Category Archives: Hospitals

Two-thirds of 15,400 extra Australian deaths in 2022 caused by Covid, study finds

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Total ‘excess’ mortality to August covers coronavirus deaths plus those linked to pandemic factors such as health systems being overwhelmed

Comprehensive analysis of the impact of Covid-19 on mortality rates has found there were 15,400 “excess deaths” across Australia in the first eight months of 2022, or 13% more than predicted.

The excess deaths measure captures not only confirmed Covid deaths but also those incorrectly diagnosed and reported, and those from other causes attributable to the crisis such as health systems being overwhelmed, resources being diverted or fewer people seeking treatment.

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‘Bring your own syringe’: Malawi’s medical supplies shortage at crisis point

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A lack of essential drugs and equipment is causing health centres to close, while critics accuse the government of complacency

Health workers in Malawi claim the government is “ignoring” acute shortages of drugs and equipment that are crippling the country’s hospitals.

Patients have been asked to bring in their own syringes while the theatre and labour ward at the main Bwaila maternity hospital in the capital, Lilongwe – has faced temporary closures because “we don’t have equipment/supplies to work with”, according to a notice pasted to a wall. Regular power cuts are also impacting.

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Elective surgeries in Australia drop to 10-year low due to Covid measures, report finds

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Decline of 17% at public hospitals compared with previous year attributed to restrictions during Delta and Omicron waves

The number of elective surgeries performed across Australia has slumped to a 10-year low due to Covid-19.

New data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) shows there were 623,000 elective surgeries at public hospitals in the 2021/22 financial year.

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Melbourne Royal Children’s hospital tells parents to stay away if possible due to ‘unprecedented demand’

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Workload from treating high number of extremely unwell children means patients may face 12-hour wait

Melbourne parents with sick children may face waits of more than 12 hours at the Royal Children’s hospital emergency department as it buckles under demand.

The hospital, in a statement on Monday evening, warned families should seek alternative care where possible given it was dealing with more than 90 patients in its emergency department.

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Care workers hit back at Matt Hancock’s claim staff brought Covid to care homes

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Most cases not caused by decision to discharge patients from hospital without testing, says former health secretary

Care workers have hit back at claims by the former health secretary Matt Hancock that the Covid virus was brought into homes by infected staff.

In his book, the Pandemic Diaries, which is being serialised in the Daily Mail, Hancock said only a small proportion of cases were caused by his decision to discharge patients from hospital without testing.

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Germany faces ‘catastrophic’ paediatric bed shortage as RSV cases soar

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Rising cases of respiratory syncytial virus after pandemic leading to critical hospital pressures

Intensive care doctors in Germany have warned that hospital paediatric units in the country are stretched to breaking point in part due to rising cases of respiratory infections among infants.

The intensive care association DIVI said the seasonal rise in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases and a shortage of nurses was causing a “catastrophic situation” in hospitals.

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Emergency care issues in England contributed to 200 deaths last week, says medical chief

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Head of Royal College of Emergency Medicine says lengthy waits forcing ambulances to be ‘wards on wheels’

More than 200 people who died last week in England are estimated to have been affected by problems with urgent and emergency care, according to the president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.

Dr Adrian Boyle, who is also a consultant in emergency medicine, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that a failure to address problems discharging patients to social care was a “massive own goal”.

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Ambulance waiting times in England three times longer in some rural areas

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Disparity between rural and urban areas uncovered by Lib Dem FoI requests to 10 ambulance trusts

Patients in some rural areas wait almost three times longer for emergency ambulances than those in towns and cities, while people with potential heart attacks or strokes now face a one hour 40-minute average wait in one area, statistics have shown.

The disparities were uncovered by freedom of information requests by the Liberal Democrats to England’s 10 ambulance trusts, which in turn covered waiting times for 227 areas across the country.

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Rotherham: inquiry after family says boy, 5, died after hospital turned him away

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Yusuf Ahmed died after a tonsil infection spread to his lungs and caused multiple organ failure

A hospital trust in South Yorkshire has opened an investigation after the family of a five-year-old said he died after being turned away by doctors because there were no available beds.

Yusuf Ahmed died on Monday after a tonsil infection had spread to his lungs and caused multiple organ failure. The boy had been taken to Rotherham general hospital by his uncle Zaheer Ahmed on 14 November with complaints of a sore throat. He had been prescribed antibiotics the previous day by his GP, but his condition had not improved.

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Budget for 40 new NHS hospitals faces real-terms cut of £700m, say Lib Dems

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Capital budget of £12bn a year to shrink to £11.7bn, putting Tories’ claim 40 hospitals in England will be built or renovated in doubt

Plans by the government to construct and renovate 40 hospitals in England could be delayed because of new analysis suggesting the health and social care department’s capital spending budget faces a real-terms cut of £700m next year, according to the Liberal Democrats.

With some hospitals said to be in dire need of repair, the health secretary twice refused to say on Sunday that the NHS was functioning properly and instead admitted it was under “severe pressure”.

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Nurses across UK vote to go on strike for first time in dispute over pay

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NHS braces for prolonged period of industrial action by health workers over the winter and into next year

Nurses have voted to stage strikes across the UK for the first time in their history in pursuit of a better pay deal, in a move that will seriously disrupt NHS care.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) announced on Wednesday that nurses at many, but not all, hospitals and other places of NHS care would take industrial action before Christmas and could continue striking until next May.

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Three girls died after major failings in NHS mental health care, inquiry finds

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‘Systemic’ failures at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys trust found to have contributed to self-inflicted deaths

Three teenage girls died after major failings in the care they received from NHS mental health services in the north-east of England, an independent investigation has found.

“Multifaceted and systemic” failures by the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys (TEWV) NHS trust contributed to the young women’s self-inflicted deaths within eight months of each other, it concluded.

In the UK, the youth suicide charity Papyrus can be contacted on 0800 068 4141 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org, and in the UK and Ireland Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or by email at jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Patients dying daily due to poor ‘soft skills’ among Australian surgeons, experts warn

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Nearly all avoidable deaths in surgery exhibit a breakdown in communication and cooperation, research shows, as doctors call for system reform

More than 1,000 Australians die unnecessarily in hospital each year due to avoidable failures by surgeons, according to experts calling for a senate inquiry.

Graham Beaumont, PhD, and Dr John North are both long-term members of audit committees that review surgical mortality in Australia.

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Thousands at risk as A&E queues stop NHS paramedics attending 999 calls

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Paramedics in England missing 117,000 urgent calls each month, as CQC warns of ‘worrying new status quo’

Paramedics in England cannot respond to 117,000 urgent 999 calls every month because they are stuck outside hospitals looking after patients, figures show.

The amount of time ambulance crews had to wait outside A&E units meant they were unavailable to attend almost one in six incidents.

673 patients had to wait 10 hours or more to be handed over to A&E staff – NHS guidelines say no one should wait more than 15 minutes.

45,000 patients were delayed for at least an hour and 21,000 for at least two hours – just under the highest numbers ever seen.

While crews spent 558,000 hours attending incidents, they were unable to complete another 117,000 “job cycles”, which equates to 21% of total ambulance capacity – huge rises on the 45,000 job cycles or 7% of capacity in October 2019.

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‘Absolutely horrendous’: woman left incontinent after giving birth blames Mackay Base hospital failures

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Samantha Sheppard is considering joining a growing number of women in a class action lawsuit against the hospital

Three years ago, Samantha Sheppard checked into Mackay Base hospital to have her first child. What followed, she said, was an ordeal she believes could have killed her baby, Bobby, and that has left her unable to control some of her basic bodily functions.

“It was absolutely horrendous. It was so life changing. I live with a pad on every day. I weigh myself every day. I’ve actually peed myself countless times because I can’t control it,” she said.

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First ever amber alert for NHS blood supplies could mean cancelled surgery

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Hospitals ordered to protect stocks as they fall to critical level amid shortage of staff to take donations

The NHS has declared its first ever amber alert over blood supplies after they fell to a critically low level, prompting warnings that hospitals in England may be forced to cancel operations to protect their stocks.

An NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) official confirmed that overall blood stocks in NHS England were at three days’ worth and levels of O-type had dropped to less than two days’. The normal standard is to hold at least six days’ worth of blood in stock at all times.

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England’s social care workforce shrinks for first time in 10 years

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Experts say loss of 50,000 workers exposes ‘absolute crisis’ facing system still reeling from impact of Covid and Brexit

The social care workforce has shrunk for the first time in almost a decade despite rising demand and bed congestion in hospitals fuelled by a lack of care places.

England is projected to need close to 500,000 more care staff by the middle of the next decade, but last year there was a net fall in the workforce of 50,000 people, leaving about 165,000 jobs vacant, according to new figures from Skills for Care.

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Doctor claims 55-year-old man may have been alive when sent to Perth morgue

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Coroner’s court also investigating allegations doctor was asked to backdate man’s death certificate

A palliative care patient may have been alive when he was transferred to a Perth morgue, according to claims being investigated by the coroner’s court.

The court has confirmed it is investigating the allegations, first reported by Business News, which include claims a doctor was asked to backdate the man’s death certificate in an apparent attempt to cover up the incident.

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Nurses across UK to vote in first ever RCN strike ballot over pay

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Major disruption to NHS over winter feared if ballot of 300,000 staff over 5% pay increase results in industrial action

Hundreds of thousands of nurses across the UK are to be balloted about going on strike in a move that risks disrupting the NHS this winter.

For the first time in its 106-year history the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is balloting 300,000 of its members about strike action and recommending that they vote in favour.

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Victorian opposition didn’t consult hospitals on plan to deploy protective service officers

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Pledge to station officers at five hospitals, despite inquiry finding it would be ‘contrary to the good management of security’

Protective service officers would be stationed at five Victorian hospitals to boost staff safety under a pre-election pledge by the opposition, despite the health services not being directly consulted about the scheme.

Under the two-year plan PSOs would be stationed at the Royal Melbourne hospital, Dandenong hospital, Sunshine hospital, Frankston hospital and Box Hill hospital, to respond to incidents of violence, assist medical staff and sworn police officers, provide support to mental health patients and accompany staff to their cars.

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