Volunteers to help end of life patients at Great Western Hospital
A new volunteer service has been set up to support hospital patients who are nearing the end of their lives.The Butterfly Volunteers at Great Western Hospital in Swindon will provide emotional support and companionship for patients in their final days, alongside their families.The service, which is funded by the hospital's charity Brighter Futures, is being offered in partnership with the End of Life and Palliative Care Team, voluntary services and the Anne Robson Trust.Butterfly coordinator Abigail Grimmer said: "They are specially trained to offer quiet companionship and a reassuring presence."
"Patients facing the end of life, when they're in hospital, it can be really lonely and daunting," she said."Unfortunately, staff, nurses and doctors, we don't always have the time to sit with patients when they really need that comfort and support. "We wanted to be able to provide that in a different way," she added.The support will include signposting family members to available bereavement support services, reading or playing music to patients and or discussing their wishes with families.
'Not alone'
"They're not here to provide your physical care for patients. It might be as simple as just sitting with someone and holding their hand, or reading to them, playing some music that they might like, or just literally just being in the room with a patient so that they're not alone," said Ms Grimmer.On the type of person they need as a volunteer, Ms Grimmer said being interested in the role is the start but there is no real job description."We just want someone who's kind and and willing to be here for patients," she said.The support will include signposting family members to available bereavement support services, reading or playing music to patients and or discussing their wishes with families.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
38 minutes ago
- The Independent
Nottingham attack families ask Streeting for names of staff who treated killer
The families of the Nottingham attack victims said they have told the Health Secretary they want the names of staff involved in treating killer Valdo Calocane to be made public. A February report into the care received by Calocane detailed how he was not forced to have long-lasting antipsychotic medication because he did not like needles, and how other patients at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust also went on to commit 'extremely serious' acts of violence. The relatives of 19-year-old students Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, and 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates, met with Wes Streeting on Monday and asked for those responsible to be held accountable. After the meeting, Dr Sanjoy Kumar, Grace's father, said: 'It was the actions of a few people that put a dangerous man out in the community'. Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, killed three people and attempted to kill three more in Nottingham in June 2023. He was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January 2024 after admitting manslaughter by diminished responsibility and attempted murder. Calocane was admitted to hospital and sectioned under the Mental Health Act four times between 2020 and 2022 because of his violent behaviour and refusal to take his medication, before NHS services lost track of him and discharged him in the months before the attacks. Three reports: including one by the Care Quality Commission (CQC); described failings in his care but none included practitioners' names, Dr Kumar said with copies of the documents in-hand. Speaking outside the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), he told reporters: 'We'd like to know who was involved in the care of this person who committed all this harm. Why aren't there any names? 'He was sectioned four times – was it four different consultants? Was it one consultant? Who were the teams who didn't do their jobs?' He said: 'I think we deserve to know the detail – everyone in the country who has suffered the way we have through mental health-related homicide deserves to have the detail. 'When an operation goes wrong, someone gets named.' Dr Kumar added: 'We want people to just know, if they did wrong, what is it they need to do to be put right? Whether it's retraining, whether it's … doing the professional development again. 'The point is that you just can't have people who are providing a risky service even now.' He added that the Health Secretary was 'very much on our side, he very much wants to see a way through' and that Mr Streeting has promised 'he's going to work hard at it'. Prior to the meeting, the families said in a statement that their correspondence with the mental health trust's chief executive, Ifti Majid, had been 'light on detail, vague, evasive, defensive and contradictory'. They added that he failed to answer Dr Kumar's questions. Dr Kumar said he has given Mr Streeting the questions he put to the chief executive. He said the Health Secretary 'has promised to do his best to get us all the answers', adding that he has confidence in Mr Streeting because he has 'taken a personal interest in this case' and likewise 'wants to end homicide by mental health'. Their meeting also follows a complaint lodged with the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) by the families regarding an 'offensive' encounter with one of the watchdog's regional directors. Dr Kumar told The Sunday Times newspaper that their meeting with the IOPC, nine months after the attacks, began with a prayer, which he found 'patronising'. The issue was not discussed with Mr Streeting on Monday and would require a different meeting, he told reporters. A DHSC spokesperson said: 'Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and NHS England have accepted all the recommendations made in both the CQC and NHS England-commissioned reviews into the care and treatment received by Valdo Calocane. 'The Health and Social Care Secretary has called for recommendations from both reviews to be implemented as soon as possible and met with the bereaved families today to discuss the NHS England-commissioned Independent Homicide Review. 'As part of this work, NHS England has developed and is actively implementing evidence-based national guidance, so that all trusts are clear on the standards of care expected for patients with serious mental illnesses. 'We remain committed to delivering the fundamental changes needed to mental health services to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.'
The Guardian
43 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Woman suing NHS trust after blade broke off during surgery and lodged itself in her body
Jane Harvey* suffered horrendous physical and mental consequences when, during an abdominal hysterectomy in October 2023, the tip of one of the surgeon's blades broke off and lodged inside her without any of the operating theatre staff noticing or an X-ray spotting it. As a result the 44-year-old had to undergo further surgery to remove the mislaid blade part and stay in hospital longer than planned, needed extra time to recover and suffered nightmares, panic attacks and loss of appetite. She is now suing the NHS trust concerned for damages because of her experience. She was 'shocked, horrified and upset' when she learned that surgeons had left some of their kit inside her. She was also worried after being told that she was at increased risk of infection, which meant she had to take antibiotics. Given what had happened, the thought of having a second operation left her 'drained and scared'. Harvey, an administrator in a law firm, ended up 'paranoid and anxious' that not all the surgical equipment had been safely removed. She felt constantly sick that something was in her body that should not be there and lost her desire to eat. She also lost trust and confidence in those treating her. 'This case is a shocking example of how faulty medical equipment, compounded by failures in surgical and diagnostic care, can result in serious harm to patients,'said Ikhira Thandi, a litigation legal assistant at Lime Solicitors, which is acting for the woman in her lawsuit. 'Our client not only had to endure a second major surgery but has also had the lasting psychological impact of knowing a broken surgical tool was left inside her. Patients should be able to trust that equipment used in their care is safe, helping to deliver their treatment, not hinder it.' Three months after the incident the patient's consultant apologised for it and explained that the dislodged blade tip was due to a manufacturing fault. James Anderson, Lime's head of medical negligence in the West Midlands, said: 'Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident. Across the NHS there is evidence of faulty equipment causing avoidable patient harm. These failures carry a real human cost.' The evidence presented at an inquest last year led to a coroner issuing an unequivocal warning about the danger that inadequate medical equipment can present. Georgina Nolan, the senior coroner for Newcastle and North Tyneside, issued a prevention of future deaths report after hearing the inquest into the death of Michael Walton. The 66-year-old underwent heart bypass surgery in Newcastle on 13 June 2023 and was judged to be at low risk of complications. However, the surgeon's preferred type of cannula was unavailable 'due to supply issues' so they instead used one with a slightly shorter tip. However, as the prevention of future deaths notice explained: 'During the course of the procedure the aortic cannula became dislodged, causing a loss of perfusion and a prolonged period of interrupted blood flow to the deceased's brain, which caused an ischaemic hypoxic brain injury from which he died on 13 July 2023.' In the matters of concern she outlined in her report, Nolan said that 'the cannula type contributed to its dislodgement from the lumen of the aorta and to Mr Walton's death'. And, she added, the events investigated at the inquest showed that 'using suboptimal medical equipment poses an avoidable risk to patients of significant harm, including death'. * name has been changed
The Guardian
43 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Thousands harmed and 87 dead after NHS equipment failures in England
Almost 100 people have died and 4,000 have been harmed after equipment malfunctions in the NHS in the past three years, prompting calls for more government funding to upgrade broken and obsolete medical devices. A defibrillator advising paramedics not to administer a shock, an emergency alarm system on a neonatal ward failing, and the camera on an intubation device going dark were just three failures after which patients died. They are included in figures released for the first time by NHS England that show patients were harmed after 3,915 equipment malfunction incidents – with 87 being followed by a death – since 2022. Paul Whiteing, the chief executive of Action against Medical Accidents, said: 'These are shocking statistics. Behind these numbers are real people who are needlessly harmed, the impact of which will be life-changing and traumatic. 'The scale of the harm and loss of life that has resulted from basic equipment failures and malfunctions shows in stark relief the scale of the tragedy that has resulted from years of underfunding in the NHS.' The Labour party has pledged to double the number of scanners in English hospitals over the course of the parliament, and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is expected to announce significant additional capital funding for the NHS in this week's spending review. The vast majority of incidents, which were logged by doctors and nurses when a device was broken, not fit for use or didn't perform as expected, caused a low level of harm. That meant patients were unlikely to need further treatment beyond dressing changes or short courses of oral medicine. There were 522 moderate harm incidents, in which a patient's independence could be limited for up to six months. Meanwhile, on top of the 87 deaths, 68 patients were severely harmed – meaning they could have received permanent damage from the incident, or had a reduced life expectancy. The most up-to-date numbers are likely to be even higher, as the new safety system has only been mandatory for NHS organisations since September 2023, and many incidents on the system currently are missing information on the harm caused. A defibrillator malfunction was the most likely incident to be followed by a death – with 28 recorded. Problems with breathing equipment and tubing failing to perform as expected also led to 12 deaths and 12 patients being severely harmed. Defective beds, mattresses or side rails caused 40 moderate injuries, and at least one fatality when a palliative care patient slipped on to the floor and died. Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: 'Modern, up-to-date equipment such as scanners, defibrillators and patient monitors are absolutely essential for hospitals to run safely and more productively. But due to more than a decade of being starved of capital investment, NHS staff have been left with no option but to extend the life of obsolete equipment, which, as this research shows, is putting patients at unnecessary risk and leading to tragic avoidable harm. 'While the additional investment the government has pledged has been a welcome start, without sufficient capital funding it will be hard for the NHS to maintain the standards patients rightly expect and to deliver the government's 'plan for change' promise to cut waiting times.' A separate Guardian analysis of hospital board papers detailed how patients around the country continue to be put at risk by faulty or out-of-date equipment. Ashford and St Peter's hospitals trust in Surrey recorded an 'extreme' risk in April due to failure to maintain the physical environment and update equipment. At Croydon health services NHS trust, board papers from March detailed how radiology CT scanning equipment breakdowns were severely affecting cancer diagnosis and treatment. An emergency intercom in the main operating theatres was also broken, with a business case being written for a replacement costing about £60,000. Board papers from Barts health trust in London recorded a risk of cancellation or clinically significant delays to heart, lung, kidney and stem cell transplant due to ageing diagnostic equipment in March. At Royal London and Mile End hospitals (also part of Barts), staff were left unable to use some brain scanning equipment – still running on Windows 7 – because doing so would be a cybersecurity risk. At Whipps Cross in London, staff reported delays in care and possible harm to babies due to the age and state of repair of the fleet of ventilators in the neonatal unit. At least 10,000 diagnostic devices from just one of the NHS's major suppliers were past their manufacturer recommended lifespan at the end of March 2024, and at least 4,000 were a decade old. This finding – obtained via a freedom of information request from a prototype of an NHS database due to be launched next year and independently verified by the Guardian – relates to just one of hundreds of manufacturers, meaning the true scale of the issue is likely to be larger. Health service guidance has said trusts ought to have been working towards fully eliminating the backlog of diagnostic equipment over 10 years old by April this year. The figures come after years of underinvestment in NHS infrastructure, with both buildings and equipment in urgent need of repairs. The repair bill faced by the health service to make its estate fit for purpose more than trebled from £4.5bn in 2012-13 to £13.8bn in 2023-24. At least £2.7bn of those repairs are classed as 'high-risk' because they pose a danger to people. Last autumn, the new Labour government increased the NHS capital budget by £3.1bn overall, for this year and next. The NHS Confederation has called for the chancellor to commit to at least an extra £3.3bn of capital funding each year at next week's spending review, as well as greenlighting a new and improved model of private investment into the health service which 'learns the lessons' from PFI (the private finance initiative). An NHS spokesperson said it had recently introduced a safety framework and was increasing investment in replacement machines, having invested more than £245m since 2020 in new diagnostic equipment. They said: 'NHS staff work extremely hard to keep patients safe, but we know there is more to do to provide the best possible care.' A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'Patient safety is paramount, and we are taking urgent action to repair and rebuild our hospital estate. 'The NHS buildings and equipment we inherited were left to crumble following years of damage and neglect, but we are determined to turn this around through our plan for change. 'We will increase capital spending by £1.8bn to £13.6bn in the next year, representing the highest real-terms capital budget for the department since before 2010, excluding the pandemic.'
