NHS patients harmed as doctors prescribe WRONG meds. A van driver survives a major crash with serious, but not life- threatening, injuries — only to suffer a fatal cardiac arrest in intensive care when a bungling doctor gives him adrenaline instead of a sedative. A cancer patient's allergy to penicillin is clearly recorded in her medical notes, but when she develops a chest infection, she is still given penicillin, and dies after suffering anaphylactic shock. A great- grandfather being treated for lung disease is killed after a nurse mistakenly gives him an entire day's dosage of a medicine in less than an hour. ![]() ![]() Overweight, Obesity, and Mortality from Cancer in a Prospectively Studied Cohort of U.S. Calle, Ph.D., Carmen Rodriguez, M.D., M. Wonderful goods from you, man. I actually like what you Sports journalists and bloggers covering NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MMA, college football and basketball, NASCAR, fantasy sports and more. News, photos, mock drafts, game. Are you hungry for better? When it comes to what we put in and on our bodies, Whole Foods Market® believes the full story of those products is important as we make. Latest breaking news, including politics, crime and celebrity. Find stories, updates and expert opinion. Arnold Harper, 5. Barrow, Philippa Gillespie, 5. Haverfordwest, and Colin Whalley, 6. St Helens are just three of the victims of medication errors in NHS hospitals whose stories have emerged in the past 1. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Inquests into each of their deaths concluded that drug errors had either caused or played a significant part. And shockingly, their needless suffering is far from unusual. Just last weekend it was reported that the father of a top NHS surgeon died in hospital after being mistakenly given insulin instead of dextrose. Robert Welch, 9. 3, a war veteran, died in June last year in the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby, after suffering a cardiac arrest. The coroner said 'inadequate supervision of relatively junior nursing staff, together with inadequate training in the preparation of medication contributed to the mistake'. Recent headlines about the NHS crisis have focused on the situation in A& E, the lack of hospital beds and yesterday, the cancellation of even cancer operations — but the crisis is having an effect everywhere, not least in the alarming rise in the number of patients falling foul of medication errors. ![]() Big Pharma's medical research papers are total bunk. It hardly needs spelling out that hospitals are meant to help patients, not poison them. But this investigation by Good Health has found that medication errors in the NHS are on the rise — by 6 per cent in a year — despite a major initiative to stop them. We've also discovered that the vast majority of errors were made by nursing staff, reinforcing concerns that many wards may be dangerously understaffed. Furthermore, in some NHS trusts patients have as much as a one in 2. Robert Welch, 9. 3, a war veteran, died in June last year in the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby, after suffering a cardiac arrest. Good Health's findings are 'very concerning', says Katherine Murphy, chief executive of The Patients Association.'Medication errors are distressing for the staff concerned but, as the evidence shows, they can be catastrophic for the patients and their families.'We urge the Government to investigate the figures and work with healthcare professionals to find ways to reduce medication errors.'Patients 'place their trust in a health professional to provide them with safe care', added Susan Osborne, chair of the Safe Staffing Alliance, a campaigning group supported by the Royal College of Nursing and The Patients Association. ![]() But the vast majority, nearly 1. Official figures don't reveal which group of medical professionals is responsible. However, our investigation shows that the majority of these medication errors in hospital are being caused by nursing staff. We sent Freedom of Information requests to all the NHS trusts in England and Wales. Two thirds (1. 12) replied, revealing a total of 1. Around a quarter of medical errors in the NHS were made by community nurses, mental health services and High Street chemists. Nearly 2. 9,0. 00 were prescription errors (ie, made by doctors) and 1. MOST ERRORS ARE BY NURSING STAFFBut 7. For example, Barts Health, a group of five hospitals in London, reported the highest number of errors (more of that later), 3,2. Jonathan Nolan, head of nursing practice for the Royal College of Nursing, insists that 'comparing errors between professional groups, or comparing error rates between prescribing and administering can be very misleading'. But 7. 5,0. 00 other errors, almost 6. Errors were 'frequently outside nurses' control', he told Good Health, 'for example where a drug is not available, so a dose is missed or late, would be logged as an error, even if the nurse was aware and trying to source the drug, which may not have been available from the pharmacy'. However, analysis of the breakdown in errors for Barts shows that supply problems accounted for just 3. The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) says doctors or nurses are 'much more likely' to give patients the wrong drug or the wrong dose 'if they are tired, stressed, hungry and thirsty'. Such problems 'are becoming more common with the increase in medical admissions and staff shortages', says Dr Kevin Stewart, the RCP's director of clinical effectiveness and evaluation.'Nurses work tirelessly for their patients, but without the right numbers, systems are more likely to break down and this can increase the risk of mistakes,' adds Wendy. Preston, head of nursing practice at the Royal College of Nursing.'These findings are yet another example of how the nursing shortage is impacting on patient care, and how crucial it is that the Government works with us to find a solution.'ARE THERE ENOUGH NURSES ON WARDS? Nursing staffing levels across the NHS have been under the spotlight since the public inquiry into the 'conditions of appalling care' that led to hundreds of deaths at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. The 2. 01. 3 Francis report found that between 2. The subsequent Berwick review into patient safety identified 'nurse- to- patient staffing ratios' as a serious safety issue across the NHS. Following these two reports, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) was asked to develop safe staffing guidelines for nursing. Nursing staffing levels across the NHS have been under the spotlight since a public enquiry led to hundreds of deaths at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. NICE duly published guidelines in July 2. But according to the Safe Staffing Alliance, the number of properly qualified staff on duty is the single most important issue when it comes to patient safety. There is, it says, overwhelming evidence that 'lower nurse- patient ratios are associated with more 'excess' deaths' and that '4. England are operating at unsafe levels'. The ratio of one registered nurse to eight patients was the point at which 'significant harm is more likely to occur'. But 'we know that about 5. Susan Osborne, chair of the alliance. There is overwhelming evidence that 'lower nurse- patient ratios are associated with more 'excess' deaths' and that '4. England are operating at unsafe levels'A survey of nurses published in April 2. Unison, the public service union, found that on one randomly selected day in February last year more than 5. Even if trusts could pay for more nurses, one in ten nursing posts across England is currently unfilled, which the RCN says amounts to a shortage of 2. Commenting on our findings, Dr Mike Durkin, NHS National Director of Patient Safety, told Good Health that while 'on very rare occasions things can go wrong', it was 'vital providers and staff are open and honest about errors so lessons can be learnt'. WHAT HAPPENED TO SAFETY NET? Every one of the 1. Good Health confirmed that, in accordance with a directive from NHS Improvement, since September 2. Medication Safety Officer', whose job is to champion drug safety in the trust and prevent such errors. Yet despite this, 8. Barts Health reported almost 4. Barts treats a lot of patients — nearly 1. Every one of the 1. Good Health confirmed that they have a 'Medication Safety Officer', whose job is to champion drug safety in the trust and prevent errors. Yet this is not simply a problem for the biggest hospitals. For the risk is much higher, at The Dudley Group, a group of three hospitals in the West Midlands, which treated 5. So here, around one in 2. In fact, the risks could actually be much higher, as these figures have been calculated assuming that all patients who visit a hospital are prescribed medication, when clearly some aren't.)Size doesn't necessarily matter. It isn't simply that bigger trusts are more likely to have more errors simply because of the numbers of patients they see — other trusts that treated close to a million patients reported relatively fewer errors. For instance, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust saw 9. Barts. The Dudley Group, a group of three hospitals in the West Midlands, which treated 5. A spokesperson for Barts told us: 'We deeply apologise for errors we have made,' adding that while the vast majority of medication errors resulted in no harm to patients, 'every mistake is one too many and we are working hard to learn from incidents to minimise the risk of them being repeated'. As part of the trust's efforts 'to create a safety culture and reduce the numbers of incidents that cause harm', it was 'encouraging all staff to report incidents so that we can fully investigate, and we believe this accounts for the total increase in reported incidents'. Dr Paul Harrison, acting chief executive at The Dudley Group, said the trust's 'safety culture includes an honest and open reporting system which encourages learning and improvements in patient safety'. The trust is also investing in 'an electronic prescribing and drug administration system which we believe will result in a further significant reduction in the numbers of incidents'. Electronic records and prescription systems can help. The trust is investing in 'an electronic prescribing and drug administration system which we believe will result in a further significant reduction in the numbers of incidents''The computer offers you only the correct doses and if the patient is allergic to something it will tell you,' says breast surgeon Dr Philippa Whitford, who is the SNP MP for Central Ayrshire and vice- chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Patient Safety. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. Please confirm the information below before signing in. Already have an account? Your existing password has not been changed.
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