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Patient Safety Learning

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  1. Patient Safety Learning
    A man who was treated with imported blood products in the 1980s became the first haemophiliac in the UK to test HIV positive and die of Aids, an inquiry has heard.
    Kevin Slater, from Cwmbran, was 20 when he developed Aids in 1983 the Infected Blood Inquiry has been told. He was not informed that he had been diagnosed with the condition for at least 18 months and died in 1985. Records show it was recommended that the diagnosis be kept from him.
    The UK-wide inquiry is looking into what has been described as the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS.
    Haemophilia is a blood condition which affects the clotting of blood in those affected. In the 1980s some of the blood products used to treat the condition were infected with HIV.
    The inquiry heard there were about 100 haemophiliac patients in Wales at the time.
    Mr Slater's sister-in-law Lynda Maule said she does not believe he was ever told he had Aids.
    "He was treated disgustingly," she told the inquiry. "There was no care, nothing.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 2 February 2021
  2. Patient Safety Learning
    The NHS is setting up dozens of mental health hubs to help staff who have been left traumatised by treating Covid patients during the pandemic.
    There is mounting concern that large numbers of frontline workers have experienced mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder over the last year.
    NHS personnel will be able to ring one of the 40 new hubs in England, receive advice and be referred for support from psychologists, mental health nurses, therapists and recovery workers.
    Frontline workers who are struggling with their mental health will be encouraged to use the service, and hub staff will call workers deemed at highest risk directly to offer their help. Higher-risk groups are likely to include those who work in intensive care, on Covid wards and in A&E units.
    Almost half of doctors, nurses and other ICU staff have reported symptoms of PTSD, severe depression or anxiety, according to research published last month. Of these, about 40% had probable PTSD – far higher than the rates seen among military veterans.
    Sir Simon Stevens, NHS England’s chief executive, announced the hubs in an interview with the House magazine. They are being set up at locations across England including Bedfordshire, Lancashire and north-east London. A handful are already in operation.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 22 February 2021
  3. Patient Safety Learning
    The COVID-19 vaccines deployed in the UK substantially reduce the risk of hospital admission, real-world data from Scotland has shown.
    Four weeks after receiving a first dose, both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs cut hospitalisation with the disease by up to 85 and 94%, respectively.
    Among those aged 80 years and over – one of the most vulnerable groups – the two vaccines were associated with a combined 81% reduction in hospitalisation risk.
    Scientists from the University of Edinburgh, the University of Strathclyde, and Public Health Scotland gathered vaccine data between 8 December and 15 February, during which 1.14 million doses were administered among the Scottish population.
    Researchers analysed data for every week during the study – including GP records on vaccination, hospital admissions, death registrations and laboratory test results – and compared the outcomes of those who had received their first jab with those who had not.
    Lead researcher Professor Aziz Sheikh said: "These results are very encouraging and have given us great reasons to be optimistic for the future. We now have national evidence – across an entire country – that vaccination provides protection against Covid-19 hospitalisations."
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 22 February 2021
  4. Patient Safety Learning
    Staff at one of England’s largest hospital trusts have been threatened with disciplinary and regulatory action if they attempt to get their second COVID-19 vaccine dose early, HSJ has learned
    In an all staff email today, University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust said: “Any staff trying to obtain a second dose ahead of their booked sessions could be considered deliberately attempting to deceive the NHS in order to obtain medicines and, as such will be a professional conduct issue which may result in disciplinary action and/or regulatory action being taken against you.
    The new note indicates the FT may have had a particular problem with staff seeking and/or getting second doses.
    The email said that if they attended vaccination centres, staff would be refused a second dose, and be asked to leave. Staff were also asked not to try and book another appointment at a different vaccination centre or “re-enter” the system through over means.
    The email added: “The current supply of vaccines is allocated to us to ensure all priority groups can receive their first dose and provide protection to as many as possible.”
    In December the trust’s executives were heavily criticised by unions for getting their first vaccine doses, after patients didn’t show up for appointments. The trust, which has been dealing with very large numbers of covid patients especially in intensive care, has also been the subject of concerns over culture and management in recent months.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 20 February 2021
  5. Patient Safety Learning
    Some pregnant women who have had gestational diabetes say a change to shielding advice in England has caused confusion. 
    Some have been told to stay at home while others have not, based on a new algorithm which calculates an individual's risk from Covid. It identified an extra 1.7 million people as extremely clinically vulnerable in England this week. They will now be prioritised for a Covid vaccine.
    NHS England says not everyone with the same condition will be advised to shield but suggests people contact their GP to discuss their individual case.
    Heather Davis Mahoney, from Hertfordshire, had gestational diabetes while carrying her second child, and was monitored closely during her third pregnancy. She has not been told to shield, but says it's worrying when others from similar backgrounds have been told they should.
    "There's been an explosion of confusion. People don't know what's going on and are worried about putting themselves and their babies at risk," she says.
    But GP Dr David Triska said just because someone has gestational diabetes or had it in the past, doesn't mean they should be shielding. "I think the major point of confusion is that people are expecting that this is a binary 'yes' or 'no' per condition algorithm - and it is not," he said.
    "The reason why people are getting different answers from various sources is because this is an individual risk assessment."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 20 February 2021
     
  6. Patient Safety Learning
    A new COVID vaccine efficacy study from Israel has concluded that Pfizer/BioNTech's jab is up to 85% effective after the first dose.
    The research, conducted by the Sheba Medical Centre, the country's largest hospital, has been published in the Lancet medical journal.
    The hospital assessed the effectiveness of the first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine among 7,000 of its healthcare employees. The workers each received their first dose in January and the research team observed an 85% reduction of clinical (symptomatic) COVID-19 between 15 and 28 days after the jab.
    But critically, they also observed efficacy in asymptomatic patients.
    The study found that all infections, including asymptomatic, were reduced by 75% after the first dose.
    Professor Eyal Leshem, an infectious disease expert and director of Sheba's Institute for Travel and Tropical Medicine, told Sky News: "This is first real-world evidence of effectiveness that shows up after the first dose of the vaccine."
    Read full story
    Source: Sky News, 19 February 2021
  7. Patient Safety Learning
    Three in 10 care home staff have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 despite being in the top four priority groups, according to data from NHS England.
    More than 435,000 workers in care homes for older adults are eligible in England, but only 304,600 have received a first dose.
    In London, only 52% of staff have had a jab, rising to 75% in the South West.
    The UK target of vaccinating 15 million people was met at the weekend. However, these figures, up to 14 February, suggest there are large groups of care workers, who are in the top four priority groups, who have still not come forward.
    Some care home staff have previously said they refused the vaccine because of "cultural issues", but organisations representing care providers say they must be convinced to have one - to protect them and the services they work in.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 18 February 2021
  8. Patient Safety Learning
    The NHS is increasing efforts to reach out to ethnic minority communities in more deprived areas of England as analysis by The Independent shows poorer areas are vaccinating fewer at-risk people.
    Among the most deprived parts of the country, fewer people aged over 80 and in their mid-70s had received their first dose of vaccine against coronavirus by 7 February when compared with more affluent areas, sparking concerns communities most at risk are being left vulnerable.
    Comparing local NHS vaccination data with Public Health England’s deprivation scores for each NHS region reveals six of the most deprived parts of England were in the bottom 10 local areas for vaccine uptake among the over-80s and those aged over 75.
    The worst performing NHS region was East London, with just 73& cent of over-80s vaccinated by 7 February. East London was also one of the worst-affected areas during the second wave of the virus as hospitals became overwhelmed early on in the crisis.
    Dave Finch, a senior fellow at the Health Foundation, said: “Lower vaccine uptake in the most deprived areas is worrying as these areas have seen some of the very highest Covid-19 death rates. A higher likelihood of having poorer pre-existing health increases their risk of more severe symptoms if they do get the virus. And people living in poorer areas are increasingly showing signs of intense financial hardship as a result of lockdown measures."
    “The government must prioritise understanding why vaccine uptake has been lower in these areas and take urgent, targeted action to address this. However, in the longer term, there must be a focus on investing across the UK to address major health inequalities in order protect everyone’s health and wellbeing.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 18 February 2021
  9. Patient Safety Learning
    Government plans to cut off funding for hospital discharge at the end of March will slow down the NHS recovery of planned care, and threatens ‘distress’ for families asked to quickly take over patients’ care.
    Since the pandemic began the Department of Health and Social Care has funded measures to smooth discharge from hospital, to help free up capacity. From September last year this was via a £588m national pot for up to six weeks’ funded care and support after discharge. 
    But a letter from NHS England director of community health Matthew Winn last week confirmed the funding will cease at the end of March, with local NHS organisations or councils liable for the continued funding of discharge packages in the 2021-22 financial year.
    Jennifer Burns, president of the British Geriatrics Society (BGS), which has previously written to the government to urge an extension of the scheme, told HSJ: “The BGS is incredibly concerned… The disappearance of funding for care in the six-week period after discharge creates a cliff edge in the very near future. We urge the government to reconsider this decision and commit to recurrent discharge funding in the upcoming Budget.”
    Miriam Deakin, NHS Providers director of policy and strategy, said the government’s funding had “played a crucial role in freeing up hospital beds [and] managing capacity”, despite the delays caused by other parts of the system during the coronavirus winter surge. 
    Ms Deakin warned: “Trust leaders are keen to see this funding continue in the longer term. This new way of working does not come without a financial cost, particularly for community services and their staff who are now much more thinly stretched, supporting patients with a wider range of more complex needs at home and in other community settings. We would therefore urge government to continue discharge to assess funding from April 2021.” 
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 18 February 2021
  10. Patient Safety Learning
    Scotland's biggest health board should be put in "special measures" over its handling of hospital infection issues, according to an MSP.
    Anas Sarwar made the call after a mother accused NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) of covering up possible factors in her daughter's death.Mr Sarwar said the health board had tried to intimidate health service whistleblowers who had raised concerns.
    NHSGGC said the source of the child's infection could not be determined.
    Earlier this week a whistleblower revealed that a doctor-led review had identified 26 infections at Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Children in 2017 which were potentially linked to problems with the water supply.
    Kimberly Darroch, whose daughter Milly Main died at the hospital in August 2017 while in remission from leukaemia, said health officials gave her no inkling that contaminated water could have been a factor.
    Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has said the first she knew of Milly's death was when Ms Darroch emailed her about her concerns in September.
    NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has offered to meet the family to discuss their concerns - but said it was impossible to accurately determine the source of Milly's infection because there was no requirement for water testing at the time.
    It said the hospital's water had been independently assessed as safe, and it criticised the whistleblower for causing "stress and anxiety" for Milly's parents when there was no evidence of a link.
    Anas Sarwar, however, insisted the health board had let down both patients and staff.
    He said: "There was an attempted cover-up of Milly's death, and there are still dozens of families who don't know the truth about infections contracted in the QEUH."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 16 February 2021
  11. Patient Safety Learning
    Boris Johnson is being urged to launch a compensation scheme for frontline workers who are suffering from the long-term effects of coronavirus.
    The all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus said the prime minister should recognise long Covid as an occupational disease, saying some sufferers have found it hard to return to work. 
    A letter, signed by more than 60 MPs and peers, has been sent to Johnson.
    Layla Moran, the APPG’s chair, said: “Long Covid is the hidden health crisis of the pandemic, and it is likely to have an enormous impact on society for many years to come.
    “When it comes to frontline NHS, care and key workers, they were specifically asked to go to work and save lives while everyone else was asked to stay at home."
    “They were exposed to an increased level of risk of catching the virus, often without adequate levels of PPE.”
    The group wants the government to follow France, Germany, Belgium and Denmark, which have formally recognised Covid as an “occupational disease”.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 18 February 2021
  12. Patient Safety Learning
    The Care Quality Commission has ordered immediate improvements to a trust after it reported six never events inside eight months.
    The watchdog has issued a warning notice to Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust after it carried out an announced inspection which focused on the trust’s surgical care group – where six never events had occurred between February and October last year.
    In November, HSJ reported that a total of eight never events had been recorded in 2020, with trust chief executive Kate Shields saying it had raised fears the trust had not fully embedded safety improvements initiated as part of the special measures regime.
    The inspectors visited three of the trust’s sites where the never events had happened. These were: Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro, St Michael’s Hospital in Hayle and West Cornwall Hospital in Penzance.
    The inspectors reported that governance processes were “not effective enough” to ensure that changes were made across the trust, and that lessons from incidents and near misses were “not shared with the whole team and wider service to ensure patient safety”.
    Their report also stated the trust’s safety checklist for surgical procedures had improved but was not fully compliant with the World Health Organisation’s standards.
    However, the CQC found staff apologised and provided patients with information when things had gone wrong, and that there was an open culture in which staff felt able to raise concerns.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 17 February 2021
  13. Patient Safety Learning
    One in five female doctors are concerned about whether their personal protective equipment (PPE) is the correct size as fears grow over more infectious strains of coronavirus.
    Exclusive data from the British Medical Association, which polled over 7,000 UK healthcare workers, found a fifth of female doctors were not at all confident their PPE is “fully fit-tested” or adjusted to tally with their requirements. Just 13% of men said the same.
    The professional organisation for doctors argues PPE is generally designed to fit the “size and shape of male bodies” even though women make up 75% of NHS workers.
    Helena McKeown, chair of the BMA representative body, told The Independent the situation is not improving due to a lack of action from the government as she warned there is a dearth of different sized PPE for a range of body shapes available.
    Dr McKeown, who is a GP, said: “Without properly sitting face protection, these doctors are putting themselves at risk. Poorly fitting PPE makes performing simple tasks more difficult and at worst exposes health professionals to dangerous infection."
    “We’ve had the pandemic a year and we know a one size fits all approach does not work. Whether that is for the size of the gown, clothes or fit of the face mask. We have had a year to get this right.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 16 February 2021
     
  14. Patient Safety Learning
    Waiting lists for NHS surgery in England could hit 10 million by April, a think tank has claimed while calling for NHS hospitals to use more private sector capacity to reduce delays for patients.
    In a new report the right-wing think tank Reform said the worst case scenario for patient waits could see one in six people in England waiting for treatment by April. It said the impact of coronavirus had turned the NHS into a “national Covid service” with six million fewer referrals for treatment in 2020.
    It warned the delays in treatments could have dire consequences for patients with an estimated 1,660 additional lung cancer deaths.
    But NHS bosses have hit back at the report saying it is inaccurate to say the NHS focused only on Covid, and that despite widespread cancellations it has continued to treat other patients.
    Predictions that the NHS waiting list would hit 10 million were made last year and proved wrong after hospitals ramped up routine services during the summer – although the second wave of the virus has again led to widespread cancellations including for surgery patients.
    The new Reform report claims capacity in private sector hospitals, where NHS England has secured new contracts to take on additional work during the Covid surge, have not been effectively used.
    The think tank wants NHS England to mandate the publication of ‘waiting list recovery plans’ by NHS trusts setting out how each hospital will use the private sector.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 17 February 2021
  15. Patient Safety Learning
    There is to be a large expansion of the number of people being asked to shield in England.
    An extra 1.7 million people are expected to be added to the 2.3 million already on the list. Half of the group have not yet been vaccinated so will now be prioritised urgently by their local GPs.
    It comes after a new model was developed that takes into account extra factors rather than just health.
    This calculation includes things such as ethnicity, deprivation (by postcode) and weight to work out a person's risk of becoming seriously ill if they were to catch Covid. It also looks at age, underlying health issues and prescribed medications. 
    Prof Andrew Hayward, a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), which has been involved in the modelling, said it considered a "combination of factors" such as age, ethnicity and chronic illness and put them together to reach a score.
    He told BBC Radio 4's PM programme that this score could "more or less order people in the population according to their level of risk" and "identify those at the top of that range to say, 'you should be prioritised for vaccine and you have a level of risk that is similar to those on the shielding list'".
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 16 February 2021
  16. Patient Safety Learning
    Thousands of lives could be saved if people at risk of developing Britain’s deadliest cancer were screened to diagnose it before it becomes incurable, a major NHS study has found.
    Giving smokers and ex-smokers a CT scan uncovers cancerous lung tumours when they are at an early enough stage so they can still be removed, rather than continuing to grow unnoticed, it shows.
    Experts are demanding the government moves to bring in routine CT scanning of smokers and ex-smokers in order to cut the huge death toll from lung cancer. About 48,000 people a year are diagnosed with the disease in the UK and 35,100 die from it – 96 a day.
    Lung cancer is a particularly brutal form of cancer because it is hard to detect and three out of four cases are diagnosed at stage three or four, when it is already too late to give the person potentially life-saving treatment. However, the Summit study, being run by specialists in the disease at University College London Hospital NHS trust, offers real hope that lung cancer can become a condition that is detected early.
    CT scanning meant that 70% of the growths detected in people’s lungs were identified when the disease was at stage one or two – a huge increase in the usual rate of early diagnosis.
    “It’s really a major breakthrough for lung cancer,” Dr Sam Janes of UCLH, the senior investigator of the trial, told the Guardian. "Lung cancer has never had anything that enabled us to detect this devastating cancer earlier and offer curative treatment to this number of lung cancer patients.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 14 February 2021
  17. Patient Safety Learning
    People with learning disabilities have been given do not resuscitate orders during the second wave of the pandemic, in spite of widespread condemnation of the practice last year and an urgent investigation by the care watchdog.
    Mencap said it had received reports in January from people with learning disabilities that they had been told they would not be resuscitated if they were taken ill with COVID-19.
    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said in December that inappropriate Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) notices had caused potentially avoidable deaths last year.
    DNACPRs are usually made for people who are too frail to benefit from CPR, but Mencap said some seem to have been issued for people simply because they had a learning disability. The CQC is due to publish a report on the practice within weeks.
    The disclosure comes as campaigners put growing pressure on ministers to reconsider a decision not to give people with learning disabilities priority for vaccinations. There is growing evidence that even those with a mild disability are more likely to die if they contract the coronavirus.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 13 February 2021
  18. Patient Safety Learning
    NHS guidance which often forces pregnant women who test positive with coronavirus to give birth alone is legally wrong, lawyers warned.
    Official guidance drawn up by NHS England states that if a woman tests positive for Covid, their husband or partner must self-isolate at home and is not allowed to support them during childbirth.
    But campaigners and lawyers told The Independent their guidance for visitor restrictions in maternity services during the pandemic is legally inaccurate as people have the “right to private and family life” under Article Eight of the Human Rights Act.
    Maria Booker, of Birthrights, a leading maternity care charity, said: “The NHS oversimplifies the government’s self-isolating Covid regulations and tells partners they have to stay at home. But this hasn’t taken into account the legal nuance that government rules state people can leave home if they have a reasonable excuse."
    “A woman being anxious about giving birth alone, which most people will be, is likely to legally constitute as a reasonable excuse."
    “It is completely inhumane for a woman to give birth without a partner or supporter. It is even scarier giving birth alone you are Covid positive. It is terrifying. Nobody should give birth alone and that includes Covid positive women.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 13 February 2021
  19. Patient Safety Learning
    The backlog of patients who have been waiting for cancer treatment for more than 104 days has more than doubled since last year, according to internal NHS England papers seen by HSJ.
    At the start of February, the backlog of cases already at more than 15 weeks had hit 6,109, compared to 3,000 at the same point in 2020.
    National targets state cancer patients should be treated with 62 days of being referred.
    In the North West region, the backlog has nearly tripled over the same time period, from 289 to 831 (see regional breakdown below). Senior sources told HSJ the increase had been largely driven by acute providers in Greater Manchester and Merseyside.
    Cases in which patients have to wait more than 104 days for treatment are generally considered serious breaches, and typically trigger a process to identify if the delay has caused harm to the patient. Some local systems have declared a “zero tolerance” for such instances. The data in the papers is provisional.
    Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said the impact of covid-19 on cancer patients has been “devastating”. She added: “The government must urgently make sure the NHS gets the funding it needs to increase cancer service capacity, and give every person with cancer the timely diagnosis and treatment they deserve.”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 13 February 2021
  20. Patient Safety Learning
    A new trial is to test how well the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine works in children.
    Some 300 volunteers will take part, with the first vaccinations in the trial taking place later in February.
    Researchers will assess whether the jab produces a strong immune response in children aged between six and 17.
    The vaccine is one of two being used to protect against serious illness and death from Covid in the UK, along with the Pfizer-BioNTech jab.
    As many as 240 children will receive the vaccine - and the others a control meningitis jab - when the trial gets under way.
    Andrew Pollard, professor of paediatric infection and immunity, and chief investigator on the Oxford vaccine trial, noted that most children were relatively unaffected by Covid and were unlikely to become unwell with the virus.
    But he said it was important to establish the safety and immune response to the vaccine in children and young people as some children might benefit from vaccination.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 14 February 2021
  21. Patient Safety Learning
    Tens of thousands of coronavirus survivors needing long-term care are heaping pressure on Britain’s stretched community services, threatening a crisis that experts warn could dwarf that seen in hospitals over the past 12 months.
    As many as 100,000 intensive care patients, including up to 15,000 Covid-19 survivors, will need long-term community nursing care after being discharged from hospitals during the past 12 months, The Independent has been told.
    This will be on top of an as yet unknown number of Covid patients from the 350,000 treated on general wards since the pandemic began, as well as tens of thousands of people who were sick without going to hospital but have been left with debilitating symptoms of long Covid.
    Labour’s shadow health minister Liz Kendall warned: “There will be huge pressures on community services as people who need long-term support are discharged back into their own homes.
    “Ministers have got to put in place a proper workforce strategy for the NHS and community care otherwise we will see people struggling to recover and the burden of care could also fall on their families."
    “This is one of the long-term consequences of Covid that we haven’t begun to even think through yet.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 14 February 2021
  22. Patient Safety Learning
    The NHS must have a realistic and steady approach to resuming services disrupted by the pandemic that explicitly recognises the need for staff to recover, NHS leaders have said.
    In a letter to the prime minister leaders from the NHS Confederation, which represents healthcare providers, warned, “The NHS cannot recover its services at the same rate of increase when staff are so exhausted.”
    The letter noted that there were over 5000 more patients with COVID-19 in UK hospitals right now that at the peak of the first wave and that this was taking its toll on staff. The leaders called for sustained local mental health support for the NHS workforce beyond the end of March and for a long term, fully funded plan to increase staffing numbers.
    The government must also set out clear expectations for the public on when routine procedures and other treatments would be fully back on line, they added.
    “With a workforce on its knees and many of the pre-pandemic challenges still very much at play they need your government both to acknowledge the consequences of the immense pressure their workers have been under so far, and to be realistic and honest with the public about what the NHS can safely deliver moving forward,” the letter said.
    Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said that while health leaders would continue to prioritise urgent care and patients with the greatest clinical need, the prime minister must “be upfront with the public about what the NHS can safely deliver in this next phase.”
    Read full story
    Source: The BMJ, 11 February 2021
  23. Patient Safety Learning
    The number of patients in critical care grew at one in four English hospital trusts in the past week, despite overall covid-19 occupancy falling, HSJ can reveal.
    It comes with adult critical care occupancy still very high in many areas — 10 trusts still have at least double the number of patients that they normally have space for. It highlights the ongoing pressure still on hospitals, with the prime minister due to decide in coming days on a timetable for loosening lockdown.
    HSJ analysis of NHS sitrep data shows that 31 trusts (of a total 125 general acute trusts) saw the number of critically ill adults climb between 2 and 9 February.
    Twenty-five of these trusts were either at or above their total capacity available last winter. The critical care units still seeing increasing pressure when compared to last year are spread nationally, but are predominantly in Yorkshire, Midlands and the North West, where the covid third wave peaked later.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 11 February 2021
  24. Patient Safety Learning
    Nearly 6 out of every 10 people who died with coronavirus in England last year were disabled, figures suggest.
    Some 30,296 of the 50,888 deaths between January and November were people with a disability, Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows. It also suggests the risk of death is three times greater for more severely disabled people.
    Charities have called for urgent government action, describing the data as "horrifying and tragic".
    The ONS figures suggest disabled people were disproportionately affected by the pandemic - accounting for 17.2% of the study population but nearly 60% of coronavirus deaths.
    Among women, the risk of death involving coronavirus was 3.5 times greater for more-disabled women - defined as having their day-to-day activities "limited a lot" by their health - compared with non-disabled women.
    For less-disabled women, defined as having their day-to-day activities "limited a little", the risk was two times greater.
    Compared to non-disabled men, the data showed that the risk was 3.1 times greater for more-disabled men, and 1.9 times greater for less-disabled men.
    Looking at people with a medically diagnosed learning disability, the risk of death involving Covid was 3.7 times greater for both men and women compared with people who did not have a learning disability.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 11 February 2021
  25. Patient Safety Learning
    A drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis could cut the number of Covid deaths and speed up recovery, a new scientific trial has found.
    The drug, tocilizumab, could save the lives of one in 25 coronavirus patients in hospital and reduce the need for ventilators in intensive care.
    Researchers say around half of the people admitted to hospital with coronavirus could benefit from the treatment.
    Scientists from the nationwide Recovery trial said when tocilizumab was given alongside the steroid dexamethasone, it reduced the absolute risk of mortality by four percentage points. The medicine was already being used by the NHS to treat some coronavirus patients after early results last month showed it reduced the risk of death as well as time spent in hospital by up to 10 days.
    As a result of the latest findings, the health secretary said the drug would be made more widely available on the NHS to help treat Covid patients.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 11 February 2021
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