Bodies reveal 83,500 incidents in healthcare settings

ALMOST 83,500 incidents of harm or near-misses were reported in the health service last year, at a time when almost six million engagements took place between medical staff and patients.

Figures disclosed by the HSE and State Claims Agency yesterday show that slips, trips and falls, at 26,288, were the most common incident to occur in a healthcare setting.

Medication errors, at 6,882, account for 8% of the 83,483 incidents reported, while reports of violence and aggression at 12% (9,690) were higher in community settings, where staff say they are dealing with challenging behaviour.

The HSE’s national director of quality and patient safety, Dr Philip Crowley, said there would always be risks in healthcare, and that international data suggested that about one in 10 hospital patients would experience harm during treatment.

“We need to face up to this as a healthcare system and as healthcare professionals. Patients, too, can become better informed and can play an active role in reducing the risk of harm occurring,” said Dr Crowley.

According to the agencies, the number of reported incidences was in line with international norms.

The HSE pointed out that the figures did not include the number of deaths as a result of the incidents because inquiries and inquests in a number of cases were ongoing.

Dr Crowley said mortality data would be published in the future. He said there was a “deficiency” in the database because it did not record outcomes in any comprehensive way to show an accurate death rate. Work is ongoing to improve this shortcoming.

State Claims Agency director Ciaran Breen said they expected between 425 and 450 negligence claims from the incidents reported last year.

“That has been a very flat figure over the last four years,” he said.

He said the agency had budgeted for payments totalling between €80 million and €90m arising out of litigation relating to medical incidents taken this year. He said payments in relation to obstetrics and birth-related injuries were very expensive, and represented a disproportionately high sum.

Obstetrics represented about one-quarter of the number of negligence claims managed by the State Claims Agency but made up 60% of the actual sum paid out.

One of the incidents reported was a procedure being carried out on the wrong patient because of an identity error. No harm was done but the HSE and SCA point out that plans to develop an unique patient identifier would further reduce the level of risk in these circumstances.

In another case, a consultant discovered a failure in an electronic ordering system that sent his request for CT scans to the hospital’s X-ray department when patients returned for follow-up appointments. The patients affected all had their scans done quickly and no harm was done.