Trips and falls are commonest cause of patient safety incidents in NHS

Trips and falls are the commonest causes of patient safety incidents reported by NHS organisations in England and Wales, show the latest figures from the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA). Figures for England show an increase in reports of incidents, while there has been a decrease in Wales. Less than 1% of incidents led to severe harm or death.

Information on patient safety incidents is collected on a confidential basis as part of the National Reporting and Learning System, which then analyses information and feeds back to NHS organisations. The reporting system is voluntary, …