Nursing Standard, 29 January 2021
  5. Patient Safety Learning
    Blanket orders not to resuscitate some care home residents at the start of the Covid pandemic have been identified in a report by England’s care regulator.
    A report published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found disturbing variations in people’s experiences of do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions during the pandemic.
    Best practice is for proper discussions to be held with the person involved and/or their relatives. While examples of good practice were identified, some people were not properly involved in decisions or were unaware that such an important decision about their care had been made. Poor record-keeping, and a lack of oversight and scrutiny of the decisions being made, was identified.
    The report, 'Protect, respect, connect – decisions about living and dying well during Covid-19', calls for a ministerial oversight group – working with partners in health and social care, local government and the voluntary sector – to take responsibility for delivering improvements in this area.
    The report surveyed a range of individuals and organisations, including care providers and members of the public, and identified:
    Serious concerns about breaches of some individuals’ human rights. Significant increase in DNACPRs put in place in care homes at the beginning of the pandemic, from 16,876 to 26,555. 119 adult social care providers felt they had been subjected to blanket DNACPR decisions since the start of the pandemic. A GP sent DNACPR letters to care homes asking them to put blanket DNACPRs in place. In one care home a blanket DNACPR was applied to everyone over 80 with dementia. Read full story
    Source: The Guardian. 18 March 2021
  6. Patient Safety Learning
    More than 3.7 million vulnerable people in England will no longer have to shield from the coronavirus from 1 April.
    It comes as the numbers of COVID-19 cases and hospital admissions have declined for the past couple of weeks.
    Letters will be sent out to this group in the next two weeks. In them, people will still be advised to keep social contacts at low levels, work from home where possible and stay at a distance from other people.
    Since 5 January, they have been asked to stay at home as much as possible to reduce their risk of being exposed to the virus. But at a Downing Street press conference, Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed shielding guidance, which had been extended to 31 March for all those who are clinically extremely vulnerable, would end on 1 April.
    England's deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries recommended the change based on the latest scientific evidence and advice.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 17 March 2021
  7. Patient Safety Learning
    The COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group has told Downing Street it wants a statutory public inquiry led by a senior judge to “determine a definitive, official, evidence-based narrative of what did and did not happen, independent of political influence” during the pandemic. The group considers it potentially cathartic and wants the families’ grief heard.
    Frontline health workers also want a wide-ranging inquiry to provide a platform for their experiences, while minority ethnic leaders believe an inquiry can only determine what went wrong if wider societal inequalities relating to work, health and housing are investigated.
    But while there is no dissent about the need for an inquiry, others fear this remit might be too broad – and fear lessons have to be learned now so the UK can properly protect itself from any future health emergency.
    Sir John Bell, the regius professor of medicine at Oxford University, and Lord O’Donnell, head of the civil service under Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron, want a different model more narrowly focused on determining future actions.
    Ultimately the decision will be for Boris Johnson, who has significant latitude to set the terms and scope of any inquiry, including selection of its chair.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 16 March 2021
  8. Patient Safety Learning
    With the annual NHS Staff Survey recently published, expectation was that this year might look a little different, all things considered.
    For the mental health sector, the dial didn’t move massively on key questions. The sector still came out bottom for staff who agreed they’d be happy with the standard of care if a friend or family member needed it - otherwise called the “family and friends test”.
    Although the survey was not that revelatory this year, it is still a helpful barometer for trusts’ safety and quality culture.
    Sheffield Health and Social Care Foundation Trust comes out lowest on all of the main quality and safety-related questions. 
    On the crucial family and friends question, just 47% of the trust’s staff agreed that would be happy with the standard of care. The trust has been one of the worst performers on the survey for a number of years but appears to have deteriorated further.
    Sheffield Health and Social Care FT also came out worst on the following key safety culture related questions:
    When errors, near misses or incidents are reported, my organisation takes action to ensure that they do not happen again I would feel secure raising concerns about unsafe clinical practice My organisation acts on concerns raised by patients/service users. The last two questions are a vital indicator of a trust’s approach to safety and quality. If staff do not feel secure to raise concerns, or if a trust does not act on patient concerns can it really address problems before they escalate?
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 12 March 2021
  9. Patient Safety Learning
    People in prisons are at an increased risk of COVID-19, with a death rate more than three times higher than that of the general population, and should be made a vaccine priority, according to public health experts.
    There were 118 deaths related to COVID-19 among people in prisons in England and Wales between March 2020 and February 2021, representing a risk of dying more than three times higher than that of people of the same age and sex outside secure environments, the research team at University College London (UCL) found.
    The higher rate of death comes despite extensive physical distancing measures, including prisons keeping many inmates in their cells for 23 hours a day.
    The lead author of the study, Dr Isobel Braithwaite of UCL Institute of Health Informatics, said: “Our findings show that people in prisons are at a much higher risk of dying from COVID-19 than the general population, and we make the case that both they and prison staff should be given high priority in the rollout of vaccines."
    “We believe the current methods of regime restriction are not enough to protect people adequately, and a systematic, ‘whole-prison’ approach to vaccination is key to preventing further outbreaks and reducing overall deaths in prisons.”
    The Ministry of Justice challenged the authors’ work, however, arguing it failed to adjust for worse health among the prison population than the community and movements of prisoners in and out of prison.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 16 March 2021
  10. Patient Safety Learning
    Accident and emergency staff at Bristol Royal Infirmary do not feel equipped to deal with the violence they face from the public, inspectors have found.
    Health watchdog The Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated the department as "requires improvement" following an inspection in February. It said "urgent action" must be taken to protect staff and patients.
    University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust said it was working on improvements.
    Amanda Williams, CQC's head of hospital inspections, said: "We were... particularly concerned to find high levels of violence and aggression against staff from patients in the department and to learn that staff did not feel adequately trained to deal with this."
    "Staff need to be given the appropriate training and support to ensure they feel safe and to enable them to defuse tension and prevent violence from escalating."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 17 March 2021
  11. Patient Safety Learning
    Nanotechnology could be used to test blood for evidence of Alzheimer’s disease years before symptoms appear, researchers have said.
    Scientists used nanotechnology to extract previously unseen blood signals of neurodegeneration in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease.
    They say tests that capture early signs of neurodegeneration in blood offer enormous potential for those who suffer from the disease, as well as dementia patients, to receive effective treatment or manage their progressive condition before significant brain damage occurs.
    Alzheimer’s disease can currently be diagnosed using brain scans only after someone has been showing behavioural symptoms, such as memory impairment. By the time symptoms emerge, it is often too late to treat patients effectively.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 17 March 2021
     
  12. Patient Safety Learning
    Pregnant women and new mothers are three times as likely to suffer from poor mental health in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new study.
    The report, carried out by a coalition of leading maternal mental health organisations, suggested before that the public health crisis up to 20% of women developed a mental illness during pregnancy or within the first year after having a baby.
    But in lockdown, 6 in 10 mothers had substantial concerns around their mental health, according to researchers who polled more than 5,000 pregnant women and parents.
    The study warned women were more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, loneliness and suicidal thoughts during the COVID-19 crisis.
    The Maternal Mental Health Alliance is one of the organisations behind the research. Luciana Berger, a former Labour MP who is now chair of the group, said: “Today’s report should serve as an ear-splitting warning siren about the dangers to women’s maternal mental health and potential risks to the wellbeing of their babies."
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 16 March 2021
  13. Patient Safety Learning
    Hospitals and care homes are failing to properly investigate incidents before referring nurses to their regulator, fuelling a blame culture and repeat failures, the head of the nursing watchdog has told The Independent.
    In her first national interview, Andrea Sutcliffe, head of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) said some employers were referring nurses without any investigation at all, while half of initial enquiries to the NMC were rejected or required further work.
    She told The Independent this emphasis on blaming the individual meant underlying causes of safety errors were being missed and so they were likely to be repeated. Her ambition is to transform the nursing regulator, which oversees 725,000 nurses and midwives across the UK, into a more forceful watchdog that will flag systemic issues of concern with NHS trusts and care homes.
    In a wide-ranging interview, Ms Sutcliffe called on ministers to ensure that planned legislation to reform the way clinicians are regulated be made transparent and maintain the public’s confidence. She also stressed that the impact of coronavirus on nurses mental health meant rushing to restart routine operations in the NHS had to be carefully planned to avoid driving nurses out of the health service.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 16 March 2021
  14. Patient Safety Learning
    Lasting effects of infection from coronavirus are more common in women and children than expected, with at least 10% of people infected suffering persistent symptoms for months, a new review has found.
    Experts at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) examined more than 300 separate scientific studies for the analysis. It found many patients reported struggling to access testing and help from the NHS to treat their symptoms, which varied between patients, suggesting long Covid is a group of four possible syndromes affecting patients differently.
    The report said: “Long Covid appears to be more frequent in women and in young people (including children) than might have been expected,” adding other sufferers could be experiencing an active disease, impacting on their organs and causing debilitating symptoms that would need ongoing treatment. In some patients, the effects included neurological changes in their brains while others showed signs of blood clotting and inflammation. Other patients reported anxiety, fatigue and damage to their lungs and heart.
    It also warned there was evidence some long Covid patients could actually be getting worse, underlining the need to invest in services that will be needed to cope with what could be a long term problem.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 16 March 2021
  15. Patient Safety Learning
    A group of 47 cancer charities says that without urgent action, the UK's cancer death rate will rise for the first time in decades.
    NHS figures suggest tens of thousands fewer people started cancer treatment since the first lockdown compared to normal times. One Cancer Voice says that the NHS needs more resources.
    The government says cancer treatment remains a top priority and urges people to see their GP if they have symptoms.
    Radio 1 Newsbeat has spoken exclusively to One Cancer Voice about the impact of coronavirus on cancer care. The group of charities wants to see more staff available to diagnose and treat cancer, with greater NHS access to private facilities in order to "clear the backlog".
    "We are calling on the government to invest more money in ensuring the backlog of cancer cases is reduced and eliminated," says Michelle Mitchell, the boss of Cancer Research UK, which heads up One Cancer Voice.
    "We could face, in this country today, the prospect of cancer survival reducing for the first time in decades. That's why urgent action is required by the government."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 16 March 2021
  16. Patient Safety Learning
    Stories about people getting blood clots soon after taking the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine have become a source of anxiety among European leaders.
    After a report on a death and three hospitalisations in Norway, which found serious blood clotting in adults who had received the vaccine, Ireland has temporarily suspended the jab. Some anxiety about a new vaccine is understandable, and any suspected reactions should be investigated. But in the current circumstances we need to think slow as well as fast, and resist drawing causal links between events where none may exist.
    As Ireland’s deputy chief medical officer, Ronan Glynn, has stressed, there is no proof that this vaccine causes blood clots. It’s a common human tendency to attribute a causal effect between different events, even when there isn’t one present: we wash the car and the next day a bird relieves itself all over the bonnet. Typical. Or, more seriously, someone is diagnosed with autism after receiving the MMR vaccine, so people assume a causal connection – even when there isn’t one. And now, people get blood clots after having a vaccine, leading to concern over whether the vaccine is what caused the blood clots.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 15 March 2021
  17. Patient Safety Learning
    The pandemic has been a catalyst for innovation in the NHS and some changes will have a lasting effect, says Dr John Wright of Bradford Royal Infirmary.
    The Covid pandemic has transformed our hospitals. Car parks are empty, once-bustling corridors are quiet, and these days you won't see any staff making fashion statements - we're all in scrubs and masks.
    Dr Wright says changes made to reduce spread of infection are here to stay and will help us live with future outbreaks of Covid and other infectious diseases. But there is also much to learn from how we have adapted to non-Covid care - with drive-through PCR swabs and blood tests, for example, or the use of oximeters to monitor oxygen levels in the blood of Covid patients in their homes, providing warning if they need to be admitted to hospital.
    But the biggest change has been in the way hospital consultations are carried out. Before the pandemic nearly all appointments took place face-to-face. Last year probably 90% occurred via telephone or video call, and most of my colleagues at Bradford Royal Infirmary are still running remote clinics today.
    This is much more convenient for patients. In the past a typical consultation might have involved a half-day of travel, the search for a parking place, and then sitting in a waiting room. However, remote consultations do have their drawbacks. Patients tend to underplay their symptoms on the phone and it is easier to avoid discussing challenging issues. Life-changing diagnoses require sensitive, face-to-face communication. Another problem is that some patients struggle with technology. 
    The main drawback, though, is that clinicians are unable to undertake physical examination remotely. Clinical histories are the yin of the consultation but physical examinations are the yang, and video consultations only provide half the picture.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 15 March 2021
  18. Patient Safety Learning
    NHS England’s cancer director has said it could take another year for the level of cancer treatments and diagnosis carried out to return to normal, after being impeded by COVID-19.
    National cancer director Dame Cally Palmer told HSJ’s national cancer forum event last week that activity over the past 12 months had been 89% of the previous year, but the service was committed to getting “fully reset” to 2019 levels by March 2022.
    She shared information showing that, by December 2020, the amount of treatment being carried out following an urgent referral, for most cancers, exceeded December 2019 levels, but that there are still significant treatment backlogs.
    And, for lung cancer patients, the number of treatments carried out in December 2020 was only 73% of that a year earlier — a decrease from September and October 2020 levels — as covid pressures rose during the third wave. Lung cancer is one of the most amenable to treatment if picked up early.
    Other areas of diagnostics and treatment have also been severely impeded because of requirements to change practice to reduce the risk of spreading covid, particularly to vulnerable patients.
    Dame Cally, also chief executive of the Royal Marsden Foundation Trust, said the service was committed to returning to at least normal levels of activity across the board by March next year.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 12 March 2021
  19. Patient Safety Learning
    As the UK looks to mark the first anniversary of the first COVID-19 lockdown on 23 March, Sky News has spoken to one family who say they have lived constantly with the after effects of the virus for a year.
    Charlie, 37, her husband Zed, 41, and their five children – Nico, 15, Beck, 12, Indiana, 10, Emmett, 8, and Mimi, 5 – fell ill with the virus in March last year.
    All of them – particularly the children – have been suffering ever since.
    Charlie said the list of symptoms is "extensive", including headaches, eye issues, nose bleeds, body rashes, horrific tummy pains, gastric issues, severe lethargy, allergic reactions, peeling hands, and feet and mouth ulcers.
    "It's such a long list that at times you can't believe that they've all been related to this illness," Charlie said.
    The family have been getting help from a support group, Long COVID Kids, which wants specialist clinics to be set up for children with the condition.
    Charlie said the ordeal the family has been through "really made me question my sanity at times". She added: "Long COVID centres are being set up, but they're not for children, so there is nowhere for them to be referred to. I'm really worried about the long-term health issues."
    Read full story
    Source: Sky News, 13 March 2021
  20. Patient Safety Learning
    Professor Sir Ian Diamond, head of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), has said there will “no doubt” be another wave of coronavirus infections in the autumn.
    Speaking on Sunday, Sir Ian acknowledged the impact of the “wonderful” vaccine rollout though cautioned “we need to recognise that this is a virus that isn’t going to go away.”
    "And I have no doubt that in the autumn there will be a further wave of infections," he told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One.
    The UK’s national statistician pointed toward regional variations in terms of how many people have antibodies. “There is a lot of regional variation, so we find 30 per cent of London have antibodies whereas only 16 per cent in the South West, so we need to recognise that as well,” he told the programme.
    This comes after Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, said he would “strongly advise” against any rapid easing of coronavirus restrictions.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 14 March 2021
  21. Patient Safety Learning
    Public Health Scotland are evaluating the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccination programme to understand if, how, and why different models of service delivery achieve different uptake rates for different population groups. An important part of this work is exploring the attitudes and experiences of people who have been offered a COVID-19 vaccine (even if they have not yet attended).
    You are invited to take part in an anonymous survey looking at health and social care worker views, intentions and experiences of the COVID-19 vaccination programme. You are eligible to participate in this survey if you work in Scotland in a frontline health or social care worker role (i.e. a role where you have direct contact with patients, service users, or clients).
    This survey will help to gather feedback on what was good and less good about your experience, to help inform improvements to this and future vaccination programmes, and remove barriers to attendance and reach more people. 
    The survey should take around 10 minutes to complete and will be open until 19 March 2021.
    Further information
  22. Patient Safety Learning
    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has ordered ‘significant improvements’ from a mental health trust which has been criticised over the deaths of vulnerable patients.
    The watchdog has warned Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys Foundation Trust (TEWV FT) it has “serious concerns” about risk management processes at its inpatient wards following inspections of three of its hospitals in January. It follows a string of severe problems in child and adolescent services run by the trust. 
    In a formal letter and a separate warning notice to TEWV FT, the CQC ordered the trust to carry out “significant improvements” to the safety of adult acute wards, and psychiatric intensive care, after a visit to Roseberry Park, West Park and Cross Lane hospitals on the week of 18 January.
    Sources have told HSJ the trust’s leadership is working towards a May deadline to make sufficient improvements or it could potentially risk further enforcement action. However, neither the trust nor the CQC have confirmed this.
    Families and campaigners — including Labour MP Andy McDonald, who represents Middlesbrough — have called for a public inquiry into alleged “systematic failures” at the trust following the deaths of around 14 patients under the trust’s care within two years.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 12 March 2021
  23. Patient Safety Learning
    An inquiry into dozens of baby deaths at an NHS trust will examine failings from “ward to board” covering a period of more than a decade, it has emerged.
    The independent inquiry into poor maternity care at East Kent Hospitals University Trust published its terms of reference and scope for how it will carry out its work on Thursday.
    The probe, led by Dr Bill Kirkup, was commissioned by the government after The Independent revealed more than 130 infants suffered brain injuries during birth at the trust over several years.
    The scandal was exposed by the family of baby Harry Richford who died after a catalogue of errors by maternity staff in November 2017. A coroner ruled his death was the result of neglect and “wholly avoidable”.
    Several other families have also spoken out over the deaths of their babies, with evidence emerging the trust’s managers were warned about safety concerns but failed to take action.
    In October, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said it intended to prosecute the trust over the death of Harry Richford.
    It is understood that since the inquiry was launched, a significant number of families have come forward with concerns but the inquiry has refused to say what the total number of cases is.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 11 March 2021
  24. Patient Safety Learning
    The Covid surge in January hit key services including cancer and routine surgery, NHS England figures show.
    Less than half the expected number of operations were done, pushing the waiting list to a record-high of 4.6m. More than 300,000 of those have been waiting more than a year for treatment - compared to 1,600 before the pandemic began.
    Surgeons described it as a dire situation which would take a long time to turnaround.
    Tim Mitchell, of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: "Behind today's statistics are people waiting in limbo. Many will be in considerable pain, others will have restricted mobility and be at risk of isolation and loneliness."
    "Dealing with this daunting backlog will take time, and also sustained investment in the NHS," he said.
    Similar problems are also being seen in Scotland where 39,000 people have been waiting over a year for treatment.
    The NHS Confederation has warned the true picture could be much worse with nearly 6 million fewer referrals made by GPs in England for routine treatments, which includes operations such as knee and hip replacements, last year, suggested there was an additional hidden backlog. The organisation, which represents hospitals, said it was likely people have not sought help or found it difficult to access services during the pandemic.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 11 March 2021
  25. Patient Safety Learning
    The proportion of NHS staff in England who reported feeling unwell as a result of work-related stress increased by nearly 10% last year as the Covid pandemic took its toll, according to the health service’s 2020 survey.
    The survey found that 44% reported feeling unwell as a result of work-related stress in the previous 12 months, compared with 40.3% in 2019. The proportion has steadily increased since 2016 (36.8%).
    In a year like no other for the health service, the 2020 survey also found a slight reduction in respondents who said they often or always looked forward to going to work, and a bigger fall in those who said they were often or always enthusiastic about their job.
    Nevertheless, the survey – which was carried out before Boris Johnson announced plans to give NHS England healthcare workers a 1% pay rise next year, prompting widespread fury – found that the proportion of staff who were thinking of leaving the NHS fell from 19.6% to 18.2%.
    In a year in which ethnic minorities were heavily represented in the death toll of healthcare workers, and concerns were raised about being more likely to be pushed into frontline roles and about access to personal protective equipment, the responses relating to equality, diversity and inclusion were not so positive.
    The proportion of staff who said their employer provided equal opportunities fell compared with 2019, with a decrease among black and minority ethnic staff from 71.2% to 69.2%.
    Danny Mortimer, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the overall picture was encouraging in the circumstances, adding: “There are, though, significant areas of concern, and the recent data on the continued poorer experience of ethnic minority staff starkly reminds NHS leaders that staff experience varies unacceptably in their organisations."
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 11 March 2021
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