Expert Reveals Concerns Over New Figures

A medical negligence expert at Irwin Mitchell has revealed her concerns over new figures which show many NHS Trusts are not responding to safety alerts.

Figures obtained by Action Against Medical Accidents revealed that Trusts in England had failed to meet demands included in 654 safety alerts, with five of them lacking compliance with ten or more of the notices.

The alerts are issued when safety problems that cause harm or could potentially put patients in danger have been identified.

Lisa Jordan, head of clinical negligence at Irwin Mitchell’s Birmingham office, said: “Figures of this kind are simply unacceptable and while the findings represent a fall from last year, there is clearly still plenty of work to be done in the area.

“Patients have a right to treatment and care services which more than adequately meet their needs. This research unfortunately reveals that some Trusts are seemingly failing to do this.

“We see far too many cases where patients have been the victims of errors in respect of mistakes that were wholly avoidable. For the sake of all of them, this simply has to stop.

“The NHS has to respond to alerts if it is going to learn lessons from previous mistakes and ensure everyone receives the best possible standard of care.”