Wight hospital air error put patient 'at risk of death'

A hospital patient was put at risk of severe harm or death when they were connected to an airflow meter instead of oxygen.

The mistake happened as the patient was being moved between wards at St Mary's Hospital, Isle of Wight, last month.

It was immediately corrected by another staff member and the patient was not harmed, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

In the last five years, two people have died in similar incidents in England.

The mistake was classed as a "never event" - a serious, entirely preventable incident that should never have happened.

Isle of Wight NHS Trust's director of nursing, Alice Webster, said: "The error was immediately corrected within a matter of seconds by another member of staff who connected the correct oxygen tube. At no time did the patient come to any harm.

"We welcome the fact that staff felt confident to report such an incident to senior management so that we are able to change our processes to prevent this happening again."

Medical air is used to help convert medication into an aerosol and is used in the treatment of respiratory diseases.

The National Reporting and Learning System - a database of patient safety incident reports - has logged more than 200 similar incidents in England since 2013 resulting in moderate or no harm, but two patients died and two others were severely harmed.

Last month's incident is the first "never event" on the Isle of Wight in three years.