- Cymraeg
- English
 |
Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal DemocratsRepresenting Aberavon, Bridgend, Gower, Neath, Ogmore, Port Talbot, and Swansea |
 |
20,000 injuries to staff cost NHS at least £16 million
March 12, 2009 12:00 AM
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have discovered that injuries to staff have cost the Welsh health service at least £16 million over the past three years.
Figures requested by the Welsh Liberal Democrats show that for five trusts able to provide estimates the total bill for staff injuries is £16 million. Other NHS trusts were unable to give figures so the Wales-wide total is expected to be considerably higher. A total of over 20,000 injuries were sustained by staff across the NHS in Wales.
In January this year the Welsh Liberal Democrats uncovered a backlog of £468 million in hospital repairs, including £74 million classified as 'high risk'. Many NHS buildings do not comply with statutory requirements on safety. The cost of complying with statutory and safety requirements (including fire safety) is estimated to be £174 million,
Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Minister, Peter Black AM, said:
"Workplace injuries are unfortunately never going to be eliminated and will always occur especially in an environment such as a hospital. The risk is compounded however by the fact that a number of hospitals are not fully health and safety or fire compliant.
"We need to be reassured that lessons are being learnt from all these incidents, whether the victims are patients or staff. There must be an open and compulsory reporting method and a proper health and safety assessment after any major incident. If we do not have transparency and accountability then we will not get improvement."
"Welsh Liberal Democrats would also like to see the prioritisation of investment towards the worst health and safety issues. When compared to the annual spend on buildings in the NHS estate the bill to rectify these problems is small. It is just a matter of political will."
ENDS
Notes:
Total Number of Injuries is as follows:
Abertawe Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust
2006 to 2008 - 3,310
Cardiff and Vales NHS Trust
2006 to 2008 - 5,011
Cwm Taf NHS Trust
2006/07 - 724
2007/08 - 587
2008/09 (To date) - 413
Gwent NHS Trust
2006 - 1,564
2007 - 1,533
2008 - 1,302
North Wales NHS Trust
2006 - 2,004
2007 - 1,729
2008 - 1,536
North West Wales NHS Trust
2006 to 2008 - 39
Velindre NHS Trust
2006 - 13
2007 - 11
2008 - 14
Welsh Ambulance Service
2006/07 - 260
2007/08 - 231
2008/09 (To date) - 146
WALES WIDE TOTAL: 20,427
Total estimated cost is as follows:
Abertawe Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust
2006 - £740,000
2007 - £810,000
2008 - £545,000
Cwm Taf NHS Trust
2006 to 2008 - £9,100,000
Gwent NHS Trust
2006 - £136,704
2007 - £165,813
2008 - £108,135
North West Wales NHS Trust
2006 to 2008 - £155,954
Welsh Ambulance Service
2006/07 - £1,484,761
2007/08 - £1,551,096
2008/09 (To date) - £1,192,720
WALES WIDE TOTAL: £15,990,183
It is important to note that the systems used by the NHS Trusts in Wales for recording and measuring information are not generic and trusts did not detail whether this information included agency staff. Not all trusts provided information and only five trusts were able to provide estimated costs. Please also note that some Trusts provided figures for calendar years and others for financial years.
All figures are therefore to be treated as estimates only.
What would you like to do next?
-
Subscribe for updates
Follow the party's activity on...
- Twitter:
- Liberal Democrats
- Facebook:
- Liberal Democrats
- YouTube:
- Liberal Democrats
-
Help out or donate
-
Tell us what you think