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News items on 'Health And Safety'
NHS told to say sorry for errors
(BBC 20/11/2009)
The NHS should learn to say sorry to patients when mistakes are made, a health watchdog says. The National Patient Safety Agency, which monitors errors in England, said a simple apology can even reduce formal complaints and legal action. The group has also issued a number of tips to NHS trusts in a bid to create a more open culture about mistakes. The Action Against Medical Accidents patient group said "Being open when things go wrong" was important.
Private health scheme suspended
(BBC 18/11/2009)
A scheme which provides private health care on the NHS has been suspended following the death of a patient. NHS London, the strategic health authority for the capital, has begun an investigation into the fatality and some other incidents. The out-of-hospital services are run by Clinicenta in 20 boroughs across north London. The company said it was co-operating fully with the NHS London investigation.
Profiles crackdown on 'too high' death rates
(The Scotsman 11/11/2009)
SCOTTISH hospitals with higher than expected rates of deaths and complications linked to surgery have been told to take action to improve their services. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) has published "surgical profiles" for each hospital, covering areas such as mortality and post-operative infections. The figures - outlined in hundreds of tables and graphs published online - show wide variations between hospitals.
Out-of-hours GP contract is ended
(BBC 09/11/2009)
The out-of-hours GP service criticised after a patient's death, has had its Cambridgeshire contract terminated. NHS Cambridgeshire said it had been monitoring the safety and performance of Take Care Now (TCN) since the death of 70-year-old David Gray in 2008. He was prescribed 10 times too much painkiller by a German locum. NHS Cambridgeshire said it had become concerned about TCN's overall performance and unfilled shifts. TCN will not contest the decision.
NHS can get it wrong, Sturgeon admits to patients
(The Scotsman 05/11/2009)
THE NHS in Scotland sometimes fails to come up to the standards the public deserves, the health secretary admitted yesterday, as patients spoke of their own problems with the service. Nicola Sturgeon said millions of people treated by the NHS received good care. But speaking at a conference in Edinburgh yesterday, she said she had to be "open-eyed" to the fact that things could go wrong. Her comments came during the Patient NHS Alert event.
(World health - EU Monitor 15/10/2009)
Senior personnel from the 38 state agencies working under contract to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) are having to cut back on policing the food sector because of a recruitment embargo. More than 40% admitted that the recession had impacted negatively on food safety controls for which they were responsible. And almost 50% raised concerns about the effect the recession was having on safety controls already undertaken by the food sector.
NHS mistakes 'harming thousands'
(BBC 07/10/2009)
More than 5,700 patients in England died or suffered serious harm due to errors latest figures for a six-month period show. The National Patient Safety Agency said there were 459,500 safety incidents from October 2008 to March 2009 - the highest rate since records began. Patient accidents were the most common problem, followed by mistakes made during treatment and with medication. Experts said the health service had to do more to eradicate errors.
Call for better out-of-hours care
(BBC 02/10/2009)
NHS trusts in England must monitor out-of-hours GP care more closely, says a watchdog carrying out a review prompted by the death of a 70-year-old patient. David Gray died in February 2008 after a locum doctor from Germany mistakenly gave him an overdose of diamorphine. In an interim report, the Care Quality Commission found primary care trusts may be failing to spot patient safety issues because of a lack of scrutiny. Most GPs opted out of providing out-of-hours care in 2004.
Getting it wrong
(BBC 20/09/2009)
Hundreds of thousands of people could be misdiagnosed by doctors in Scotland every year, a BBC Scotland investigation has revealed. Medics could be getting it wrong in as many as 15% of patient consultations in hospital and primary care. But cases of misdiagnosis, which do not all result in harm to the patient, are not recorded anywhere in the NHS. This has led to growing demands for better reporting systems to help doctors prevent it.
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