Increase in deaths caused by NHS errors

07 Jan 2009

3,645 people died between April 2007 and March 2008 as a result of “patient safety incidents”.

These figures include botched operations and hospital acquired infections. Two years ago the figure was 2,275.

Experts have claim that the increase is down to better reporting rather than worsening care. Patient groups however have warned that the true figure is likely to be higher as some hospitals don’t record all incidents.

385 people died as a result of botched operations and 156 deaths were as a result of incorrect diagnosis or misread scans. Almost 500 people died as a result of self-harm while under supervision.

More than 800,000 errors were reported in the 12-month period, with the majority causing no harm to patients.

Guy Forster, a medical law solicitor at Patientlawyers.com, said: “We repeatedly see cases where patients have died as a direct result of inadequate and unacceptable care.  The increase in reported incidents is alarming, especially when you consider that the figures count only those incidents that are reported by the hospitals themselves.  This is likely to be only the tip of the iceberg.”

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