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Found 2,341 results
  1. Event
    until
    While the pandemic didn’t cause all the shifts happening in healthcare, it had a major hand in accelerating and shaping the changes that will alter the healthcare landscape far into the future. Join Fierce Healthcare as we examine the tectonic transformation across healthcare. We’ll explore changing consumer expectations in access to care, the moves by major tech players and providers to reach their customers and strategies for actually paying for everything. Register
  2. News Article
    The COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group has told Downing Street it wants a statutory public inquiry led by a senior judge to “determine a definitive, official, evidence-based narrative of what did and did not happen, independent of political influence” during the pandemic. The group considers it potentially cathartic and wants the families’ grief heard. Frontline health workers also want a wide-ranging inquiry to provide a platform for their experiences, while minority ethnic leaders believe an inquiry can only determine what went wrong if wider societal inequalities relating to work, health and housing are investigated. But while there is no dissent about the need for an inquiry, others fear this remit might be too broad – and fear lessons have to be learned now so the UK can properly protect itself from any future health emergency. Sir John Bell, the regius professor of medicine at Oxford University, and Lord O’Donnell, head of the civil service under Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron, want a different model more narrowly focused on determining future actions. Ultimately the decision will be for Boris Johnson, who has significant latitude to set the terms and scope of any inquiry, including selection of its chair. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 16 March 2021
  3. News Article
    People in prisons are at an increased risk of COVID-19, with a death rate more than three times higher than that of the general population, and should be made a vaccine priority, according to public health experts. There were 118 deaths related to COVID-19 among people in prisons in England and Wales between March 2020 and February 2021, representing a risk of dying more than three times higher than that of people of the same age and sex outside secure environments, the research team at University College London (UCL) found. The higher rate of death comes despite extensive physical distancing measures, including prisons keeping many inmates in their cells for 23 hours a day. The lead author of the study, Dr Isobel Braithwaite of UCL Institute of Health Informatics, said: “Our findings show that people in prisons are at a much higher risk of dying from COVID-19 than the general population, and we make the case that both they and prison staff should be given high priority in the rollout of vaccines." “We believe the current methods of regime restriction are not enough to protect people adequately, and a systematic, ‘whole-prison’ approach to vaccination is key to preventing further outbreaks and reducing overall deaths in prisons.” The Ministry of Justice challenged the authors’ work, however, arguing it failed to adjust for worse health among the prison population than the community and movements of prisoners in and out of prison. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 16 March 2021
  4. Content Article
    CQC review of ‘do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation’ decisions during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
  5. Content Article
    This report brings together an elected group of experts from across international organisations, G20 Governments, the global health community and civil society to address the challenges that patients and health workers have faced and are currently facing amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. It demonstrates how the safety of patients and health workers is inexorably linked to all global health challenges, including infectious and non-communicable diseases.
  6. Content Article
    From infection control to maintaining safe staffing levels, the COVID-19 pandemic has helped to highlight the intrinsic link between patient safety and staff safety. At the recent Future of Hospitals event from Health Plus Care Online, Helen Hughes, Patient Safety Learning's CEO, Timothy Clark, Founder & CEO of Leader Factor, and Claire Cox, Guys and St Thomas' Hospital, explore this further, considering how ensuring staff safety supports making improvements to patient safety. They consider the essential role that creating a psychologically safe workplace plays in enabling staff to speak up and effectively tackle incidents of unsafe care.
  7. Content Article
    This report from Long Covid Support summarises patient's experiences of Long Covid.
  8. News Article
    Pregnant women and new mothers are three times as likely to suffer from poor mental health in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new study. The report, carried out by a coalition of leading maternal mental health organisations, suggested before that the public health crisis up to 20% of women developed a mental illness during pregnancy or within the first year after having a baby. But in lockdown, 6 in 10 mothers had substantial concerns around their mental health, according to researchers who polled more than 5,000 pregnant women and parents. The study warned women were more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, loneliness and suicidal thoughts during the COVID-19 crisis. The Maternal Mental Health Alliance is one of the organisations behind the research. Luciana Berger, a former Labour MP who is now chair of the group, said: “Today’s report should serve as an ear-splitting warning siren about the dangers to women’s maternal mental health and potential risks to the wellbeing of their babies." Read full story Source: The Independent, 16 March 2021
  9. News Article
    Lasting effects of infection from coronavirus are more common in women and children than expected, with at least 10% of people infected suffering persistent symptoms for months, a new review has found. Experts at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) examined more than 300 separate scientific studies for the analysis. It found many patients reported struggling to access testing and help from the NHS to treat their symptoms, which varied between patients, suggesting long Covid is a group of four possible syndromes affecting patients differently. The report said: “Long Covid appears to be more frequent in women and in young people (including children) than might have been expected,” adding other sufferers could be experiencing an active disease, impacting on their organs and causing debilitating symptoms that would need ongoing treatment. In some patients, the effects included neurological changes in their brains while others showed signs of blood clotting and inflammation. Other patients reported anxiety, fatigue and damage to their lungs and heart. It also warned there was evidence some long Covid patients could actually be getting worse, underlining the need to invest in services that will be needed to cope with what could be a long term problem. Read full story Source: The Independent, 16 March 2021
  10. News Article
    A group of 47 cancer charities says that without urgent action, the UK's cancer death rate will rise for the first time in decades. NHS figures suggest tens of thousands fewer people started cancer treatment since the first lockdown compared to normal times. One Cancer Voice says that the NHS needs more resources. The government says cancer treatment remains a top priority and urges people to see their GP if they have symptoms. Radio 1 Newsbeat has spoken exclusively to One Cancer Voice about the impact of coronavirus on cancer care. The group of charities wants to see more staff available to diagnose and treat cancer, with greater NHS access to private facilities in order to "clear the backlog". "We are calling on the government to invest more money in ensuring the backlog of cancer cases is reduced and eliminated," says Michelle Mitchell, the boss of Cancer Research UK, which heads up One Cancer Voice. "We could face, in this country today, the prospect of cancer survival reducing for the first time in decades. That's why urgent action is required by the government." Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 March 2021
  11. Content Article
    An organisational culture that seeks to assign blame when things go wrong makes patient harm more likely to happen again. At the recent Future of Hospitals event from Health Plus Care Online, Helen Hughes, Patient Safety Learning's CEO, speaks with Dr Duncan Bootland, Medical Director at Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex (AAKSS), who was recently rated as outstanding by the Care Quality Commission across all five of its inspection key lines of enquiry. In this recording of the session, Helen and Duncan talk about the safety culture synergy of healthcare and aviation and how behaviour impacts on safety, considering the values-based approach being championed by AAKSS.
  12. Content Article
    The precautionary principle is important in high risk, high harm, safety critical work. Risks to workers, customers, or service users are substantial, and so the precautionary principle in which precautions are taken until safety is proven, often apply. However, in healthcare it’s different. Healthcare takes the approach that the status quo applies until something is proven dangerous and harmful. The burden of proof is often high and often falls to the workforce to “prove.”  Alison Leary, Professor of healthcare and workforce modelling at London South Bank University, in this BMJ article discusses the reasons healthcare fails to heed the precautionary principle and why potentially the cost of doing so is high and ultimately catastrophic. 
  13. Event
    until
    Perspectum has launched the first study to map how COVID-19 impacts the health of multiple organs and identify at-risk features for the virus, with detailed cross-sectional imaging and genetic studies. This study is on the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Portfolio. Join COVERSCAN for the next live Q&A webinar. Any questions you'd like answered, send to: Perspectum.Communications@perspectum.com Register for study participant Q&A
  14. News Article
    Stories about people getting blood clots soon after taking the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine have become a source of anxiety among European leaders. After a report on a death and three hospitalisations in Norway, which found serious blood clotting in adults who had received the vaccine, Ireland has temporarily suspended the jab. Some anxiety about a new vaccine is understandable, and any suspected reactions should be investigated. But in the current circumstances we need to think slow as well as fast, and resist drawing causal links between events where none may exist. As Ireland’s deputy chief medical officer, Ronan Glynn, has stressed, there is no proof that this vaccine causes blood clots. It’s a common human tendency to attribute a causal effect between different events, even when there isn’t one present: we wash the car and the next day a bird relieves itself all over the bonnet. Typical. Or, more seriously, someone is diagnosed with autism after receiving the MMR vaccine, so people assume a causal connection – even when there isn’t one. And now, people get blood clots after having a vaccine, leading to concern over whether the vaccine is what caused the blood clots. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 15 March 2021
  15. News Article
    The pandemic has been a catalyst for innovation in the NHS and some changes will have a lasting effect, says Dr John Wright of Bradford Royal Infirmary. The Covid pandemic has transformed our hospitals. Car parks are empty, once-bustling corridors are quiet, and these days you won't see any staff making fashion statements - we're all in scrubs and masks. Dr Wright says changes made to reduce spread of infection are here to stay and will help us live with future outbreaks of Covid and other infectious diseases. But there is also much to learn from how we have adapted to non-Covid care - with drive-through PCR swabs and blood tests, for example, or the use of oximeters to monitor oxygen levels in the blood of Covid patients in their homes, providing warning if they need to be admitted to hospital. But the biggest change has been in the way hospital consultations are carried out. Before the pandemic nearly all appointments took place face-to-face. Last year probably 90% occurred via telephone or video call, and most of my colleagues at Bradford Royal Infirmary are still running remote clinics today. This is much more convenient for patients. In the past a typical consultation might have involved a half-day of travel, the search for a parking place, and then sitting in a waiting room. However, remote consultations do have their drawbacks. Patients tend to underplay their symptoms on the phone and it is easier to avoid discussing challenging issues. Life-changing diagnoses require sensitive, face-to-face communication. Another problem is that some patients struggle with technology. The main drawback, though, is that clinicians are unable to undertake physical examination remotely. Clinical histories are the yin of the consultation but physical examinations are the yang, and video consultations only provide half the picture. Read full story Source: BBC News, 15 March 2021
  16. News Article
    NHS England’s cancer director has said it could take another year for the level of cancer treatments and diagnosis carried out to return to normal, after being impeded by COVID-19. National cancer director Dame Cally Palmer told HSJ’s national cancer forum event last week that activity over the past 12 months had been 89% of the previous year, but the service was committed to getting “fully reset” to 2019 levels by March 2022. She shared information showing that, by December 2020, the amount of treatment being carried out following an urgent referral, for most cancers, exceeded December 2019 levels, but that there are still significant treatment backlogs. And, for lung cancer patients, the number of treatments carried out in December 2020 was only 73% of that a year earlier — a decrease from September and October 2020 levels — as covid pressures rose during the third wave. Lung cancer is one of the most amenable to treatment if picked up early. Other areas of diagnostics and treatment have also been severely impeded because of requirements to change practice to reduce the risk of spreading covid, particularly to vulnerable patients. Dame Cally, also chief executive of the Royal Marsden Foundation Trust, said the service was committed to returning to at least normal levels of activity across the board by March next year. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 12 March 2021
  17. News Article
    Professor Sir Ian Diamond, head of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), has said there will “no doubt” be another wave of coronavirus infections in the autumn. Speaking on Sunday, Sir Ian acknowledged the impact of the “wonderful” vaccine rollout though cautioned “we need to recognise that this is a virus that isn’t going to go away.” "And I have no doubt that in the autumn there will be a further wave of infections," he told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One. The UK’s national statistician pointed toward regional variations in terms of how many people have antibodies. “There is a lot of regional variation, so we find 30 per cent of London have antibodies whereas only 16 per cent in the South West, so we need to recognise that as well,” he told the programme. This comes after Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, said he would “strongly advise” against any rapid easing of coronavirus restrictions. Read full story Source: The Independent, 14 March 2021
  18. Content Article
    This preprint study (not yet peer reviewed) provides further evidence on Long COVID in children. An anonymous, online survey was developed by an organisation of parents of children suffering from persisting symptoms since initial infection. Parents were asked to report signs and symptoms, physical activity and mental health issues. Only children with symptoms persisting for more than four weeks were included.  Symptoms like fatigue, headache, muscle and joint pain, rashes and heart palpitations, and mental health issues like lack of concentration and short memory problems, were particularly frequent and confirm previous observations, suggesting that they may characterise this condition. Authors conclude that a better comprehension of Long COVID is urgently needed.  
  19. Content Article
    In this blog post, Liv System’s Nigel Scard talks with Courtney Grant, a Senior Human Factors engineer with Transport for London (TfL). Nigel and Courtney worked together for a number of years at TfL on a number of station and line upgrade projects. A few years ago, Courtney applied his Human Factors and research skills with great tenacity, to a serious healthcare related incident which impacted him personally. This resulted in an important, lifesaving change to ambulance service procedures. In this interview, Courtney describes this in detail and also describes his recent work in supporting the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF) in supporting the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  20. News Article
    The Covid surge in January hit key services including cancer and routine surgery, NHS England figures show. Less than half the expected number of operations were done, pushing the waiting list to a record-high of 4.6m. More than 300,000 of those have been waiting more than a year for treatment - compared to 1,600 before the pandemic began. Surgeons described it as a dire situation which would take a long time to turnaround. Tim Mitchell, of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: "Behind today's statistics are people waiting in limbo. Many will be in considerable pain, others will have restricted mobility and be at risk of isolation and loneliness." "Dealing with this daunting backlog will take time, and also sustained investment in the NHS," he said. Similar problems are also being seen in Scotland where 39,000 people have been waiting over a year for treatment. The NHS Confederation has warned the true picture could be much worse with nearly 6 million fewer referrals made by GPs in England for routine treatments, which includes operations such as knee and hip replacements, last year, suggested there was an additional hidden backlog. The organisation, which represents hospitals, said it was likely people have not sought help or found it difficult to access services during the pandemic. Read full story Source: BBC News, 11 March 2021
  21. News Article
    Homeless people will be prioritised for coronavirus vaccinations alongside adults in at-risk groups, the government has said. Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said the decision would “save more lives among those most at risk in society”. It comes after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which said those experiencing rough-sleeping or homelessness were likely to have underlying health conditions and should be offered vaccinations alongside those in priority group six. "People experiencing homelessness are likely to have health conditions that put them at higher risk of death from COVID-19. He added: "This advice will help us to protect more people who are at greater risk, ensuring that fewer people become seriously ill or die from the virus." Read full story Source: The Independent, 11 March 2021
  22. News Article
    Cancer patients are much less protected against COVID-19 than other people after one dose of the Pfizer vaccine, the first real-world study in this area suggests. With a 12-week wait for the second dose this could leave them vulnerable, says the King's College London and Francis Crick Institute research team. An early second dose appeared to boost cancer patients' protection. Cancer charities are calling for the vaccine strategy to be reviewed. But Cancer Research UK said the small study had not yet been reviewed by other scientists and people undergoing cancer treatment should continue to follow the advice of their doctors. The government said it was focused on "saving lives" and the antibody response "was only part of the protection provided by the vaccine". About 1.2 million people at very high risk of being seriously ill with COVID-19 were prioritised for a first vaccine dose in the first phase of the UK rollout, which includes people with specific cancers. The UK government decided to extend the gap between first and second jabs from three to 12 weeks in late December to give more people some protection as soon as possible. Dr Sheeba Irshad, oncologist and senior study author from King's College London, said the findings were "really worrying" and recommended an urgent review of the timing of doses for people in clinically extremely vulnerable groups. "Until then, it is important that cancer patients continue to observe all public health measures in place such as social distancing and shielding when attending hospitals, even after vaccination," she said. The study, which recruited 205 people, included 151 with solid cancers, such as lung, breast and bowel, or blood cancers. The researchers tested volunteers for antibodies and T-cells in their blood, which signals that the immune system can protect against illness from the virus in the future. Three weeks after one dose, an antibody response was found in 39% of people with solid cancers, 13% of people with blood cancer and 97% of people with no cancer. Following a second dose three weeks after the first, which some cancer patients received, there was a sharp rise in their antibody response against the coronavirus, to 95%. However, among those who had to wait longer for their second dose, there was no real improvement in protection. Read full story Source: BBC News, 11 March 2021
  23. News Article
    Scientists are questioning the reliability of algorithms used to trawl through patients’ health records and flag those who should be asked to shield and prioritised for vaccination. GPs have reported being contacted by young, healthy patients confused as to why they have been told they are at high risk, or have been invited for a COVID-19 jab. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has defined nine priority groups for vaccination, including everyone aged over 50, plus frontline health and social care workers and people aged 16–64 with serious health conditions. The QCovid risk prediction algorithm, introduced last month, combines various characteristics, including age, sex, ethnicity and body mass index (BMI), to estimate the risk of catching, being admitted to hospital, or dying from Covid-19. However, the algorithm appears to throw up certain inconsistencies. For example, if a patient’s weight or ethnicity are not recorded on their health records, QCovid automatically ascribes them a BMI of 31 (obese) and the highest risk ethnicity (black African), meaning they are more likely to be invited for a vaccine. One York-based GP, Dr Abbie Brooks, has identified 110 seemingly healthy individuals who were added to the shielding list and invited to book a vaccine last month. Although it will not harm younger, healthier individuals to receive a jab before their peers, it may mean more vulnerable people have to wait longer for their doses. “I can see that they don’t want to miss out people, which may be why they’re taking this conservative approach, but the problem is that when you make that prioritisation, you are pushing others further down the line,” Irene Petersen, professor of epidemiology and health informatics at University College London, said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 9 March 2021
  24. Content Article
    In this study, Mansab et al. examine the COVID-19 community triage pathways used by Singapore, Japan, USA and UK, specifically comparing the safety and efficacy of national online ‘symptom checkers’ used within the triage pathway.Their results suggest that whilst ‘symptom checkers’ may be of use to the healthcare COVID-19 response, there is the potential for such patient-led assessment tools to worsen outcomes by delaying appropriate clinical assessment. The key features of the well-performing symptom checkers are discussed in the paper.
  25. News Article
    The NHS Covid symptom checker has been criticised by a study which found it may not pick up some people who are seriously ill. By being told to stay at home rather than consult a doctor, they may not receive treatment quickly enough. NHS Digital says the 111 online service, used more than 3.9 million times in the past year, is not a diagnostic tool. The symptom checker has been constantly revised and updated, it adds. The NHS 111 online Covid symptom checker asks a series of set questions about symptoms in order to offer people advice on their condition and what to do next. The study, in BMJ Health and Care Informatics, used 50 simulated cases to compare online checkers used during the pandemic from four countries - UK, US, Japan and Singapore. It found the symptom checkers used by the UK and US were half as likely to advise people to consult a doctor as the systems used in Japan and Singapore. Japan and Singapore also had the lowest case fatality rates of the four nations. Despite improvements in the safety of the NHS 111 symptom checker since the research was carried out in April, the researchers said they still have "ongoing concerns". Read full story Source: BBC News, 9 March 2021
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