Largest ever diabetes audit shows people still not receiving all their basic health checks

Largest ever diabetes audit shows people still not receiving all their basic health checks
The National Diabetes Audit 2010 shows that 2/3 of people with Type 1 diabetes and almost 1/2 of Type 2 patients do not receive all nine annual health checks to manage their diabetes effectively and that children and young people are less likely to receive all the recommended checks, such as blood pressure, blood glucose and foot checks. It also identified substantial regional variations in both the prevalence and treatment of complications such as kidney failure and dialysis.

Action required: To be read by endocrinologists and diabetes care managers.

Care Quality Commission launches investigation into United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust

The CQC has launched an investigation into concerns about the care provided by United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust at Pilgrim Hospital. Following an inspection in February, CQC ordered the trust to make improvements. However, the Commission was not satisfied with the speed with which the trust responded, or with the trust’s ability to proactively identify and address problems.

Action required: To be read by all clinicians and managers.

The Right Prescription: a call to action on the use of antipsychotic drugs for people with dementia

The NHS Institute and the Dementia Action Alliance have joined forces to call for an improvement in the quality of life of people with dementia and their carers by reducing the inappropriate use of antipsychotics for these people.

Action required: To be read by all care of the elderly clinicians and managers.

People with hip fractures should be treated earlier

In its first clinical guideline on hip fracture, NICE recommends that early surgery can help speed up recovery time for patients, lower the number of follow-up procedures necessary, and reduce the length of hospital stays.

Action required: To be read by orthopaedic clinicians and managers.

Doctors asked to bring abuse concerns into the open

Doctors who suspect children are being abused or neglected must tell parents and the young people themselves as soon as possible about their concerns and what action they will take, according to new draft guidance from the GMC

Action required: To be read by all physicians and surgeons.

‘FallSafe’ project aims to reduce falls in hospital

A group of health organisations have joined together in a project to help prevent people falling in hospital. Accidental falls are the most commonly reported patient safety incidents in NHS hospitals, with over 280,000 falls reported each year. The project will help hospital wards to carefully assess patients’ risk of falling, and introduce simple, but effective and evidence-based measures to prevent falls in future. The lead nurse in each participating ward is using a practical ‘care bundle’, which means going through a checklist of actions with each patient admitted to the ward.

Action required: To be read by all healthcare professionals and managers.

Considerable regional variations in access to NHS stroke prevention surgery

Figures from the third report of the Carotid Endartectomy Audit, show some improvement in the overall time in which patients are getting surgery of the neck arteries in order to prevent stroke (carotid endarterectomy or CEA). But the study also reveals considerable variation across the UK, with significant delays between patients experiencing symptoms, referral to stroke specialists and on to surgery. While some patients who need surgery are accessing it within 2 days, others are waiting almost two months.

Action required: To be read by stroke clinicians and managers

New RCP toolkit launched to avoid handover errors

Poor handover between doctors, nurses and multidisciplinary teams is a common cause of error in hospitals, and is a major preventable cause of patient harm. The Royal College of Physicians has produced a toolkit to provide a framework for standardisation of clinical handover practice, audit and monitoring of the process, and defining accountability and responsibilities in the process.

Action required: To be read by all clinicians and managers.