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Pressure ulcers, negligence and litigation

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Pressure ulcers, negligence and litigation

Cathaie Bree-Aslan, Daniel Bennet, Fiona Downie, Richard White
19 March 2015

In October 2014, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced: “Last year the UK NHS spent £1.3bn on payouts after being sued by patients over care errors” (BBC, 2014). Among the areas of poor patient safety highlighted by the Department of Health (DH) is the issue of bed ulcers. Mr Hunt’s words will mark the start of a poster campaign warning staff about the financial problems that basic errors can cause. The Health Secretary argues that it would be wrong to set targets or “issue a new ministerial decree” in an effort to cut out such problems — instead he favours a “cultural change” to make hospitals safer.