26.09.12
Better staffing could prevent hospital fatalities – coroners
Coroners in England and Wales have made a record number of recommendations to hospitals on how they could prevent future fatalities, a new report shows.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ), which collates the reports, warned that coroners found more staff were needed on duty outside office hours and that improved communication and note-taking could avoid preventable deaths in the NHS.
Mental health organisations were also urged to do more for people likely to self-harm.
The latest figures, published yesterday, show that coroners issued 233 reports between October 2011 and March 2012, up from 189 for the same period a year earlier.
The new report states: “Over a third of reports issued in this period relate to deaths in hospitals. This is now an established trend and has consistently been the case since MoJ began reporting.
“These reports frequently identify concerns over policies and practices in relation to note taking, staffing, training, communication and handover and the recording of medications.
“Coroners have reported directly to the Department of Health where they have identified concerns which may have national implications, or they feel information could usefully be disseminated to all NHS health trusts.”
A spokesman for the Department of Health said: “Patients should be able to access expert services seven days a week and they have a right to expect the same level of care on a Saturday or Sunday as they do on a Wednesday.
“Not only would this mean better, safer and more consistent care and treatment, it will also mean better support for junior doctors. We are taking action and working with professional associations to drive this forward across the NHS.
“The Department considers all coroners’ recommendations very carefully and responds to them as soon as possible.”
Professor Tim Evans of the Royal College of Physicians Future Hospital Commission, recently told the Guardian: “You have seven days working in Marks and Spencer’s and John Lewis but you can’t have it in a hospital or general practice. There should be a seven day health service, absolutely unquestionably.”
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