Tag: nhs
Concerns have been raised that out-of-date medical equipment may be costing lives as the issue of funding in the NHS continues to plague the UK.
According to data gleaned from a recent Freedom of Information request, it’s thought that there are potentially hundreds of x-ray machines being used past their use-by date, as well as hundreds of ultrasound machines that need replacing, and dozens of MRI machines and CT scanners still being used as well.
There are concerns that the vital equipment that’s needed to diagnosis and treat potentially life-threatening conditions is going to cost lives because of aging machinery.
It’s understood that the next generation of personalised cancer treatment is on the horizon after recent study results showed increased survival rates for incurable cancers.
Scientists and medical professionals have been using personalised methods to target genes for hard-to-treat tumours, and the results are said to have worked wonders.
Personalised cancer treatment is already a method used by the NHS for cancer patients, but Oncologists are now calling for cancer patients to receive this “next generation” of sequencing so they can identify the drug best suited to their individual needs as soon as possible.
Read More “Next generation of personalised cancer treatment on the horizon”
The NHS deficit 2018 is reportedly double the planned deficit, which is more grim news for the struggling health services.
The combined deficit was planned to be at £460m, but it has ended up being £960m instead; almost double the deficit that was accounted for.
There remains a massive gap between the services we’re demanding and the affordability in place to provide those services. The hardworking NHS staff we rely on to provide us care when we need it simply do not have the resources to properly help us, and we find ourselves warning the government again that they must resolve the NHS funding crisis to avoid harm to patients.
There are calls for an inquiry into rising death rates in England and Wales. According to recent research, there has been an additional 20,000 deaths at the start of 2018 that have gone without explanation.
In the midst of what many are still calling an NHS crisis over funding and staffing issues, the news of rising death rates doesn’t bode well.
The authors of the research are asking for an urgent investigation to explain why there has been a rise in death rates at the start of this year. According to the research, there doesn’t appear to be an obvious explanation for the deaths.
Read More “Calls for inquiry into rising death rates in England and Wales”
The NHS funding boost is not enough, senior healthcare experts warn.
Some 100 senior NHS doctors and nurses have written an open letter to the UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, to let her know that this hugely-anticipated NHS funding boost is simply not enough.
We’ve been calling for an NHS funding boost for a long time now, and although it’s good to see that the government has finally listened to reason and accepted that the NHS is stretched beyond its means, senior healthcare professionals are downplaying the announcement on the basis that more funds are still needed.
Read More “NHS funding boost is not enough, senior healthcare experts warn”
NHS drug errors can leave patients suffering serious harm, and they can also cause fatalities. Even the smallest error with a dosage or a prescription could be the difference between life and death for some, which is why the government are aiming to drastically reduce what they have labelled as “appalling levels of harm and death” related to drug errors.
We advise and represent patients who have suffered harm because of NHS drug errors. From incorrect prescription dosage claims to clients being prescribed the wrong course of treatment… If you’ve suffered harm due to an NHS drug error, you may have a claim for medical negligence.
Read More “Advice on No Win, No Fee claims for NHS drug errors”
America is currently suffering with what is widely reported as an “opioid crisis” off the back of what some have alleged is a simple case of over-prescribing medications to patients for an array of ailments that can be treatable by other means. In the UK, there are concerns that doctors are relying on prescription drugs too much to treat people with ailments or issues they could use alternative help for, and the upshot is patients getting addicted to such medication.
Whether it’s a case that the dangers of such medications need to be better explained or better controlled, or where it’s down to the need to prescribe less medication – or both – doctors are worried that the lack of help for patients hooked on drugs is putting lives at risk.
Read More “Doctors concerned people addicted to prescription drugs may not be receiving enough help”
New waiting times for routine operations in some parts of the country could see patients having to wait up to a minimum of three months before their procedure takes place.
Hip operations and cardiac procedures are among those that fall within the new lengthier patient waiting times, which could lead to complications arising as patients have to wait longer for treatment.
Patient waiting times average is around seven and a half weeks, but new measures introduced in Lincolnshire mean patients may be waiting almost twice as long in efforts to cut costs as lawyers warn that the new measures may see incidents increase.
Read More “NHS pushing patient waiting times to three months may see rise in incidents, lawyers warn”
Data breaches are practically the new norm, and with healthcare sector breaches at the top of the pile, we have a lot of reasons to be worried as a nation relying on a public-funded healthcare system.
For the private healthcare systems like they have in the U.S., the liability and the costs can fall on a private organisation or their insurance. In the U.K., the taxpayer picks up the tab.
The increasing numbers of healthcare sector data breaches is not helping the NHS funding situation at all.
Read More “The worrying trend of data breaches will not help the NHS funding situation”
According to the latest report from our National Health Service, we are statistically obese; spend way too much time sat down; and take far too many prescribed drugs.
So, just to reiterate, many of us overeat, barely do enough exercise, unless it’s walking towards the fridge and back which then creates health problems that leads to us apparently swallowing prescribed pills like they’re mints and thus contributing towards the nation’s growing drug-dependency problem.
Much like the reported opioid crisis in America, the U.K. may not be far behind a similar drugs crisis either…
Read More “NHS statistics say we are obese, sedentary and drug-reliant”
A 42-year-old woman was admitted to East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust hospital on a Friday evening with a liver abscess and sepsis. Her condition rapidly deteriorated over the weekend and she tragically died two days later of multiple organ failure.
This death was confirmed to have been entirely preventable.
This incident was apparently the last straw for the Trust’s critical-care lead, Dr Kate Murray. Prior to this incident, Murray was unhappy with an abundance of problems with how the hospital take patient observations, and as a result of the incident, she sought to do something about it.
Read More “NHS pushed into upgrading its monitoring system following avoidable death”
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has been criticised for sending marketing letters to terminally ill patients advertising private clinical services.
The Trust reportedly used patients’ medical data to send hundreds of marketing leaflets advertising a private clinic, Nova Healthcare.
Read More “NHS Trust sent letters to terminally ill patients advertising private clinics”