Third of X-ray incidents involve wrong patient

One third of X-ray and radiological incidents involve the wrong patient, the Healthcare Commission has warned today.

The health watchdog said ionising radiation can save lives but it can cause harm and in extreme cases can increase the risk of cancer.

Most of the incidents reported to the Healthcare Commission were of a low dose and carried little risk to patients but a third of X-ray incidents (80 in total) involved CT scanning, where radiation doses are at the upper end of the diagnostic spectrum.

A third of the errors occurred when X-rays and other diagnostic examinations were carried out on the wrong patient.

In radiotherapy, where doses are higher, patient identification was not an issue.

The Healthcare Commission report also found that the reporting of incidents is patchy.

During the study period, November 2006 to December 2007, a total of 329 incidents were reported.

Some NHS trusts reported no incidents while others reported up to 18.

“We applaud those trusts that have reported incidents to us ? this shows that they have systems in place for identifying when things go wrong and this is the first step in learning from mistakes,” said Healthcare Commission chief executive Anna Walker.