Inquiry call over North East Ambulance Service error

A Middlesbrough councillor is calling for an independent inquiry into a family's claims that a man died because a 999 call handler refused to send an ambulance fast enough.

Steven Barley suffered a seizure and chest pains before his death in June.

The family dialled 999 but were told his condition was not life threatening. The ambulance service has since admitted a mistake was made.

Councillor Barry Coppinger said he would write to the secretary of state.

Mr Coppinger is a former chair of the town's emergency planning committee.

"I do think there is a need for an independent inquiry and assessment into what the NEAS is doing," he said.

"An internal inquiry is not good enough when a life has been lost."

He said two inquiries should be carried out, one into Mr Barley's case and a general inquiry into how the North East Ambulance Trust is operated.

He said this second inquiry was needed following allegations that the call handling system was inflexible.

One of those who spoke out was a former ambulance call handler, Karen Breslin, who worked for 11 years at the Teesside control room.

She said: "When you get more of a complex call the system can't deal with that.

"It's a flow chart system and it doesn't know how to deal with one or more problems.

"When you get someone with a multitude of problems, I don't trust it."

The ambulance service has defended its call handling system and its six week training scheme.

In a statement it said the Pathways system used by call handlers to determine whether or not an ambulance was needed had "undergone a full independent evaluation" commissioned by the Department of Health.

This article is courtesy of BBC News.

NHS set up helpline to deal with breast surgeon concerns

An NHS helpline has been set up for patients of the breast cancer surgeon Ian Paterson who is being investigated for possible misconduct.

Dr Aresh Anwar, medical director for Solihull Hospital, said: "We have invited all of Mr Paterson's patients who underwent a mastectomy to see an alternative surgeon for a review of their treatment and care.

"We are keen to hear from any patient who may have concerns or further questions and have set up a helpline to ensure that these can be addressed quickly."

The Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust advice line can be contacted on 0121 424 5473 between 9am and midday, Monday to Friday.

This article is courtesy of itv news.

Brazilian model dies after liposuction operation

A Brazilian model and actress died on the operating table during a liposuction surgery.
 
Police are investigating the fatal haemorrhage suffer by Pamela Baris do Nascimento, 27, following claims that her liver could have been punctured during the procedure on October 19.

It was the third time the actress, who was also studying biomedicine, had undergone liposuction.

Concerns were also raised when it emerged that her death at the Green Hill Hospital in Sao Paulo was not registered until 10 days later.

Miss Nascimento’s aunt reported the case to police in Ipiranga, in the city’s Zona Sul.

The lawyer acting for the family told Brazilian press he believed Miss Nascimento’s death may have been caused by medical malpractice.

He added Júlio César Yoshimura, the surgeon who carried out the operation, could face manslaughter charges.

Officers investigating the death will ask authorities to exhume her body for tests.

Miss Nascimento, who was originally from Santa Catarina in southern Brazil, had been living in Sao Paulo. She was raised by her aunt after her mother died when she was six.

The presenter had appeared on TV programmes including Brazilian variety show O Melhor do Brasil.

Evandro Luiz de Melo Lemos, the officer responsible for the case, said: “Everything suggests that the procedure was correct. But normally, in the case of an accident, it should have been reported to the police.”

In a statement, the hospital said it had launched an internal inquiry.

It said Dr Yoshimuro was licensed to practise and had rented operating rooms at the private clinic.

“The hospital provided all the necessary resources for the adequate treatment of Pamela Baris Nascimento. However, it is with great sadness that this occurred,” the statement said.

A spokesman at Dr Yoshimuro’s office declined to comment this morning and said no further information was available.

This article is courtesy of The Telegraph.

Junior staff are 'missing complications' during birth leading to billions of pounds worth of claims

Junior doctors and midwives are missing serious complications in women giving birth and are failing to call in senior staff leading to 'staggering' litigation costs of £3.1bn over the last ten years, a report has warned.

Senior staff and consultants must be available on the labour wards 24 hours a day in order to supervise junior doctors and midwives and reduce mistakes, said the report from the NHS Litgiation Authority.

The authority released data on medical negligence claims made in relation to mistakes in births between 2000 and 2010 and found that 'junior doctors and inexperienced midwives were often involved...without adequate assistance from senior clinicians'.

Experts said the report was 'staggering' and a wake-up call for all those involved in maternity care.

David Richmond, vice president at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: "Urgent action is needed."

The 5.5 million babies born in England between 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2010, resulted in 5,087 maternity claims, involving payouts of £3.1bn, including legal fees.

However claims can be submitted many years after the birth as disabilties and their causes are identified, so claims relating to births in this period are expected to rise further.

The most frequent mistakes cited in claims involved management of labour including failure to recognise the baby was in distress from fetal heart monitoring equipment or delay in acting; caesarean section including mistakes and delays and cerebral palsy, where the baby is starved of oxygen at birth and sustains brain damage, often requiring life-long care.

Other claims related to missing abnormalities on antenatal scans, drug errors, maternal deaths, damage to the mother, shoulder injuries to the baby, womb rupture and stillbirth.

The report said: "Unfortunately, many of the same errors are still being repeated."

Claims have risen faster than the increase in the number of births.

Figures from the NHS Litigation Authority show that maternity claims rose from 767 in 2003/04 to 1,040 in 2011/12. An increase of about 36 per cent, twice in the rise in the number of births over the same period.

The report concluded: "This study has shown that claims arising from maternity units continue to be the single most costly type of litigation claims managed by the NHSLA. With increasing future care costs, the size of these awards is only likely to increase."

It added that 'litigation represents the tip of the iceberg when considering incidents of error' because only the most serious and most damaging mistakes result in claims and payouts.

Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said: “The biggest issue behind these claims is that most of the lessons to be learned from them are not new. It is tragic that the same problems reoccur in our maternity services year on year.

“Ensuring our maternity teams have regular education and training is key to ensuring safer care. We know that midwives sometimes struggle to get access to training because of staff shortages and budget cuts. This has got to change and access to training has to be protected.

“We also need to ensure minimum staffing standards as advocated by the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists are in place. High quality assessment of women, good communication, team working and one-to -one care in labour are key components of safe care. Inevitably all of these suffer if staff are overstretched.”

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists have already called for more consultant presence on the wards in order to have a 'consultant delivered' service.

It ha been calculated that between 750 and 1,000 extra consultants would be needed.

Dr Richmond added: “The NHS LA report is staggering in its stark facts and the reality of the enormous costs of maternity litigation.

"Hidden behind the financial burden are countless stories of tragedy to individuals and families, which are not included in this report.

"This is a serious wake-up call to all with responsibilities in providing maternity care, whether as providers, commissioners or regulators. Urgent action is needed to further improve the safety of clinical services for women and their babies.

"Our most recent reports High Quality Women’s Health Care and Tomorrow’s Specialist make a strong case for the NHS to move to a consultant-delivered service so that trainee doctors receive adequate support and women have access to qualified specialists throughout the day and night.

"As a true 24/7 emergency discipline, surely it is time to recognise that fully trained doctors must be available on site throughout the day and night.

"This supports earlier recommendations from RCOG reports* of the need for greater consultant presence on the labour ward. Parallel increases in midwifery numbers at the appropriate grade are also needed.

"The cost of fully staffing the units in England and Wales would be around half the cost of litigation per year and would contribute to reducing the claims considerably."

Mike Farrar, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, said: "This is an important and helpful report. We are fortunate in this country that maternity care is relatively safe but to keep it that way the NHS has got to keep learning and improving.

"We must in particular learn from the occasions where things have gone very badly wrong. You cannot turn back the clock on a tragedy but you can do everything possible to prevent recurrence by focusing relentlessly on minimising risks.

"The report highlights the importance of meeting national guidance and of ensuring good training. I would urge trusts to study the findings with great care and to consider how they should respond to the messages."

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "There are more obstetricians and gynaecologists working in the NHS today than there were in 2010, and over 900 more midwives. It is misleading to say that these claims are purely due to the number of consultants on wards as these are very complex issues which cannot be explained by one reason alone.

"We agree that mothers-to-be should be able to access expert services seven days a week and they have a right to expect the same level of care on a Saturday or Sunday as they do on a Wednesday. We already are taking action and working with professional associations to drive this forward across the NHS."

This article is courtesy of The Telegraph.

Mother dies as cancer is undiagnosed more than 30 times

33-year-old Jeannine Harvey suffered in agony after failures by medical staff to diagnose and treat her condition, despite more than 30 visits to three major hospitals.

Ms Harvey died in July, eight months after first complaining of pain which affected her left leg and abdomen.

She was told she had a torn ligament, when in fact she had uterine cancer of the cervix.
 
We want an explanation as to how this happened and an assurance that no one else will have to endure what my sister had to go through.
 

No one listened to us and the doctors constantly patronised us by saying it was her anxiety that was making Jeannine's pain worse.

Marie Donovan, Jeannine Harvey's sister

The family's lawyer said it was one of the most distressing cases she had ever seen.
 

Even if Jeannine's life could not have been saved, with an earlier correct diagnosis she could have avoided months of intractable pain.

Jill Davies, medical negligence lawyer

A date for an inquest into Jeannine's death has yet to be set.

This article is courtesy of itv news.

Negligence by maternity staff has cost NHS £3.1bn over 10 years

Botched care in pregnancy and childbirth has led to more than 5,000 successful negligence claims against the maternity services over the last decade – costing the NHS £3.1bn.

The sums paid out would be enough to build a dozen new obstetric units and  hire thousands of extra consultants and midwives which could make childbirth safer.

The scandal of the maternity care payouts is revealed today in figures from the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) which show the current system is unfair, inefficient and a gross waste of NHS resources. It reflects the growing burden of medical negligence on the NHS which is diverting scarce resources from patient care.

Only cases where negligence can be proved get compensation – an average of £600,000 for each successful claimant – and almost 20 per cent of the money goes into lawyers’ pockets.

In the one in 10 worst-affected cases – 542 claims – the average payout was £2.4m. These involved babies born brain damaged, causing cerebral palsy and requiring 24-hour care for life.

Over the past decade, £627m has been paid out on maternity claims, of which £112 million (18 per cent) went on fees to lawyers, the NHSLA said. But with payouts continuing throughout the children’s lives, the total cost to the NHS of claims settled over the past 10 years will reach £3.1 billion.

However, babies who suffered similar catastrophic injury at birth as a result of an accident, or where negligence could not be proved, got nothing.

Ten years ago, the Government’s former chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, attempted to introduce a “no fault” scheme so that all babies injured at birth could be compensated, but his efforts came to nothing. Experts said yesterday that hiring more consultants and providing 24-hour consultant care on obstetric units could reduce the risks for all babies and save the NHS costs by cutting the compensation bill.

The NHSLA report found that in the 5,087 cases that resulted in claims, junior doctors and inexperienced midwives were involved in the management of labour without adequate senior clinician assistance.

“Having more senior staff available during labour, together with a better understanding among junior staff about when to ask them for help, may prevent harm,” it said.

NHSLA chief executive Catherine Dixon said: “Having a baby while under the care of NHS doctors and midwives remains very safe. Out of 5.5 million births in England during the decade covered by the report, about one in a thousand result in a legal claim against the NHS. However, because maternity claims are so serious as they involve harm to mothers and their babies, it’s vital that we learn and share lessons from them so that professionals can improve their clinical practice in the future and prevent harm.”

David Richmond, vice-president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: “[We have made] a strong case for the NHS to move to a consultant-delivered service so that trainee doctors receive adequate support and women have access to qualified specialists throughout the day and night.”

Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter said: “The NHS remains one of the safest places in the world to have a baby, but no matter how well our midwives and doctors look after women giving birth, bad things still sometimes happen to a very small number of mothers and babies.”

This article is courtesy of The Independent.

Parents' anger at 'totally avoidable' twins death

The mother of newborn twins who died following an overdose at a scandal-hit hospital has described their deaths as "totally avoidable" after a coroner said there were failings in their care.

Alfie and Harry McQuillan, who were born 13 weeks premature, died on November 1 2010. An inquest into their deaths heard they had been given an "excessive" dose of morphine hours after their birth at Stafford Hospital on October 30.

Access Legal from Shoosmiths - the law firm representing the twins' parents - said South Staffordshire Coroner Andrew Haigh described the babies' treatment after birth as "suboptimal", adding that "there were failings in the care the twins received".

A spokesman for the company said the coroner, who recorded a narrative verdict at Cannock Coroner's Court, said the boys died from complications of extreme prematurity and that morphine was "likely to have played a role".

The twins' mother Ami Dean, 25, from Stafford, said: "I could have coped with them dying from prematurity, as that would have been nobody's fault. However, their deaths were totally avoidable. They were down to human error, which is something I cannot cope with."

Maggie Oldham, chief operating officer at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Stafford Hospital, said: "Our deepest sympathy remains with Alfie and Harry's parents and their loved ones.

"We are very sorry that the care we provided was not good enough.

"This has been a long and difficult process for their entire family and our thoughts remain with them at this time."

Richard Follis, national head of medical negligence at Access Legal from Shoosmiths, said: "It is important that the coroner has highlighted where failings lay in the care provided to Alfie and Harry.

"Despite being born prematurely, both boys were good weights and were stable prior to the morphine overdose.

"This would appear to be a tragic case of - as the coroner put it - suboptimal treatment that could easily have been avoided."

This article is courtesy of itv news.