NEWS
‘Shocking’ learning disability revelations By Sally Gillen Almost two thirds of inpatients with learning disabilities are given tranquilisers regularly, an England-wide census of learning disability services has revealed. Figures gathered by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) also found that more than half of 3,250 patients had been physically restrained or placed in seclusion in the past three months. The HSCIC conducted the census on September 30 to generate a national picture of learning disability care. It was carried out on behalf of the Department of Health (DH) in response to patient abuse at Winterbourne View hospital near Bristol, exposed in 2011. The census found that 2,064 people (63 per cent) had been given antipsychotic medication regularly. ‘The reported incidence of use of antipychotic medication raises questions
concerning the extent to which it may be appropriate,’ says the HSCIC report. RCN adviser on learning disabilities Ann Norman said the census findings are ‘shocking’. ‘The number of people being given medication and being restrained are far too high. We still do not have enough skilled practitioners such as learning disability nurses employed in these settings. This is why people are being medicated too readily.’ Last month, the DH published guidance on reducing restrictive practices. Positive and Proactive Care: Reducing the Need for Restrictive Interventions says medication to restrain should be used only when other therapeutic interventions have failed. See tinyurl.com/k59hj9j ■ The parliamentary and health service ombudsman Julie Mellor has warned that there are ‘alarming gaps in the care of people with learning disabilities’. Ms Mellor was commenting on Mencap’s new campaign. Go to www.complainforchange.org
Nurse of the year’s fundraising China trek Nursing Standard’s nurse of the year 2013 Matthew Hodson has completed the challenge of a lifetime by trekking along the Great Wall of China. The nurse consultant has raised £3,500 for the British Lung Foundation after taking on a gruelling six-day trek along the 3,000 mile-long wall. Mr Hodson (pictured), who works for Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in east London, was crowned nurse of the year for setting up a specialist drop-in clinic for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He said of his challenge: ‘It was fantastic. I wanted to raise awareness of the great work the British Lung Foundation does.’ To donate, go to http://uk.virgin moneygiving.com/speak2matt
NURSING STANDARD
WORLD IN BRIEF Adverse events Danish nurses are backing health minister Nick Haekkerup’s plans for a review of the way the country’s adverse events systems operate. Mr Haekkerup argues that more should be done to change the systems so that the quality of care is improved. Grete Christensen, president of Dansk Sygeplejeråd, which represents nurses, said: ‘It is important for staff to report errors and adverse events. This could be done, for example, by making it possible to report electronically via an app.’ However, a major threat to patient safety is nurses’ workloads because they keep getting heavier, she argues. Fire risk Concerns have grown about the safety of patients in psychiatric settings and drug rehabilitation clinics in Russia following the latest in a series of fires, the Moscow Times website has said. A blaze killed at least eight people in a drug rehabilitation centre in Altai last week, while last year fires killed 37 patients and a support worker at a psychiatric hospital in Novgorod, and 38 people at a psychiatric hospital near Moscow. Patients in mental health settings often have an increased risk of being trapped during a fire because there are bars on the windows and their doors are locked, said the Moscow Times. Photo gallery Nurses who served in war-torn Rwanda in the 1990s have had harrowing photos and writings published by Médecins Sans Frontières to mark 20 years since the charity sent health workers to the country. French nurse Xavier Lassalle’s photos depict nurses and doctors struggling to cope with large numbers of seriously injured patients in makeshift field hospitals, while compatriot and nurse anaesthetist Madeleine Boyer describes her work trying to heal patients, but also to prevent them being murdered when soldiers arrived at her hospital. Ms Boyer said: ‘It was shocking to come face to face with our own powerlessness.’ Go to tinyurl.com/q3jhmwb may 7 :: vol 28 no 36 :: 2014 13
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‘Shocking’ learning disability revelations By Sally Gillen Almost two thirds of inpatients with learning disabilities are given tranquilisers regularly, an England-wide census of learning disability services has revealed. Figures gathered by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) also found that more than half of 3,250 patients had been physically restrained or placed in seclusion in the past three months. The HSCIC conducted the census on September 30 to generate a national picture of learning disability care. It was carried out on behalf of the Department of Health (DH) in response to patient abuse at Winterbourne View hospital near Bristol, exposed in 2011. The census found that 2,064 people (63 per cent) had been given antipsychotic medication regularly. ‘The reported incidence of use of antipychotic medication raises questions
concerning the extent to which it may be appropriate,’ says the HSCIC report. RCN adviser on learning disabilities Ann Norman said the census findings are ‘shocking’. ‘The number of people being given medication and being restrained are far too high. We still do not have enough skilled practitioners such as learning disability nurses employed in these settings. This is why people are being medicated too readily.’ Last month, the DH published guidance on reducing restrictive practices. Positive and Proactive Care: Reducing the Need for Restrictive Interventions says medication to restrain should be used only when other therapeutic interventions have failed. See tinyurl.com/k59hj9j ■ The parliamentary and health service ombudsman Julie Mellor has warned that there are ‘alarming gaps in the care of people with learning disabilities’. Ms Mellor was commenting on Mencap’s new campaign. Go to www.complainforchange.org
Nurse of the year’s fundraising China trek Nursing Standard’s nurse of the year 2013 Matthew Hodson has completed the challenge of a lifetime by trekking along the Great Wall of China. The nurse consultant has raised £3,500 for the British Lung Foundation after taking on a gruelling six-day trek along the 3,000 mile-long wall. Mr Hodson (pictured), who works for Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in east London, was crowned nurse of the year for setting up a specialist drop-in clinic for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He said of his challenge: ‘It was fantastic. I wanted to raise awareness of the great work the British Lung Foundation does.’ To donate, go to http://uk.virgin moneygiving.com/speak2matt
NURSING STANDARD
WORLD IN BRIEF Adverse events Danish nurses are backing health minister Nick Haekkerup’s plans for a review of the way the country’s adverse events systems operate. Mr Haekkerup argues that more should be done to change the systems so that the quality of care is improved. Grete Christensen, president of Dansk Sygeplejeråd, which represents nurses, said: ‘It is important for staff to report errors and adverse events. This could be done, for example, by making it possible to report electronically via an app.’ However, a major threat to patient safety is nurses’ workloads because they keep getting heavier, she argues. Fire risk Concerns have grown about the safety of patients in psychiatric settings and drug rehabilitation clinics in Russia following the latest in a series of fires, the Moscow Times website has said. A blaze killed at least eight people in a drug rehabilitation centre in Altai last week, while last year fires killed 37 patients and a support worker at a psychiatric hospital in Novgorod, and 38 people at a psychiatric hospital near Moscow. Patients in mental health settings often have an increased risk of being trapped during a fire because there are bars on the windows and their doors are locked, said the Moscow Times. Photo gallery Nurses who served in war-torn Rwanda in the 1990s have had harrowing photos and writings published by Médecins Sans Frontières to mark 20 years since the charity sent health workers to the country. French nurse Xavier Lassalle’s photos depict nurses and doctors struggling to cope with large numbers of seriously injured patients in makeshift field hospitals, while compatriot and nurse anaesthetist Madeleine Boyer describes her work trying to heal patients, but also to prevent them being murdered when soldiers arrived at her hospital. Ms Boyer said: ‘It was shocking to come face to face with our own powerlessness.’ Go to tinyurl.com/q3jhmwb may 7 :: vol 28 no 36 :: 2014 13
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02/05/2014 15:49
