All hospitals and other NHS healthcare providers across England will soon have a legal duty to report all incidents where a patient is harmed or dies due to NHS negligence or accidents whilst receiving treatment.

The new legislation will end the current voluntary reporting system which allows incidents of medical negligence to be covered up by some healthcare organisations.

The legislation comes into effect for all NHS Trusts, hospitals, mental health services, primary care trusts and ambulance services across England from April 2010, which will require them to report any qualifying incidents to the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) immediately. This covers things such as injury which impairs sensory, motor or intellectual functions; body structural changes; prolonged pain or psychological damage; a reduction in a patients life expectancy; or unexpected death.

Other incidents like a patient suffering a slip, trip or fall will require reporting as would incorrect drug administration or surgical errors leading to patient harm of death.

Failing to report incidents would lead to a punishment ranging from a £4,000 fine to warning notices being issued.

The new legislation however will not make it compulsory to inform the patient or their family of any mishaps, so they may not be aware of any mistakes in their medical care. Some may question if this is ethically correct but it will most certainly result in less NHS complaints than if patients and their families are notified.

From October 2010 adult social care and private healthcare will be covered by the new legislation, with dental practices following in April 2011 followed by doctors’ surgeries by April 2012.

Once the NPSA has received the information about an incident they will pass it on to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) who regulate and monitor medical treatment and adult social care, enabling them to intervene quicker if they believe their may be issues. 

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