Labour is planning to get emerging medical technology into the
NHS faster, as thousands of patients are revealed to have been
injured by malfunctioning equipment. Freedom of information
requests reveal that almost 7,000 adverse incidents were caused
by faulty equipment in A&E departments in the past
five years.
An adverse incident is the technical term for an event that
causes unexpected or unwanted effects involving the safety of
patients and staff.
Last year, at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals
NHS Foundation alone, faulty equipment injured 75
people in the emergency department.
The prevalence of dysfunctional equipment is a pressing issue
across the NHS. Last year, amid the longest NHS waiting lists for
treatment on record, 5,700 operations were cancelled due to
equipment failure.
Labour’s plans to get cutting-edge technology into the NHS faster
include:
- Allowing the NHS to bulk buy the latest technology, so
innovators aren’t forced to sell into each 227 NHS trusts and
products can be purchased for cheaper rates
- Cutting unnecessary red tape that requires new technology to
be re-evaluated by several different bodies
- Joining up data records so it is easier and faster to recruit
patients to trials for new medicines and technologies
, Labour’s Shadow Health
Secretary, said:
“13 years of Conservative mismanagement has left the NHS with
outdated and creaking equipment. NHS staff are forced to work
with unsuitable tech, while patients receive worse care as a
result.
“It’s time for an upgrade. Labour will renew the NHS, pull it
into the digital age, and make the service fit for the future.”
Ends
Notes
- All data from freedom of information requests submitted to
NHS Trusts in England in February 2023 which asked:
i) The number of adverse incidents caused
by faulty equipment in your emergency department
ii) The number of deaths caused
by faulty equipment in your emergency department
The
request received 50 responses out of 138 acute trusts, a response
rate of 36%.
-
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/dec/12/nhs-operations-cancelled-england-staff-shortages-doubles-three-years
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/estates-returns-information-collection/england-2021-22
