Patient safety updates - 11 October 2012

New policy, guidance and initiatives from across the UK relevant to patient safety. For more information about the patient safety theme see Quality and Safety e-Bulletin: patient safety.

Some of the resources linked to are in PDF format - see how to access PDF files.

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ): Teamwork a Key Feature of Patient Safety Improvement Program. “This approach is catching on in health care in a big way. Doctors, nurses, and other staff have always depended on each other to provide high-quality care to patients. Now they're learning how to apply specific teamwork principles to produce better and safer care.” [American article].

BBC Health: Fears over risk of air transmission of superbugs. The extent to which hospital superbugs are being transmitted via the air needs to be investigated. A Leeds University study has added to a growing body of evidence about the ability of bacteria to float on air currents.

DH: Resources to support the 2012 European Antibiotic Awareness day in England. European Antibiotic Awareness Day (EAAD), on 18 November 2012, is a Europe-wide public health initiative aimed at encouraging responsible use of antibiotics. Resources include key messages on antibiotic resistance, posters and a leaflet. 

DH: Pregnant women to be offered whooping cough vaccination. Following a rise in the number of cases of whooping cough in young babies, the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, has announced that pregnant women will be offered vaccinations to protect their newborn babies. 
Resources to support the programme.
NHS Employers: Pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination programme.   

Harm Free Care: Launch of the ‘Harmfree’care Bulletin. First edition of a quarterly newsletter designed to keep organisations providing care to patients up to date with local, national and regional events, improvement initiatives, measurement updates and showcase examples of good practice.

Health Foundation: The human cost of ignoring patient safety. “Tebussum Rashid’s sister-in-law died in labour along with her unborn baby. The tragedy was due to serious failings in the care she received from her local hospital. Tebussum is now working with the hospital trust to try and improve the safety culture and build understanding of cultural difference. She describes why this work is so important to her and what she hopes can be achieved.”

Health Protection Agency (HPA): National Poisons Information Service annual report. The main role of the National Poisons Information Service is to advise NHS healthcare professionals on the diagnosis, treatment and care of cases of poisoning across the UK. The report shows a 5.7 per cent increase in online enquiries in the year to 1 April 2012 (578,253 enquiries) but that the increase in online enquiries was accompanied by a 5.8 per cent reduction in telephone enquiries to around 51,000.

HPA: HCAI Reporting within Independent Sector healthcare organisations. Mandatory reporting of meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteraemia and Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has been in place for National Health Service (NHS) acute Trusts for several years. Independent Sector (IS) hospitals began reporting MRSA bacteraemia and CDI, from January 2008. In January 2011 this scheme was extended to include surveillance of MSSA bacteraemia and E. coli bacteraemia in June 2011. 

HPA: Travel advice for Hajj pilgrims. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) and the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) want to remind people travelling to Saudi Arabia for the annual Hajj pilgrimage to seek health advice before making the journey to help ensure a healthy trip.

HPA: Confirmed case of Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever in the UK. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) is aware of a laboratory confirmed case of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) in a UK traveller who has recently returned from Afghanistan. The patient has been transferred from Glasgow, Scotland to the high security infectious diseases unit at the Royal Free hospital in London using specialist air transport.

Public Health Wales: E. coli O157 outbreak linked to petting farm. Investigations into an outbreak of E. coli O157 affecting two children have shown that the type of infection confirmed in the patients exactly matches samples from animals at a Brecon petting farm. The outbreak control team is now working with the farm owners to identify any further measures that need to be put in place.

Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA): Antipsychotics learning module. This training module which outlines the key risks of antipsychotics, is for medical, nursing and pharmaceutical professions. It is especially suitable for pharmacists, general practitioners and those starting out in psychiatry. Health professionals who are established in practice will also find the module a helpful refresher. Self-assessment questions, together with full feedback, accompany the learning material.
News: Learning package on antipsychotics launched.

RCN: Patient safety and human factors conference 23 November 2012. Find out more about the importance of human factors and how it is being embedded into clinical practice, policy, education, research and development through the use of innovation. This conference includes presentations from a range of speakers from healthcare and other sectors and will provide you with a greater understanding of the importance of human factors and how its tools and techniques are being used across a range of care settings.
Greater knowledge and understanding of human factors can help you to make care safer for patients.
To be held at Hallam Conference Centre, London. Don't miss out - book your place now!

Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE): Protecting adults at risk in London: Good practice resource. This online resource will help staff to carry out their responsibilities to safeguard adults at risk. It gives practical pointers to help staff to assess the risk of abuse, to recognise it when it does occur and to respond to it appropriately. It also gives quick and easy access to the pan-London "safeguarding protocol". This helps frontline safeguarding staff across the capital, to carry out cross-borough and cross-agency work, to prevent and investigate abuse. This ease of access, and of use, helps ensure the professional communication that is so vital to effective safeguarding.

World Health Organisation (WHO): Safe childbirth checklist. There are nearly 300 000 maternal deaths, 3.1 million newborn deaths, and 1.2 million intrapartum-related stillbirths taking place in low-income countries each year, of which the vast majority are preventable. In response to this problem, WHO has developed the Pilot Edition of the Safe Childbirth Checklist, to support the delivery of essential maternal and perinatal care practices. The Checklist was developed following a rigorous methodology and tested for usability in ten countries across Africa and Asia.