NEWS
Healthcare workers increasingly stretched
British healthcare professionals are working harder than they were one year ago according to research carried out by Randstad, a specialist recruitment company. In a survey of over 2,000 employees,
Randstad found that doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals feel they are performing the job of 1.5 people, meaning they are covering 50% more work than one person should be – the equivalent of two and a half additional work days every week. In addition, 25% of workers feel more
stressed now than they did six months ago, nearly
half said it takes longer to switch off at the weekends than it did six months ago and 11% are consistently sleeping badly because of work. Ten per cent of healthcare respondents said
they felt unable to take holiday this summer because of work pressure, while 25% of workers said their colleagues are expected to cover their role on top of their own work while they’re on holiday – with 36% saying their colleagues were expected to do enough to ‘keep things going’. Only 10% said their work is covered for them by a temporary member of staff.
Emergency laparotomy surgery data
A session at the Annual Congress of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (AAGBI) recently discussed data from the UK’s first national audit into emergency laparotomy surgery. The data shows a 12-fold variation in the mortality rate from emergency laparotomy surgery between the best and the worst hospitals across the UK. “These data are shocking and may reflect the
wide variation in provision of care across UK hospitals in terms of provision of essential
Pregnant women offered whooping cough vaccine
The Department of Health (DH) has announced that pregnant women will be offered the whooping cough vaccination to protect their newborn babies, who are not usually vaccinated until between two and four months. Some 1,230 cases of whooping cough in
England andWales were reported to the Health Protection Agency (HPA) in August 2012, bringing the total number of cases so far this year to 4,791. The total number of cases so far in 2012 (up to end of August) is now more than four times higher than the annual total number of cases reported in 2011. In August there were a further three
pertussis-related deaths in infants aged three months and under, bringing the total number of deaths in this age group this year to nine. DrMary Ramsay, at the HPA, said: “We
have been very concerned about the continuing increase in whooping cough cases and related deaths.We welcome the urgent measure from the DHto minimise the harm from whooping cough, particularly in young infants, and we encourage all pregnant women to ensure they receive the vaccination to give their baby the best protection against whooping cough.”
NOVEMBER 2012
facilities and the presence of consultant anaesthetists and surgeons that should be present to conduct these operations,” said Professor Mike Grocott, University of Southampton, UK, who is co-leading a new National Audit project with Dr Dave Murray, James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, UK. The data, covering 1,853 patients, has been
produced by the Emergency Laparotomy Network Volunteer Group led by Dr Murray, consisting of 35 hospitals from across England, Scotland andWales. The audit was initiated because of concerns from anaesthetists and surgeons that there was little data available to help hospitals guide and improve performance. Dr Murray’s team found that operation mortality rates varied from 3.6% for the best performing hospital to 41.7% for the worst. Across all the hospitals combined, the time of
day the surgery took place was a major factor, with 8 am to 6 pm the safest time of day with a 30-day mortality of 14% and the highest proportion of operations with consultant anaesthetists (76%) and/or consultant surgeons (81%) present. From 6pm to midnight mortality increased to 17%, while anaesthetist and surgeon presence fell to 55% and 68% respectively. The most dangerous time (while also the time with the lowest proportion of operations) was midnight to 8 am, with a mortality of 20%, and anaesthetists attending 41% of operations and surgeons 62%. Overall, 30-day mortality for the operation
was 15%, increasing to 24% for patients aged 80 years and over. Mortality was lowest in those aged 50 years and under, at 10%. “The data confirm emergency laparotomy in
the UK carries a high mortality. The huge variation in clinical management and outcomes indicates the need for a national quality improvement programme,” said Prof. Grocott. A full national audit will begin in 2013, while
the results and identities of contributing hospitals are to be published in 2015.
© Ecolab 2012 5258/08.12
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THE CLINICAL SERVICES JOURNAL
15
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