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Patient Safety Learning

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  1. Patient Safety Learning
    Women working in the NHS are suffering from serious stress and exhaustion in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, a troubling new report has found.
    Some 75% of NHS workers are women and the nursing sector is predominantly made up of women – with 9 out of 10 nurses in the UK being female.
    The report, conducted by the NHS Confederation’s Health and Care Women Leaders Network, warns the NHS is at risk of losing female staff due to them experiencing mental burnout during the global pandemic.
    Researchers, who polled more than 1,300 women working across health and care in England, found almost three quarters reported their job had a more damaging impact than usual on their emotional wellbeing due to the COVID-19 emergency.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 25 August 2020
  2. Patient Safety Learning
    A nurse in the US sued Louisville, Ky.-based Kindred Healthcare this week, alleging the organisation fired him in retaliation for raising patient safety concerns.
    Sean Kinnie worked as an intensive care unit nurse at Kindred Hospital-San Antonio. Mr Kinnie claims he was suspended twice and then fired after leaders at the 59-bed transitional care hospital learned he anonymously reported patient safety concerns to The Joint Commission in November 2019 and January. 
    Mr Kinnie said issues related to inadequate staffing and unsanitary care environments put patients in "grave danger," according to the lawsuit. He also said the hospital created a culture in which employees were afraid to stand up for patients for fear of retaliation from management. 
    In January, Mr Kinnie told the hospital's chief clinical officer Sharon Danieliewicz that he was the staff member who reported the patient safety concerns to The Joint Commission. Mr. Kinnie claims he faced increased scrutiny after this disclosure and was ultimately fired Feb. 24 for violating facility policy.
    Read full story
    Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 24 August 2020
  3. Patient Safety Learning
    The Health Research Authority has launched a new strategy to ensure information about all health and social care research – including COVID-19 research - is made publicly available to benefit patients, researchers and policy makers.
    The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of sharing details of research taking place - to understand the virus and find the tests, treatments and vaccines - so that results can inform best quality care and preventive measures. This also means researchers do not duplicate efforts and can build on each other’s work while the public can see what research is going on. Now the new Make it Public strategy aims to build on this good practice and make it easy for researchers to be transparent about their work.
    The strategy, delivered by the HRA in partnership with NHS Research Scotland (NRS), Health and Care Research Wales and Health and Social Care Northern Ireland, is about making transparency ‘the norm’ in research and making information more visible to the public. New measures set out in the strategy – will improve transparency and openness in health and social care studies, by:
    expecting researchers to plan how they will let research participants know about the findings of the study from the beginning introducing additional monitoring to check that researchers are reporting results and to collect information about study findings making information on individual research projects – and their transparency performance - available to the public introducing a system to consider past transparency performance when reviewing new studies for approval and in the future introducing sanctions. 
  4. Patient Safety Learning
    A home care worker who did not wear protective equipment may have infected a client with a fatal case of coronavirus during weeks of contradictory government guidance on whether the kit was needed or not, an official investigation has found.
    The government’s confusion about how much protection care workers visiting homes needed is detailed in a report into the death of an unnamed person by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB), which conducts independent investigations of patient safety concerns in NHS-funded care in England. It was responding to a complaint raised by a member of the public in April.
    The report shows that Public Health England published two contradictory documents that month. One advised care workers making home visits to wear PPE and the other did not mention the need. The contradiction was not cleared up for six weeks.
    The government’s guidance had been a shambles that had placed workers and their vulnerable clients at risk, the policy director at the United Kingdom Homecare Association, Colin Angel, said on Wednesday. The association also accused the government of sidelining its expertise and publishing new guidance with little notice, sometimes late on Friday nights, meaning that it was not always noticed by the people it was intended for.
  5. Patient Safety Learning
    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has taken immediate enforcement action at East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust citing “serious concerns” over patient safety.
    The regulator confirmed it was taking action today after inspectors visited on 12 August following concerns being raised about the standard of care and risk to patients.
    The CQC confirmed the action had been taken, but it said it could not comment further due to legal restrictions and the trust’s right to appeal the decision.
    HSJ understands the enforcement action was taken due to concerns over infection prevention control and the number of patients who have contracted COVID-19 in hospital. It is believed to be the first such action against a trust.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 27 August 2020
  6. Patient Safety Learning
    Hospitals are not equipped to deal with the surge in screenings and tests as the health service restarts care – leaving patients facing delays in diagnosis and treatment for conditions including cancer, according to medical leaders.
    As the NHS tries to recover from the worst of the coronavirus crisis, more than a million laboratory samples from cancer screening services are expected in pathology labs, while as many as 850,000 delayed CT and MRI scans need to be carried out.
    But 97% of labs do not have enough pathologists to carry out the work – with staff already working unpaid hours to tackle the existing backlog – while the number of radiology posts nationally would need to be increased by a third to deal with the rise, experts say. Precautions to protect against the spread of coronavirus also limits the number of scans that can be carried out. The royal colleges of pathologists and radiologists warned that cancers would go undiagnosed and treatments for all patients across the NHS could be further delayed as a result.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 27 August 2020
  7. Patient Safety Learning
    Obesity may double the risk of falling seriously ill with Covid-19 and increase the chances of dying by almost 50 per cent, according to researchers, who also warned any future vaccine may be less effective for the clinically overweight.
    Health issues caused by obesity include a number of pre-existing conditions known to exacerbate a Covid-19 infection – including heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.
    Now a global assessment of health data gathered since the start of the the pandemic by researchers at the University of North Carolina has found people with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of more than 30 were 113 per cent more likely to be hospitalised.
    Those admitted to hospital were found to be 74% more likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit, while the risk of death among obese patients increased by 48%.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 26 August 2020
  8. Patient Safety Learning
    At least 6,500 health and care workers may have been infected with coronavirus through their work, including 100 who died, according to data from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
    The regulator told The Independent it was reviewing each case and could launch investigations under the Health and Safety at Work Act if hospitals or care homes are suspected of not taking adequate steps to protect staff from infection.
    This could result in a hospital or care home being prosecuted.
    The latest data from the HSE shows between 10 April and 10 August there were a total of 3, 382 healthcare workplace infections, including 50 fatal incidents. In residential care there were 3,168 infections reported to the watchdog with 48 fatal cases.
    The results of the review, first revealed earlier this month by The Independent, is being kept secret but where a medical examiner finds a worker may have died as a result of a workplace infection the death will have to be reported to the HSE for possible investigation. Coroners may also hold inquests into deaths.
    It will also make it easier for families to claim compensation from the government’s additional death in service payments of £60,000 which was announced by health secretary Matt Hancock in April.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 25 August 2020
  9. Patient Safety Learning
    A clinical commissioning group (CCG) has ordered an independent review of its culture which it said was prompted by the “injustices experienced by black Asian and minority ethic colleagues” during the pandemic, HSJ has learned.
    The review at Surrey Heartlands CCG, due to report in the autumn, is being led by Duncan Lewis, emeritus professor of management at Plymouth University. He has led several major reviews into culture at NHS organisations, including one into bullying and harassment at South East Coast Ambulance Service Foundation Trust in 2017 and one into workplace culture at Whittington Health Trust in 2018.
    HSJ asked the CCG for the terms of reference of the review and the reasons why it felt it necessary to commission such an inquiry. It said the review’s scope would be determined by what staff felt was important regarding “our organisational culture, policy and practice – things we do well and things we need to improve”.
    It added in a statement: “We will listen to the findings of the review and we will make any changes that are necessary.”
    It is not yet clear if specific events within the organisation itself prompted the CCG to take the unusual step of commissioning the work. But the commissioner’s interim chief did say “feedback from staff” had been a driver.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 26 August 2020
  10. Patient Safety Learning
    The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved convalescent plasma for emergency use in hospital patients with COVID-19.
    The announcement on 23 August said that the FDA had concluded that plasma from recovered patients “may be effective” in treating the virus and that the “potential benefits of the product outweigh the known and potential risks.” The move came despite the absence of results from randomised controlled trials, with only a preprint paper on the effects on hospitalised COVID-19 patients being published to date.
    Experts have warned that although these early findings show promise there is not enough evidence to show that it works.
    Plasma from recovered patients was approved on a case by case basis by the FDA for people critically ill with COVID-19 in March. Since then more than 70 000 patients have been treated with plasma. Emergency use approval allows clinicians to use unapproved medical products to diagnose, treat, or prevent serious or life threatening diseases or conditions when there are no adequate, approved, and available alternatives.
    The FDA’s commissioner, Stephen Hahn, said, “I am committed to releasing safe and potentially helpful treatments for covid-19 as quickly as possible in order to save lives. We’re encouraged by the early promising data that we’ve seen about convalescent plasma. The data from studies conducted this year shows that plasma from patients who’ve recovered from covid-19 has the potential to help treat those who are suffering from the effects of getting this terrible virus.”
    But Martin Landray, professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Oxford and lead researcher for the RECOVERY trial, which is comparing treatments for COVID-19, including convalescent plasma for hospital patients, urged caution. He said, “There is a huge gap between theory and proven benefit. That is why randomised clinical trials are so important. At present, we simply don’t know if it works."
    Read full story
    Source: BMJ, 25 August 2020
  11. Patient Safety Learning
    Theresa May has urged the government to consider “redress” for the victims of a hormone pregnancy test blamed for causing serious birth defects.
    The former prime minister said that while Primodos victims had received an apology, “lives have suffered as a result” of the drug’s use.
    In an interview for a Sky News documentary, she praised campaigners who had been “beating their head against a brick wall of the state” which tried to “stop them in their tracks”.
    A review in 2017 found that scientific evidence did “not support a causal association” between the use of hormone pregnancy tests such as Primodos and birth defects or miscarriage. But Ms May ordered a second review in 2018, because, she said, she felt that it “wasn’t the slam-dunk answer that people said it was”.
    “At one point it says that they could not find a causal association between Primodos and congenital anomalies, but neither could they categorically say that there was no causal link,” she said.
    The second review concluded last month that there had been “avoidable harm” caused by Primodos and two other products – sodium valproate and vaginal mesh.
    An interview for Bitter Pill: Primodos, which will air on Sky Documentaries, Ms May said: “I think it’s important that the government looks at the whole question of redress and about how that redress can be brought up for people.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 28 August 2020
  12. Patient Safety Learning
    Safety inspectors have ordered a mental health trust to make immediate improvements after visiting two inpatient wards where three patients died inside six months.
    The Care Quality Commission this week warned Devon Partnership Trust it would take “urgent action” over “serious concerns about patients” unless the trust made the required improvements swiftly.
    The watchdog inspected the trust’s Delderfield and Moorland wards in June following concerns about three patient deaths in September, October and March, along with “a number of” patient safety incidents - including ligature incidents.
    The CQC also highlighted poor patient observation routines and a lack of learning from previous incidents, amid delays in completing investigations into safety incidents.
    Read full story
    Source: HSJ, 21 August 2020
  13. Patient Safety Learning
    A majority of pregnant women who died from coronavirus during the peak of the pandemic were from an ethnic minority background, it has emerged.
    A new study of more than a dozen women who died between March and May this year also heavily criticised the reorganisation of NHS services which it said contributed to poor care and the deaths of some of the women.
    This included one woman who was twice denied an intensive care bed because there were none available, as well as women treated by inexperienced staff who had been redeployed by hospitals and who made mistakes in their treatment of the women.
    The report, by experts at the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, based at the University of Oxford, also criticised mental health services after four women died by suicide. The report said women were “bounced” between services which had stopped face-to-face assessments during the crisis.
    The report looked at 16 women’s deaths in total. Eight women died from COVID-19, seven of whom had an ethnic minority background. Two women with Covid-19 died from unrelated causes, four died by suicide and two were victims of homicide.
    In the report, published on Thursday, the authors concluded improvements in care could have been made in 13 of the deaths they examined. In six cases, improvements in care could have meant they survived.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 21 August 2020
  14. Patient Safety Learning
    Millions of women and girls around the world have been left unable to access contraception and abortions amid the coronavirus crisis, a new report has found.
    A study by Marie Stopes International, which provides abortion and contraception services worldwide, warns 1.9 million women and girls lost their usual access to its contraception and safe abortion services in the first half of the year as a result of the global public health emergency.
    The abortion provider is preparing for 900,000 additional unintended pregnancies, 1.5 million extra unsafe abortions, and 3,100 additional pregnancy-related deaths after the disruption to services in the first half of the year.
    Dr Rashmi Ardey, of Marie Stopes, said: “Women’s needs do not suddenly stop or diminish during an emergency – they become greater. And as a doctor, I have seen only too often the drastic action that women and girls take when they are unable to access contraception and safe abortion.
    “This pandemic has strained healthcare services all over the world, but sexual and reproductive healthcare was already so under prioritised that once again women are bearing the brunt of this global calamity.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent,19 August 2020
  15. Patient Safety Learning
    Nearly three-quarters of coronavirus patients admitted to hospital suffer ongoing symptoms three months later, new research suggests.
    A total of 81 patients out of 110 discharged from Southmead Hospital in Bristol were still experiencing symptoms from the virus, including breathlessness, excessive fatigue and muscle aches, after 12 weeks.
    Many were struggling to carry out daily tasks such as washing, dressing or going back to work, the study found.
    The majority of patients reported improvements in the initial symptoms of fever, cough and loss of sense of smell, and most had no evidence of lung scarring or reductions in lung function.
    The findings are part of North Bristol NHS Trust's Discover project, which is studying the longer-term effects of coronavirus - so-called Long COVID.
    An intensive care doctor, Dr Jake Suett, told Sky News in June that he was still suffering COVID-19 symptoms three months after contracting the disease. Dr Jake Suett, 31, had no underlying health conditions but was still suffering chest pain, breathlessness, blurred vision, memory loss, a high temperature, concentration problems.
    Dr Rebecca Smith, from North Bristol NHS Trust, said: "There's still so much we don't know about the long-term effects of coronavirus, but this study has given us vital new insight into what challenges patients may face in their recovery and will help us prepare for those needs."
    Read full story
    Source: Sky News, 20 August 2020
  16. Patient Safety Learning
    Matt Hancock has extended four national data sharing orders which allow GPs and NHS organisations to share confidential patient information, as part of the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
    The data sharing instructions were initially put in place in March when the pandemic broke out in earnest, and they were due to expire at the end of September.
    Under the arrangement GPs, NHS providers, NHS Digital, NHS England/Improvement, local authorities and the UK Biobank can share information about patients’ treatment and medical history - if doing so would help their response to COVID-19.
    The data sharing instructions have now been extended until 31 March next year. 
    According to the Department of Health and Social Care’s update which notified organisations of the extension, NHS entities can share information for reasons such as helping to support the NHS Test and Trace service, identifying further patients at risk of COVID-19, and understanding information about patient access to health and adult social care services.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 20 August 2020
  17. Patient Safety Learning
    A third of doctors have treated patients with long term COVID-19 symptoms, including chronic fatigue and anosmia, a survey conducted by the BMA has found.
    Richard Vautrey, chair of the BMA’s GP committee for England, said it was clear that the long term impact of COVID-19 on patients and the NHS would be profound. 
    “With more patients presenting with conditions as the result of infection, it’s essential that sufficient capacity is in place to support and treat them,” Vautrey said. “With the growing backlog of non-COVID-19 treatment, the likelihood of a season flu outbreak, and the possibility of a second wave of infections we need to see a more comprehensive long term plan to enable doctors to care for their patients this winter and beyond.”
    The survey also asked doctors about their own experiences of COVID-19: 63% said they did not believe they had contracted the virus, 12% had had a diagnosis of COVID-19 confirmed by testing, and 14% believed they had been infected with the virus.
    David Strain, co-chair of the BMA’s medical academic staff committee, said that the NHS could not afford more failures of quality and supply in personal protective equipment. “Risk assessments should be available to all working in the NHS and appropriate steps should be put in place to mitigate the risk of catching the virus, even in those that have a low risk of a bad outcome from the initial infection,” he said.
    Read full story
    Source: BMJ, 13 August 2020
  18. Patient Safety Learning
    The number of adults experiencing depression has almost doubled during the pandemic, according to new figures.
    Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that almost one in five adults (19.2 per cent) were likely to be experiencing some form of depression in June. This had risen from around one in 10 (9.7%) between July 2019 and March 2020, before the imposition of the nationwide lockdown.
    Dame Til Wykes, a professor of clinical psychology and rehabilitation at King’s College London, warned of a looming “mental health crisis” once the pandemic passes.
    “This study tells us, yet again, that we might have a mental health crisis after this pandemic. The social effects of distancing and isolation for some affects their emotional wellbeing.
    Dr Billy Boland, chairman of the General Adult Faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said the UK’s mental health services would be faced with a “tsunami of referrals” in the coming months.
    “Isolation, bereavement and financial insecurity are some of the reasons why the nation’s mental health has deteriorated since the start of the pandemic.
    “The government must speed up the investment to mental health services if we are to treat the growing numbers of people living with depression and other mental illnesses.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 18 August 2020
  19. Patient Safety Learning
    High-risk women at a maternity unit were not monitored closely enough and there was a "lack of learning" from a mother's death, inspectors found.
    A Care Qualtiy Commission (CQC) report rated the unit at Basildon University Hospital as inadequate with "failings" found in six other serious cases. Inspectors carried out unannounced checks in June after a whistleblower voiced fears about patient safety.
    The unit was criticised following the deaths of baby Ennis Pecaku in September 2018 and mother Gabriela Pintilie, 36, in February 2019.
    The CQC previously carried out an inspection of the department the month Mrs Pintilie died and said the unit, which had once been rated outstanding, required improvement. Inspectors returned for the surprise "focused" inspection after being contacted by an anonymous whistleblower. The report found babies were born in a poor condition and then transferred for cooling therapy, which can be offered for newborn babies with brain injury caused by oxygen shortage during birth.
    During their visit, inspectors found:
    High-risk women giving birth in a low-risk area. Not enough staff with the right skills and experience. "Dysfunctional" working between midwives, doctors and consultants, which had an impact on the "increased number of safety incidents reported". Concerns over foetal heart monitoring. Women being referred to by room numbers instead of their names.  A "lack of response by consultants to emergencies" resulting in delays The CQC also referred to issues relating to the death of Mrs Pintilie, who was not named in the report, and said five serious incidents "identified the same failings of care".
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 18 August 2020
    "This demonstrated there had been a lack of learning from previous incidents and actions put in place were not embedded."
  20. Patient Safety Learning
    A quiet revolution in the NHS has happened. After decades of an internal market, NHS England has outlined new changes tying financial allocations and incentives to system-level performance instead. 
    Over the past six months, providers had been allocated block funding based on activity from 2019/20 with top-ups and retrospective funding to support covid pressures, ensuring they financially break even during the crisis.
    Now, in a letter accompanying funding envelopes for Integrated Care Systems and Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships around the country, NHSE outlined how health service finances will be system managed for the remainder of the year.
    Systems will have not only control of the kitty (with all system costs to be met from its allocation) but funding will be linked to the performance of their member organisations, with some incentive payments or penalties for over/under performance at a system level.
    Glen Burley, the chief executive of a group of three acute trusts in the West Midlands, branded the move “very risky”  and suggested a more traditional tariff performance would drive performance.
    Highlighting another of his concerns he said: “We have very little experience of doing so at system level, so this is a very risky tactic in a very risky year.”
    How systems will manage the shortfalls will hinge on elective delivery, system co-ordination, how to reduce forecast costs and recover income, set, of course, against the threat of a second wave of COVID-19.
    Read full story
    Source: HSJ, 17 September 2020
  21. Patient Safety Learning
    Leaders of US ECRI and its affiliate, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), announce the launch of a joint Patient Safety Organization (PSO), an important step in making medication, medical devices, and healthcare practices safer for patients across all care settings, now during the COVID-19 pandemic, and into the future. 
    Read full story
    Source: CISION PR Newswire
  22. Patient Safety Learning
    Following four deaths and more than 300 incidents with steroid replacement therapy involving patients with adrenal insufficiency in the past two years, patients at risk of adrenal crisis will be issued with a steroid emergency card.
    All adults with primary adrenal insufficiency (AI) will be issued an NHS steroid emergency card to support early recognition and treatment of adrenal crisis, a National Patient Safety Alert has said.
    The cards will be issued by prescribers — including community pharmacists — from 18 August 2020.
    AI is an endocrine disorder, such as Addison’s disease, which can lead to adrenal crisis and death if not identified and treated. Omission of steroids in patients with AI, particularly during physiological stress such as an additional illness or surgery, can also lead to an adrenal crisis.
    The alert has requested that “all organisations that initiate steroid prescriptions should review their processes/policies and their digital systems/software and prompts to ensure that prescribers issue a steroid emergency card to all eligible patients” by 13 May 2021.
    Read full story
    Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal, 17 August 2020
  23. Patient Safety Learning
    Thousands of patients with cancer have had chemotherapy delivered to their doors so that they can more safely receive treatment during the coronavirus pandemic.
    Up to 10,000 chemo home deliveries were made over three months at the peak of the outbreak, avoiding the need for patients to venture out and risk infection when their immune system was low.
    The drops are part of the COVID-friendly treatments introduced in response to the pandemic which have helped to ensure that 85,000 people could start treatment between March and June, with latest data showing referrals beginning to recover to pre-pandemic levels.
    NHS staff, including community nurses and pharmacists, and volunteers have been dropping off the life-saving medication – they step back two metres when they arrive at a patient’s house, identify them and make sure they have everything they need.
    Hospitals have also significantly increased the use of chemo at home, with local pharmacy teams and community nurses providing the service to reduce cancer patients’ risk of exposure to the virus.
    The action joins a series of measures, including the rollout of COVID protected cancer hubs for treatment and introducing ‘COVIDfriendly’ cancer drugs.
    NHS England is spending £160 million on drugs that mean patients do not have to go to hospitals for regular checks and treatment.
    Dame Cally Palmer, director of cancer for the NHS in England said: “NHS staff have treated more than 108,000 patients requiring specialist hospital care for COVID-19 while also keeping other vital services such as cancer, maternity and A&E running throughout the pandemic.
    “The NHS has also fast tracked modern, more convenient services that help to keep patients and staff safe – from video consultations to chemotherapy delivered to patients’ doors – that have allowed 85,000 people to start cancer treatment during the pandemic.”
    Read full story
    Source: NHS Improvement, 17 August 2020
  24. Patient Safety Learning
    Nurses and non-medical staff have been stopped from taking patient calls to the NHS coronavirus helpline amid concerns over the safety of their advice.
    An audit of calls to the telephone assessment service found more than half were potentially unsafe for patients, according to a leaked email shared with The Independent. At least one patient may have come to harm as a result of the way their assessment was handled.
    The COVID-19 Clinical Assessment Service (CCAS) is a branch of the NHS 111 phone line and is designed to assess patients showing signs of coronavirus to determine whether they need to be taken to hospital or seen by a GP.
    The helpline was set up at the start of the pandemic to divert patients with symptoms to a phone-based triage to relieve pressure on GPs and prevent them from turning up at surgeries and spreading the virus.
    GPs, nurses and allied health professionals (AHPs) such as paramedics and physiotherapists were recruited to speak to patients after they were flagged by NHS 111 call handlers.
    The use of non-medical staff was first paused in July amid concerns about the quality of call handling. Now it has emerged much wider safety issues have surfaced.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 18 August 2020
  25. Patient Safety Learning
    Almost 7,000 patients have waited for treatment for a year or more at a major north London trust, according to NHS data seen by HSJ.
    Royal Free Foundation Trust had 6,875 patients waiting 52 weeks or more, as of 26 July, according to a leaked document. It stopped reporting its elective waiting list to the centre in February 2019, citing concerns over accuracy. In a statement, it said these concerns continue.
    But the document suggests the Royal Free accounted for around a third of the 20,000 year-long waiters across London at the end of July.
    Minutes from the May meeting of the trust board’s quality, finance and compliance committee acknowledged “there was now a large number of RTT 52 week waiters on the trust patient tracking list… due to much of the elective work having been cancelled during covid-19, and these numbers were growing”.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 18 August 2020
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