Date: 24 March 2017
Data has just been released by the NHS detailing ‘never events’ which occurred in hospitals in England between 1st April 2016 and 30th January 2017.
NHS England describes a never event as a ‘serious incident that is wholly preventable as guidance or safety recommendations that provide strong systemic protective barriers are available at a national level, and should have been implemented by all healthcare providers.’
Quite simply, a ‘never event’ is an event which should never happen. A full list of never events can be found at the link shown below, but examples include incidents such as wrong site surgery and foreign objects being retained following a procedure.
The report reveals that between April and December 2016, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust had 5 never events and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust had 3 never events. The events reported include wrong site surgery, wrong implants and misplaced feeding tubes.
Given that a never event is an event which should never happen, it is deeply concerning that so many were reported in such a short period of time.
The full list of never events can be found by clicking this link -
https://improvement.nhs.uk/resources/never-events-data/
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