- The WHO states that each year there are 2.6 million deaths caused by medical failure.
- These types of mistakes can also have legal repercussions and lead to a medical malpractice lawsuit.
- Performing surgery on the wrong part of the body is the most common failure in the operating room.
To become a health professional requires years of study and training. In fact, learning never ends because it is necessary to be constantly updating knowledge. But something that should not be forgotten is that those in charge of caring for patients are people. Therefore, although no one wants it, at any time they can commit medical errors of various magnitudes.
With the above in mind, preparation is not enough but aspects such as attention to detail and concentration must also prevail. Due to the nature of the work, any carelessness increases the risk of mistakes.
The truth is that in most cases these types of failures are not on purpose and are even generated by external factors. But regardless of the cause, medical errors are quite serious and can seriously affect patients.
Irreparable consequences of medical errors
To get an idea of the impact, the World Health Organization (WHO) points out that each year this type of failure causes 2.6 million deaths. In addition, there are 138 million people who are affected by various types and although some are temporary, others may become irreversible.
Now, even if all the measures are taken at any time, the medical errors. Something as recurrent as the fatigue caused by the guards is enough to leave health workers exposed.
Similarly, when hospitals have old and obsolete equipment, it is difficult to offer optimal service to patients. Although if there is a failure in any machine, it is immediately holds the attending physician responsible.
In this sense, the WHO itself points out that the three main medical errors that are reported and in which the doctors have a direct responsibility are: failures in the diagnosis, in the prescription of treatments and making an inappropriate use of the drugs that are prescribed to patients.
In a more practical way, some examples of this type of error can be seen in the application of medications by routes that are not indicated; errors in blood transfusions or obtaining x-rays and mistakes in indicating which limb should be amputated or which side of the brain should be operated on.
Even in the best hospitals in the world, failures occur
On the other hand, within the operating room is where more failures tend to occur. Although there is the idea that they are only generated in low-income countries, in reality this is not the case. As an example, the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) reported that a total of 379 medical negligence called ‘Never Events’ between April 1, 2021 and February 28, 2022.
The service defines the term as “serious, largely preventable patient safety incidents that should not occur if healthcare providers have implemented existing national guidelines or safety recommendations.”
What was obtained is that the most frequent medical negligence in this period of time was surgery performed on the wrong part of the body. The records reveal a range of severity and include details of how one patient had her ovaries removed when the surgical plan was to preserve them. While another patient had surgery on the wrong eye and others had skin tags and hemorrhoids removed when another surgery was intended.
Similarly, a total of 90 foreign objects accidentally left in the body after a procedure were recorded. They range from a scalpel blade to part of a pair of wire cutters. Part of a drill was also reported that had not been identified as missing at the time of the procedure. The most commonly seen items left on patients were 31 vaginal swabs as well as 19 surgical swabs.
As for the injections, 27 were given in the wrong part of the body. Of these, the highest number recorded was six incidents of injections in the wrong eye. Meanwhile, there were also 11 incisions in the wrong part of the body, presumably where the surgeons had started the process before realizing they were cutting in the wrong place.
For now, we share the complete list with the most frequent avoidable medical errors in hospitals. Now the important thing is to have the necessary preparation so that this type of situation never happens to you.