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<p>We do not hold information on the number of patient safety incidents that have
occurred in England in each year since 2000. Patient Safety Incidents occurring in
the National Health Service are reported to the National Reporting and Learning System
(NRLS) whose primary purpose is to enable learning from patient safety incidents.
The NRLS was established in late 2003 as a largely voluntary scheme for reporting
patient safety incidents, and therefore it does not provide the definitive number
of patient safety incidents occurring in the NHS. However, from 1 April 2010 it became
mandatory for all providers registered with the Care Quality Commission (including
all NHS trusts and foundation trusts) in England to report all serious patient safety
incidents to the Care Quality Commission. To avoid duplication of reporting, providers
of NHS services are encouraged to report all incidents resulting in death or severe
harm to the NRLS which then reports them to the Care Quality Commission.</p><p> </p><p>
</p><p> </p><p>At present, more than 100,000 patient safety incidents (including those
resulting in no harm) are reported to the NRLS each month. However, these data are
collated on a quarterly, rather than monthly basis. Detailed breakdowns on incidents
reported are published twice-yearly and can be accessed via the following link:</p><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><a href="http://www.nrls.npsa.nhs.uk/resources/collections/quarterly-data-summaries/"
target="_blank">http://www.nrls.npsa.nhs.uk/resources/collections/quarterly-data-summaries/</a></p><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The most recent spreadsheet providing quarterly data for the
number of patient safety incidents reported to the NRLS from October 2003 to June
2014 is attached.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The NRLS is a dynamic reporting system,
and the number of incidents recorded as occurring at any point in time may increase
as a greater proportion of incidents are reported. Experience in other industries
has shown that as an organisation’s reporting culture matures, staff become more likely
to report incidents.</p><p> </p>
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