Written question asked by Jonathan Ashworth (Labour) on Monday, 26 February 2018, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 1 March 2018 (named day). It was answered by Caroline Dinenage (Conservative) on Thursday, 1 March 2018 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Pressure Sores

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) number and (b) rate was of hospital acquired pressure ulcers in the NHS in each of the last eight years; and if he will publish the most recent figures by region.

Answer

Patient safety remains a key priority of this Government. While there are various tools and mechanisms for reporting pressure ulcers in the National Health Service, the data is not held in the format requested and therefore the most recent figures cannot be published by region.

However, the NHS Safety Thermometer is a point prevalence survey used to record the presence or absence of four harms including pressure ulcers which have developed 72 hours or more following admission or have deteriorated following admission.

Data reports from the NHS Safety Thermometer dating back to August 2012 show a downward trend in incidents of pressure ulcers reported by hospitals from 1.3% in August 2012, to 0.9% in January 2018, the most recent data.

NHS Safety Thermometer Dashboard

Reported Pressure Ulcers	Percentage
January 2018	0.9
March 2017	1.0
March 2016	0.9
March 2015	1.0
March 2014	1.0
March 2013	1.3
August 2012	1.3

Source:

https://www.safetythermometer.nhs.uk/index.php/classic-thermometer/analyse-data-classic/dashboard-classic

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 129761
Session: 2017-19
Subjects: Hospitals Pressure sores
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk

Pressure Sores

Secondary information

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