The Western Mail reports that the number of people who have died as a result of mistakes in their care or accidents in hospitals in Wales has almost doubled.
Figures published yesterday reveal 107 patient deaths between October 2008 and March 2009 – up from 60 in the previous six months.
And there were more than 26,900 patient safety incidents reported by the former NHS trusts and local health boards, compared to almost 25,000 between April and September 2008.
Commenting on the figures the Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Minister, Peter Black said:
“It’s very worrying that since the end of 2008 we’ve seen a sharp rise in the number of incidents reported in the NHS in Wales. Prior to the end of 2008, the figure had been coming down. What is even more disturbing is the high number of patients dying from incidents in the Welsh NHS. Incidents like this can be avoided through better reporting practices.
“The Labour-Plaid government will defend these stats and say that the reason for the increase is because of greater awareness of reporting and openness among staff, however the statistics show that the number of reported incidents had been coming down. What is more disturbing is that we do not know of the incidents that have not been reported.
“Accidents make up the highest percentage of these ‘incidents’ and it is reasonable to assume that some of these deaths and injuries could have been prevented if our hospitals were in a better state. Earlier this year, the Welsh Liberal Democrats discovered that the total repair bill for the Welsh NHS is a massive £460 million and there is a total of £75 million of ‘high risk’ maintenance currently awaiting attention.
“We need to be reassured that lessons are being learnt from all these incidents, whether the victims are patients or staff. There must be an open and compulsory reporting method and a proper health and safety assessment after any major incident. If we do not have transparency and accountability then we will not get improvement.”
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