The Supreme Court has handed down its decision on the ‘right to die’ case. The Court deliberated for over six months and their decision marks this as a landmark case. The case considered three severely disabled men who wanted to die. Two of the men, Paul Lamb and Tony Nicklinson argued that they should be …
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A review on hospital reporting incidents has been released as part of the Department of Health and NHS England’s drive to improve safety in the NHS. The analysis reveals that 29 out of 141 trusts are not registering the expected number of safety incidents. The review suggested such figures could be a sign of a …
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A recent judgement by the Court of Appeal has confirmed that doctors have a legal duty to consult with and inform patients on DNAR decisions. Guidelines issued for doctors already recommend patient and family involvement in DNAR decisions, but the court ruling now makes it a legal requirement. The issue was first raised in 2012 …
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The CQC has been asked to take on the patient safety function currently carried out by NHS England following an internal review of NHS England’s functions. The review concluded that the organisation is not best placed to provide national leadership on patient safety. Preliminary discussions have taken place between NHS England and the CQC about …
Following the Francis report into the failings at Stafford hospital, it was recommended that “named clinicians should be responsible for the welfare and care of each patient in hospital”. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges collated existing guidance and produced ‘Guidance for doctors acting as responsible consultants or clinicians’. The guidance states that hospital …
From next year, wilful neglect or ill-treatment of adults in health and social care services could become criminal offences according to the Department of Health. Yesterday, the DoH published a consultation response regarding plans to introduce the new offences as part of the existing Criminal Justice and Courts Bill, which should come into effect in …
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The Guardian has reported that almost 2m bed days in hospitals have been wasted since 2010 because deepening problems in social care mean patients cannot be discharged, according to new research. Some elderly patients are being trapped in hospital for up to 30 days – a day longer than four years ago, on average – …
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A Serious Case Review was published yesterday into the abuse found at Orchid View. According to the review, the financial problems of Southern Cross contributed to the poor care service users received at the service and the “inadequate focus on care” by its managers “put vulnerable people at risk.” The inquiry makes 34 recommendations about …
A serious case review investigating events at Orchid View care home will be published later today. Events at Orchid View involved 19 unexplained deaths. An inquest found that all 19 people who died received “suboptimal”care and five of the deaths were from natural causes “which had been attributed to by neglect”. The families of relatives …
The CQC website has recently been updated to include ratings of hospitals and NHS Trusts that have been inspected as part of CQC’s pilot of the new inspection regime. Such ratings awarded under the pilot scheme are referred to by CQC as ‘shadow ratings’. The new regime is due to officially come into force from …
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