2000 deaths/year from NHS
Discussion
BBC article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/440
This was covered on Today this morning. It seems that the stats are:
1) At least 2000 people/year die of mistakes made by the NHS
2) 300,000 people/year get infections from the NHS (IIRC about 3000 die of these?)
3) Around 1,000,000 people/year are affected by mistakes made by the NHS that do not result in death
4) The cost of the mistakes is £2b/year, plus litigation costs.
Imagine if there was no law to force people to report RTAs, SORN, etc. Would the government talk about a "blame culture" and the need to make sure that drivers "need not fear blame or unequal treatment if they report" them? It seems that the impact of NHS failures -- which are human errors at the end of the day, like careless driving or forgetting to buy a tax disc -- is higher than the errors seen on the road, but they are treated with understanding rather than punishment. Wouldn't it be nice if the same standards applied in both cases? Is that too much to expect?
This was covered on Today this morning. It seems that the stats are:
1) At least 2000 people/year die of mistakes made by the NHS
2) 300,000 people/year get infections from the NHS (IIRC about 3000 die of these?)
3) Around 1,000,000 people/year are affected by mistakes made by the NHS that do not result in death
4) The cost of the mistakes is £2b/year, plus litigation costs.
article said:
The NAO said a "blame culture existed" and called for the development of an effective safety culture in which employees need not fear blame or unequal treatment if they report incidents, and for patient safety to become a core part of professional clinical training.
Conservative MP Edward Leigh, chairman of the committee of public accounts, said "no public health system should tolerate a failure to learn from previous experience on this scale".
He said: "It is unacceptable that any NHS staff member might be too afraid to report things going wrong."
Imagine if there was no law to force people to report RTAs, SORN, etc. Would the government talk about a "blame culture" and the need to make sure that drivers "need not fear blame or unequal treatment if they report" them? It seems that the impact of NHS failures -- which are human errors at the end of the day, like careless driving or forgetting to buy a tax disc -- is higher than the errors seen on the road, but they are treated with understanding rather than punishment. Wouldn't it be nice if the same standards applied in both cases? Is that too much to expect?
Perhaps campaigns to make this figure of 2000 deaths, and the 5000 deaths due to MRSA, should be launched to make them as Socially unacceptable as drink driving, which was the prime example stated for the Govt in its roads brainwash.
Amazing how such numbers as stated 7000+,dont seem to attract Nationwide publicity or Govt action---all seems to be just an expected gamble if Hospital treatment is required.
Amazing how such numbers as stated 7000+,dont seem to attract Nationwide publicity or Govt action---all seems to be just an expected gamble if Hospital treatment is required.
So given that causing death by careless driving could perhaps be considered similar in nature to causing death by NHS mistake, and the former will carry a jail sentence, are we to assume that the unfortunate NHS employee whose mistake results in death (though obviously more fortunate than his/her 'victim') will also be jailed?
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