A study reveals that one in 20 doctors suffers from medical errors in a hospital setting

Sometimes errors are inevitable and can occur due to lack of information. Errors are common. However, according to this international study, about half of these errors could have been eliminated, about 12% of these treatment and surgical treatment errors were serious or even fatal, and as many as six errors out of seven are reported, which is why could indicate that these numbers might be low.

Errors in judgment, human error and unpredictable bad reactions can never be fully taken into account, as they will never be eliminated 100%, but the goal of medicine is to get as close as possible. However, according to this study, which badyzed more than 335,000 patient records, we are far from that.

The mistake is human, but in a hospital, this can be devastating. According to this international study, more than 8% of patients in the world are injured by medical errors and half of them are preventable, 12% of them being fatal or causing permanent disability.

In America, unintentional deaths in general are the third the leading legal cause of death, experts suggest that in 2016, medical errors constituted a large part of 174,902 Americans die every year of medical errors.

"It's a reminder that, 20 years after our awareness of patient safety issues, the number of preventable health care injuries continues to be unacceptable, causing a tremendous burden of unnecessary suffering and even death at home. the patients", said Dr. Albert Wu of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

"This is one of the largest studies ever conducted on the frequency and severity of patient harm," Wu said. "And this proves that this damage occurs in all medical care settings. This is a problem that requires our attention. "

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Errors include a variety of causes ranging from anything unpredictable, such as bad reactions to medications, to large surgical mistakes such as the wrong operation on a patient.

Patients trust doctors and medical providers to do no harm, and most do just that, but the numbers are shocking.

As recently published in the BMJ this study revealed that out of 337,025 patients seen between 2000 and 1919, nurses and referring physicians had made errors in 6% of the cases, ie 20,221.5 people. 28,150 negative impacts were observed, of which 15,419 were preventable, of which 49% were benign, 36% were moderate and 12% were considered severe. 49% of the damage was due to medication-related and other therapies, 23% to surgical procedure-related injuries and 16% to medical infections and problems with the diagnosis.

Researchers at the University of Manchester have noted that in their new study, about half as many people report having suffered from the medical treatment process than those who suffer from chronic diseases in developed countries. and these numbers are probably underestimated.

W.H.O considers that the social, physiological and psychological damage caused by medical errors rests on the shoulders of nurses and doctors, with the consequent incapacity and death; and although hospitals are legally required to report errors occurring while a patient is being cared for, this does not mean that the standard is strictly adhered to. This requires that all nurses and physicians recognize their mistakes, which can sometimes be fatal. Previous research indicates that nearly 6 out of 7 medical errors are not reported in America alone. This means that, in all likelihood, the numbers in this study are low.

Based on their badysis, the team estimates that about half of the infections, psychological trauma, injuries, and other errors could have been avoided, as most hospital-based errors involved a wrong medication or other treatment, or surgical error. With 12% of patients dying as a result of these errors, researchers are echoing proposals to strengthen patient safety and accountability.

"Our findings confirm that preventable harm to patients is a serious problem in health care facilities," they wrote.

"We need strategies in place to detect and correct the leading causes of harm to patients in health care. Our study shows that most of the damage is drug-related, and this is a central area where preventative strategies could focus. " said Maria Panagioti.

The researchers concluded that "1 in 20 patients is exposed to preventable damage in medical care ", and suggest a strong need for better procedures to avoid obvious but potentially fatal errors such as treatment errors, and to ensure that nurses and referring physicians are truly innocent when their mistakes hurt patients.