Latest news with #hospitalcare
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Family of Archie Squire 'keeping his memory alive'
"When you take your child to hospital and they don't come back out again - I just couldn't wish it on anyone."Lauren Parrish and Jake Squire have spoken of their shock and grief following the death of their one-year-old son suffered heart failure just days after his first birthday, following repeated visits to the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (QEQM) Hospital in Margate."They just didn't do everything they could," Lauren said, following an inquest into his death. 'Missed opportunities' to prevent baby's death The couple told the BBC their little boy had "brightened everyone's life"."He was a happy little boy. He just brought us all together as a family," Lauren they had noticed that their son was not growing and developing as he should have been. "We didn't quite realise how small he was until we looked at the other one-year-old children," said Lauren. "He wasn't walking. He was hardly crawling. It was just such a shock." Regarding the care Archie received at the QEQM hospital in Margate, Jake said: "We never got a straight answer to what was actually wrong with him. Never. "We would say one thing and they would say they know best."If they had put him down as 'failure to thrive' he would have been seen within 24 to 48 hours for a heart scan and then obviously he would have been fixed from there. "It's too late." Lauren and Jake said they have been supported by family throughout their family has attended every session of the coroner's court regarding Archie's death. Lauren said her parents were often the ones looking after Archie and had frequently expressed their concerns. She said her mother would tell her "he's not right - we need to take him to get checked"."You never expect your children to pass before you," said Lauren."You've got your child one day and the next he's not there. It's just heartbreaking."Jake said their younger son, Albie, keeps them going."I think the main thing for us, for the family, is just keeping his memory alive," said Lauren. At an inquest, Sarah Clarke, area coroner for North East Kent, concluded there was "no doubt" that an earlier diagnosis of a congenital heart defect would have "altered the outcome" of Archie's coroner recorded Archie's cause of death as heart failure and congenitally corrected transposition of the great told the family: "You are an absolute credit to each other and have supported each other outstandingly throughout this process. "From my point of view and the view of the entire coroner service, we will never forget Archie."
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Children's Experiences in Hospital Care Survey report published by CQC
A recent survey has found that most children have a positive experience when they have to go to some others also reported not feeling listened to by doctors and staff and to being bothered about how long they had to wait to be report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) looked into children's experiences in hospital through a survey that 25,000 children and their families filled in between March-May 2024, asking what they thought of the care they survey results were then used to write a report which tells hospitals what's working for kids and what isn't. What is the CQC? CQC stands for Care Quality Commission and among their jobs is checking that places like hospitals, doctor's surgeries and dentists are safe and staff there look after people properly. They do this through visits, inpsections and surveys (like this one). They might ask questions like: Is everyone safe or are the doctors and nurses kind? The answers and what they find is then written up into a report that says: What is being done well?What needs to get better? What did kids say was good about hospital care? When asked if how looked after they felt in hospital, 7 out of 10 (73%) children aged 8-15 said that they felt staff looked after them "very well" in also mostly felt included in their care, and were able to ask doctors and nurses about how they were cared for and felt they had a say in any decisions. According to the survey nearly 8 out of 10 (79%) of children aged 8–11 and nearly 9 out of 10 ( 87%) aged 12–15 felt as involved as they wanted to be in decisions about their in hospital can also be boring for children but just over half (53%) of 8 to 15 year olds said that staff played or did activities with them while they were in hospital 'as much as I wanted'.When it came to hospital food, around 8 out of 10 parents (76%) and children aged 12-15 (81%) said that there was always, or sometimes, enough choice of things to eat. What did children say was bad about hospital care? It wasn't all good news when it came to how children felt they were treated. Nearly 3 in 10 (28%) aged 8-15 said staff did not 'always' listen to what they had to say and 1 in 20 (5%) said they didn't feel listened to "at all".The CQC also found that children and young people with a disability, a mental health condition, or autism were less happy with their experiences in parents didn't always feel they or their children were listened too and or felt their child's needs, such as language support or physical adaptations, were being example, just under 6 out of 10 (58%) parents and carers of kids with disabilities said staff 'definitely' took their child's existing individual needs into account, compared with more than 7 out of 10 (75%) among children and young people who are not disabled. It also made a big difference why children were going to hospital. Children who went in for emergencies had a worse experience than those who had planned appointmentsWaiting was a big issue and when survey asked the what bothered children the most about waiting, 3 in 5 (61%) said it was how long they had to wait and 2 in 5 (41%) complained they didn't really know what was happening,Staying in hospital can also be a difficult time and two thirds (66%) of those answering this question said they were stopped from sleeping by things like noise from other people (42%), noise from medical equipment (31%) and hospital lighting (16%). What happens next? The results of the survey findings are now shared so that hospitals can review their results and CQC says that it will use the findings as they carry on inspecting and monitoring the services that children Chief Inspector Aidan Fowler said that while the NHS should be "pleased with the results of the 2024 survey" it does need improvement "particularly in cases where children had a mental health condition and for autistic or disabled children.""I'd urge hospital trusts to examine the results of this survey, together with our inspection reports to help them identify any changes they can make to ensure all children and young people receive the best quality of care every time," he added.
Irish Times
22-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Boy (6) with complex needs spent over 700 days more than medically necessary in hospital
A six-year-old boy who lives with complex needs spent over 700 days more than medically necessary in hospital, the Ombudsman for Children's Office (OCO) has found. The case of the boy, known as Marcus, is one of several highlighted in the OCO's annual report for 2024, published on Wednesday. The OCO first received a complaint from Marcus's family about his hospital admission in 2022. Marcus, who was in the care of Tusla , had a range of medical needs and was dependent for all aspects of his care. The complaint was initially closed in 2023, when the six-year-old was discharged to a residential unit established to cater for his needs. By that time, he had spent more than 500 days in hospital beyond medical need. READ MORE Last year, Marcus had to return to hospital when concerns arose about the quality and safety of the care he was receiving in the residential unit. He remained in hospital for a further 200 days. Tusla and the HSE acknowledged that the hospital setting was not an appropriate placement for Marcus and advised that 'significant changes' were implemented to address the problems that had arisen. This included a change in management at the residential unit. It was one of 1,772 complaints made to the OCO last year, a slight decrease from the 1,790 received in 2023. However, the OCO said complaints are becoming 'more complex', with almost one in five relating to multiple agencies, and a third relating to multiple categories of concern. Education remained the most complained about issue last year at 33 per cent, with special educational supports, bullying and complaints management in schools being the most prominent issues. Tusla accounted for 19 per cent of complaints which related to children in residential and special care, and access to interventions and support. Complaints about health services (15 per cent) included issues over access to child and adolescent mental health services (Camhs), children in hospital beyond medical need, and a lack of access to assessments of need. The OCO also received complaints regarding housing (4 per cent) concerning waiting lists and accessing emergency accommodation. In the annual report, Dr Niall Muldoon, the Ombudsman for Children, said he is 'exasperated and utterly dismayed' with the year-on-year rise in the number of homeless families living in emergency accommodation. Noting there were upwards of 4,500 children availing of homeless services at the end of 2024, Dr Muldoon said the OCO still receives complaints from those trying to access emergency accommodation. 'It's clear that the delays these families are experiencing, due to the lack of available and affordable housing, is having a significant adverse impact on their children's lives,' he said. 'In a country as well-off as Ireland economically, we must surely be able to better funnel our resources into where they are needed most,' he said.
ABC News
15-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Parents, midwives call for better bereavement care training after stillbirth
Warning: This story contains information and images relating to stillbirth. For Ellen Pinkstone, the loss of her stillborn baby was a heartbreaking moment. But what happened next only made matters worse. Ms Pinkstone, 23, gave birth to her son, Sage, in September 2023 at Port Macquarie Base Hospital on the New South Wales Mid North Coast. Ms Pinkstone and her partner, Aiden Dempsey, spent three days recovering in hospital after the birth and spending time with their stillborn son. She said her nightmare experience was made even worse by the "traumatising and distressing" treatment of hospital staff. The words of one staff member cut her deepest at a time she just wanted to see her son. "She said she would go get 'it' from the morgue," Ms Pinkstone said. Ms Pinkstone said Sage was taken to and from her care in a bag with handles. "The black bag, tightly wrapped around his fragile form and carried away, swinging back and forth," she said. "It was undignified. Ms Pinkstone is now calling for better bereavement support as well as training of staff. In Australia, six babies are stillborn each day, affecting more than 2,000 Australian women and families each year. Blair Whitechurch never imagined her first delivery as a student midwife would be the most traumatic experience of her life. The 43-year-old mother of two is no stranger to childbirth. But the first baby she helped deliver as a student midwife — a girl named Rose — was stillborn at 39 weeks. Ms Whitechurch said she had felt completely unprepared. "I did all the wrong things. I vomited and fainted," she said. Rose's birth in March 2022 was the first of about 30 deliveries Ms Whitechurch would need to attend as part of her training. She said her study to that point had failed to prepare her for the reality of a stillbirth. "I felt emotionally terrorised for her [the mother]. I felt so ill equipped to support her and I felt emotionally unprepared for me to see what I saw," she said. "I was completely out of my depth." Australian Nursing and Midwifery Union strategic lead for midwifery, Jasmine Kirk, has backed Ms Whitechurch's claims that students do not receive enough bereavement training. "Ideally it would be covered multiple times to different levels of complexity," Ms Kirk said. She said training during midwifery degrees could be minimal. "That can be as minimal as a single slide in a single lecture or a sentence in an online course," she said. Eliza Strauss, a midwife of 20 years, runs independent bereavement training sessions nationally. She said many health professionals told her they did not know how to help during a stillbirth. "They often mention maybe it was an hour's lecture, or they watched a video on stillbirth … things haven't really changed," Ms Strauss said. "It really needs to go to state and federal levels to get government involved to include bereavement training in workplaces and universities." The federal government released a National Stillbirth Action Plan in 2020 that included a push for national guidelines on bereavement care following stillbirth, as well as a national evidence-based, culturally safe stillbirth education program for health professionals. It identified a need for consistent education and training that reflected best practice in stillbirth prevention and care. A spokesperson for the federal Department of Health said the government had invested $23.2 million over four years to support families who experienced stillbirth or miscarriage. The spokesperson said mandating bereavement training would be a decision for state and territory governments and individual training universities or medical colleges. The government also was developing new Australian postnatal care guidelines that would provide health professionals with evidence-based, best practice guidelines on providing optimal care to women during the postnatal period, This included bereavement care after pregnancy loss, stillbirth or neonatal death. After her experience, Ms Pinkstone contacted to the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission, which gave the hospital "clear expectations" to improve its practices to ensure an emotionally safe environment for patients and staff. The commission found the hospital's use of a portable carrier was not best practice. It concluded that the hospital had implemented changes "to promote enhanced engagement and inclusion during this delicate time". A Mid North Coast Local Health District spokesperson said the health service recognised there had been shortcomings in the care. The health service has apologised to Ms Pinkstone and "thoroughly reviewed" her concerns and implemented changes. This includes the use of a cot on wheels instead of a portable carrier, and improving bereavement care to families experiencing loss. "Mid North Coast Local Health District will continue to improve our individualised bereavement care to women and families," a spokesperson said. "[The district] is guided by NSW Health policies and procedures on stillbirth. A district-led guideline is being developed." Ms Pinkstone welcomed the hospital implementing changes, but said the experience still haunted her. "The hardest part of our son being stillborn wasn't that he was stillborn, it was that we were treated so poorly," she said. "The bereavement care wasn't there." The first comprehensive national guidelines for the treatment of early pregnancy loss have just been released, which aim to improve data collection and medical research. According to the Stillbirth Centre of Research Excellence, the needs of parents who have stillborn children are frequently not met, and there is little guidance for clinicians on how to provide optimal care for these families. Some hospitals, such as Melbourne's Royal Women's Hospital, have dedicated rooms and bereavement experts, but some say more work needs to be done. Two years after meeting stillborn baby Rose, midwife Blair Whitechurch was overjoyed to help the same family deliver a second, healthy baby named Winter Rose. "We talked a lot about Rose, we were all just overjoyed by the fact Winter Rose was here … the vibes were very high in the room that day," she said. Ms Whitechurch said it had been a special experience to come full circle with that family, while still continuing her part-time study. "It was just so nice to see them finally get their dream," she said.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Hospital trials virtual reality breaks for patients
Patients who spend a long time in hospital will be able to virtually visit some well-known Gloucestershire landmarks thanks to a new trial aiming to improve wellbeing. The project has been launched to allow some patients to "visit" places like Gloucester Cathedral, Puzzlewood or Symonds Yat through immersive 360 video headsets. Currently, the trial is available to patients in oncology and the department of critical care across both Gloucestershire Hospitals. "We look forward to partnering with more locations including Gloucester Cathedral and Gloucester Rugby, to enhance this offering further in the coming months," a Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said. More news stories for Gloucestershire Listen to the latest news for Gloucestershire Some patients struggle with long periods in hospital and its thought that having a break through virtual reality will help, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service. "We have already curated a collection of stunning local hotspots and we are collaborating with businesses and organisations across the county to expand our library of content," a trust spokesperson said. "So far, we have had the privilege of working with Puzzlewood, Dean Forest Railway and Bristol Zoo Project to capture some breathtaking footage." Gloucester and Cheltenham hospital staff said they are excited to see the impact this initiative will have on patients' well-being. Patient consent is required to use the headsets. Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. NHS staff to strike over pay and grading NHS phlebotomists six weeks into strikes over pay Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Local Democracy Reporting Service
