Surgeon ‘removed kidney from the wrong patient’, we read this and similar news so often and wonder how this can ever happen? Patients rightfully expect safe care, and health care providers work to provide care that results in better health and safe outcomes for patients. Unfortunately, events that harm patients do occur while care is being provided or as a result of that care.
Many of these events that cause harm are preventable using current knowledge and practices. "Never events" are patient safety incidents that result in serious patient harm or death, and are preventable using organizational checks and balances. In other words “never events” are errors in medical care that are clearly identifiable, preventable, and serious in their consequences for patients caused during the delivery of health care because safety protocols have not been followed and that indicate a real problem in…
