A REPORT has revealed the highest number of serious incidents ever reported by those in charge of healthcare in north Essex.

A total of 773 incidents – more than two every day – were reported to health bosses in 2014/15.

There are also 289 still under investigation from previous years – again the highest ever.

A serious incident is recorded when something goes wrong or needs to be investigated after concerns are raised.

Of the serious incidents, 55 involved unexpected deaths at mental health units.

Treatment of pressure ulcers accounted for more than a quarter of incidents, most of which were reported by the Anglian Community Enterprise.

Colchester General Hospital is running at a rate of one serious incident reported each day – 368 last year.

More than 200 of these were confirmed after initial investigations.

A spokesman for Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust said it encouraged staff to report incidents in a bid to help it improve quality and safety.

He added: “We aspire to be a learning organisation, so it is essential incidents are investigated and where we could have performed better we learn from them.

“The reduction in the number of serious incidents in the second half of 2014/15 is evidence of learning from incidents to prevent further harm.”

There were also six confirmed so-called “never events”, with another four still being investigated.

They included four times when medical items were left inside patients, two in maternity involving gauze swabs, one in plastics and one in orthopaedics.

The other two were in ophthalmology when the wrong eye was injected and the wrong implant inserted in another case.

Last year, investigations concluded changes to procedures were needed to stop the same things happening again in 137 cases.

Another 85 cases required staff to have better training, with about 100 requiring better communication or record keeping in order to avoid the same happening in the future.

The figures are included in a report to the North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group’s board which meets at the Long Meadows Community Centre, Dovercourt, from 2.30pm on Tuesday.

A spokeman for the North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group said: “All deaths of patients under the care of mental health services are categorises as unexpected. NHS England oversees deaths reported and each death undergoes a rigorous investigation to ensure lessons and actions are identified and shared across the economy, particularly if the death was related to the care.”