Health and care sector latest developments
Health secretary warns of rising NHS racism
Health secretary, Wes Streeting, has warned of racism towards staff becoming increasingly common in the NHS.
In a joint interview alongside NHS chief executive Sir Jim Mackey, Wes Streeting said it has become “socially acceptable to be racist”, expressing his shock at the level of abuse, as well as harassment and violence being faced by healthcare workers.
Streeting emphasised the need to put the “ugly racist sentiment that's found expression in our country back in its box”.
These comments come as a new study found that babies born to black mothers were 81 per cent more likely to die in neonatal care, when compared to babies born to white mothers.
Keep Britain Working review finds Britain’s worklessness crisis will cost employers £6 billion a year
Employers have been told in a landmark government review that fixing Britain’s health-related worklessness crisis will require them to spend £6 billion a year on support for their staff.
Ex John Lewis chair Sir Charlie Mayfield’s major report warns that businesses need to play a more central role in tackling a rising tide of ill-health that is pushing millions of people out of work.
The review also found that a drastic expansion in occupational health is needed to help prevent hundreds of thousands of people from falling out of the workforce each year.
As many as one in five working-age adults – more than nine million in total – are now in a position termed by statisticians as 'economically inactive', where they are neither in a job nor looking for one. For almost three million, the main reason is long-term sickness, the highest level on record.
In his highly anticipated report, Mayfield said the overall cost to the UK economy from this 'quiet but urgent crisis' was as much as £85 billion a year.
The report comes just weeks ahead of the Chancellor’s budget which is due to take place on 26 November.
Chief executive of the NHS Confederation, Matthew Taylor welcomed the review highlighting the “vital role” that employers have to play in “delivering the shift from treatment to prevention – by creating healthier workplaces and supporting staff to stay well and in work.”
Streeting’s maternity review delayed ‘by doctors’ strikes’
The review into maternity and neonatal services will no longer publish its interim findings this year, claiming its work has been delayed by this month’s resident doctors strike.
The 'rapid national investigation', headed by former government minister Baroness Valerie Amos, was announced in June and originally intended to finish by the end of this year. This was subsequently revised to producing an interim report in December, followed by a final one next spring.
However, a letter to families from Baroness Amos, sent yesterday (4 November), says that she will 'now provide an update on the investigation in December. I plan to give my initial reflections on what I have heard so far; outline plans for the next phase of the investigation, which will include the expected timeframe for publishing my initial findings…'
Critical incident declared after EPR system launch
Nottingham University Hospitals Trust (NUH) has declared a critical incident following the launch of its new electronic patient record system.
The trust went live with the Nervecentre EPR over the weekend but 'technical issues' with the rollout have resulted in 'prolonged periods of downtime'.
NUH told staff in an email that it declared a critical incident on Tuesday as it was experiencing a 'prolonged period of sustained pressure' due to high demand and acuity, as well as challenges around staffing, flow and discharge.
This was compounded by the issues with the new EPR, which had led to business continuity plans being enacted.
‘Serious leadership failures’ found at major trust
Mid and South Essex Foundation Trust, has been accused of presiding over “serious and systemic failures in leadership” and rated inadequate in the well led domain by the Care Quality Commission.
It had previously been rated 'requires improvement' in 2022 for the leadership domain, and it said it accepted the regulator’s findings.
The CQC reported: 'Many described a culture where poor behaviours went unchallenged, and where financial pressures were perceived to take priority over quality and safety. Staff across all three hospital sites told us they felt disconnected from senior leaders, undervalued, and unable to raise concerns without fear.'
However, the report, which followed an inspection in May, also said leaders had demonstrated 'integrity and compassion' and 'the scale of the challenge facing the trust required continued energy, enthusiasm, and tenacity'.
