Wednesday 5 March 2014

Non-urgent operations at Northampton General Hospital cancelled again

Non-urgent operations at Northampton General Hospital cancelled again Northampton General Hospital has been forced to cancel non-urgent surgery for the second day running because of high numbers of emergency department patients.  Northampton Chronicle and Echo

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How can we create a ripple effect of quality improvement in the NHS?

How can we create a ripple effect of quality improvement in the NHS? Why do we need a common language for quality improvement in healthcare? Because we need to have a way of working together to make improvement in a way everyone understands and understand collectively that improvement work is directly informed by how it affects the patient, says Dr Alan Willson. The Health Foundation

Patient safety alert on risk of associating ECG records with wrong patients

Patient safety alert on risk of associating ECG records with wrong patients An NHS England patient safety alert has been issued today (4 March 2014) to all NHS services in England that use ECG machines to diagnose cardiac problems. The alert highlights the risk of printing the wrong patient’s ECG records in error, which could lead to misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment.

The alert has been issued following a recently reported patient safety incident where the ‘copy’ button had been pressed on the ECG machine in error instead of the ‘auto/start’ button. This resulted in a copy of the previous patients’ ECG results being re-printed; staff did not immediately realise the error and labelled the ECG record incorrectly with the new patient’s identifiers. As a result, the patient underwent an unnecessary procedure and had a further complication.

The NHS England Patient Safety Domain identified 17 previous incidents reported from across the country since January 2008, describing occasions where the ECG of a previous patient was re-printed; none of these additional incidents resulted in harm to the patient.

Dr Mike Durkin, NHS England Director of Patient Safety, said: “Patient safety alerts are a crucial part of our work to rapidly alert the healthcare system to risks and to provide guidance on preventing potential incidents that may lead to harm or death.

“We use data on patient safety incidents reported by healthcare providers to identify themes and patterns of similar incidents across the country. Even if these incidents are extremely rare, if there is a risk to the safety of patients, we will alert all relevant providers to ensure appropriate action is taken to eliminate the possibility of a similar incident occurring. This signals my intention to move from the current approach of risk management and mitigation to a system that recognises a determination to not only evaluate all patient safety risks but to work with intent to eradicate all causes of such risk.”

You can view the full Patient safety alert on risk of associating ECG records with wrong patients here.

A third of hospital trusts in breach of sharps safety regulations

A third of hospital trusts in breach of sharps safety regulations A recent report from the Health Service Journal (HSJ) highlights a third of trusts are non-compliant when it comes to sharps safety regulation, putting nurses and other frontline staff at risk of injury. NHS Employers

Nurse tech fund winners announced

Nurse tech fund winners announced Seven NHS trusts have received £1m or more from the Nursing Technology Fund for mobile working, vital signs, and nursing observation projects. E-Health Insider

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Violence affects 'third of EU women'

Violence affects 'third of EU women' About a third of all women in the European Union have experienced either physical or sexual violence since the age of 15, a survey suggests. BBC News

A Sliding Doors moment for the NHS?

A Sliding Doors moment for the NHS? Is the NHS having its Sliding Doors moment? BBC News

New coalition launched to make person-centred, coordinated care a reality for people living with long-term conditions

New coalition launched to make person-centred, coordinated care a reality for people living with long-term conditions The Coalition for Collaborative Care is a group of individuals and organisations across the health, social care and voluntary sectors who want to make person-centred, coordinated care a reality for people living with long-term conditions. That means improving the relationship that people have in their day-to-day interaction with the NHS and social care so their care and support is organised around what matters to them.

We are doing this through the House of Care. The House of Care was developed and tested by the Year of Care programme and People Powered Health. It is a flexible blueprint that uses collaborative care and support planning and at the same time recognises the importance of non-medical, community-based activities and resources. This ‘more than medicine’ approach helps each person develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to manage their condition/s within a supportive community.

Public health services non mandatory contract

Public health services non mandatory contract The guidance for the Public Health Services Contract has been updated. This contract is adaptable for use for a broad range of public health services and delivery models. It provides a framework to hold providers to account for the delivery of these services to achieve improved health outcomes. Department of Health

Emergency admissions to hospital

Emergency admissions to hospital This report examines the increasing levels of demand on A&E services when budgets are coming under increasing pressure. It identifies the lack of specialist A&E consultants; the slow progress in introducing out of hours consultant cover; and a lack of performance quality data as key factors in hampering the development and improvement of A&E services. House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts 

How collaborating with patients improves hospital care | Anna Bawden

How collaborating with patients improves hospital care | Anna Bawden A new project where patients and NHS staff work together to improve services shows that even small changes can have a big impact on the quality of care. The Guardian

Slash hospital funding, says departing NHS chief executive

Slash hospital funding, says departing NHS chief executive Outgoing NHS boss Sir David Nicholson has combined a belated public admission of his mistakes over the Mid Staffs scandal with a warning that the service must undergo painful changes if it is to remain viable. The Guardian

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Tax ‘addictive’ sugar to combat growing levels of obesity, says chief medical officer

Tax ‘addictive’ sugar to combat growing levels of obesity, says chief medical officer
The Government could be forced to bring in a tax on sugar to help combat growing levels of obesity, the Chief Medical Officer for England has warned. The Independent

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Health service is 'unsustainable', NHS director warns

Health service is 'unsustainable', NHS director warns Fundamental change is needed within the NHS to improve healthcare and ease pressure on hospitals which are "already at capacity," Professor Keith Willett has warned. The Daily Telegraph

Labour wants NHS patients to treat themselves

Labour wants NHS patients to treat themselves Patients should be helped to treat their own conditions as part of a shake-up of health and social care, the Labour Party is arguing. The Daily Telegraph