A report in the Guardian newspaper about hospitals ignoring safety measures, has sparked fears among community health campaigners.
The report claimed that hospitals and NHS Trusts are ignoring advice from the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) and are putting people’s lives at risk as a result.
Community health groups are particularly concerned about abuses suffered by mental health patients. The NPSA’s figures suggest that 1,282 patients died in 2007-2008 in ‘patient safety incidents in mental health settings.’ In addition, a further 913 patients were harmed or injured while receiving care or mental illness.
These worrying figures have led to increased clinical negligence cases from the families of people who have suffered clinical negligence at the hands of mental heath staff. Clinical negligence cases are particularly common from those who were harmed as a result of staff ignoring NPSA advice and guidance.
Black Mental Health UK, a charity that campaigns on behalf of black people suffering from mental health problems, stated, “To learn that patients are dying off because of professional negligence is alarming. The whole point of being taken to hospital in the first place is because they are supposed to be places of safety where people can recover.”