|
NHS trust
boss defends reputation after "shocking" mental health
patient death data
April
22, 2009
by Chris George
......
The
chief executive of the NHS trust with the largest number of reported
mental health patient deaths over a six-month period has defended
his organisation's reputation.
National
Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) figures show there are an average of
four deaths a day of people in NHS mental health settings in England.
Kent
and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust reported it had
57 “mental health setting” patient deaths over the April
to September 2008 period -
the highest rate of an NHS trust in England.
But Erville Millar, chief executive of Kent and Medway NHS and Social
Care Partnership Trust, said there were “significant flaws”
in how the NPSA data has been published.
"The data do not take into consideration the geographical size
of trusts or the size of the population they serve,” he said.
"Larger trusts are much more likely to have reported more incidents.
"The
statistics do not take into consideration the nature of services
provided or of the deaths. Any death is sad and should be thoroughly
looked into, but some are not related to a person's mental illness.
"Also,
when you look at the reporting culture figures for our trust, it
shows our reporting culture is twice as strong as average.
"This
will naturally mean more incidents are recorded. We need consistent
standards for collection and presentation of data before we can
assess the real position for all trusts.”
The NPSA, set up in 2001, encourages NHS trusts to report safety
incidents. Staff are now “more likely than ever” to
report such incidents, says the NPSA.
NPSA figures - which do not include those from private organisations
- reveal 1,282 people in England died in "patient safety incidents
in mental health settings" from 2007-08.
NPSA data also showed another 913 patients suffered "severe
harm, or permanent injuries” in such incidents.
The figures include patients who died from self-harm, including
suicide, aggressive behaviour, medication safety errors and accidents.
But
it is not specified how many deaths fell into each category.
Campaigners
claim the high death rates are “shocking”.
"“It's
a scandal that four people a day are dying while under the care
of the NHS, and nearly three a day are ending up seriously harmed,"
said Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman.
The party had uncovered the statistics by analysing reports sent
by every hospital trust in England to the NPSA.
"There's discrimination in the system that disadvantages the
mentally ill,” he added.
Paul Corry of the mental health charity Rethink said the majority
of the 1,282 deaths were likely to be suicides.
The NPSA report on patient safety incidents during the April-September
2008 period showed that 627 people died in 64,353 mental health-related
patient safety incidents.
A Department of Health spokeswoman told journalists: "It would
be irresponsible to draw conclusions from this data without knowing
the details of each case.
"But we do know that safety on mental health wards is improving.
"Suicides have been radically reduced, from 215 in 1997 to
under 150 now."
Last year acute psychiatric wards were described as “frightening
and dangerous” by the Mental Health Act Commission.
National
Patient Safety Agency organisational patient safety incident reports
See also:
Big
issues - Wards
Add your
comments
What
do you think? Email your comments on the above
article to the editor using the form below. Selected comments will
be displayed.
© 2001-7 Psychminded Limited. All
rights reserved
Email
a colleague
about this article
|
|
