NHS drug blunders resulted in 66 patients being given ‘fatal’ doses in just one year

DOZENS of patients have been given “fatal” drugs doses in NHS blunders, we can reveal. Safety records show 66 mix-ups in one year so dangerous they are logged as “death” incidents. One patient with a broken leg died after being given ten times the correct dosage of medicines. Another died after doctors twice gave them […]

DOZENS of patients have been given “fatal” drugs doses in NHS blunders, we can reveal.

Safety records show 66 mix-ups in one year so dangerous they are logged as “death” incidents.

PA:Press Association

The Sun can reveal that dozens of patients have been given ‘fatal’ doses of medication in NHS mix-ups[/caption]

One patient with a broken leg died after being given ten times the correct dosage of medicines. Another died after doctors twice gave them a drug they were allergic to.

Health chiefs say not all the 66 patients may have died due to the mistake but it had “potential for severe harm”.

The cases — from April 2017 to March 2018 — were disclosed by NHS Improvement after a Freedom of Information request.

They are up 40 per cent from three years ago — when there were 47.

It comes as NHS Resolution paid out £75million to 1,149 patients after mix-ups in the past eight years.

Joyce Robins, of Patient Concern, said the victims’ families will be left “bitter and angry”.

 

She added: “You hope when your loved one goes into hospital they are going to be helped and not made worse because of a mistake.”

NHS Improvement’s Aidan Fowler said the cases were “rare”. But he added: “We are developing an ambitious patient safety strategy that includes a focus on medication safety.

“We will continue to work to make the NHS even safer for patients.”

Handout

Joyce Robins says the victims’ families will be left ‘bitter and angry’[/caption]

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