Hospitals still having ill effects on one in ten patients
By David Williams
3 July 2009
MPs have said patient safety is not being given a high enough priority in the NHS and that about one in ten patients is harmed as a result of hospital treatment, despite a decade of government initiatives to make healthcare
safer.
In Patient Safety, published on July 3, the Commons health committee recommended that protecting patients from avoidable harm should ‘always and without exception’ be the service’s top priority.
‘Tens of thousands of patients suffer unnecessary harm each year and there is a huge cost to the NHS in consequence,’ the report said.
The MPs praised the government for introducing policies promoting safety.
But they concluded: ‘Government policy has too often given the impression that there are priorities, notably hitting targets, achieving financial balance and attaining Foundation Trust status, which are more important.
This has undoubtedly, in a number of well-documented cases, been a contributory factor in making services unsafe.’
The committee said the NHS has failed to gather data on patient safety. It urged Primary Care Trusts to evaluate the services they pay for.
Committee chair Kevin Barron said: ‘We are saddened by the avoidable harm that so many patients suffer. While we recognise and are pleased that Lord Darzi’s NHS review emphasises safety, it has become clear to us that not all services are safe enough yet.’
The report also urged the government to examine how deficiencies in regulation contribute to failures in patient safety, pointing out that the Annual Health Check failed to detect catastrophic failures in care such as at Mid-Staffordshire Foundation Trust.
MPs described the delay in introducing technologies proven to improve patient safety was condemned as ‘extremely alarming’.
