134 serious incidents recorded at Colchester General Hospital

HUNDREDS of serious incidents which could have caused significant harm to patients have been revealed following an extensive Freedom of Information investigation.

The probe asked public health providers, including Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust, the East of England Ambulance Trust and North Essex University

They are deemed so significant a heightened level of response and investigation is justified.

There were 134 serious incidents recorded by the trust, which runs Colchester General Hospital and Essex County Hospital in Colchester.

They include 26 delays in treatment, 17 falls and ten relating to pressure ulcers.

There were also seven medication incidents, five confidential information leaks and 13 surgical invasive procedure incidents.

The trust was among 24 per cent of 171 acute trusts across the country which had more than 100 serious incidents.

The figures show Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust recorded the most number of serious incidents at 778.

However, the Colchester trust’s chief executive, Nick Hulme, described the findings, for the year 2016 to 2017 as “positive”.

“I am confident we have a robust reporting and investigations procedure in place.

“We always want to learn and make sure we put into place procedures for better practice going forward, reducing risk and improving quality.

“These findings can be regarded as positive and show that Colchester Hospital University Foundation Trust actively encourages staff to raise concerns and has a no-blame culture.”

North Essex University Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which provides mental health services for the area, recorded 97 serious incidents.

Partnership NHS Foundation Trust how many serious incidents had happened over a year.

Events which constitute a serious incident include unexpected or avoidable death, unexpected or avoidable injury resulting in serious harm, as well as incidents affecting an NHS trust’s ability to provide services.