According to recently published NHS data, there were sixty-three deaths in hospitals in Nottingham following patient safety incidents over the course of 12 months.
A patient safety incident is defined by the NHS as being:
“…any unintended or unexpected incident which could have, or did, lead to harm for one or more patients receiving healthcare.”
Instances of patient safety incidents could include:
- The misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of a condition;
- A failure to provide or monitor a person’s medical care;
- Communication issues;
- An out-of-control infection in a hospital setting; or
- A shortage in staffing.
NHS data concerning Nottingham hospitals
According to the figures published, from April 2021 to March 2022 at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH), which runs Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital, there were:
- 32,610 incidents which resulted in patient harm – an average of 89 incidents a day over the course of the year. This is an increase of 5,523 in the previous 12 months.
- 63 patient deaths with an additional 83 severely harmed. In comparison, there were nine deaths and 50 severely harmed patients in 2020/21.
Instances of patients being harmed typically occurred regarding implementing care and monitoring patients, accounting for 40% of incidents. Medication issues were the second most common (10%), with patient accidents (8.5%) in third place.
In respect of other Nottinghamshire hospitals, the data has shown that Sherwood Forest Hospitals (SFH), which runs King’s Mill Newark and Mansfield Community hospitals, had 9,512 patient safety incidents recorded, which resulted in 14 deaths. In comparison to the previous year, there were three patient deaths, after 7,387 patient safety incidents.
Throughout England, there were 689,745 incidents reported that resulted in patient harm – this averages to 1,890 incidents every day. There were 5,803 deaths across England.
Comment
The substantial rise in the number of patient safety incidents and deaths in Nottingham hospitals is very concerning. Worryingly, as demands on NHS services continue to increase, the situation is likely to continue to deteriorate if understaffing in the NHS is not urgently addressed.
How we can help
For further information on the subjects discussed in this article or any related topics, please contact Carolle White (Senior Associate and Legal Executive) or Helen Wilkinson (Paralegal) in our Medical Negligence team, which has been ranked in tier one by the independently researched publication, The Legal 500.
Contact us on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.