Patient safety

Gosport scandal: ‘Blame culture’ must end says Hunt, practice ‘probably repeated elsewhere’

21.06.18: Health and social care secretary Jeremy Hunt has hit back at claims from an expert on hospital mortality that the Gosport War Memorial scandal could be replicated elsewhere in the NHS. Prof Sir Brian Jarman, of the Dr Foster Unit...

GP’s ‘practice of shortening lives’ led to over 450 deaths at Gosport

20.06.18: A public inquiry into over 800 deaths at an NHS hospital over the prescription of opioid has said families have been failed by the “institutionalised practice of shortening lives.” Staff at Gosport War Memorial Hospital in Hamps...

NHS trust to give payout in millions to teen brain-injured at birth

20.06.18: A girl who suffered a devastating brain injury during her birth has been awarded compensation from a major south east NHS trust. Becky Tyler, who is now studying for her GCSEs, won the payout after mistakes made during her birth led to her...

Medical examiners to be rolled out to investigate unexpected NHS deaths

11.06.18: All non-coronial unexpected deaths within the NHS in England and Wales are to be investigated by medical examiners in order to improve investigations into the cause of death, Jeremy Hunt has announced today. The announcement coincides with the...

Written submissions sought for gross negligence manslaughter review

06.06.18: The working group looking into gross negligence manslaughter in the medical profession has invited written submissions as the latest stage of its review. The General Medical Council ordered the review, which will be led by Dame Clare Marx, ...

Number of patients readmitted to hospital rises by a fifth due to ‘preventable’ conditions

01.06.18: Patients are being increasingly readmitted to hospital as patients with ‘preventable’ conditions such as pressure sores and pneumonia, prompting concerns about the quality of patient care and discharge systems in the NHS. Resear...

NHS can’t replace ‘tatty’ and broken-down equipment due to lack of funding

23.05.18: “Missed investment opportunities” for vital cancer scanning and major equipment were identified as issues created due to government cuts in NHS funding, new research shows. Broken-down ambulances, rotten windows, and “tatt...

Increasing urgent admissions reflect growing NHS pressures

22.05.18: The number of patients admitted urgently to hospital has rocketed by 42% over the past decade, according to new research by the Health Foundation. The figures reveal that patients arriving in A&E are sicker than ever and more likely to need...

Government ‘letting down’ cancer patients, Labour warns

18.05.18: Patients are waiting up to 18 months for cancer treatment, according to figures obtained by Labour. A Freedom of Information (FoI) request by the party revealed that two thirds of the trusts that responded had at least one patient waiting over...

Patients put ‘at risk of serious harm’ in ineffective £330m Capita deal

17.05.18: Patients could have been put at serious risk as a result of a “widespread failures” in an attempt to outsource primary care duties by NHS England, a new report has found. The seven-year contract, worth £330m and awarded to...

Trust boss apologises for care failings of student found dead after fleeing hospital

17.05.18: Sussex Partnership NHS FT has issued a public apology about the care that Janet Müller received from the trust. Müller was “unlawfully killed” by Christopher Jeffrey-Shaw in 2015 after she absconded from Mill View Hospital...

NMC ignored families and police evidence in ‘incompetent’ handling of Morecambe Bay scandal

16.05.18: The conduct of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) during the Morecambe Bay scandal did not act on concerns raised against midwives suspected of providing dangerously poor care, a major report commissioned by Jeremy Hunt has argued. In...

North west hospitals put on top alert level 32 times last winter – 30 more than 2016

16.05.18: Hospitals in one region of England were placed on the highest level of alert 32 times over the winter period, according to a new report. Information from the BBC today found that the number of NHS trusts in the north west put on severe leve...

NMC leader Jackie Smith steps down ahead of Morecambe Bay scandal review

15.05.18: The leader of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has announced her resignation. Jackie Smith will leave her post as chief executive and registrar of the NMC at the end of July 2018. The announcement comes just days before the Profession...

Nurses open up about ‘scandalous and cruel’ staff gaps pushing them into new careers

14.05.18: Staff shortages are affecting patient care and the mental and physical health of nurses themselves, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has warned. A new report by the college, ‘Nursing on the brink’, analyses thousands of comments s...