By Alicia Cannon. I was intrigued by recent reports that a new blood test can detect serious brain injuries. Brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability in young people. To diagnose brain injuries, scans are performed but this can cause delay and lead to patients’ conditions deteriorating and in the worst case […]

By Alicia Cannon. The research, part-funded by the British Heart Foundation and the National Institute of Health Research, showed the increase of heart attack treatment gives nine in ten patients fighting chance of survival. The use of emergency stenting treatment (PPCI), also known as angioplasty, increased from 0.1% in 2003 to 86% in 2013 for […]

There are too many poor quality investigations into babies who die or are severely brain damaged during labour, a review says. The inquiry, Each Baby Counts, has been set up to ensure lessons are learned when something goes wrong. The aim is by 2020 to halve the number of babies who die or are left […]

The aim should be a healthy mother and a healthy baby! Almost everyday of my professional life, I see the very challenging consequences of mistakes made during childbirth and the consequences for the child, the mother, their family and for the health professionals involved. And so two stories that have broken in the news in […]

In 2015, Jeremy Hunt said that there were probably about 1,000 “avoidable” deaths in the NHS every month. So there are about 12,000 deaths every year and this figure does not begin to include serious injuries to patients that fall short of being fatal! There is a clear public interest in maintaining high standards of […]

Accountability for mistakes and the government proposals for fixed costs for civil claims. I read about the collapse of the criminal case against a NHS Trust involving the tragic death of teacher Frances Cappuccini last week with great sadness for her partner and family. However there is another aspect to consider, namely whether criminal prosecution […]