Type and impact of clinical incidents identified by a voluntary reporting system covering 130 small animal practices in mainland Europe

Abstract

Background Veterinary healthcare can be a complex process and may lead to unwanted, potentially harmful patient safety incidents as a consequence, negatively impacting both the practice team and client satisfaction. The aim of this study was to identify how such incidents impact cats and dogs by analysing reports gathered in a large-scale voluntary incident reporting system. Methods Descriptive statistical analysis was used to study a total of 2155 incident reports, submitted by 130 practices on mainland Europe. Results Incidents caused harm in more than 40% of reports. Medication-related incidents were the most frequent type of incident recorded (40%). Treatment-related incidents were the most common type of incident causing patient harm (55%). Anaesthesia-related incidents were the most severe type of incident, resulting in patient death in 18% of these reports. Most incidents were reported from hospital wards, and a significantly higher proportion of cats were harmed by incidents compared to dogs. Conclusion This study demonstrates that patients are regularly harmed by incidents, with medication-related incidents being most common. In depth understanding of incident data can help develop interventions to reduce the risk of incident recurrence.

Published in

Veterinary Record
2022, Volume: 191, number: 2, article number: e1629Publisher: WILEY

SLU Authors

• Bergström, Annika

  • Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Anicura Albano Small Animal Hospital

UKÄ Subject classification

Clinical Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/vetr.1629

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/116828