ADHD patients around the UK are finding they can't get hold of medication since a national shortage was announced.
Three different medicines are affected, and the government says some supply issues could last until December.
The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) says "increased global demand and manufacturing issues" are behind the shortages.
Medication helps to manage symptoms, which can include difficulty concentrating and focusing, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.
Dr Saadia Arshad, a consultant psychiatrist, who specialises in diagnosing and treating people with ADHD.
She says the shortage of medication is "not a new issue, but it's a recurring one".
Dr Saadia says suddenly stopping meds can lead to patients "feeling jittery, finding it difficult to pay attention, staying focused and feeling restless".
Even though she understands the shortage can be worrying, Dr Saadia says it's important that people don't take measures into their own hands.
"These medicines can be quite potent and the response to medication for two individuals is not the same," she says.
"So please do not take any action without discussing it with your clinician."
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Source: BBC News, 6 October 2023
An NHS trust and ward manager have appeared in court charged with the manslaughter of a 22-year-old mental health patient who died in hospital in July 2015.
Alice Figueiredo was found dead at Goodmayes Hospital in east London, and an investigation into her death was opened in April 2016.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) authorised the Met Police to charge North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) with corporate manslaughter last month following a five-year investigation.
It is just the second NHS Trust to face manslaughter charges. The Trust is additionally charged with an offence under section three of the Health and Safety at Work Act in connection with mental health patient Ms Figueiredo's death.
Ward manager Benjamin Aninakwa also faces a charge of gross negligence manslaughter and an offence under section seven of the Health and Safety at Work act.
NELFT is just the second ever NHS Trust believed to have been charged with corporate manslaughter, after Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust was charged over the death of a woman who underwent an emergency Caesarean in 2015.
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Source: Mail Online, 6 October 2023
A trust saw nearly 1,000 safety reports filed after introducing a new electronic patient record (EPR) – including one where a patient died and 30 others where they suffered harm.
The Royal Surrey Foundation Trust and Ashford and St Peter’s Hospital Foundation Trust installed a new joint EPR system in the middle of last year.
But Royal Surrey’s board was told there had been 927 Datix reports — which are used to raise safety concerns — related to the introduction of the “Surrey Safe Care” system, running up until mid September this year.
The catastrophic harm involved a patient death which the trust says was not “directly linked to technical problems” with the EPR, as “human factors” were involved, including inexperience or unfamiliarity with the electronic prescribing system.
Louise Stead, chief executive of Royal Surrey, said: “Implementing an electronic patient record is a huge shift for any workforce and we experienced some issues with the functionality of the system and getting users sufficiently trained and confident in using it correctly. We have worked hard to address these issues as quickly and responsibly as possible.
“Our fundamental aim is for ‘zero harm’ and any harm caused to a patient is taken extremely seriously and investigated. In the case of these Datix incidents the vast majority (over 99%) resulted in low or no harm to patients.
“However, one case resulted in the tragic death of a patient and we have been working closely with their family to be transparent and learn every possible lesson. This case was not directly linked to technical problems with the electronic patient record system and human factors did contribute. We are sincerely sorry for the failure in their care and devastating impact upon this person’s family.”
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Source: HSJ, 11 October 2023
Financial directors need to take responsibility for safety, which should be at the core of how the NHS runs services, the leadership of the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) said at its launch Wednesday.
The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch is now an independent body – and has been renamed HSSIB – although maternity investigations are hosted by the Care Quality Commission.
Questioning how many finance directors across the NHS take responsibility for safety, HSSIB’s interim chief investigator Rosie Benneyworth said: “We need a position where finance directors in every organisation are as responsible for safety as the person leading the safety agenda and vice versa, the safety person works with the finance agenda to support them.
“Often you see the finance director and safety lead don’t work effectively together and we need to change that.”
Dr Benneyworth said progress will not be made unless operational delivery, financial delivery and safety are tackled “in the same breath”.
HSSIB’s new chair Ted Baker also called for safety to become a core part of running services “in the way running the accounts is”, as it is currently still seen “as an add-on”.
He stressed that safety “drives efficiencies, enables innovation and saves costs”.
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Source: HSJ, 19 October 2023
An inquest into the death of a baby boy who died two weeks after birth in a Sussex hospital has found there were missed opportunities in the care of his mother.
Orlando Davis was born by emergency caesarian section at Worthing Hospital, part of University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, on 10 September 2021 following a normal and low risk pregnancy.
He was born with no heartbeat and his parents were told he had suffered an irreversible brain injury after being starved of oxygen - after his mother Robyn Davis experienced seizures during labour, caused by a rare condition that went "completely unrecognised" by staff.
Orlando died in Robyn and husband Jonny’s arms on 24 September 2021 at 14 days old due to his catastrophic brain injury.
His mother had to be put in an induced coma, but has since recovered. But his parents say his death was avoidable.
Today at the inquest into Orlando's death, senior coroner, Ms Penelope Schofield said a lack of understanding of hyponatremia contributed to neglect of Orlando.
Mrs Davis had told the inquest: “I can’t explain the sadness, frustration, anger and complete heartbreak I felt and still feel towards the trust for not keeping us safe.
Mrs Davis continued: “The thing I cannot process is that I have lost my healthy, full-term son. I feel as if my son was taken from me in a circumstance that, in my personal and professional opinion, was completely preventable.
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Source: ITVX, 14 March 2024
