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News Article
UK nursing regulator’s new chief resigns after four days following racism row
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The UK nursing regulator’s new interim chief executive has stepped down just four days into the job after facing widespread staff backlash over her links to a high-profile race discrimination case. Multiple staff working at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) raised concerns to its directors over the appointment of interim CEO Dawn Broderick, who was head of HR at another trust when it was found to have discriminated against a Black employee. The Independent can now reveal Ms Broderick resigned from the NMC on Monday evening. It is the latest in a succession of controversies to hit the nursing regulator, following reports uncovered by The Independent last year. These include allegations from whistleblowers that racism within the NMC was allowing complaints against nurses to go unchecked. Staff have come forward to The Independent, warning they do not have confidence the NMC’s board will take the issue of racism seriously. Read full story Source: The Independent, 2 July 2024 -
News Article
‘Ludicrous’ expectation pushes trusts to plan savings of up to 9%
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS trusts are signing up to deliver efficiency savings of up to 9% of costs, HSJ has found. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn has a cost improvement programme of nearly £30m in 2024-25, equivalent to 9% of spending, which is three times higher than the amount it delivered last year. Trusts and commissioners were last month issued with new financial targets as NHS England attempted to bring down a £3bn forecast deficit for local organisations. A spokeswoman told HSJ the trust had already identified three-quarters of the £30m, and said “we believe that there are further efficiencies in our system, which would see us go further than the 3.1% achieved last year.” She added: “All cost-saving initiatives go through a robust process to make sure that they will not impact patient safety or clinical care provided by the trust.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 1 July 2024 -
News Article
NHS England’s plans to replace traditional GP referrals
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
An NHS England document has confirmed that that it wants to ‘optimise’ GP referrals to secondary care via an enhanced model of advice and guidance. GP leaders recently raised concerns that NHS England had encouraged Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to adopt the ‘advice and refer’ model, effectively replacing traditional GP referrals and adding barriers for patients in accessing secondary care. At the time, NHS England did not address concerns about this specific model, but Pulse has now seen a ‘framework’ document which encouraged local commissioners to ‘strengthen’ specialist advice services in order to ‘optimise’ referrals. The guidance suggested the use of the ‘advice and refer’ model, which means all referrals or advice requests from GPs ‘come in through one route’ and directly bookable appointments are ‘discouraged or removed’. Under this service, all referrals are then ‘triaged’, allowing hospitals to reject referrals and send them back to GPs with advice. This mechanism removes the option for GPs to send standard referrals, whereas the usual model of advice and guidance (A&G) allows GPs to seek advice if they wish, but maintains the direct referral route. NHS England emphasised its commitment to empowering regions to ‘develop diverse models’ of specialist advice in line with their local needs. Read full story Source: Pulse, 26 June 2024 -
News Article
Corridor care ‘must not be the norm’, NHSE warns trusts
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS England has warned trusts corridor care “must not be considered the norm”, adding that the failings exposed by a recent undercover documentary were “not acceptable”. In a letter to boards after a Dispatches documentary filmed at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital aired on Monday, NHSE’s chief operating officer, chief nursing officer, national medical director and director of urgent and emergency care warned trusts they must ensure basic standards of care. The note, seen by HSJ, described footage filmed at RSH’s emergency department as “stark”, adding that it highlighted the service some patients receive is “not acceptable”. The documentary captured many instances of patients being treated in corridors, and the letter said corridor care or that delivered outside a normal cubicle environment “must not be considered the norm”. NHSE added: “It should only be in periods of escalation and with board-level oversight at trust and system level… where it is deemed a necessity… it must be provided in the safest and most effective manner possible, for the shortest period of time… with patient dignity and respect being maintained throughout.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 27 June 2024 Related reading on the hub: A silent safety scandal: A nurse’s first-hand account of a corridor nursing shift -
News ArticleA cancer patient has told Sky News it's "terrifying" for her health that junior doctors are striking again from Thursday. The NHS is expecting "major disruption" during the five-day strike as medics in England walk out over pay amid a yellow health alert heatwave and ongoing disruption to some services because of a ransomware cyber attack earlier this month. Major hospitals Guys' and St Thomas' and King's in London are still running at reduced capacity after the incident. Cancer survivor Donia Youssef has annual colonoscopies but her last was cancelled because of previous industrial action by junior doctors. Donia, from Grays in Essex, said: "It's a worry as a mum with two young children and I was on the list. It got cancelled. First time because of the strikes. And after that I didn't hear from them. So I kept pushing. Nothing. It was just more delays. I was just kept waiting. "[They said]: 'There's a backlog. We'll get back to you. There's a backlog, they're getting through. We'll let you know if there's any cancellations.'" "It's like months later. Nothing. So eventually, because the symptoms are getting worse, I decided to pay." Donia was so scared of her health worsening she paid for private treatment, a cost she could barely afford. And now, as a cancer survivor, every time there's a fresh round of strikes she is filled with dread. "I get scared. I can't get [treatment] on the private and a lot of it's really expensive. So, yeah, it's terrifying. So you're constantly aware," she said. Read full story Source: Sky News, 27 June 2024
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News Article
CQC admits it is failing to keep patients safe
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The Care Quality Commission has admitted it is failing to keep patients “safe” and is losing the confidence of ministers and the NHS, HSJ has discovered. HSJ has seen part of an internal “problem statement” produced by interim chief executive Kate Terroni. It says that “stakeholders and the Department of Health and Social Care are losing confidence in our ability to deliver our purpose”. The statement adds: “The way we work is not working and we are not consistently keeping people who use services safe. “Our people are not able to effectively identify and manage risk and encourage improvement and innovation. “Our organisational structure, flow of decision making, roles, internal and external relationships do not promote a productive and credible way of working.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 26 June 2024 -
News ArticleA patient in a West Midlands A&E was forced to urinate while lying in a corridor as another was left crying in agony for hours in an undercover report highlighting the NHS’ emergency care crisis. A Channel 4 Dispatches programme has exposed the “suffering and indignity faced by patients on a daily basis” after an undercover reporter secretly filmed himself working as a trainee healthcare assistant inside the emergency department of the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital for two months. The footage, which aired on Monday night, shows one patient waiting 30 hours in a “fit to sit” area while a suspected stroke sufferer was there for 24 hours, the broadcaster said. In one clip, an elderly man was forced to urinate in a trolley on the corridor in full view of staff and other patients, while in another a woman is left crying in agony for hours. Nurses are also seen discussing how one of their patients was forced to wait a staggering 46 hours for care and at one point the footage shows large pools of blood on the floor. Experts have said while the scenes were “shocking” and “harrowing” they were not unique to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and are occurring in hospitals across England. Read full story Source: The Independent, 25 June 2024
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News Article
Ambulance response warning after woman's death
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Long waiting times at hospitals in the north-west of England are putting patient's lives at risk by holding up ambulance crews, a coroner has warned. It comes after the death of Bobilya Mulonge, who called 999 with breathing problems on 24 November 2022. She waited 72 minutes for an ambulance - four times longer than North West Ambulance Service's (NWAS) 18-minute target for her category of emergency call - which "probably contributed to her death", coroner Lauren Costello said. A NWAS spokesman said the service was "very sorry" an ambulance was unable to attend sooner and the service had made "significant" improvements since. A report by Ms Costello has been sent to the health secretary and NWAS and urges the region's health authorities to take action to prevent further deaths. She said evidence about ambulance delays revealed during the inquest had given rise to her concerns. "In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken," she wrote. Dale Ollier, north-west regional organiser for Unison, which represents some ambulance staff, said backlogs in moving patients out of hospitals was having a "knock-on effect" at A&E, leading to a "bottleneck crisis". “We have patients that could be safely discharged but there isn’t anywhere to discharge them to because of the lack of capacity in social care." Ambulances were working "flat out", he added, but delays had lead to an "unbearable demand" on crews who were sometimes "tied up for several hours" waiting at hospitals. Read full story Source: BBC News, 20 June 2024 -
Content ArticleOver three months, a Dispatches reporter has filmed secretly while working in a major NHS A&E department. The undercover footage exposes the suffering and dangers patients face on a daily basis.
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News ArticleA man who has battled the NHS for decades to get his wife mental health support has been told by A&E staff she was not a priority despite being so unwell she was catatonic. Steve, a 63-year-old from Hertfordshire, has been supporting his wife, who has schizophrenia, for 30 years and has recalled the “horrific” lack of care she has experienced when at her most ill. Despite getting to a state of catatonia and becoming a danger to herself, he has been told on multiple occasions his wife was not a priority in A&E and there were no psychiatric beds available. His story comes as a poll of more than 600 people by the charity Rethink Mental Illness revealed two-fifths of mental health patients reported being told they weren’t sick enough to access NHS care. The charity, which supports people who suffer from severe mental illness, also found 35% of people reported their condition was considered too severe to be helped. Read full story Source: The Independent, 25 June 2024
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News Article
Nearly 19,000 NHS patients left waiting for three days in A&E over 12 months
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Almost 19,000 NHS patients were left waiting in A&E for three days over a 12-month period, an investigation has revealed. Between April 2023 and March 2024, nearly 400,000 people were left waiting more than 24 hours across A&E departments, a 5% rise on the previous year. Channel 4’s Dispatches programme also found that 54,000 people had to wait more than two days, a freedom of information request to NHS England found. The investigation exposed “suffering and indignity faced by patients on a daily basis”, after an undercover reporter secretly filmed himself working as a trainee healthcare assistant inside the emergency department of the Royal Shrewsbury hospital for two months. The “harrowing” scenes from the hospital’s A&E department came as an analyst from a thinktank said people were dying in emergency care in England “who don’t need to be dying”. Footage shows one patient waiting for 30 hours in a “fit to sit” area while a suspected stroke sufferer was there for 24 hours, the broadcaster said. Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: “I don’t think this is unique to this hospital by any stretch of the imagination. The things we’ve seen here today are clearly not just confined to winter. It was a year-round crisis in emergency care. “Spending two days in an emergency department is worse than spending two days in an airport lounge. These are people who are sitting in uncomfortable seats where the lights never go off. There’s constant noise, there’s constant stress. There’s no end in sight.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 24 June 2024 -
News Article
NHS in summer crisis of emergency care waits, doctors say
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The NHS is engulfed in a summer crisis, senior doctors have said, amid severe ambulance delays, corridors crowded with trolleys and patients facing 25-hour waits in A&E units. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) sounded the alarm over the “national scandal” of long waits for emergency care that it said were leading to “entirely preventable” deaths at a time of the year when there should be some respite from the traditional pressure experienced over winter. Elderly people in particular were facing the brunt of the impact, with many forced to endure horrific long waits for a bed once a decision had been taken to admit them to hospital, the college said. A snapshot survey by the RCEM of emergency department chiefs from across the UK, conducted between Monday and Wednesday this week, exposed the extent of the summer crisis in hospitals. Nine in 10 (91%) of 63 A&E bosses admitted NHS patients were “coming into harm” on their wards due to the quality of care that could be delivered under current conditions. Eighty-seven per cent said they had patients being treated in corridors and 68% said they had patients waiting in ambulances outside their A&E. One emergency department leader revealed that one of their patients this week waited more than 19 hours for a hospital bed to become available once a decision was made to admit them after they had already waited six hours to be seen. Overall, the patient ended up waiting 25 hours in A&E. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 20 June 2024 Related reading on the hub: A silent safety scandal: A nurse’s first-hand account of a corridor nursing shift Reflections on a clinical shift: "After 20 years of nursing, this is one of the worst shifts I have ever completed" -
News Article
Hacked London NHS hospitals data allegedly published online
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Data from a ransomware attack has allegedly been published online weeks after the attack halted operations and tests in major London hospitals, NHS England has said. A Russian group is believed to have carried out the cyber-attack on Synnovis, a private pathology firm that analyses blood tests for Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS foundation trust (GSTT) and King’s College trust, on 3 June, forcing hospitals in the capital to cancel almost 1,600 operations and outpatient appointments. NHS England said on Friday it had “been made aware that the cyber-criminal group published data last night which they are claiming belongs to Synnovis and was stolen as part of this attack. We know how worrying this development may be for many people. We are taking it very seriously.” In the attack, it is understood hackers from the Russian-based ransomware criminal group Qilin infiltrated Synnovis’s IT system and locked the computer system by encrypting its files to extort a payment for restoring access. The trusts have contracts with Synnovis totalling just under £1.1bn for services that are vital to the smooth running of the NHS. NHS England said an analysis of the data was under way involving the National Cyber Security Centre and other partners to confirm whether the data was taken from Synnovis’s systems and what information it contained. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 21 June 2024 -
News Article
Neighbouring providers aid cyber attack victim
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Two pathology networks are coming to the aid of a neighbour, still largely paralysed following an unprecedented cyber attack on its IT system earlier this month. HSJ has learned that Australian-owned firm Health Services Laboratories, which operates mainly from two NHS trusts in north London, will take on some of the primary care tests in south-east London while the Synnovis systems, which were taken out by the attack, are down. HSL will take on work from Lambeth and Southwark boroughs, while South West London Pathology, an NHS-run consortium based at St George’s Hospital, will take on similar work for GP practices in Bexley and Bromley. SWLP was able to connect electronically to send results back to 70 surgeries in south east London within three days. HSL confirmed it had been drafted in, but it gave no information on what tests it was performing or where, or how it was assuring itself that services in north London would not suffer as a result. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 20 June 2024 -
News ArticleDr Shivani Tanna has been working in the NHS for 18 years. "Everything [she] always had concerns about played out" in the care of her husband, who died after NHS hospital failures. A passionate doctor from a circle of acclaimed medics, Dr Tanna was thrust into life ‘on the other side’ as a ‘patient and a relative’ when her husband, Professor Amit Patel, was struck by a life-threatening illness. That experience, the devastated mum-of-two claims, "corroborates what [her] own patients have told [her] about the fact that, currently, the NHS is not fit for purpose". In the wake of her husband's death, Dr Tanna says his case reveals fundamental issues in the health service. “We have been indoctrinated as doctors, service users, and as a society in general to believe that this is a wonderful entity and we are so lucky to have a national health service," she says. “However, nobody wants to address the elephant in the room - that it is operating on less than full staff constantly... there is so much poor practice that it’s become normalised." Three years on and a long-running inquest to find answers later, Prof Patel’s wife is fighting to make changes to the NHS. “It has not been fit for purpose for decades,” Dr Tanna told the Manchester Evening News. "It is operating on less than full staff constantly, relying on bank staff and locums, and we’ve got doctors leaving in droves because they’ve not been nurtured or given the opportunity to work, I think, in a safe and appropriate environment.” The Area Coroner for the Manchester City concluded that the death of a 43-year old Consultant Haematologist and father of two, Prof Amit Patel, would have been avoided were it not for ‘inexplicable’ failures by clinicians to provide a national-level Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) with relevant and readily available information about the patient. Prof Patel was suffering from Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (‘HLH’), a rare disorder in which he himself was an expert. The Coroner found that the local clinicians at Wythenshawe Hospital had failed to provide a National HLH MDT with relevant and readily available information that would have influenced the decision making about Prof Patel’s care. As a result the National MDT, operating on incomplete information, recommended that Prof Patel undergo an Endobronchial Ultrasound guided biopsy (EBUS) procedure, a complication of which ultimately led to his death. The Coroner also found that there were failures in the process by which Prof Patel’s consent was obtained to undergo the procedure and as a result he was not given the opportunity to provide his informed consent to the EBUS that ultimately led to his death. Read full story Source: Manchester Evening News, 17 June 2024
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News Article
Sussex NHS trust apologises for cancer treatment delays before man’s death
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A troubled NHS trust has apologised to the family of a man who died after a series of delays led to him waiting four times longer for an operation than a national cancer target. Before he died in November 2022, Ken Valder, 66, complained of “delays after delay” to his treatment for oesophageal cancer. University Hospitals Sussex – the focus of a separate police investigation into allegations of surgical negligence and cover-ups over dozens of deaths between 2015 and 2021 – admitted that errors, failures and disagreements between surgeons contributed to delays to Valder’s treatment. They also accepted that the case highlighted patient safety concerns that prompted the hospital regulator in 2022 to suspend upper gastrointestinal cancer services at the trust, which includes the Royal Sussex County hospital in Brighton. An independent review of the case also found that Valder’s care was “suboptimal” and that if he had received surgery earlier it “might have led to a better oncological outcome”. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 17 June 2024 -
News Article
Pleas from services crippled by cyber attack rejected due to lack of capacity
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
London pathology providers are “running too hot” to give enough support the large system hit by a cyber attack last week, HSJ has been told. HSJ has learnt that all the capital’s pathology services have now been approached to help Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s College Hospital after the IT systems for their provider Synnovis went down, the pressure on the capital’s labs and technical issues limited what help could be given. But one senior manager told HSJ: “Many trusts are keen to help but their hands are tied. The difficulties are that so many medium-sized NHS labs are already running hot and have not got the capacity." HSJ was told there was significant clinical risk in primary care as well. Routine tests that might have picked up something important are not happening and one manager said: “Patients in primary care include those in nursing homes – blood tests and test for infections can be the only way to work out why a frail patient is deteriorating.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 17 June 2024 -
Content ArticleThese top tips and key actions have been co-developed to support effective collaborative partnership working in the planning and delivery of community mental health services. They recognise that every heath and care system will experience challenges in relation to partnership working given the statutory and cultural differences of organisations working across the mental health pathways and that there will be different arrangements to frame local partnership working, including for example a Section 75 agreement.
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Content ArticleIn most developed countries, substantial disparities exist in access to mental health services for black and minority ethnic (BME) populations. This study sought to determine perceived barriers to accessing mental health services among people from these backgrounds to inform the development of effective and culturally acceptable services to improve equity in healthcare. It found that people from BME backgrounds require considerable mental health literacy and practical support to raise awareness of mental health conditions and combat stigma. There is a need for improving information about services and access pathways. Healthcare providers need relevant training and support in developing effective communication strategies to deliver individually tailored and culturally sensitive care. Improved engagement with people from BME backgrounds in the development and delivery of culturally appropriate mental health services could facilitate better understanding of mental health conditions and improve access.
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News ArticleThe owner of a group of privately-run children’s mental health hospitals is facing legal action by dozens of former patients, who claim they suffered inhuman and degrading treatement at the facilities. Hospitals formerly run by The Huntercombe Group face at least 54 individual clinical negligence claims, The Independent can reveal. Patients treated within several of the hospitals, now owned by Active Care Group, came forward to solicitors Hutchoen Law following several exposés by this publication, revealing allegations of “systemic abuse.” Documents submitted to Manchester Civil Court on Thursday before Judge Nigel Bird, who will decide if permission is be granted for claims to be brought, revealed allegations including: Assault and battery, relating to the inappropriate and unnecessary forced feedings and physical restraint. False imprisonment. Breaches of the Human Rights Act including prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment. Read full story Source: The Independent, 13 June 2024
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Content Article
I am one of many staff that undertake additional shifts as bank staff or agency staff. The reasons are varied and personal. This is a reflection on a shift that I undertook a few weeks ago. I have taken the decision to remain anonymous in this account. -
Content Article
Maternity: Broken Trust (itvX documentary)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Maternity
Exposure documentary exploring the failures in maternity care at the Nottingham University Hospitals Trust (NUH), and the toll it has taken on those fighting for justice. -
News Article
First NHS physiotherapy clinic run by AI to start this year
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The first NHS AI-run physiotherapy clinic is to be rolled out this year in an effort to cut waiting times amid growing demand and staff shortages. The new platform will provide same-day automated video appointments with a digital physiotherapist via an app that responds to information provided by a patient in real time. It is the first platform of its kind to be approved by the health regulator, the Care Quality Commission, as a registered healthcare provider. Patients seeking physiotherapy for issues such as back pain can be referred to the platform Flok Health through a community or primary care healthcare setting, such as their GP. They can also self-refer directly into the service. The service aims to provide faster care and reduce waiting times and pressure on clinicians, those behind it say. However, some in the industry say that AI cannot yet replicate the skill of a fully trained physiotherapist, and that treatment needs to be nuanced due to the complexity of cases. CSP health informatics lead, Euan McComiskie, said of the AI clinic: “There is no doubt that more needs to be done to tackle huge NHS waiting lists, particularly for musculoskeletal services and AI has huge potential to be an adjunct to the work of physiotherapists. However, AI cannot yet replicate the clinical judgment and skills of a physiotherapist, who is required to be registered with a statutory regulator, the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).” McComiskie added that physiotherapists manage “increasing complexity in patient presentation and their treatment needs to be individually tailored”. He said: “It is early days to know how much AI can eventually provide clinical decision making and more research is needed … but not at the cost of patient access, safety, experience nor trust.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 9 June 2024 -
Content ArticleOn the 8 March 2023, an investigation commenced into the death of Christine Rita Booker, born on the 6th October 1943. The investigation concluded at the end of the Inquest on the 17 May 2024. The medical cause of death was: la Haemorrhagic shock lb Iatrogenic injury of right pelvic blood vessels 2 The conclusion of the Inquest recorded that Christine Rita Booker died as a consequence of a complication of elective hip replacement surgery.
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News Article
Woman bled to death after hip replacement operation
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A 79-year-old woman bled to death following a hip operation after being rushed to a hospital which lacked a service to save her, a coroner has said. Christine Booker from Wareham died on 24 February 2023, the day after her hip replacement. Coroner Brendan Allen said she was initially transferred to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester, which had no out-of-hours interventional radiology (an imaging procedure), before being sent to Royal Bournemouth Hospital. In a Prevention of Future Deaths report, he said patients in west Dorset faced a "potentially considerable and significant delay in the provision of urgent and life-saving treatment". Writing to Dorset County Hospital, external, the coroner said the lack of an out-of-hours service in Dorchester exposed patients to an "increased risk of death". Read full story Source: BBC News, 10 June 2024
