There was a 6 per cent increase in serious incidents within the HSE last year - with most resulting in a patient’s death or serious harm.
According to freedom of information figures, there were 636 serious reportable events within the HSE in 2018, rising to 675 last year.
In 2019, 286 were ‘care-management events’, which include a patient’s death due to a medication or diagnostic error, or a maternal death that was the hospital’s fault. 336 were ‘environmental events’.
These all involved a patient falling and dying or getting seriously injured as a result.
23 were ‘criminal events’, which include sexual assaults or serious physical attacks.
