Bosses are investigating a serious ‘never event’ at Ipswich Hospital
BY LIZZIE PARRY
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
12:39 PM
HOSPITAL bosses have launched a probe into a serious incident involving a patient, we can reveal.
The ‘never event’ – recorded as such to highlight the seriousness of the incident – is currently being fully investigated by chiefs at Ipswich Hospital, and a report is expected to be published by the end of the month.
The list of never events has been increased by the Department of Health from eight to 25 in recent years.
It includes misidentification of a patient, putting a feeding tube down the nose into the lungs instead of the stomach, incorrect use of insulin for diabetes and transfusing a patient with the wrong blood type.
In addition surgery carried out by medics on the wrong part of a patients’ body, medical instruments or swabs being left inside the body of a patient leading to a second operation to remove the items and chemotherapy prescribed to a patient but given incorrectly are examples listed on the NHS website.
The vast majority of never events happen during or after surgery.
Jan Ingle, hospital spokeswoman said: “Any incident which gives cause for concern is carefully investigated within the hospital.
“There is a list of incidents which are known as ‘never events’ and this denotes the seriousness of the incident.
“They are deemed to be very serious and are reportable.
“We must report them to our Clinical Commissioning Group and to the National Trust Development Agency.
“We are currently investigating one never event and that investigation will be finalised by the end of this month.
“When it is finalised, it will be shared with the patient, his or her family and a summary will be published on our website.”
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