Lees Solicitors - NHS Mistakes Kill Thousands - Samantha Brown

Clinical Negligence News

NHS Mistakes Kill Thousands - Samantha Brown


NHS Mistakes Kill Thousands - Samantha Brown

2009 people died and 3708 suffered severe harm as a result of NHS errors in a six month period according to the latest figures released by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA).

A further 28,521 incidents of moderate harm were reported, including mistakes made in surgery and temporary kidney failure as a result of the wrong blood being given to a patient.

The most commonly reported incidents were accidents that possibly could have been avoided.

Overall there were 459,500 incidents reported between October 2008 and March 2009; the highest rate since records began. The NPSA said that the rise was a result of better reporting.

The NPSA operates a voluntary reporting system whereby the onus is on the NHS bodies to report incidents themselves. However, there are calls for it to be made legally binding for any organisation providing NHS services to report incidents to the NHS and to the patient concerned, or their relatives, as some organisations are still lagging behind.

Peter Walsh, the Chief Executive of AvMA, the charity for patient safety and justice, stated: "Publication of this data is a welcome step towards greater transparency and learning to improve patient safety. However, the low rate of patient safety incident reporting from some organisations is a great cause of concern. Particularly worrying is that reporting rates from primary care services such as GPs are negligible and not identified in these reports".

The Clinical Negligence Team at Lees Solicitors LLP is able to advise and represent clients in claims relating to negligent incidents, not only in medical and surgical situations, but also in other areas of associated practice such as nursing, dentistry, chiropody and optometrics. Please contact a member of our team on 0151 647 9381for further information.

Samantha Brown

 

This article provides a summary of a recent case/change in law/news item. It is intended for general information purposes only and is not to be relied upon. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be treated under any circumstances as a substitute for legal advice. Lees Solicitors LLP does not accept any responsibility for any loss that may arise from reliance upon the information contained within this article. The copyright in this article is owned by Lees Solicitors LLP and permission must be sought before reproduction or publishing


arrow Back to Clinical Negligence News