NHS guidance ‘too long to read,’ say hospital staff as safety watchdog exposes systemic risks to patients

NHS guidance ‘too long to read,’ say hospital staff as safety watchdog exposes systemic risks to patients.

The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) revealed some NHS staff had admitted not reading official guidance on how to avoid the ‘never event’ error as part of a new report identifying deeper systemic problems that it said left patients at an increased risk.

The independent body warned patients across the NHS remained vulnerable to being injured or even killed by the error that keeps happening in hospitals despite warnings and safety alerts over the last 15 years.

HSIB launched a national investigation into the problem of misplaced nasogastric (NG) tubes after a 26-year-old man had 1,450ml of liquid feed fed into his lungs in December 2018 after a bike accident.

The patient recovered but the error was not spotted, even after an X-ray.

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Source: The Independent, 17 December 2020