Published 9 October 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b4153
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b4153

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NHS patient safety incidents rise by 12% in six months, as reporting culture grows

¹ London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Reported incidents that compromised patient safety in the NHS in England rose by 12% in a six month period, with an even steeper rise in primary care organisations.

Figures from the National Patient Safety Agency released on 7 October show that 459 500 incidents were reported to have happened between 1 October 2008 and 31 March 2009.

This is a 12% increase on the previous six months, but primary care organisations had a 25% rise in incidents, such as errors, complications, or inadvertent injuries.

The rises were largely the result of more reporting and an increasingly open culture in the NHS, said the agency, as it published its reports for 382 of the 392 NHS trusts in England. These detail incidents occurring in the six months, reported by frontline NHS staff to the agency by 30 June.

Trusts are reporting more often, said the agency, and 98% of trusts provided . . . [Full text of this article]

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