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Sam

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  1. News Article
    UK organisations responsible for protecting the public from advertisements of prescription-only drugs are putting patients at risk from the harms of weight loss drugs by not enforcing the law, critics have told The BMJ. The UK’s Human Medicines Regulations 2012 prohibit the advertising of prescription drugs to the general public, and companies that break the rules can be sanctioned with fines, orders to issue a corrective statement, or prosecution. Legal responsibility for regulating advertisements for medicines in the UK rests with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on behalf of health ministers. But there is also a system of self-regulation with a number of organisations operating their own codes of practice, including the Advertising Standards Authority. But The BMJ has found that the MHRA has not issued a single sanction for prescription drugs in the past five years. And among 16 cases where the MHRA took action by requesting changes to advertisements for weight loss drugs from June 2022 to July 2023, all were triggered by external complaints, not internal mechanisms, and none resulted in sanctions. Read full story Source: The BMJ, 13 December 2023
  2. News Article
    Hundreds more middle-aged adults have been dying each month since the end of the pandemic, as obesity and NHS backlogs drive a surge in excess deaths. New analysis of official statistics has revealed that there were an extra 28,000 deaths in the UK during the first six months of 2023, compared with levels in the previous five years. The biggest rise in unexpected deaths has been among adults aged 50 to 64, who are increasingly dying prematurely from preventable conditions including heart disease and diabetes. The Covid inquiry is now being urged to shift its focus from “tactical decisions made by politicians” and to examine the lasting disruption that has kept deaths persistently high since the virus peaked. Experts believe that difficulties in accessing GPs since lockdown and record NHS waiting lists mean that middle-aged patients are missing out on life-saving preventative treatment such as blood pressure medication. Unhealthy lifestyles, obesity and widening health inequalities are also contributing to a rise in avoidable deaths. Professor Yvonne Doyle, who led Public Health England during the pandemic, warned that the official Covid inquiry risks “missing the point” by focusing on the drama and WhatsApps of Westminster politicians. In an article for The Times, Doyle, who gave evidence to the inquiry six weeks ago, says that the tens of thousands of excess deaths since Covid “represent an underlying pandemic of ill health” that should be addressed. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 13 December 2023
  3. Event
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    The health and care workforce continues to face profound challenges, with severe staff shortages and increasing financial pressures across health and care. While the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan aims to support the NHS’s future needs, it does not cover the social care workforce, resulting in a knock-on effect across the entire health and care system, particularly for those who rely on social care services. To resolve the challenges facing health and care, the sector needs to embrace positive disruption and its potential to change the nature of work and to improve recruitment, retention and the health and wellbeing of the workforce. This event from the King's Fund will explore the changing nature of work and how this can support the health and care system to adapt to future challenges. It will look at the different expectations between those already in the workforce and those joining it, and the challenges and opportunities this presents – whether it’s redesigning job roles, reforming education and training and providing different routes into health and care careers, developing a system that embraces flexible working, creating spaces for digital collaboration, or supporting moves to shift care out of hospital and into the community. Attendees will consider how those working in health and care can be supported to make the most of these opportunities against the backdrop of deep-seated cultural issues in the health and care system. Conference sessions will explore how to support the health and care workforce to succeed in their roles, and how organisations can be more responsive to the needs of people who work in them, whether through redesigning job roles to enable staff to deliver the best possible care, reforming regulation to support managers to succeed, or creating development opportunities to enable staff to work in a way that supports their health and wellbeing. Please join us to learn and share your leadership and workforce challenges. You will also have the opportunity to collaborate with experts and leaders from across the health and care system through keynote speeches, panel debates and interactive workshops. Register
  4. Event
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    Many people recognise that both the NHS and the health of the nation are in deep crisis. Whether in terms of life expectancy, levels of long-term ill health, inequalities, mental health, or the drivers of poor health such as obesity, England’s recent record is poor and often compares badly to its neighbours. Essentially, there is now a need to think differently about how to design and deliver health and care services to meet the challenge of reducing health inequalities.  This two-day virtual event from the King's Fund will bring together individuals and teams who have been working on shaping, informing and implementing strategies and action plans to address health inequalities at system, regional and place levels. Ahead of the upcoming general election, sessions will also provide an opportunity to discuss and explore the need for urgent action and policy change for the new government to improve population health and implement measures that help people to make healthier choices. Showcasing both international and domestic case studies, this conference will also explore how the health and care system is working in partnership with local authorities, the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector and community leaders to develop a collaborative approach to health inequalities that makes the most of local assets and networks and meets the needs of local communities. Register
  5. News Article
    A London acute trust is planning to provide staff working in frailty units with body cameras and those in antenatal clinics with additional security, as violence and aggression against them goes ‘through the roof’. Matthew Trainer, chief executive of Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust in north east London, described the measures the trust is planning to take in response to growing staff concerns about their safety. Speaking at a King’s Fund event about making NHS careers more attractive, Mr Trainer said: “We need to understand the impact of violence and aggression against the workforce and that’s going through the roof just now. “Our ultrasound technicians have now asked for help as their antenatal scans are becoming so fraught. We are about to introduce body cameras in our frailty wards to help with the increase in violence and aggression against staff there.” Mr Trainer – who joined BHRUT in 2021 from Oxleas Foundation Trust – said a long-running problem with violence and aggression in emergency departments was spreading to other departments. Mr Trainer stressed the main problem, particularly in frailty units, was not patients’ own behaviour, but that of family and friends visiting them. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 13 December 2023
  6. News Article
    A fresh inquest into the death of Raychel Ferguson has found she died of a cerebral oedema, or swelling in the brain, due to hyponatraemia. He said the "inappropriate infusion of hypertonic saline fluid" was the most significant factor. The nine-year-old died at the Royal Victoria Hospital for Sick Children in June 2001. Coroner Joe McCrisken said her death was due to a series of human errors and not systemic failure. He outlined three causes of the hyponatraemia but said he was satisfied the "inappropriate infusion of hypertonic saline fluid... played the most significant part". The new inquest into Raychel's death was first opened in January 2022 after being ordered by the attorney general but was postponed in October when new evidence came to light. Raychel was one of five children whose deaths over the course of eight years at the same hospital prompted a public inquiry. In 2018 the Hyponatraemia Inquiry - which examined the deaths of five children in Northern Ireland hospitals, including Raychel - found her death was avoidable. The 14-year-long inquiry was heavily critical of the "self-regulating and unmonitored" health service. In his report in 2018, Mr Justice O'Hara found there was a "reluctance among clinicians to openly acknowledge failings" in Raychel's death. Read full story Source: BBC News, 11 December 2023
  7. News Article
    The expert tasked by government and NHS England to investigate maternity scandals has criticised ministers for failing to provide the funding necessary to address the problems. Donna Ockenden said the funding provided so far was “nowhere near good enough” and progress made to improve services had been “extremely disappointing”. After her investigation into the deaths and harm of 295 babies and nine mothers at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals Trust, the Department of Health and Social Care endorsed recommendations to invest an additional £200m to £350m per year into maternity services. IMs Ockenden suggests the recent impact of inflation, pay awards, and other rising costs means the full £350m is required. According to NHSE an additional £165m per year has been invested since 2021, and the DHSC said this would rise to £187m from April. Ms Ockenden, a senior midwife, told HSJ: “What I would like to say loud and clear to the government is that we are broadly 50 per cent of the way there in receiving the money we know is needed for maternity services. That is nowhere near good enough. “There are workforce issues across [the whole team], whether that’s midwives, obstetricians or neonatologists, and it’s hardly surprising. “The government must now do more – whilst we were grateful for the endorsement [of her report], the lack of progress in providing what is known to be the required funding is extremely disappointing.” Read more (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 11 December 2023
  8. News Article
    New official guidance on treating menopause will harm women’s health, experts, MPs and campaigners have warned. Last month, new draft guidelines to GPs from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said that women experiencing hot flushes, night sweats, depression and sleep problems could be offered cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) “alongside or as an alternative to” hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to help reduce their menopause symptoms. But critics have castigated the guidance, saying it belittled symptoms through misogynistic language, and women’s health would suffer as a result of failing to emphasise the benefits of HRT on bone and cardiovascular health as opposed to CBT. In its response to the guidance, Mumsnet said NICE's recommendations used “patronising” and “offensive” language and would be “detrimental” to women’s health. Justine Roberts, the founder and chief executive of Mumsnet, said: “Women already struggle to access the HRT they are entitled to. We hear daily from women in perimenopause and menopause who are battling against a toxic combination of entrenched misogyny, misinformation and lack of knowledge among GPs. “Too often they are fobbed off or told they simply need to put up with severe physical and mental symptoms – often with life-changing effects. “By emphasising the negative over the positive, failing to include information about the safest forms of HRT and placing CBT on a par with hormone replacement therapy, this guidance will worsen that struggle. It will make doctors more reluctant to prescribe HRT and women more fearful about asking for or accepting it.” Carolyn Harris, the MP for Swansea East and the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on menopause, said the new guidance was “antiquated”, “naive” and “ill thought-out”. ”Talking can make you feel better, but it’s not going to take away the aches in your joints and it’s not going to change how you live your life,” she said. “Whatever a woman feels is what she needs to support her through the menopause should be readily and immediately available, and that’s not true currently [of HRT or CBT]." Read full story Source: The Guardian, 11 December 2023
  9. Event
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    Five people die with sepsis every hour in the UK. Sepsis is a serious complication of an infection. Without quick treatment it can lead to multiple organ failure and death. Sepsis often goes undiagnosed and it is important to raise awareness of the symptoms and what to look out for in order to reduce the number of sepsis-related death. This webinar will give attendees a chance to hear from Dr Ron Daniels, Founder & Joint CEO of the UK Sepsis Trust and Melissa Mead, whose son William died from sepsis in 2014 and has passionately campaigned to raise awareness of the issue ever since. The webinar is free to attend and there will be time for Q&A towards the end. Register
  10. News Article
    Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson is scheduled to provide evidence at the Covid Inquiry on the 6 and 7 of December. Long Covid is one of the most catastrophic consequences of the pandemic and it deserves a prominent place in the discussions during this critical phase of the inquiry. The Long Covid Groups will be delivering a letter to No.10 Downing Street today, urging attention to the unique challenges faced by those with Long Covid. Read the letter and sign the petition
  11. News Article
    Newborn babies could be at a higher risk of a deadly bacterial infection carried by their mothers than previously thought. Group B Strep or GBS is a common bacteria found in the vagina and rectum which is usually harmless. However, it can be passed on from mothers to their newborn babies leading to complications such as meningitis and sepsis. NHS England says that GBS rarely causes problems and 1 in 1,750 babies fall ill after contracting the infection. However, researchers at the University of Cambridge have found that the likelihood of newborn babies falling ill could be far greater. They claim one in 200 newborns are admitted to neonatal units with sepsis caused by GBS. Pregnant women are not routinely screened for GBS in the UK and only usually discover they are carriers if they have other complications or risk factors. Jane Plumb, co-founded charity Group B Strep Support with her husband Robert after losing their middle child to the infection in 1996. She said: “This important study highlights the extent of the devastating impact group B Strep has on newborn babies, and how important it is to measure accurately the number of these infections. “Inadequate data collected on group B Strep is why we recently urged the Government to make group B Strep a notifiable disease, ensuring cases would have to be reported. “Without understanding the true number of infections, we may not implement appropriate prevention strategies and are unable to measure their true effectiveness.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 29 November 2023 Further reading on the hub: Leading for safety: A conversation with Jane Plumb, Founder of Group B Strep Support
  12. News Article
    Patients are at risk of having serious health conditions missed because of the lack of continuity of care provided by GPs, the NHS safety watchdog says. Investigators highlighted the case of Brian who was seen by eight different GPs before his cancer was spotted as an example of what can go wrong. Brian had a history of breast cancer and had been discharged from the breast cancer service. Two years later he began to have back pain. Over the following eight months, he saw two out-of-hours GPs and six GPs based at his local practices as well as a physio and GP nurse, before he was sent for a hospital check-up in late 2020. A secondary cancer had developed on Brian's spine, but it was too late to offer him curative treatment and he was given end-of-life care. He has since died. The watchdog said the lack of continuity of care resulted in the diagnosis of Brian's cancer being missed. One of the key problems was that the different GPs he saw missed the fact he was attending repeatedly for the same issue. Senior investigator Neil Alexander said Brian's case was a "stark example" of what can happen when there is a breakdown in continuity of care. "He told our team 'when I am gone, no-one else should have to go through what I did'." Read full story Source: BBC News, 30 November 2023
  13. News Article
    The number of people with norovirus in hospital in England is 179% higher than the average at this time of year, official data shows, as the NHS comes under mounting winter pressure. Admissions caused by the vomiting and diarrhoea-causing norovirus have surged and cases of other seasonal viruses are also rising, according to NHS England figures. Health chiefs said the impact on hospitals from seasonal viruses was likely to be worsened by the current cold weather. “We all know somebody who has had some kind of nasty winter virus in the last few weeks,” said Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s medical director. “Today’s data shows this is starting to trickle through to hospital admissions, with a much higher volume of norovirus cases compared to last year, and the continued impact of infections like flu and RSV in children on hospital capacity – all likely to be exacerbated by this week’s cold weather.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 30 November 2023
  14. Event

    IHI Forum

    Sam

    Sam posted an event in Community Calendar

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    The IHI Forum is a four-day conference that has been the home of quality improvement in health care for more than 30 years. Dedicated improvement professionals from across the globe will be convening to tackle health care's most pressing challenges: improvement capability, patient and workforce safety, equity, climate change, artificial intelligence, and more. Register
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    The Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) sets out a new approach to learning and improving following patient safety incidents across the NHS in England. PSIRF embedding webinars will feature presentations from NHS organisations and will focus on sharing experiences, adaptions and learning as the designed systems and processes put in place prior to transition are operationalised. Recordings, slides and Q&As from our transition webinars series can be found on Future NHS alongside other workshops and supplementary materials and resources: PSIRF Presentations - NHS Patient Safety - FutureNHS Collaboration Platform Audience: Embedding webinars are open to everyone to attend, including both NHS and arm’s length bodies. Presenters: Tracey Herlihey, Head of Patient Safety Incident Response, NHS England Further speakers TBC Register
  16. Event
    The Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) sets out a new approach to learning and improving following patient safety incidents across the NHS in England. PSIRF embedding webinars will feature presentations from NHS organisations and will focus on sharing experiences, adaptions and learning as the designed systems and processes put in place prior to transition are operationalised. Recordings, slides and Q&As from our transition webinars series can be found on Future NHS alongside other workshops and supplementary materials and resources: PSIRF Presentations - NHS Patient Safety - FutureNHS Collaboration Platform Audience: Embedding webinars are open to everyone to attend, including both NHS and arm’s length bodies. Presenters: Tracey Herlihey, Head of Patient Safety Incident Response, NHS England Further speakers TBC Register
  17. Event
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    The Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) sets out a new approach to learning and improving following patient safety incidents across the NHS in England. PSIRF embedding webinars will feature presentations from NHS organisations and will focus on sharing experiences, adaptions and learning as the designed systems and processes put in place prior to transition are operationalised. Recordings, slides and Q&As from our transition webinars series can be found on Future NHS alongside other workshops and supplementary materials and resources: PSIRF Presentations - NHS Patient Safety - FutureNHS Collaboration Platform Audience: Embedding webinars are open to everyone to attend, including both NHS and arm’s length bodies. Presenters: Tracey Herlihey, Head of Patient Safety Incident Response, NHS England Further speakers TBC Register
  18. Event
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    NHS Resolution’s Safety and Learning team, are hosting a virtual forum on perspectives on delivering health in the prison and justice system. The purpose is to raise awareness of the cost and scale of harm, discuss the realities, best practice, challenges and recommendations around collaborating to support healthcare delivery in the justice system. We will hear from a diverse range of experts in the field. The format is interactive, with presentations followed by questions and panel discussion. Event programme: Learning from prison claims - NHS Resolution The realities of delivering healthcare in prison - Practice Plus Group Good practice and themes from inspections - HM Inspectorate of Prisons The medico-legal aspect of prison health claims - Bevan Brittan Q&A panel discussion. Register
  19. News Article
    HSJ analysis of the NHS England data also found that 19,000 adults with a serious mental illness are waiting for longer than 18 months for a second contact with community mental health services. This is seen as a more meaningful metric for adults than the first contact. In total, almost 240,000 children and young people were waiting for treatment from community mental health services in August 2023, as well as more than 192,000 adults. The data revealed the median, or typical, waiting time for children and young people from referral to first contact was 178 days. The median wait time for adults from referral to “second contact” was 120 days. The NHS long-term plan set out proposals for a four-week waiting time standard for children and adults to access community mental health services. This approach was piloted and a consultation published, but the new standards are yet to be implemented. Sean Duggan, chief executive of the mental health network at the NHS Confederation, said leaders would be concerned – although “not surprised” – that patients were waiting so long for community services. He added: “We need access and waiting times standards for all mental health services, to help us improve national data and to direct and allocate resources effectively.”
  20. News Article
    World leaders, cervical cancer survivors, advocates, partners, and civil society came together last week to mark the third Cervical Cancer Elimination Day of Action. The Initiative, which marked the first time Member States adopted a resolution to eliminate a noncommunicable disease, has continued to gain momentum, and this year's commemoration promises to be a beacon of hope, progress, and renewed commitment from nations around the world. “In the last three years, we have witnessed significant progress, but women in poorer countries and poor and marginalized women in richer countries still suffer disproportionately from cervical cancer,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “With enhanced strategies to increase access to vaccination, screening and treatment, strong political and financial commitment from countries, and increased support from partners, we can realize our vision for eliminating cervical cancer.” Australia is on target to be among the first countries in the world to eliminate cervical cancer, which the country anticipates to achieve in the next 10 years. In Norway, researchers have recently reported finding no cases of cervical cancer caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) in 25-year-olds, the first cohort of women who were offered the vaccine as children through the national vaccination programme. Indonesia announced this week a declaration committing to reach the 90-70-90 targets for cervical cancer elimination through the national cervical cancer elimination plan (2023 to 2030). In the United Kingdom, England’s National Health Service (NHS) pledged this week to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040. Read full story Source: WHO, 17 November 2023
  21. News Article
    Patient safety is being put at risk by the “toxic” behaviour of doctors in the NHS, the health ombudsman has said. Rob Behrens, who investigates complaints about the NHS in England, warned that the hierarchical and high-handed attitude of clinicians was undermining the quality of care in some hospitals. He called for medical training to be redesigned to encourage a more empathetic and collaborative approach from doctors. Pointing to failings in the treatment of sepsis and the problems in maternity services, Behrens said he was “shocked on a daily basis” by what he saw as ombudsman. Too often, “organisational reputation has been put above patient safety”, he told The Times Health Commission. The ombudsman warned of a “Balkanisation” of health professionals, with rivalries between doctors and nurses or midwives and obstetricians harming patient care. “For all the brilliance of clinicians quite often they’re not very good at working together,” he said. “Time and again, the handover from one clinician to another, from one shift to another, or the inability to raise the issue at a senior level has been a key factor in what has gone wrong.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 18 November 2023
  22. News Article
    Two young people facing mental health crises were left on paediatric wards for months while different agencies across a health system struggled to find appropriate placements. The patients – who were both autistic and had learning disabilities, with special educational needs – were admitted to Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust (MTW) last year after attending emergency departments more than 10 times within a two-month period. They were left on a paediatric ward – one of the patients for four months – as this was the “only available place of safety as opposed to the optimum setting to meet their needs,” according to Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board’s “learning review” of children and young people with complex needs, which the two cases prompted. The review, which HSJ obtained under a Freedom of Information request, revealed several problems with joint working, despite a multidisciplinary team meeting regularly to discuss the young patients’ needs. Since the review, a new escalation process has been introduced, urgent mental health risk assessments in the community have been enhanced and a three-month pilot of a self-harm service has been implemented at Tunbridge Wells Hospital, part of MTW. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 17 November 2023
  23. Event
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    The Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) sets out a new approach to learning and improving following patient safety incidents across the NHS in England. PSIRF embedding webinars will feature presentations from NHS organisations and will focus on sharing experiences, adaptions and learning as the designed systems and processes put in place prior to transition are operationalised. Recordings, slides and Q&As from our transition webinars series can be found on Future NHS alongside other workshops and supplementary materials and resources: PSIRF Presentations - NHS Patient Safety - FutureNHS Collaboration Platform Audience: Embedding webinars are open to everyone to attend, including both NHS and arm’s length bodies. Presenters: Tracey Herlihey, Head of Patient Safety Incident Response, NHS England Further speakers TBC Register
  24. Event
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    The Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) sets out a new approach to learning and improving following patient safety incidents across the NHS in England. PSIRF embedding webinars will feature presentations from NHS organisations and will focus on sharing experiences, adaptions and learning as the designed systems and processes put in place prior to transition are operationalised. Recordings, slides and Q&As from our transition webinars series can be found on Future NHS alongside other workshops and supplementary materials and resources: PSIRF Presentations - NHS Patient Safety - FutureNHS Collaboration Platform Audience: Embedding webinars are open to everyone to attend, including both NHS and arm’s length bodies. Presenters: Tracey Herlihey, Head of Patient Safety Incident Response, NHS England Peter Ledwith, Deputy Director of Governance, East Cheshire NHS Trust Liam Oliver, Senior Patient Safety Manager, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board Register
  25. Event
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    The Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) encourages investigations across the NHS to apply SEIPS. This 3 hour masterclass will focus upon using Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) in Learning Disability, Social Care and Mental Health. SEIPS trainer Dr Dawn Benson has extensive experience of using and teaching SEIPS, as a Human Factors tool, in health and social care safety investigation. She will be joined in these masterclass sessions by clinical subject experts. The masterclass will be limited to a small group to ensure in-depth learning. Register
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