Negligence Accounts for Almost 12,000 Deaths Annually: Report

With the tragic death of Kane Gorny due to hospital negligence still fresh in minds, a new report published in the BMJ Quality and Safety reveals that nearly 12,000 people die in hospitals every year whose deaths could have been easily avoided. According to the report around 11,859 deaths occur in hospitals in England every year which could have been prevented. Some of the most common culprits in the deaths were wrong diagnosis, poor monitoring of a patient’s condition and errors in medication or fluid replacement.

The researchers used data on 1,000 deaths in 10 hospitals during 2009 and found that more than 5 percent, or 50 deaths, had more than 50 percent chance of being avoided.

“While any patient dying from an adverse event is a tragedy and any deaths in hospital due to poor care are of considerable concern, it is important that our estimate of the size and impact of the problem is accurate and we understand what we can do to prevent such incidents”, lead researcher Dr Helen Hogan, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said.



Source-Medindia