Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients were injured while already in hospital in each of the last five years.

Open and honest reporting of patient safety incidents is a fundamental pillar of a good patient safety culture. The National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) holds information in relation to reports of patients harmed by patient safety incidents in hospitals or mental health units.

The definition of harm within the NRLS extends to any extra need for treatment or observation (e.g. a blood test) or psychological distress rather than solely physical harm that might be understood by the term “injured”. There is no specific data collection of “injured”.

The information contained in the table below covers all reported incidents of “harm” over the last five years.

Total number of incidents reported as resulting in harm in hospital settings by financial year

Notes:

^*Partial Financial Year data from April to September 2017.

Incidents reported as occurring from 1 April 2012 and 30 September 2017, exported to the NRLS on or before 22 January 2018.