Latest news with #maternityServices
The Guardian
29-06-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
NHS will use AI in warning system to catch potential safety scandals early
The NHS is to become the first health system in the world to use AI to analyse hospital databases and catch potential safety scandals early, the government has said. The Department of Health and Social Care said the technology will provide an early warning system which could detect patterns or trends and trigger urgent inspections. The scheme is part of the 10-year plan for the NHS that is due to be published by Wes Streeting this week. The government acknowledged the concern surrounding standards of patient care after 'a spate of scandals including in mental health and maternity services'. Last week a national investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services was announced by Streeting. It said the aim was to provide 'truth and accountability' and it would look into issues over the past 15 years. It will report back in December. A 'signal system' will be launched across NHS trusts from November, using near real-time data to scrutinise higher than average rates of stillbirth, neonatal death and brain injury as part of the focus on maternity care. Streeting said: 'While most treatments in the NHS are safe, even a single lapse that puts a patient at risk is one too many. Behind every safety breach is a person – a life altered, a family devastated, sometimes by heartbreaking loss. 'Patient safety and power are at the heart of our 10-year health plan. By embracing AI and introducing world-first early warning systems, we'll spot dangerous signs sooner and launch rapid inspections before harm occurs. 'This technology will save lives: catching unsafe care before it becomes a tragedy. It's a vital part of our commitment to move the NHS from analogue to digital, delivering better, safer care for everyone.' In February, Nottingham university hospitals NHS trust (NUH) was fined £1.6m after admitting it failed to provide safe care and treatment to three babies who died within months of one another. The Ockenden review, published in 2022, investigated 1,862 maternity cases at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS trust and found that hundreds of babies died or were seriously disabled because of its mistakes. The new system is the latest deployment of AI in the NHS, as Labour tries to improve productivity in the health service as it provides extra funding. The technology is already being used to detect cancers. In January, Keir Starmer also recalled in a speech how a stroke patient had been diagnosed quicker because of AI. It is hoped the technology can reduce waiting times, one of the government's focuses since winning last year's election. The government has also pledged to improve IT systems and move the NHS from 'analogue to digital'. There have also been indications that anonymised health data could be used to train AI, as Starmer said there was a 'huge opportunity' to improve healthcare. Prof Meghana Pandit, a co-national medical director of NHS secondary care, said: 'The NHS in England will be the first country in the world to trial an AI-enabled warning system to flag patient safety issues which will rapidly analyse routine hospital data and reports submitted by healthcare staff from community settings. 'The move will turbo-charge the speed and efficiency with which we identify patient safety concerns and enable us to respond rapidly to improve patient care.' However, Prof Nicola Ranger, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said that the use of AI to maintain patient safety should not come instead of increased staffing. Ranger said: 'Technology will always have a role to play, but having the right number of staff on the frontline of care is the place to start the investment to make patients safe.' The government has also announced a partnership with supermarkets to help cut calorie consumption. It could mean that stores are rearranged or products are reformulated to promote healthier options. The government said if everyone who is overweight in the UK cut their calorie intake by 200 calories a day, obesity could be halved. In practice this would mean 340,000 children and 2 million adults would no longer be obese. The UK has the third-highest rate of adult obesity in Europe. The Department of Health and Social Care said it costs the NHS £11.4bn a year. Streeting said: 'Through our new healthy food standard, we will make the healthy choice the easy choice, because prevention is better than cure.' However, the Conservatives said it was a 'nanny state' approach from ministers. Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, told Sky News: 'They had 14 years in opposition to think about what they wanted to do about the NHS, they've had a year in government, and the number one thing in it seems to be hide the crisps.' She added: 'Telling people what to buy, I think, is not up to government. I believe in personal responsibility.'
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
How a hospital is coping with crumbling concrete
At the James Paget hospital on the Norfolk coast, supports are stopping 8,300 panels of concrete in its ceilings and walls from collapsing. Staff will eventually work in a brand new building, but how are they coping as repairs to make the current site safe continue around them? The challenges facing the estates team at James Paget hospital are not unique. It is one of a number of English hospitals built using a cheaper type of concrete that is now at the end of its lifespan. Disintegrating Raac, or Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (Raac), is affecting several areas of the hospital including its maternity ward, which has had to close for about six months while the panels are reinforced. The unit will not reopen before the end of August, but in the meantime maternity services have been relocated to the first floor close to theatres and the neonatal unit. Elsewhere, ceilings in 11 out of 14 operating theatres are also being strengthened, with the work being carried out on two theatres at a time. Engineers were so concerned about Raac panels in the hospital kitchen it was made to shut for more than a year, with meals brought in. Work to reinforce 8,300 ceiling panels made from Raac is being undertaken at the James Paget hospital in Norfolk [Qays Najm/BBC] Raac panel ceilings at the Gorleston hospital have been disintegrating for several years [Qays Najm/BBC] Stephen Balls, deputy director of estates and facilities, says without the beam supports there is "a real danger" of ceilings falling in. "It's a mammoth task," he says. He speaks from maternity ward 11, where his team has been working for the past few months. "We usually take an 18-week period for our Raac panel mitigation work," he says. "However, we have also taken the opportunity to upgrade our triage area at the same time." Stephen Balls, who has been in charge of the remedial work, described the work as "a mammoth task" [Qays Najm/BBC] Raac was developed in the 1960s and used in many public buildings, including hospitals, schools and leisure centres, until the 1990s. It is much cheaper and lighter but weaker than reinforced concrete, and over time it deteriorates. Lengthy exposure to water can also make it crumble. The material was only designed to last about 30 years. The James Paget in Gorleston-on-Sea, which serves patients in east Norfolk and north-east Suffolk, is now 43 years old. The majority of the Raac panels at the Paget, some 75% to 80%, are in the ceiling, with the rest in walls. Problems with Raac do not make themselves apparent until the material breaks, say experts [Matt Knight/BBC] So far, 60% of the work on Raac affected areas has been completed and the total cost of this remedial effort will be about £34m. Mark Flynn, director of strategic projects at the hospital, says the work so far is "going really well", with most of the reinforcement work in non-clinical areas having been done. He says staff and NHS England have provided great support to ensure the hospital remains open and the impact on patient services stays minimal. "I am pleased to say that we are in a position to maintain patient services, for patients and staff," says Mr Flynn. "About 86% of our site is constructed with Raac, and obviously we are continuing to work to maintain safety, and we make sure all of the works are done to a really high standard." A new kitchen was built after suspect concrete in the ceiling was made safe [Qays Najm/BBC] Ali Guenaoui, catering operations manager, says the whole kitchen ceiling has been made of Raac, causing "a huge, huge, problem". The area has been reopened after the panels' lifespan was extended. Mr Guenaoui says: "It's been challenging, very, because with a big project like that it wasn't going to just be overnight, but I think the team have done a fantastic job. "We had to find a different way of providing food - food coming in and heating it up, which is not our normal style. "We've waited a long time but now we have so many benefits. It was a custom designed kitchen - we told them how we wanted it and they came and did it." Catering manager, Ali Guenaoui, is delighted with the "beautiful" kitchen that has been built [Qays Najm/BBC] The repairs to the hospital should be done by 2028, according to Mark Flynn, director of strategic projects. By then, work on a new hospital will be under way on a site to the west of the current hospital complex. Wards and corridors have been stripped out ready for repairs [Qays Najm/BBC] The new hospital, which has a budget of £1.5bn, will also have room to expand as it will be double the footprint of the existing site and have about 600 beds for patients. Funding for the new site has come from the government's New Hospital Programme, while the Raac repairs have been met through separate funding from NHS England. "We're really pleased to have now secured the land for this new hospital," Mr Flynn says. Mark Flynn says reinforcements to the hospital's ceilings and walls is progressing well [Qays Najm/BBC] "We will have a completely separate construction site for the new hospital, so we hope to minimise the impact as much as possible... during what's going to be a long build period." Once the new site is built, in about a decade's time, the existing hospital site will be demolished. Mr Flynn says: "It's great that we are part of the National Hospital Programme and really fantastic that we've secured the land. "I feel ecstatic, it's brilliant." An artist's impression of what the new hospital could look like [Perkins & Will/James Paget] Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Related stories Related internet links
