How safe is health care?


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Harm in hospitals on the rise or so it’s reported

By CAROL NADER, HEALTH REPORTER
PATIENTS were harmed in almost 340,000 admissions to Australian hospitals last financial year because of medical errors and other mishaps.

More than 218,000 of those incidents occurred after patients underwent surgery or another procedure in a hospital and suffered an "abnormal" reaction or complication, according to a report to be released today.

Adverse reactions to medication occurred in more than 90,000 admissions. And in more than 66,000 admissions, patients suffered complications from artificial limbs and implants.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report shows the number of admissions in which these incidents occurred rose by 20,000 in the past year - from 319,321 in 2003-04 to 339,551 in 2004-05.

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Last updated: 14 August, 2009
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