Lawford Kidd's Blog

A woman is to receive a substantial six-figure settlement from Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust after she suffered life changing injuries during the birth of her fourth child, reports the BBC.

Candi Kaya had attended Stafford Hospital for a planned caesarean, but sustained damage to her to her bladder that was not detected at the time and was left untreated for six days. By the time surgery was conducted to fix the bladder, the damage had already caused a number of medical complications. Ms Kaya had to undergo a number of further operations, and was left with substantial scarring and on-going health problems.

The trust acknowledged that Ms Kaya’s treatment wasn’t to the standard she was entitled to expect, report the BBC, and apologised for the distress caused. A spokesperson said that steps had been taken to improve practices within the hospital.

The family of a woman who died while in the care of staff at Alexandria Hospital in Redditch have received an undisclosed amount in compensation from Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust, reports the BBC.

Fifty-five year old Margaret Pitt had suffered from Type 1 diabetes for around 30 years. While she was in hospital, staff failed to take a blood sugar reading to monitor her glucose levels. She subsequently suffered a severe brain injury and died.

According to the BBC, the hospital trust apologised unreservedly for its “failures” in caring for Mrs Pitt, and said that improvements had been made to its clinical procedures and staff training to prevent similar errors from reoccurring.

Responding to the Francis report, which called on the NHS to make better use of technology to improve safe, effective care, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced a new £260 million fund for hospitals in England and Wales.

Last year at least 11 people died in the NHS because they were given the wrong prescriptions. This fund will be used to increase the use of technology which will help stop drugs being prescribed incorrectly because patients’ notes have been lost.

Errors in prescriptions are present in as many as 8% of hospital prescriptions and studies have shown that the use of technology can cut these errors by half.

A Report published by the Public Accounts Committee for Northern Ireland has highlighted that, while the vast majority of services provided by Health and Social Care Trusts in NI are of a very high quality, patients and service users can suffer largely preventable harm and suffering.

Speaking at the launch of the Report, the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Michaela Boyle, MLA, said:

"The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety told the Committee that, between July 2004 and March 2012, there were 2,084 serious adverse incidents reported in the health and social care service. Eight hundred and thirteen of these involved the death of a patient or service user, including 488 which related to suicides. While not all of the serious adverse incidents reported were as a direct result of the care these patients received, the overall figure is still shocking and suggests that the standards of care being delivered by health and social care bodies require continued scrutiny and improvement."

The Scottish Government has announced that GPs in Scotland are set to become even safer as the world’s first patient safety programme for primary care is launched.

With around 100,000 GP visits every day in Scotland the programme will see safety measures implemented where the majority of NHS care is delivered.

GPs and their staff will undertake safety surveys and case note reviews to increase staff awareness and integrate patient safety into their daily work to reduce avoidable harm.