Surgeons banned from keyhole surgery

Three NHS surgeons have been banned from using a keyhole technique to operate on cancer patients after the procedure led to at least five deaths.

A further 17 cases in which patients may have died or suffered complications as a result of botched operations by the three men are being investigated.

(source: The Sunday Telegraph)

Court of Appeal to hear resuscitation case

The case of a dying woman who was not consulted before a "do not resuscitate" notice was placed in her medical records is due to be heard in the Court of Appeal.

 

Janet Tracey, who had terminal lung cancer, died in hospital in Cambridge three years ago. Her family are pushing for a national policy about how the notices should be used in the NHS in England.

 

Addenbrooke’s Hospital says its doctors acted in Mrs Tracey's best interests.

(source: The Guardian)

NHS errors putting patients at risk

Figures from NHS England have shown that mistakes by NHS staff are to blame for the death or significant harm of 250 patients a day. 

Between April and September 2013 there were 45,476 errors with such serious consequences, including incorrect diagnosis and patients given the wrong treatment or drug. Of these, 1,958 led to death and 43,518 resulted in significant harm.

(source: Daily Mail)

Hospital fined over patient death

A vulnerable diabetic patient died because a hospital trust failed to implement basic handover procedures and ensure essential record-keeping, a court has heard.

Staff at Stafford Hospital did not follow – sometimes even look at – medical notes that clearly stated Gillian Astbury needed insulin, regular blood tests and a special diet.

A system for communicating patient needs at staff handovers was ‘inconsistent and sometimes non-existent’ the trust itself admitted. Record-keeping and monitoring of patient care plans were also far below acceptable standards.

Specific to the care of Ms Astbury, 66, a Type 1 diabetic, mistakes were made at up to eight shift changes and as many as 11 drugs rounds. The failure to administer insulin was the direct cause of her death.

The Health and Safety Executive investigated, in line with its policy to investigate deaths that occur in the health sector where there is evidence that clear standards have not been met because of a systematic failure in management systems.

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust was prosecuted by HSE and pleaded guilty to an offence under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act. At Stafford Crown Court, it was today fined £200,000 and ordered to pay £27,049 costs.

Peter Galsworthy, HSE Head of Operations in the West Midlands, said:
“Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust failed to implement a proper handover system, or to oversee the proper completion of nursing records and the monitoring of care plans. In doing so they put Gillian Astbury at risk. The Trust’s systems were simply not robust enough to ensure that staff consistently followed principles of good communication and record keeping. Gillian’s death was entirely preventable. She just needed to be given insulin.

“Gillian Astbury and her loved ones were failed by Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. Every hospital patient has the right to expect more. Serious safety management flaws were identified by our investigation. We expect lessons to be learned across the NHS to prevent this happening again.”

At court today, Mr Justice Haddon-Cave said:
“It was a wholly avoidable and tragic death of a vulnerable patient admitted to hospital for care but who died because of a lack of it.”

He added: “A significant fine is called for to reflect the gravity of the offence, the loss of a life and in order to send out a strong message to all organisations, public or private, responsible for the care and welfare of members of the public.”

(source: BBC)
 

Hospitals must apologise for harm

Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, is to announce that hospitals will have a legal duty to admit to mistakes that cause patient harm and issue an apology, under a new "duty of candour" to be introduced by the Government.

 

(source: The Independent)

NHS negligence bill could be cut

The Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has suggested that the NHS's multi-billion pound negligence bill could be cut by apologising to patients and mounting a vigorous defence against bogus claims. The minister was commenting after the NHS Litigation Authority, the body that oversees claims made against the health service, released figures disclosing that half of the cases it faces are rejected because they are "without merit", a figure which has risen by a third in two years. The number of claims faced by the NHS this year is expected to rise by a fifth to about 12,000.

(source: The Daily Telegraph)

Hospital Death Rates Higher at the Weekend

According to a report people who have a routine operation just before the weekend are 24% more likely to die than those who have surgery during the week. Weekend patients are 10% less likely to have a fracture repaired within the day and 42% less likely to receive an MRI scan. The report found that the overall death rate for emergency admissions is 20% higher at weekends.



(source: The Times)

"Profound transformation" planned for National Health Service

The Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt has announced that a "profound transformation" is needed in NHS England to create an open, honest and learning culture.

The measures announced follow the Government's review of the Francis Inquiry which was published in February and itself highlighting cultural problems in the NHS.

The inquiry considered the neglect and abuse at Stafford Hospital between 2005 and 2008 and accused the NHS of putting corporate self-interest ahead of patients.

From April 2014 hospitals will be required to publish data on a new national safety website and will also be forced to publish nurse to patient ratio figures.

Government ministers also announced a series of extra measures in an attempt to make the NHS the "safest in the world" and reduce hospital negligence which include:

• Hospitals will have to produce quarterly reports on how they are handling complaints and clearly set out how patients can raise them.
• A legal duty of candour on organisations to be open and honest about mistakes.
• A criminal offence of wilful neglect to hold staff to account.
• A "fit and proper person's test" so managers who have failed in past will be barred from taking up posts.
• A care certificate to ensure healthcare assistants and social care workers have the right skills and training.
• Every patient should have the names of a responsible consultant and nurse listed above their bed.

 

Nurse was so drunk she had to be treated by her own accident and emergency department

A NURSE who was drunk on duty had to be treated by her own accident and emergency department.

Sheila Fletcher was struck off as she was treating patients at Hull Royal Infirmary whilst being drunk after taking in a wine box onto her ward.

Fletcher did not notice she had cut herself when she smashed a bottle of medicine before colleagues intervened, a disciplinary hearing was told.

She was stopped administering drugs at eight in the morning to unsuspecting patients after a colleague noticed she was behaving unusually.

Fletcher was employed at the Hull Royal Infirmary and went to work on May 15 2011 after drinking at home.

She told the ward sister that her arm felt tingly and that he head was 'not right', the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard.

An auxiliary nurse then reported that Fletcher has been seen in the toilet on her hands and knees clearing up 'pink fluid and broken glass on the floor'.

On another occasion she had failed to give drugs to a patient and doctored records to show that she had.

When Fletcher's husband visited her later in A&E he confirmed she had been drinking at home.

At a disciplinary hearing on February 7 2012, Fletcher admitted that she had taken a box of wine to work.

"It is the first time I recollect taking the bottle and the box (of wine) to the ward," she said.
The panel found the nurse guilty of failing to test the blood sugar levels of patient failing to provide him with insulin and failing to document her errors.

Allegations that she dishonestly forged the medication card for the patient were found not proved.
Fletcher faced further allegations relating to her conduct in November 2010 when she was accused of failing to prescribe drugs to a patient and then falsifying records on the following day.

The panel also found these allegations against her proved.

Fletcher, who was not present or represented at the hearing in central London, she was struck off the register.

(source: grimsbytelegraph.co.uk)

Ten year anniversary for Christine

Senior Associate Solicitor, Christine Bowerman recently celebrated ten years at Grantham based law firm, JMP Solicitors.

 

Christine joined the firm on 11th November 2003 after qualifying as a solicitor and has since then developed specific expertise in complex personal injury claims including serious groin injuries, head injuries and clinical negligence cases which include misdiagnosis of cancer and negligent dental treatment.

 

Christine has listed a number of significant cases and client testimonials on her own profile page spanning her ten years at JMP Solicitors.

 

Commenting on her ten years at JMP Solicitors Christine said "I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with JMP Solicitors, my role has grown from strength to strength as has JMP's reputation. It has been interesting and sometimes tragic dealing with the more harrowing matters, but in all cases I have sought the best outcome for my clients and on the whole I believe that I have achieved this. I consider myself to be approachable and friendly, preferring my clients to feel comfortable in discussing  their concerns with me and not to feel intimidated as some solicitors can make their clients feel".

 

JMP as a practice encourages this friendly approach and it has resulted in us being instructed on further matters for our clients and their friends and families, not just personal injury, but employment issues, commercial issues, wills and probate to name just a few areas of law we cover. 

 

JMP has moved to a more central location and so we will open on Saturdays by prior appointment in order to see clients and potential clients who cannot contact us during the working week and so hopefully this will be more convenient for them.  

A winter of discontent?

NHS England's medical director, Sir Bruce Keogh has said that "Winter is going to a particular issue" due to the sheer pressure of increasing patient numbers on the National Health Service and local Accident & Emergency departments.

Sir Bruce Keogh's comments follow a statement released by the College of Emergency Medicines warning of a shortage of emergency doctors has the potential to put patients at risk which combined with the latest figures by the National Audit Office showing an increase in emergency admissions throughout the UK.



 

Lewisham Hospital: Appeal Court overrules Jeremy Hunt

The Court of Appeal has ruled Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt did not have power to implement cuts at Lewisham Hospital in south-east London.

During the summer, a High Court judge ruled Mr Hunt acted outside his powers when he decided the emergency and maternity units should be cut back.

The government turned to the Court of Appeal on Monday in an attempt to get the decision overruled.

Mr Hunt had previously claimed the move would improve patient care.

'Vital services'

Following the ruling, Mr Hunt said: "I completely understand why the residents of Lewisham did not want any change in their A&E services, but my job as health secretary is to protect patients across south London - and doctors said these proposals would save lives.

"We are now looking at the law to make sure that at a time of great challenge the NHS is able to change and innovate when local doctors believe it is in the interests of patients."

At the High Court in July, Mr Justice Silber said Mr Hunt's decision was unlawful as he lacked power and breached the National Health Services Act 2006.

It was said the cuts would also mean local people having "to travel a long, long way further to get access to vital services".

Under government policy Mr Hunt had appointed a trust special administrator (TSA) to the South London Healthcare Trust, which went into administration after losing more than £1m a week.

To help ease the problem, the TSA recommended cuts at the Hospital.

At the Court of Appeal on Monday Rory Phillips QC, for the Health Secretary and the TSA, argued they had not acted outside their powers.

They challenged Mr Justice Silber's findings that the TSA was not entitled to recommend the changes and that Mr Hunt was not entitled to implement them.

Referring to the 2006 Act, Mr Phillips said its "wording, statutory context and purpose" should have led Mr Justice Silber "to conclude that they were entitled so to act, consistently with Parliament's evident intention".

The challenge against the government was brought by Save Lewisham Hospital and the London Borough of Lewisham.

'Squandered' money
 
Rosa Curling, who represented the campaign group, said: "We are absolutely delighted with the Court of Appeal's decision.

"This expensive waste of time for the government should serve as a wake up call that they cannot ride roughshod over the needs of the people.

"The decision to dismiss the appeal also reaffirms the need for judicial review, a legal process by which the unlawful decisions of public bodies, including the government, can be challenged by the public."

Andy Burnham, Labour's shadow health secretary, described the decision as a "humiliation" for Mr Hunt that "raises major questions about his judgment".

He said: "Instead of graciously accepting the first court ruling, he has squandered thousands of [pounds of] taxpayers' money trying to protect his own pride and defend the indefensible.

"Today, the secretary of state must accept this decision, apologise unreservedly to the people of Lewisham and give an unequivocal commitment that their A&E will not now be downgraded."

The Department for Health is yet to comment.

Mayor of Lewisham Sir Steve Bullock said: "This is a great result. I was confident of our case but I am still very relieved.

"This is another victory for each and every individual who signed a petition, who wrote to the secretary of state and who marched through the streets of Lewisham."

The decision was made by Lord Dyson, Lord Justice Sullivan and Lord Justice Underhill.

(source: bbc.co.uk)

£1.5m compensation awarded for hospital blunder

John Halliday was a patient of Bradford Royal Infirmary and is now confined to a wheelchair due to failures of doctors within the Yorkshire hospital.

The patient was left with devastating injuries after the hospital failed to diagnose a serious infection which spread throughout his body and into his spine.

The delay in diagnosing and treating septic arthritis enabled the infection to spread.

Delays in diagnosis can be as serious as a misdiagnosis and can lead to significant medical complications.

JMP Solicitors help individuals who fall victim of medical accidents with a personal compensation service taking into account claims for pain, suffering and loss of amenity in addition to ongoing care needs and loss of earnings.

Medical accidents causing hundreds of deaths every month

Government figures have revealed that more than 300 patients are dying each month because of medical mistakes.

 

Detailed figures from NHS England showed that of 683,883 cases reported during the six months from October 2012 to March this year, 1,834 patients died. A total of 3,479 suffered severe injury due to blunders and more than 40,000 suffered impermanent injury. A further 470,000 were put at risk but suffered no harm.

 

The new figures represent a 6.4% increase on the same period the previous year, when there were 665,859 cases, including 1,593 deaths.

 

Peter Walsh, chief executive of the charity Action Against Medical Accidents said: "These figures are terrible and show four years after Stafford the NHS has still got a long way to go in protecting its patients from error."

 

Meanwhile, Dr Mike Durkin, NHS England's national director of patient safety, claimed that the chances of a patient coming to serious harm or dying while being treated by the NHS were "tiny".

(source: Sunday Express)

Hospital payout over woman's suicide

The family of Diana Mager, a bank executive who killed herself at a psychiatric unit after suffering post-natal depression is to receive a 'substantial' pay-out after Oxleas NHS Trust admitted failings in her care.

(source: Evening Standard)

England's mental health services 'in crisis'

The mental health service in England is in crisis and unsafe, says one of the country's leading psychiatrists.

Dr Martin Baggaley, medical director of the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, spoke out as an investigation by BBC News and Community Care magazine reveals more than 1,500 mental health beds have closed in recent years.

 

Many trusts have all their beds filled.

Care Minister Norman Lamb said the current situation was "unacceptable" and provision must improve.

While there was a drive to treat more people in the community, he said beds must be available when patients needed them.

 

System 'inefficient, unsafe'

Freedom of Information requests were sent to 53 of England's 58 mental health trusts, by BBC News and Community Care, and 46 trusts replied.

The figures show that 1,711 mental health beds have been closed since April 2011, including 277 between April and August 2013.

 

This represents a 9% reduction in the total number of mental health beds available in 2011/12.

Three quarters of the bed closures were in acute adult wards, older people's wards and psychiatric intensive care units.

Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust has cut its inpatient beds by 157, while St George's and South West London has removed 155 beds.

Behind the statistics lie the consequences for staff and patients.

On the morning Dr Baggaley spoke to the BBC, he said a severely distressed patient had been transferred from Croydon to Hertfordshire as there were no beds in London.

He has 50 patients in beds outside his trust, some as far away as Somerset.

He said: "We are in a real crisis at the moment. I think currently the system is inefficient, unsafe.

"We're certainly feeling it on the front line, it's very pressured, and we spend a lot of our time struggling to find beds, sending people across the country which is really not what I want to do."

Increased demand

 

Lucy Bowden ended up in the back of a police van due to a lack of beds after voluntarily seeking help.

The 33-year-old, who self-harms, was left wandering around the grounds of her local accident and emergency unit after being told there were no psychiatric beds available after she'd been treated following an episode.

Eventually the police were called, who had to section her to force her local psychiatric hospital to provide her with care.

She recalls: "They couldn't find anywhere so they were saying I'd have to go in to police custody, in a police station which would mean I'd have to go into a cell. Eventually they found a bed and I had to go into the back of a police van, in the cage in the back. It was horrible."

The bed closures are only part of the problem.

There is also increasing demand for mental health services, according to Dr Baggaley.

"There seems to be a genuine increase in demand," he said. "That's partly explained by a reduction in beds, by resources coming out of the health system, the squeeze on social services budgets, and by the general economic situation."

Average occupancy levels in acute adult and psychiatric beds are running at 100% according to the FOI figures from 28 trusts.

Half of these trusts had levels of more than 100%; all of them had occupancy rates above the 85% recommended by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

The problems of running at capacity are highlighted by the tragic case of Mandy Peck. The 39-year-old told psychiatric staff she was feeling suicidal but her local mental health service centre said they had no beds available. A day later she jumped to her death from a multi-storey car park. A subsequent investigation found that a bed had actually been available.

Care Minister Norman Lamb said: "Current levels of access to mental health treatment are unacceptable. There is an institutional bias in the NHS against mental health and I am determined to end this.

"More people are being treated in the right settings for them, including fewer people needing to go into hospitals. It is essential that people get the treatment they need early and in the community but beds must be available if patients need them."

Dr Geraldine Strathdee, National Clinical Director for Mental Health from NHS England, said the key was to strike the right balance between providing sufficient hospital beds and helping patients to be treated at home, or in the community.

"We need to make sure the people who are commissioning services have the information they need about the level of need in their area. We have to get this right for people."

 

(source: bbc.co.uk/news/health)

Complaints about doctors 'double in five years'

The number of complaints against doctors in the UK has doubled in the past five years, figures show.

The data from the General Medical Council showed there were more than 8,100 complaints in 2012, compared with just under 4,000 in 2007.

About a third of complaints led to a full investigation by the regulator.

But doctors' leaders said the figures still represented a small proportion of the amount of care given in the NHS - there are 250,000 doctors in the UK.

Nonetheless, the rise in complaints - and the subsequent investigations - are still causing concern.
Sanctions and warnings
The upward trend has happened during a period when there has been mounting concern about NHS care following the Stafford Hospital scandal.

And research released last week by the patient watchdog Healthwatch England suggested that, if anything, problems were going unreported.

Its survey showed half of those who had experienced a problem failed to report it.

Healthwatch England chairwoman Anna Bradley said: "We all have a right to safe, dignified and high-quality care."

Of the 8,109 complaints made last year, 2,673 were taken forward for an official investigation.

A total of 179 sanctions and warnings have already been made, while nearly 900 cases remain open.

The GMC said it was important to learn from the trend, but the regulator believes there may be an issue with patients not knowing to whom they should direct their complaints.

The majority of complaints - nearly two-thirds - came from patients, but just a fifth were deemed within the GMC's scope to follow up.

GMC chairman Prof Sir Peter Rubin said: "Overall the standard of care that patients receive in the UK is good and doctors continue to deserve the trust and respect of the public.

"What our report shows is that some patients don't know where to go to raise a concern about their treatment and more needs to be done to help them raise issues."

British Medical Association leader Dr Mark Porter added: "It is encouraging that the number of overall complaints is very small given the hundreds of thousands of appointments, operations and other patient interactions that occur every day in the NHS."

(source: bbc.co.uk/news/health)