Medical error causes 40,000 deaths a year
New statistical analysis from the Dr Foster Unit has concluded that 40,000 people die a year following medical mistakes.
Drawing on data from the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) it concluded that there are around 850,000 “adverse incidents” in NHS hospitals each year.
It suggests that this may be an under-estimation of the real extent of the problem.
The Dr Foster Unit notes that the rate of reportage of adverse incidents in trusts ranges from 0 per cent to 15 per cent, and says that it believes the zero reportage rate to be “unlikely”.
It also cites previous studies which suggested that routine data reports less incidences than analysis of case notes and argues that “adverse events may be under-recorded within hospital episode statistics.”
An adverse even is defined as “an unintended injury caused by medical management rather than a disease process, resulting in death, life threatening illness, disability at the time of discharge, admission to hospital, or prolongation of hospital stay.”
Looking at hospital statistics over the past four years, they conclude that 2.2 per cent of all hospital stays mention an adverse event.
Mistakes were more likely to occur in the cases of male patients, elderly people and emergency admissions- though for these groups the report notes “the differences may be due in part to the severity of underlying disease in the different groups and the length of time people are in hospital.”
The researchers conclude that incidences are being recorded, but “hospitals should be encouraged to improve the recording of events on their systems.”
The Dr Foster Unit is based at Imperial College London and is an independent organisation “created to examine measures of clinical performance.”
