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Patient Safety Learning

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  1. Patient Safety Learning
    A woman who is paralysed from the chest down is helping scientists in York develop a robot so people with mobility issues can receive breast screening.
    Jane Hudson, 53, from Harrogate, was unable to get an accurate mammogram because she could not get into the right position for the X-ray machine. She was diagnosed with breast cancer a few months later.
    Scientists at the University of York have now started working on a prototype robotic arm system which will support the patient's upper body weight.
    Ms Hudson said: "I've faced many difficulties and challenges in the wheelchair and you do sometimes feel like you don't get listened to, so for something positive to come out of this is great."
    Ms Hudson was invited for a mammogram at York Hospital because it was accessible but she was unable to position herself correctly in the machine for an X-ray to take place.
    She said: "I did feel really humiliated. It takes a lot to upset me and I did feel very upset when I left the hospital that day because I just felt this is a regular screening for any woman and yet again a disability is stopping that from happening."
    A few months later Jane was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer which had spread to her lymph nodes.
    "That's when I started thinking if this had been picked up earlier maybe it wouldn't have spread," she said.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 11 July 2024
  2. Patient Safety Learning
    NHS patients raising safety concerns are too often “gaslighted”, “fobbed off” or dismissed as “difficult women”, according to England’s patient safety commissioner, who criticised health leaders for a “relentless focus” on finance and productivity.
    Dr Henrietta Hughes said patients and loved ones sounding the alarm about substandard care should be an early indicator of danger or potential harm, but far too frequently they were completely ignored. NHS trusts focusing too much on budgets meant that “the culture becomes toxic, and we’re just on the road back to the Mid Staffs scandal”, she added.
    Hughes was referring to the failures at Mid Staffordshire NHS foundation trust, where hundreds of patients were neglected, dismissed or ignored between 2005 and 2009. Some were left lying in their own urine, unable to eat, drink or take essential medication.
    “The patient’s anecdote is the canary in the coalmine,” she said. “It’s the thing that tells us there’s something going wrong. But too often we hear about patients who have raised concerns being gaslighted, dismissed, and fobbed off.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 10 July 2024
  3. Patient Safety Learning
    A small number of biomedical scientists are being investigated following fitness to practise concerns relating to cervical screening in the Southern Trust, BBC News NI understands.
    In October 2023, it emerged smear tests of more than 17,000 women in the trust would be re-checked as part of a review dating back to 2008.
    It is understood that some of the women affected have since referred the matter to the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) which investigates concerns about the practice of a professional on its register.
    Stella McLoughlin from Newry, who is one of the 17,500 women affected by the re-check, said the review process has left her feeling “very afraid, fragile, and angry”.
    Following news that other women in her position have referred the matter to the HCPC, she said there needs to be an investigation.
    "I don't know why they're calling it a review because to me this is a scandal. This has affected so many women," she said.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 11 July 2024
  4. Patient Safety Learning
    An independent investigation will be held into the performance of the NHS, the health secretary has announced.
    Writing in the Sun, Wes Streeting said the investigation would be aimed at “diagnosing the problem” so the government could “write the prescription”.
    Streeting said: “It’s clear to anyone who works in or uses the NHS that it is broken. Unlike the last government, we are not looking for excuses. I am certainly not going to blame NHS staff, who bust a gut for their patients.
    “This government is going to be honest about the challenges facing us, and serious about solving them.”
    Streeting said the investigation would be led by the former health minister Lord Ara Darzi, who he has asked to “tell hard truths”.
    Streeting said: “Honesty is the best policy, and this report will provide patients, staff and myself with a full and frank assessment of the state of the NHS, warts and all.
    “The NHS has been wrecked. This investigation will be the survey, before we draw up plans to rebuild it anew, so it can be there for all of us when we need it, once again.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 11 July 2024
  5. Patient Safety Learning
    The vast majority of eye doctors believe increased outsourcing of cataract operations to private clinics in England in recent years has negatively affected their NHS departments, research has found.
    Almost three-quarters of ophthalmologists surveyed said that outsourcing of cataracts to the private sector had a negative impact on their NHS eye care departments, with 54% flagging a large negative impact and 16% a small one.
    The survey of 200 eye doctors by the Centre for Health and the Public Interest (CHPI), shared with the Guardian, came after Wes Streeting, the new health secretary, pledged to divert billions of pounds from hospitals to GPs to “fix the front door to the NHS” and met junior doctors on Tuesday to try to end a long-running pay dispute.
    Nearly 60% of the ophthalmologists polled said outsourcing had a negative impact on NHS staffing, 62% said the same for staff training, and 46% said it harmed the ability of public eye care departments to treat patients with more complex conditions. Issues raised about staffing included the loss of consultants, nurses and optometrists to the private sector.
    While eye care budgets have increased by only 15% at 43 NHS trusts over the past five years, ophthalmology spending has gone up by 52%, partly due to a surge in the number of cataract operations, research from the CHPI showed. Hundreds of thousands more NHS patients a year are having cataracts removed in England in a boom driven by private clinics but funded by taxpayers.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 10 July 2024
  6. Patient Safety Learning
    Fourteen never events recorded at University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust’s transfusion service were the “tip of an iceberg”, an external review has concluded.
    The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) investigation, obtained by HSJ, reveals the service saw more than 150 additional “adverse events” recorded in just three months.
    The review of the service’s activities between 2019 and early 2023 also concluded there had been “inaction” at senior management level on addressing the problems and that there was a lack of understanding among senior leaders about the significance of the risks posed by the service. 
    The RCP report said it was unlikely the reviewed never events “comprised the totality” of transfusion errors by the service and concluded that they were in fact just the “tip of an iceberg” of the errors made by the service.
    These included seven incidents of the wrong blood being stored in tubes and a patient “with childbearing potential” incorrectly transfused in accident and emergency with group O RhD positive blood. This risks the patient’s antibodies attacking a future unborn baby if the foetus is RhD positive. 
    ABO-incompatible blood transfusions have a potential for significant morbidity and mortality and are “wholly preventable”, according to NHS Blood and Transplant.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 10 July 2024
  7. Patient Safety Learning
    Tens of thousands of patients are still suffering harm from delays in ambulance handovers to emergency departments despite a concerted effort to tackle the problem, figures seen by HSJ indicate.
    The data shows more hours have been lost to handover delays lasting more than 15 minutes in most of the first five months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. In May, more hours were lost than in May 2022 and May 2023. 
    The Association of Ambulance Chief Executives told HSJ the problem remained severe and the government needed to act to improve it.
    AACE managing director Anna Parry said it had consistently warned about the ongoing risk of handover delays.
    She said: “This is why one of our key requests of the new government has been that they proactively support the ambulance sector’s aim to ensure patients universally receive high-quality, timely care and no longer experience unacceptable delays in response or handover of care, for example, at hospital emergency departments.
    “This problem is not intractable. We have demonstrated that in areas where there is a strong leadership focus and true system-wide support, handovers can be managed effectively, despite the significant pressures and constraints our health and social care system is under. However, it remains vital that we see more demonstrations of excellent leadership to get to that point across the country.”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 10 July 2024
  8. Patient Safety Learning
    Ministers will divert billions of pounds from hospitals to GPs to “fix the front door to the NHS”, Wes Streeting has promised as he said millions of patients will be able to see the same family doctor at every appointment.
    The health secretary made his first major policy announcement as he prepared to begin vital talks with junior doctors on Tuesday, aimed at finally ending the strikes that have crippled the health service since 2022.
    Less than 10% of the £165bn NHS budget in England is spent on primary care, and that share has been falling, despite record high demand at GP surgeries. In a significant policy shift, Streeting on Monday said he would reverse that trend and boost the proportion of the budget for primary care so patients could access help sooner.
    More than 5 million patients a month in England are waiting longer than a fortnight for a GP appointment after the previous government promised everyone would be able to get one within 14 days.
    After visiting Abbey Medical Centre, a GP surgery in St John’s Wood, London, Streeting said: “Patients are finding it harder than ever to see a GP. Patients can’t get through the front door of the NHS, so they aren’t getting the timely care they need.
    “That’s no surprise, when GPs and primary care have been receiving a smaller proportion of NHS resources. I’m committed to reversing that.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 8 July 2024
  9. Patient Safety Learning
    The NHS must concentrate on the basics of cancer treatment rather than the “magic bullets” of novel technologies and artificial intelligence, or risk the health of thousands of patients, experts have warned.
    In a paper published in the journal Lancet Oncology, nine leading cancer doctors and academics say the NHS is at a tipping point in cancer care with survival rates lagging behind many other developed countries.
    The NHS has not met its target for 85% of cancer patients to start treatment within two months since December 2015. International research shows that every four weeks of delay in treatment increases the risk of death by up to 10%. It means hundreds of thousands of people have to wait months to start essential cancer treatment, and only 67% begin treatment within 62 days.
    The paper highlights 10 pressure points that are contributing to entrenched cancer survival inequalities, diagnosis and treatment delays, and inappropriate care.
    In a sharply worded warning, the cancer experts say “novel solutions” such as new diagnostic tests have been wrongly hyped as “magic bullets” for the cancer crisis, but “none address the fundamental issues of cancer as a systems problem”.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 8 July 2024
  10. Patient Safety Learning
    The daughter of an elderly care home resident who suffered 32 falls in only 11 months said she had sent social services "a begging email" to warn her mother "was going to die" unless urgent improvements were made.
    "She suffered neglect in every way - it was devastating to see," said Kylie Gobin, whose mother Winifred Tubb lived at St Luke's in Runcorn, Cheshire.
    Mrs Gobin spoke to the BBC as part of an in-depth investigation which found nearly one in five care homes across England were rated as either "requiring improvement" or "inadequate".
    A spokesman for Halton Borough Council, which operates St Luke's, said it had "fully investigated" the complaints and "some lessons have been learnt".
    BBC England's data journalism team analysed Care Quality Commission (CQC) statistics and found the regulator now regards more than 2,500 care homes across England as "requiring improvement".
    The number of "inadequate" homes stands at 194 across England, but this figure is down on both 2022 and 2023.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 9 July 2024
  11. Patient Safety Learning
    A “dysfunctional” culture at the UK nursing regulator is threatening public safety, according to a damning report that found the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) took seven years to strike off a nurse who had been accused of rape and sexual assault.
    Staff at the regulator broke down in tears “as they recounted their frustrations over safeguarding decisions that put the public at risk”, according to the authors of an independent review of the regulator.
    The review team highlighted a “toxic culture” at the NMC, with one former employee describing their section of the organisation as a “hotbed of bullying, racism and toxic behaviour”.
    The report also shone a spotlight on suicides by nurses caught up in long drawn-out fitness to practise investigations, highlighting how some nurses had been under investigation for nearly 10 years.
    The authors commented on the NMC’s backlog of 6,000 cases, which meant some nurses were forced to wait four or five years for their investigation to be completed, even though some cases were “baseless complaints where no further action is required”.
    Read more
    Source: The Guardian, 9 July 2024
  12. Patient Safety Learning
    Former nurse Lucy Letby has been sentenced to another whole life term for trying to kill a premature baby girl.
    The 34-year-old is already in jail for murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
    On Tuesday, she was found guilty of trying to murder another girl, known as Baby K, following a retrial.
    Letby had refused to go up to the dock to be sentenced to 14 whole life terms last August, but was in the dock earlier to be handed her 15th.
    Her original murder trial jury acquitted her of two counts of attempted murder, and there were six further charges on which jurors could not decide, including that concerning Baby K.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 5 July 2024
  13. Patient Safety Learning
    A leading cybersecurity expert has warned that the NHS remains vulnerable to further cyber-attacks unless it updates its computer systems.
    This stark assessment comes in the wake of a major ransomware attack that has severely disrupted healthcare services across London.
    Prof Ciaran Martin, the founding CEO of the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), told the BBC: "I was horrified, but not completely surprised. Ransomware attacks on healthcare are a major global problem."
    NHS England said it was increasing its cybersecurity resilience and had invested £338m in the past seven years addressing this issue.
    But Prof Martin's warnings suggest more urgent action may be needed.
    He highlighted three critical issues facing NHS cybersecurity: outdated IT systems, the need to identify vulnerable points, and the importance of basic security practices.
    He warned: "In parts of the NHS estate, it's quite clear that some of the IT is out of date."
    He stressed the importance of identifying "single points of failure" in the system and implementing better backups.
    Prof Martin also emphasised that improving basic security measures could significantly hinder attackers, stating: "Those little things make the point of entry quite a lot harder for the thugs to get in."
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 8 July 2024
  14. Patient Safety Learning
    Much of the NHS does not take obesity seriously enough, despite it being an unfolding health disaster that costs the UK £98bn a year, says a report.
    Only five of England’s 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) – regional groupings of NHS trusts which coordinate care over wide areas – have made tackling obesity or sticking to a healthy weight one of their top priorities, according to the Future Health thinktank.
    Its analysis found that the other 37 ICBs did not identify obesity as a key issue in their forward plans, which set out what they see as the most pressing issues over the next five years.
    “Too many parts of the NHS are giving obesity too little priority,” said Richard Sloggett, the report’s author, a former special adviser at the Department of Health and Social Care.
    “Given what a huge and worsening problem obesity is – for individuals, the NHS, society at large and also its impact on the economy – I was concerned to see that so few NHS bodies regarded tackling it as one of their key priorities,” he added.
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 7 July 2024
  15. Patient Safety Learning
    A damning report into the UK’s nursing and midwifery regulator will find the body is endangering the public due to its toxic culture and failing to address widespread racism within its ranks, The Independent can reveal.
    An explosive review into allegations that the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has a “deep-seated toxic culture” is set to be published next week and concerns over public safety will be one of many shocking revelations it will deliver, The Independent understands.
    Staff who have given evidence to the report and also spoken to The Independent, have reported being “gaslighted” and intimidated or bullied when trying to report concerns about public safety to leaders.
    The review, carried out by Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor, and Rise Associates, was commissioned following reports by The Independent revealing whistleblower allegations that racism and sexism within the NMC are leading to complaints against nurses going “unchecked”.
    The review covers responses from around 1,000 staff and former staff, who were asked about the organisation’s culture in a survey, and hundreds of staff interviews.
    The Independent understands the review has found evidence supporting the whistleblowers’ accusations.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 7 July 2024
  16. Patient Safety Learning
    A prestigious teaching hospital constructively dismissed the head of its transplant unit after he raised safety concerns about Great Ormond Street Hospital, a tribunal heard.
    An employment judge ruled Professor Nizam Mamode had been constructively dismissed by Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust, who employed him as their clinical lead for adult and peadiatric transplants.
    GSTT suspended Professor Mamode from practising in June 2020 and removed him from his leadership role, saying his behaviour had caused relationships with colleagues to break down.
    Professor Mamode told the tribunal these complaints had been made after “collusion” with GOSH after he had raised safety concerns with that trust’s medical director Sanjiv Sharma.
    He claimed another consultant at GOSH, where Professor Mamode held an honorary post, had put a patient at risk. These concerns prompted a review of the renal transplant service between January and March 2020. HSJ asked GOSH for the result of this review and the trust said “no immediate safety concerns were found”.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 8 July 2024
  17. Patient Safety Learning
    Last year saw the biggest ever fall in the proportion of mothers smoking during pregnancy, which campaigners have attributed to expansion of a “stop smoking” programme in maternity services. 
    Newly published figures for this key public health indicator show the figure dropped by more than a percentage point from 2022-23 to 2023-24, for the first time since 2007-8. The absolute fall in mothers recorded as smoking at the time of delivery was about 6,300.
    Anti-smoking charities said it ”follows sustained investment to provide better quit support” and “shows what can be done with proper investment in evidence-based support”.
    Much of the new intervention work is done by midwives, and Royal College of Midwives professional policy advisor Clare Livingstone said the drop was “a testament to the dedication and hard work of our maternity services” which had “integrat[ed] smoking cessation support into routine care”.
    NHS England’s director for prevention and long-term conditions Matthew Fagg said the reduction was “fantastic” and added: ”With almost all NHS maternity services now offering support to help expectant mums quit smoking… this will protect the health of mums and babies and will help reduce inequalities in outcomes.”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 4 July 2024
  18. Patient Safety Learning
    Popular weight-loss jabs have been linked to an eye condition that can cause blindness.
    People with diabetes prescribed semaglutide (brand names Wegovy and Ozempic) were more than four times more likely to be diagnosed with a condition called non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), according to a new study.
    Meanwhile, people who were overweight or obese prescribed the drugs were more than seven times as likely to develop the condition as those on other weight-loss medicines.
    NAION, which is uncommon, occurs from a lack of sufficient blood flow to the optic nerve. People typically suffer sudden vision loss in one eye, without any pain, and patients often notice the issue on waking up.
    There are no current treatments for NAION and vision often does not improve.
    The new study, published in JAMA Ophthalmology, was led by Joseph Rizzo, a professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School in the US.
    He said: “The use of these drugs has exploded throughout industrialised countries and they have provided very significant benefits in many ways, but future discussions between a patient and their physician should include NAION as a potential risk.
    “It is important to appreciate, however, that the increased risk relates to a disorder that is relatively uncommon.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 5 July 2024
  19. Patient Safety Learning
    Maternity staff at an NHS trust faced racism from their own colleagues, a Care Quality Commission (CQC) report said. The problem was identified at both the Luton and Dunstable (L&D) and Bedford hospitals during an inspection.
    Some ethnic minority overseas staff told the CQC discrimination had become "normalised".
    The regulator was alerted to concerns around the safety, culture, and management of the service by whistleblowers.
    On the first day of the inspection, last November, the Luton and Dunstable Hospital's maternity unit was at full capacity and the trust had to divert new arrivals.
    Low staffing levels also meant women and babies were not always kept safe.
    The trust was issued with a warning to improve and maternity services at both hospitals have now both been rated as 'inadequate'.
    At the L&D some staff told the inspectors they did not feel able to report instances of racism. 
    Management acknowledged some parts of the unit had a "challenging culture". There were concerns racist incidents being reported to the trust would not be investigated in line with the trust’s values.
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 5 July 2024
  20. Patient Safety Learning
    A council is investigating after people ended up in hospital following Brazilian butt lift procedures.
    Brentwood Borough Council in Essex wants to hear from anyone in the area who has had the non-surgical work done.
    The procedure - also known as BBL or Liquid BBL - which uses a hyaluronic acid filler, is not illegal but is currently unregulated and can be fatal if not performed properly.
    The council said "an individual and associated companies" in Brentwood had been banned from carrying out BBL procedures until any risks had been "controlled".
    Environmental health officers were "investigating cases of hospitalisation due to members of the public undergoing a non-surgical aesthetic procedure, commonly known as a Brazilian Butt Lift, BBL or Liquid BBL in Brentwood," the council said.
    It is working with other local authorities and industry experts after a flurry of cases raised concern, including reports of treatment being carried out in hotel rooms.
    A spokesperson from Brentwood Borough Council said: "Individuals who have undergone these procedures have experienced excruciating pain, discomfort and infections, some of which have required medical interventions and hospitalisation."
    They urged anyone experiencing symptoms to "seek medical assistance immediately".
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 4 July 2024
     
  21. Patient Safety Learning
    The UK advertising watchdog has had to take down hundreds of adverts for cosmetic surgery clinics abroad and weight-loss jabs as dangerous ads target “mummy makeovers”, The Independent has been told.
    The Advertising Standards Authourity is also taking down 100 unsafe or misleading adverts a day for prescription-only medicines, with the majority of action taken against promotions for Botox and weight-loss jabs.
    The authority said it has been forced to take down hundreds of cosmetic surgery adverts since February this year, following a crackdown on clinics abroad attempting to attract UK patients.
    Jessica Tye, investigations operations manager for ASA told The Independent: “They’re running adverts for cosmetic surgery abroad, mostly for clinics in Turkey, but not exclusively … Instagram and Facebook seem to be a big space for clinics to use, to attract people.”
    She said the clinics were: “Using claims or images that would exploit people’s body insecurities, things like talking about mummy makeovers, which is like a package of surgery involving, breast surgery and liposuction.
    “It’s a really serious operation, so it’s really important that ads for these clinics are not encouraging people to rush into a decision.”
    Last week doctors at the British Medical Association annual general warned the NHS is being left to “pick up the pieces” as a result of complications linked to a rise in surgical tourism.
    Read full story
    Source: The Independent, 4 July 2024
  22. Patient Safety Learning
    Andrea Sutcliffe revealed in May that she would be resigning as chief executive and registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) due to ill health.
    Marking the end of her tenure at the NMC, Ms Sutcliffe spoke to Nursing Times about some of her key achievements while leading the organisation over the last five years, and the challenges that lie ahead for her successor and the important work that must be prioritised in the coming months.
    Ms Sutcliffe’s departure comes at a tricky time for the regulator, which has come under fire for alleged failures in its regulatory processes and concerns about its internal culture.
    A series of articles were published by The Independent last year, which raised serious concerns about the inner workings of the NMC, the way it treats staff and how it handles whistleblowing.
    The newspaper reported that there was a “culture of fear” at the NMC that meant staff were afraid to speak out, while also claiming that there were issues of racial discrimination and sexism within the organisation.
    Ms Sutcliffe said the articles raised “really serious concerns” about the internal workings of the NMC and stressed the necessity of the independent reviews to “thoroughly scrutinise” what has been going wrong.
    “We’re trying to do things, but we’re clearly not doing enough and it’s not making the difference it needs to,” explained Ms Sutcliffe.
    “Some people’s experience within the organisation is not acceptable, and we’ve got to get that right.”
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: Nursing Times, 28 June 2024
  23. Patient Safety Learning
    The health minister has announced that a further review of clinical records of 18 patients who died under the care of neurologist Michael Watt is to be carried out.
    Mr Watt was at the centre of Northern Ireland's largest patient recall in 2018.
    In 2022 a review of 44 patients' records found significant failures in their care and treatment under Mr Watt and poor communication with the families.
    In a written statement to the assembly, Mike Nesbitt acknowledged "the exceptionally difficult circumstances which the families of deceased patients have experienced".
    It is anticipated that this phase of the Neurology Deceased Patients Review (DPR) will be completed before the end of March 2025.
    These reviews followed the 2018 recall of 2,500 outpatients who were in Dr Watt's care at the Belfast Health Trust.
    About one in five patients had to have their diagnoses changed.
    Mike Nesbitt said the work done to date as part of the Deceased Patients Review (DPR) has been "challenging and extensive".
    Read full story
    Source: BBC News, 3 July 2024
  24. Patient Safety Learning
    Higher Covid vaccination rates could help protect children against asthma attacks, according to research.
    While previous studies show that vaccination helps prevent Covid 19 illness, the authors believe this is the first study to assess whether Covid inoculation is associated with reductions in children’s asthma symptoms, by preventing viral illness in children with asthma.
    US researchers examined parent-reported asthma symptom prevalence in more than 150,000 children in the National Survey of Children’s Health between 2018-19 and 2020-21, broken down by US state.
    The data was then compared with the proportion of people aged five years and older who were vaccinated in 2020-21, as well as age-adjusted Covid mortality rates and any face mask requirements in enclosed spaces.
    With each increase of 10 percentage points in Covid vaccination coverage in US states, there was a 0.36 percentage point reduction in the rates of child asthma symptoms as reported by their parents, according to the study, published in Jama Network Open.
    Dr Andy Whittamore, the clinical lead at Asthma + Lung UK, said: “Two million children in the UK live with asthma. Infections such as Covid-19 and flu can cause irritation and inflammation in the airways of people with asthma. This can lead to an increase in mucus and narrowing of the airways, which in turn can cause symptoms such as breathlessness, wheeze, tightness in the chest and coughing and potentially trigger an asthma attack.
    “So it’s important for children with asthma to get any vaccinations they are eligible for, such as flu, to keep them safe. It’s also vital to make sure your child takes their preventer inhaler daily and always has their reliever inhaler with them.”
    Read full story
    Source: The Guardian, 3 July 2024
  25. Patient Safety Learning
    A hospital trust has ordered a review of potential death and harm caused by an outbreak of a serious healthcare-acquired infection, which is resistant to many antibiotics.
    Frimley Health Foundation Trust has seen outbreaks of carbapenemase-producing enterobacterales (CPE) at both its Frimley Park and Wexham Park sites, starting in the middle of last year, it has emerged. In total, it identified 94 new CPE cases in 2023–24 compared with just 20 in total in 2022–23.
    It is not clear what the outcomes were for patients infected with CPE, which is associated with a high mortality rate but often infects patients who are already seriously ill. The trust has commissioned a mortality and morbidity review but refused to answer any questions about it before publication.
    CPE bacteria are resistant to many antibiotics, including carbapenems, which are broad-spectrum drugs used to treat serious infections. CPE infections pose a particular risk to vulnerable patients and can spread rapidly in hospitals. There has been increasing concern about them in the UK, with reporting requirements increasing and screening and testing of patients stepping up.
    Read full story (paywalled)
    Source: HSJ, 4 July 2024
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