DANGERS TO patients are to be investigated by a new research partnership which aims to make GP and hospital visits safer.

The Scottish Patient Safety Research Network was launched yesterday and will study the causes of so-called “adverse events”, incidents such as being prescribed wrong or harmful doses of drugs.

The network, a collaboration between Aberdeen, Dundee and St Andrews universities, will also research solutions and has been given £1.5 million from the Scottish Funding Council and £1 million from the universities.

An estimated 85,000 adverse events occur in Scotland each year, costing the country an estimated £200 million, and around half are preventable.

Medication errors account for one third and other examples include hospital acquired infections, wrong site surgery, hospital falls, radiation errors or patient identification mistakes.

St Andrews professor Huw Davies, said, “We need to understand the organisationl and professional contexts within which these unfortunate events occur so that we are better able to design safer systems.”

Dundee professor Peter Davey added, “The NHS in Scotland has unique information resources but using these to improve patient safety presents undeniable challenges for preserving confidentiality.

“The Patient Safety Research Network will enable us to work with the public and professionals to build secure systems that make it easier to do the right thing.”