There were 547,879 safety incidents in NHS trusts across England between 1 April 2010 and 30 September 2010, a 4% rise from the previous six months, the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has reported.
Of the incidents, 380,243 (69%) of resulted in no harm to the patient, and 129,968 (24%) resulted in low harm.
About 33,310 incidents (6%) resulted in moderate harm, while 4,358 incidents (0.8%) resulted in death or severe harm, the report noted.
The most common types of incidents were patient accidents, such as slips, trips and falls (29%). Medication incidents made up 11% of incidents, while incidents relating to treatment or procedures accounted for 10%.
The NPSA also noted that there has been a 10% increase in reporting from primary care organisations.
The NPSA is an arm’s length body of the UK Department of Health.
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