Study finds the safety errors that occur most often on hospital wards

A recent study has found the most common serious safety errors that were reported on hospital wards in England and Wales over a 10 year period.

The study, which involved examining 377 severe harm incidents and deaths in NHS hospitals between 2005 and 2015, discovered that the incidents most commonly reported by staff included medication errors, diagnosis mistakes and not adequately monitoring patients who later deteriorated.

The study also found that staff shortages and poor communication between staff when handing over to colleagues contributed to the safety incidents. Mistakes often happened due to a lack of clarity regarding responsibilities for patient care coordination, particularly during emergency situations. This led to patients not receiving necessary treatment, results not being acted upon and observations not recorded or appropriately acted on.

The research found that many of the reported incidents occurred overnight, most likely due to higher patient-doctor ratios, decreased senior presence and a lack of out-of-hours pharmacy support.

Researchers have stated that patients who are unable to speak up for themselves as a result of their illness or other vulnerabilities were often overlooked due to system pressures and may be most at risk of being harmed. The study found there to be a dependence on patients to advocate for their own care and a need to remind staff about tests and referrals.

The full study can be found here.

A solicitor in the medical negligence team at Ashtons Legal, comments: “Although it is pleasing to see that the leading causes of patient safety incidents have been investigated, the NHS must now take action to address these failings and ensure that the same factors do not continue to put patients’ lives in danger in the future. It is an unfortunate reality that there are several common themes that lead to patient safety incidents but what is more important is that these incidents are used as a learning opportunity so that the resources and procedures can be put in place to prevent other patients from being harmed in similar circumstances.”

We Can Help You

If you believe we can assist you when pursuing a Medical Negligence claim, please get in contact with us on 0330 404 0777 or fill out our online enquiry form.