At least 70 ‘Never Events’ at hospitals in Northern Ireland in last five years

At least 70 incidents that ‘should never be allowed to happen’ have taken place at hospitals in the north in the last five years.

As severe pressure on the health service continues to grow, figures obtained by The Irish News through Freedom of Information requests show that 70 so-called ‘Never Events’ have occured since 2019.

The data also shows that two deaths were caused as a result of such incidents in the last five years, one in the Belfast trust area and one in the South Eastern trust area.

‘Never Events’ in the NHS are defined as ‘wholly preventable’ incidents where there are ‘strong systemic protective barriers’ in place to avoid them. Each incident has the potential to cause serious harm or death.

The data provided to The Irish News from the five health and social care trusts in the North show that the Belfast Trust alone was responsible for 37 Never Events.

SDLP MLA Colin McGrath says the figures are “extremely worrying” and that he has written to Health Minister Mike Nesbitt for an “urgent assessment” of the number of incidents.

“’Never Events’ by their very title should never occur but the sheer scale of them is worrying,” the South Down MLA said.

“It is most concerning too to hear that people have died as a result of these events - underlying the serious nature of them.

“I have written to the Minister on the back of these figures secured by the Irish News and have asked for an urgent assessment of them to ensure learning from the incidents is achieved to reduce their occurrence in the future.”

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Source: The Irish News, 5 August 2024