Coming up in the December/January issue (volume 15 issue 2) of Health Care Risk Report:
- consent, with a case review of Birch v University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and a related article by Dr Jeff McIlwain on how the pendulum has swung in the patient's favour in modern consent cases. In Birch, the trust was ordered to pay damages for negligently performing a diagnostic test without proper consent, because it had not explained the comparative risks of two diagnostic procedures to the patient concerned;
- independent mental capacity advocacy, which is at present under-used by the NHS but which can enrich clinical decisions and provide clear benefits for patients who lack capacity. Andrew Alonzi and Don Cattell highlight the role of independent mental capacity advocates, while a further short article looks at their role where patients are deprived of their liberty;
- bed rails, which are a cause of accidents and deaths in the NHS every year. Health and safety expert Phil Gifford offers lessons from three deaths, along with advice on appropriate use and management of bed rails in hospitals and care homes;
- general practice, where patient safety work includes development of a "trigger tool" similar to that used in hospitals, pointing GPs towards potential patient harm in their practices;
- violence and aggression towards staff, with solicitor Claire Bentley looking at guidance relating to mental health services as well as other NHS settings;
- preventing data losses in hospitals and other care settings; and
- complaints. John Tingle draws together findings from three sources - the National Audit Office, Patients Association, and the health service ombudsman - in the "never ending story" of NHS complaints system reform.
If you would like to start receiving the monthly highlights from the HCRR editor emailed directly to your inbox, then sign up for our free monthly HCRR ezine here. November issue (volume 15 issue 1):
- new-look 'Cases and comment' section, offering claims, complaints, reviews and patient stories drawn from a wide variety of sources and accompanied by expert comment. The aim of this section is to promote learning from individual cases, which often have lessons of relevance to the wider NHS.
- How to close the learning loop, using your patient safety newsletter, as explained by Coventry University researcher Professor Louise M Wallace;
- What the NHS must do to improve the service it offers to people with learning disabilities, by Sir Jonathan Michael and Anne Richardson;
- Stuart Emslie on why you should read the Government of Ireland's patient safety document;
- How NHS trusts in Scotland have implemented Lean Six Sigma and their successes so far, by Professor Jiju Antony;
- Why nurses need better fire training, by Charles Hancock from Loughborough University;
- An analysis of two key reports on the good, the bad and the risky in general practice, by John Tingle and
- A guide to the deprivation of liberty safeguards code of conduct by Andrew Alonzi.
October issue (volume 14 issue 10):
- How useful is your patient safety newsletter to staff? A research analysis comparing 90 trust newsletters to the ideal
- Why the English national patient safety campaign needs you
- Consent: ticking boxes or a process that really involves patients?
- Ethical dilemmas in fire safety - what should staff do if a patient cannot be evacuated?
- How NHS bodies in London are working together on fire safety
- Lean Six Sigma and error reduction in healthcare
- The Mental Capacity Act's deprivation of liberty safeguards plus all our regular case reviews, news, opinion, and resources pages
September issue (volume 14 issue 9):
- a peer-reviewed article on purchasing for safety in injectable medicines, containing previously unpublished information for NHS trusts
- a precis of newly-released, Department of Health-backed guidance for nurses and others, entitled Guidance for adult community services staff on the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Readers can download the full guidance here
- expert comment on litigation related to healthcare-associated infections
- critical analysis of the concept of governance between organisations
- guidance on the Care Quality Commission, which will have the power to de-register poorly-performing organisations
- discussion of the Health Service Ombudsman's report on 12 representative complaints against the NHS
- A special HCRR bite size summary on the Mental Health Act 2007 which comes into force this Autumn.
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