The Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) has added data about serious injuries caused during treatment at private hospitals to its regularly published statistics.
Figures from PHIN also showed that 156,000 more patients received private treatment in the latest 12-month period available – a 21% rise.
A total of 734,000 people across the UK received private healthcare treatment from 1 October 2020 to the end of September 2021, up from 577,800 between July 2020 and the end of June 2021.
Serious injury data
The serious injury figures relate to the most serious incidents which are reportable by law to health regulators such as the Care Quality Commission, the PHIN said.
These are defined as permanent injuries to a patients’ bodily, sensory, motor, physiologic or intellectual functions, and may include injuries such as permanent damage to vision or nerves, removal of the wrong limb or organ, or brain damage.
On its website the PHIN added: “Serious injuries that cause severe harm tend to be uncommon, and many hospitals will not have any instances where a patient has experienced severe harm over the course of a year.
“If a hospital has a high rate of serious injuries, you may want to ask what preventative measures the hospital has to stop them from happening again.”
The first edition of the figures show there were 22 instances where patients sustained serious injuries while receiving private treatment across the UK during the 12-months to the end of September 2021.
Incidents up as patient numbers rise
The regular data release also showed there had been 317 patient deaths either during their hospital stay or as a result of their treatment during the period – up slightly from 308 in the year to the end of June 2021.
A similar moderate increase was seen in return to theatre numbers when a patient develops complications following an operation and has to go back to surgery unexpectedly.
This grew from 630 in the year to 30 June 2021 to 663 in the year to the end of September.
Likewise, unplanned transfers rose to 611 from 573, and unplanned readmissions rose to 1,066 from 965.
PHIN chief executive Matt James said: “The availability of good data is vital to learning and improvement, and this publication represents another step toward real transparency on safety and outcomes.
“It is too early to draw any meaningful conclusions from comparisons between providers or with the NHS.
“We applaud those hospitals that have provided complete data, and encourage those who have not to do so.
“As a patient, I would insist on being treated in a hospital that reports openly on its care and can show how data is used to improve safety and quality. It is easy to find those hospitals on PHIN’s website.”