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Sam

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Everything posted by Sam

  1. News Article
    Pharmacists say physical and verbal abuse against them has become unacceptably common and many now feel unsafe when at work. Police forces say they are being called out to handle pharmacy-based crimes. The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) says there have been reports of a stabbing and physical attacks in pharmacies around the UK and that more needs to be done to enforce the NHS's zero tolerance policy on worker abuse.. Pharmacist Conor McAreavey was stabbed in the hand with a knife at his pharmacy in Belfast in March. He told the BBC he was "very lucky" not to have suffered tendon damage. Glasgow pharmacist Chand Kausar was threatened with a knife by an agitated patient, who - after demanding non-prescribed medication - produced a six-inch knife and cornered her against a wall. "I just froze," explains Ms Kausar. "My hands were above my head and I could hear all the noise around me, but I actually felt very calm. In my head all was quiet. I remember thinking it was like a movie scene. I'd never seen a knife like that, and I never imagined I'd have one held to my throat." The PDA launched an online survey in April 2022 and nearly 550 community pharmacists, mostly staff working in England, have responded so far. Some 468 of them - 85% - say they, or someone they work with, experienced verbal or racial abuse in the previous month while at work. One respondent said: "I feel terrified going to work every single day, and yet management are ignoring the issue." Read full story Source: BBC News, 6 June 2022
  2. Content Article
    When something goes wrong in health and social care, the people affected and staff often say, "I don’t want this to happen to anyone else." These 'Learning from safety incidents' resources are designed to do just that. Each one briefly describes a critical issue - what happened, what the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the provider have done about it, and the steps you can take to avoid it happening in your service.
  3. News Article
    Doctors’ routine dismissal of women’s debilitating health problems as “benign” has contributed to gynaecology waiting lists soaring by 60% to more than half a million patients, a senior health leader has said. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) president, Dr Edward Morris, told the Guardian that waiting lists for conditions such as endometriosis, prolapse and heavy bleeding had increased by a bigger proportion than any other area of medicine in the past two years. Many such conditions are defined as medically benign despite being life-limiting and progressive in some cases. In medicine, “benign” is traditionally used to indicate non-cancerous conditions, but Morris said institutionalised gender bias meant the term was used more widely in gynaecology, resulting in conditions being “normalised” by non-specialists and deprioritised within the NHS. We have to change the language. We have to call it what it is,” said Morris. “These conditions cause huge amounts of suffering to women. Being lumped in a topic called benign gynaecology downplays the importance and suffering.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 2 June 2022
  4. News Article
    Two talented physicians, a patient who sacrificed his life and a selfless receptionist were the four people killed on 1 June 1 a shooting inside a medical office building on the Saint Francis Health System campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Police in Tulsa say the gunman, Michael Louis, had gone to the hospital for back surgery 19 May and was treated by Dr Preston Phillips. Louis was discharged from the hospital 24 May and subsequently called Dr Phillips' office several times complaining of pain and seeking additional treatment. The surgeon saw Mr. Louis on 31 May for more treatment, police said. On 1 June, Mr Louis called Dr Phillips' office again complaining about pain and seeking additional care. Mr Louis purchased an AR-15-style rifle that afternoon, just hours before the shooting, police said. Dr Phillips was killed in the shooting and was the gunman's primary target, police said. "He blamed Dr Phillips for the ongoing pain following surgery," Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said at a news conference. Read full story Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 2 June 2022
  5. Content Article
    Almost all of us reading about the tawdry details of “partygate” will have specific memories from the past two years to put the revelry at No. 10 Downing Street into sombre context. Families separated, funerals missed, partners unable to be present at the birth of their child, children unable to be present at the death of their parent, loneliness, social isolation, depression, anxiety—all the inevitable consequences of following rules laid down for the collective good. In this BMJ article, Nicci Gerrard, founder of John’s Campaign,  which was set up to campaign on behalf of the rights of people living with dementia, shares her own memories and the stories and pain of a particular group of people who suffered greatly during the pandemic, whose health was harmed, whose hearts were broken, and in some cases, whose lives ended because of the rules drawn up under the pandemic.
  6. News Article
    Women undergoing NHS operations are not being routinely informed that a drug commonly used in anaesthesia may make their contraception less effective, putting them at risk of an unplanned pregnancy, doctors have warned. Administered at the end of surgery before patients wake up, sugammadex reverses the action of drugs that are given earlier in the procedure to relax the patient’s muscles. The drug is known to interact with the hormone progesterone and may reduce the effectiveness of hormonal contraceptives, including the progesterone-only pill, combined pill, vaginal rings, implants and intra-uterine devices. However, new research suggests that robust methods for identifying at-risk patients and informing them of the associated risk of contraceptive failures is not common practice across anaesthetic departments in the UK. Current guidance says doctors must inform women of child-bearing age about the drug. Women taking oral hormonal contraceptives should be advised to follow the missed pill advice in the leaflet that comes with their contraceptives, and those using other types of hormonal contraceptive should be advised to use an additional non-hormonal means of contraception for seven days. But doctors at a major London hospital trust found no record within the medical notes of relevant patients that they had been given advice on the risks of contraceptive failure due to sugammadex. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 2 June 2022
  7. News Article
    The United States is now in its fourth-biggest Covid surge, according to official case counts – but experts believe the actual current rate is much higher. America is averaging about 94,000 new cases every day, and hospitalizations have been ticking upward since April, though they remain much lower than previous peaks. But Covid cases could be undercounted by a factor of 30, an early survey of the surge in New York City indicates. “It would appear official case counts are under-estimating the true burden of infection by about 30-fold, which is a huge surprise,” said Denis Nash, an author of the study and a distinguished professor of epidemiology at the City University of New York School of Public Health. While the study focused on New York, these findings may be true throughout the rest of the country, Nash said. In fact, New Yorkers likely have better access to testing than most of the country, which means undercounting could be even worse elsewhere. “It’s very worrisome. To me, it means that our ability to really understand and get ahead of the virus is undermined,” Nash said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 2 June 2022
  8. News Article
    Few of the 23 million Americans with lingering symptoms are getting answers – in this dangerous void, alternative providers and wellness companies have created a cottage industry of Long Covid miracle cures. Some doctors ply controversial blood tests that claim to identify evidence of the elusive disease. Other practitioners speak assuredly about the benefits of skipping breakfast and undergoing ozone therapy, or how zinc can bring back loss of taste or smell. Some desperate patients have gone overseas for controversial stem cell therapy. Over the next seven years, the global complementary and alternative medicine industry is expected to quadruple in value; analysts cite alternative Covid therapies as a reason for growth. Robert McCann, a 44-year-old political strategist from Lansing, Michigan, sleeps for 15 hours – and when he wakes up, he still finds it impossible to get out of bed. Sometimes he wakes up so confused that he’s unsure what day it is. McCann tested positive for Covid in July 2020. He had mild symptoms that resolved within about a week. But a few months later, pain, general confusion and debilitating exhaustion returned and never fully left. He says he’s skeptical of “miracle cures”. But, after about 17 months of illness and no relief from doctor’s visits, he’s desperate. “I’ll just be frank,” he told me, “if someone has mentioned on the Subreddit that it’s helped them, I’ve probably bought it and tried it.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 2 June 2022
  9. News Article
    A compensation scheme for thousands of people affected by the infected blood scandal, described as the biggest treatment disaster in the history of the NHS, will reportedly be announced within weeks. Ministers will set up an arm’s-length body to administer the funds, which could run into hundreds of millions of pounds, and recognise culpability for the scandal for the first time, according to the Sunday Times. As many as 30,000 people became severely ill after being given factor VIII blood products that were contaminated with HIV and hepatitis C imported from the US in the 1970s and 80s, or after being exposed to tainted blood through transfusions or after childbirth. On average, one person affected is dying every four days, with approximately 3,000 having died to date. Last year, before the then health secretary Matt Hancock’s appearance at the public inquiry into the scandal, the paymaster general, Penny Mordaunt, announced the appointment of Sir Robert Francis QC to examine options for a framework for compensation before the inquiry reports its findings. A Cabinet Office spokesperson confirmed the review would be published shortly. “The government intends to publish the study by Sir Robert Francis QC in time for the inquiry and its core participants to consider it before Sir Robert gives evidence to the inquiry in July,” they said. “Government will give full consideration to Sir Robert’s recommendations and evidence to the inquiry.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 29 May 2022
  10. News Article
    Contractors could be required to provide trusts with the findings of criminal records checks on their employees, an update from Michael inquiry into mortuary security has suggested. The independent inquiry, chaired by Sir Jonathan Michael, was set up to examine the implications of the sexual assaults on the bodies of women and children in hospital mortuaries by maintenance supervisor and convicted murderer David Fuller. A progress report published this month by the inquiry highlighted “responsibilities between trusts and contractors” as an area of concern. The report said expectations around information sharing should be made clear in policy and, if sharing is deemed necessary, consideration should be given to what checks and evidence is needed to show this is taking place. HSJ understands that Mr Fuller did not declare previous convictions for burglary when he was first employed at the Kent and Sussex Hospital in Tunbridge Wells in 1989. Other issues flagged to NHS England by the inquiry included how access to “high-risk areas” is monitored and who requires access to these areas. It added that consideration should be given to monitoring access, involving a review of CCTV and swipe card use. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 20 May 2022
  11. News Article
    Cases of monkeypox are being investigated in European countries, including the UK as well as the US, Canada and Australia. Monkeypox is caused by the monkeypox virus, a member of the same family of viruses as smallpox, although it is much less severe and experts say chances of infection are low. It occurs mostly in remote parts of central and west African countries, near tropical rainforests. There are two main strains of virus - west African and central African. Two of the infected patients in the UK travelled from Nigeria, so it is likely that they are suffering from the West African strain of the virus, which is generally mild, but this is as yet unconfirmed. Another case was a healthcare worker who picked up the virus from one of the patients. More recent cases do not have any known links with each other, or any history of travel. It appears they caught it in the UK from spread in the community. The UKHSA says anyone with concerns that they could be infected should see a health professional, but make contact with the clinic or surgery ahead of a visit. Initial symptoms include fever, headaches, swellings, back pain, aching muscles and a general listlessness. Once the fever breaks a rash can develop, often beginning on the face, then spreading to other parts of the body, most commonly the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. The infection usually clears up on its own and lasts between 14 and 21 days. Experts say we are not on the brink of a national outbreak and, according to Public Health England, the risk to the public is low. Prof Jonathan Ball, professor of molecular virology, University of Nottingham, said: "The fact that only one of the 50 contacts of the initial monkeypox-infected patient has been infected shows how poorly infectious the virus is. "It is wrong to think that we are on the brink of a nationwide outbreak." Read full story Source: BBC News, 20 May 2022
  12. News Article
    New figures leaked to HSJ show the true volume of 12-hour waiters in emergency departments is more than four times higher than official statistics suggest. Internal NHS England figures for February and March show around one in five admissions through ED waited more than 12 hours from arriving until being admitted to a ward – equating to around 158,000 cases. The official stats published by NHSE record a slightly different, and shorter, time period, from ‘decision to admit’ to admission. There were around 39,000 of these cases in the same two months, which equates to 4 per cent of admissions through ED, and 5.4 per cent of total emergency admissions. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has long called for the official stats to reflect the total time spent from arrival in ED (as per the internal data), and for trusts to be measured and regulated on this. Senior medics have for some time been warning about the patient safety risks of long waiting in EDs and have appealed to NHS England and the government for plans to tackle the crisis. Adrian Boyle, vice president of RCEM, said: “This data show the scale of long waiting times in emergency departments and the scale of the patient safety crisis. Performance continues to deteriorate across multiple metrics meaning we are documenting a failing urgent and emergency care system without any system transformation or improvement." Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 13 May 2022
  13. News Article
    More than half of people hospitalised with Covid-19 still have at least one symptom two years after they were first infected, according to the longest follow-up study of its kind. While physical and mental health generally improve over time, the analysis suggests that coronavirus patients discharged from hospital still tend to experience poorer health and quality of life than the general population. The research was published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine. “Our findings indicate that for a certain proportion of hospitalised Covid-19 survivors, while they may have cleared the initial infection, more than two years is needed to recover fully,” said the lead author, Prof Bin Cao, of the China-Japan Friendship hospital in China. Until now, the long-term health effects of Covid-19 have remained largely unknown, as the longest follow-up studies to date have spanned about a year. The absence of pre-Covid-19 health status data and comparisons with the general population in most studies also made it difficult to determine how well patients with Covid-19 have recovered. “Ongoing follow-up of Covid-19 survivors, particularly those with symptoms of long Covid, is essential to understand the longer course of the illness, as is further exploration of the benefits of rehabilitation programmes for recovery,” said Cao. “There is a clear need to provide continued support to a significant proportion of people who’ve had Covid-19, and to understand how vaccines, emerging treatments and variants affect long-term health outcomes.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 11 May 2022
  14. News Article
    Women and babies in the UK are “dying needlessly” because of a lack of suitable medicines to use in pregnancy, according to a report that calls for a radical overhaul of maternal health. A “profound” shortage of research and the widespread exclusion of pregnant and breastfeeding women from clinical trials means hardly any new drugs are approved for common medical problems in pregnancy or soon after childbirth, the report finds. Meanwhile, scarce or contradictory information about the safety of existing medicines women may be taking for continuing conditions can make it impossible to reach a confident decision on whether or not to continue them in pregnancy, the experts add. “While pregnancy in the UK is generally considered safe, women and babies are still dying needlessly as a direct result of preventable pregnancy complications,” the authors say. Each year, 5,000 babies in the UK are either stillborn or die shortly after birth, while about 70 women die of complications in pregnancy. The Healthy Mum, Healthy Baby, Healthy Future report draws on evidence from patient groups, clinicians, researchers, lawyers, insurance specialists and the pharmaceutical industry, it proposes “urgent” changes to transform women’s access to modern medicine. The report highlights the “profound lack of research activity” and up-to-date information that leaves pregnant women and their physicians in the dark about whether to continue with certain medicines in pregnancy. Some epilepsy drugs, for example, can increase the risk of birth defects, but coming off them can put the woman at risk of severe seizures, which can also harm the baby. Lady Manningham-Buller said the situation “urgently needs to change”, with the report setting out eight recommendations to prevent needless deaths. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 12 May 2022
  15. Event
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    Long COVID Physio will host the Long COVID Physio International Forum in partnership with Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions and Fisiocamera, sponsored by Kaiser Permanente and Realize Canada. The two day online forum will bring the lived experience to Long COVID, disability and rehabilitation. The Long COVID Physio International Forum is suitable for any audience, including health and social care professionals, people living with or affected by Long COVID or other conditions, academics, service providers, policymakers, students of allied health and rehabilitation professions, and people wanting to learn more. The Long COVID Physio International Forum programme will be released soon. Programme content will be delivered live and available on demand, covering three different streams: Science - learn the most up to date research from leaders in the field. Discussion - the hot discussions and debates on the topics we all want. Workshop - share knowledge and skills that make a difference. Registration will open June 15th 2022. Further details can be found here.
  16. Content Article
    The Patient Safety Authority (PSA) share its 2021 annual report, highlighting the agency’s expansion of education and reporting efforts to improve patient safety throughout the commonwealth.  PSA is an independent state agency that collects reports of patient safety events from Pennsylvania healthcare facilities. Pennsylvania is the only state that requires acute care facilities to report all incidents of harm (serious events) or potential for harm (incidents).
  17. Event
    This conference focuses on developing psychological safety in your clinical team or healthcare organisation. This conference will enable you to: Network with colleagues who are working to deliver and enhance psychological safety. Understand the concept of psychological safety and how it can improve staff wellbeing and patient safety. Learn from outstanding practice in local, national and international psychological safety programmes. Implement practices and steps that improve psychological safety. Develop your skills in compassionate leadership. Take part in an interactive session led by the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman about techniques for embedding cultures of psychological safety and learning from investigations where lack of psychological safety was a factor. Understand how you can implement a framework for psychological safety in healthcare teams. Identify key strategies for embedding psychological safety into freedom to speak up. Explore the inter relationship between Human Factors, Psychological Safety & Kindness/Civility in Teams. Self assess and reflect on your own practice Supports CPD professional development and acts as revalidation evidence. This course provides 5 Hrs training for CPD subject to peer group approval for revalidation purposes For further information and to book your place visit https://www.healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk/conferences-masterclasses/psychological-safety or email kate@hc-uk.org.uk hub members receive a 20% discount. Email: info@pslhub.org Follow this conference on Twitter @HCUK_Clare #PsychologicalSafetyNHS
  18. News Article
    An NHS boss who had a stroke was taken to A&E by her husband rather than calling for an ambulance because of concerns over long waits. In a series of tweets, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust chief executive Deborah Lee praised his swift actions. She said he had "bundled her into his car", last week, after she had showed the signs of a stroke because he had heard her "lamenting ambulance delays". She is recovering but says it may have been different if they had called 999. Waits for an ambulance in England are the longest since new targets were introduced, in 2017. And Ms Lee's regional service - the South West - has the longest waits in the country, with category-two calls, which include strokes, taking nearly two hours, on average, to reach patients in March. The target is 18 minutes. In the tweets, Ms Lee said: "Naturally, I am eternally grateful to my husband for his swift actions… but I can't get one thing out of my head. "What if my husband hadn't been there and my daughter had called for an ambulance and I'd been put in the cat[egory]-two stack?" She went on to say it was not the fault of the ambulance service and the whole system was "working unrelentingly to this but to no great avail". Ms Lee said hospitals were struggling to discharge patients, because of a lack of social care, and so delays were building up in the rest of the system. Read full story Source: BBC News, 28 April 2022
  19. Event
    To recognise and celebrate International Nurses Day, this webinar will shine a light on nurses who are working in challenging environments around the world. You will hear stories from nurses who have experienced work in communities that have become affected by conflict and natural disaster, and who have maintained healthcare delivery when routine services have been interrupted. Through this webinar the aim is to learn through the experiences of others, so we can improve our current day to day practices and learn how to provide effective support to those working in crisis situations. View flyer
  20. News Article
    In an ongoing effort to improve care and support for elderly women and women’s health satisfaction and outcomes in general, the government have published their report summarising written responses from 436 organisations and experts from the Women’s Health Strategy call for evidence. The organisations that contributed to the report included participants from the charity sector, academia, professional bodies, clinicians, royal colleges and other general experts in women’s health. The topics highlighted in the report include: Menstrual health and gynaecological conditions, including the impact of premenstrual syndrome on someone’s quality of life. Fertility, pregnancy, pregnancy loss and maternal health, including women not feeling listened to during and after pregnancy and the provision of bereavement support services. Menopause, including suggestions for improvements in training and guidelines for healthcare professionals. Gynaecological and other cancers, including barriers to accessing high-quality, up to date information on risk factors for female cancers. Mental health, including its interaction with other health conditions across women’s life course. Healthy ageing, including the need to increase focus on the health needs of older women and emphasise women may experience the same conditions as men in different ways. Violence against women and girls, including the complications associated with hymenoplasty and barriers to accessing healthcare support for those who’ve been subject to years of violence and abuse. Minister for Women’s Health Maria Caulfield said: “For generations, women have lived in a healthcare system primarily designed by men, for men. We are committed to tackling the gender health gap, and the publication of our strategy later this year will mark a significant step forward.” She added: “I want to thank the expert individuals and organisations who took the time to respond to our call for evidence. The insights you have provided have been stark and sobering but will be pivotal to ensuring our strategy represents the first-hand experiences of the health care system.” Read full story Source: NHE, 13 April 2022
  21. Content Article
    The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) launched a call for evidence in March 2021 to inform the first-ever government-led Women’s Health Strategy for England. This report focuses on the survey component of the consultation. Nearly 100,000 people in England got in touch to share: their personal views and experiences as a woman the experiences of a female family member, friend or partner their reflections as a self-identified health or care professional. The results highlight priority areas for action and further research and underpin DHSC’s vision statement for England’s Women’s Health Strategy (published in December 2021). The full strategy will be published in spring 2022.
  22. News Article
    Exhausted after three sleepless days in labour, Jane O’Hara, then 34, screamed and burst into tears when the midwives and doctors at Harrogate District Hospital told her the natural birth she wanted was not going to happen. She ended up needing life-saving surgery and 11 pints of blood after a severe haemorrhage. Mercifully, Ivy was fine and is now a healthy 12-year-old. In recent weeks, the NHS has been rocked by the conclusions of an inquiry into the worst maternity disaster in its history: 201 babies and nine mothers died and another 94 babies suffered brain damage as a result of avoidable poor care at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust. This has been linked to a culture of promoting natural — that is, vaginal — birth and avoiding caesarean sections. Blame thus far has been aimed largely at the NHS — but parents have started speaking out online about what they believe has been the role of the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), a leading provider of antenatal classes in Britain, in promoting vaginal births. “I can absolutely point to key decisions that I made that were influenced by the NCT’s mantra. I was led into a position where I believed I had more control over my birth than I actually did,” says O’Hara, who is now a professor of healthcare quality and safety at the University of Leeds. She believes she was a victim of a “normal birth” ideology that was heavily promoted at the NCT classes she attended. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 10 April 2022
  23. News Article
    Hospital inspectors have uncovered repeated maternity failings and expressed serious concern about the safety of mothers and babies in Sheffield just days after a damning report warned there had been hundreds of avoidable baby deaths in Shrewsbury. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found Sheffield teaching hospitals NHS foundation trust, one of the largest NHS trusts in England, had failed to make the required improvements to services when it visited in October and November, despite receiving previous warnings from the watchdog. As well as concerns across the wider trust, a focused inspection on maternity raised significant issues about the way its service is run. When it came to medical staff at the Sheffield trust, the “service did not have enough medical staff with the right qualifications, skills, and experience to keep women and babies safe from avoidable harm and to provide the right care and treatment”, the report said. Inspectors found that staff were not interpreting, classifying or escalating measures of a baby’s heart rate properly, an issue that was raised by Donna Ockenden in her review of the Shrewsbury scandal. Despite fetal monitoring being highlighted as an area needing attention in 2015 and 2021, the most recent inspection “highlighted that the service continued to lack urgency and pace in implementing actions and recommendations to mitigate these risks, therefore exposing patients to risk of harm”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 5 April 2022
  24. Content Article
    Digital health innovations are often seen as 'ready made' solutions to challenges facing health and care systems but despite their potential, implementing these technologies can be complex. This Nuffield Trust summary highlights ten lessons for those working to integrate technology into health and social care services. The findings are based on a large-scale evaluation of digital technologies being implemented in health and social care in East London.
  25. Event
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    The Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and BMJ International Forums informs and inspires healthcare leaders, practitioners and patients towards a better, safer and higher quality of care. By attending, you will have the chance to advance your learning of quality improvement methodologies, share and deliberate ideas that can improve outcomes for your patients and communities. At the International Forum in Sydney now postponed to 24-26 July, you will hear about the key themes in healthcare in Australasia, and you will consider how perspectives from around the world can support and inspire solutions to global and regional challenges. Register
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