Pressures over hospital budgets and targets may be damaging safety in operating theatres, a survey suggests.
About one in five of the nearly 600 surgeons questioned by Bournemouth University reported being involved in incidents, during a two-week period, where patients were harmed.
Many complained of having to operate on patients they had not seen before, or a lack of time for complex operations.
The government says “a culture of micromanagement” has endangered safety.
A total of 549 general surgeons responded to the online questionnaire - about one in four members of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland.
Of these 40% said they had been involved in an untoward event where a patient was nearly harmed, and a further 19% where there was actual harm, during the two-week period covered by the survey.
Read more at BBC Health.
Tags: Patient safety, Targets
