‘Dementia link to sudden low blood pressure and dizziness’
October 13, 2024
Devastating consequences of mistakes by NHS staff are exposed today.
An official report reveals how basic errors left a baby brain-damaged and a woman unable to have children, and in some cases resulted in needless deaths.
It highlights a snapshot of 126 cases investigated by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman last year, warning that mistakes affect patients of all ages in hospitals, care homes and GP surgeries.
Blunders: A report highlights a snapshot of 126 cases investigated by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman last year, warning mistakes affect patients of all ages in hospitals, care homes and GP surgeries
Dame Julie Mellor, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, said: ‘These investigations highlight the devastating impact failures in public services can have on the lives of individuals and their families. We are increasingly concerned about patients being discharged unsafely from hospital.
‘Unplanned admissions and re-admissions are a massive cost to the NHS.’
The report will renew fears that the NHS is struggling to provide safe care for the rising numbers of patients.
Only last week senior NHS officials warned that the health service needed an extra £8billion a year to meet the demands of a growing and ageing population.
They said that unless more funding was provided – and services run more efficiently – patient safety could be jeopardised.
Officials hope that exposing the failings will encourage NHS staff to learn from the mistakes.
Dame Julie said that last year her office investigated 424 cases of patients, mostly the elderly, being discharged too soon. Such patients often have to be re-admitted after developing infections or suffering falls because they have not fully recovered.
It also looked into 20 cases of cancer misdiagnosis whereby lifesaving treatment had been delayed because symptoms had been missed by doctors.
The ombudsman’s role is to investigate complaints against the NHS which have allegedly not been properly dealt with.
This is the first time the ombudsman has published such detailed information on NHS failings. Previous reports have been more general, with only a few cases highlighted.
It now plans to release similar reports on a regular basis to improve transparency.
A spokesman for NHS England said: ‘Where someone wants to raise a concern, it is important that they can do this easily and that it is quickly acted on.
‘This report lays out an important challenge to services to learn from complaints.’
Source Mail Online