Reporting to improve patient safety

THE NATIONAL Patient Safety Agency has published individual trust reports this week on the number of patient safety incidents reported between October 2008 and March 1, 2009.

Over the six-month period, Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust reported just over 1,200 patient safety incidents to the National Reporting and Learning System. Our report shows that Northamptonshire Healthcare is one of the highest reporting organisations compared with 67 other mental health trusts in England.

This, says the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA), is something we should be proud of: organisations that report more incidents usually have a better and more effective safety culture.

“More reports do not mean more risks to patients. Indeed, quite the reverse. These data are sound evidence of an improving reporting culture across the NHS. Frontline staff are more likely than ever to raise safety concerns much more openly,” said Martin Fletcher, chief executive of the NPSA.

And it isn’t just that we are reporting regularly – we’re also reporting much faster than most other trusts. On average, NHS trusts take 57 days to submit their incident reports to the NPSA. Our average is just 19 days.

The NPSA figures show that across England 92.5 per cent of all patient safety incidents result in low or no harm to the patient. Northamptonshire Healthcare’s figures are similar: 92 per cent of our reports related to low or no harm.

The most commonly reported problems related to patient accidents; disruptive or aggressive behaviour, and self-harming behaviour.