Hospital bosses have defended figures which show 13 people suffered serious injuries following incorrect treatment.

The figures emerged after the Gazette put in a Freedom of Information Act request for details of patients affected by incorrect treatment.

Colchester General Hospital has revealed that there were 22 cases classed as serious' in 2006/07 including nine where the patient died, although the Trust medical director Dr Marion Wood said these people were already gravely ill and were expected to die.

She said: "These were all people who were expected to die and, while the incidents did not help, they could not have prevented the patient's death."

Dr Wood added that in the cases involving serious injuries, patients suffered short-term severe side effects from incorrect treatment, but all soon made a full recovery.

A further 122 cases were recorded as near misses where an incident occurred which could have resulted in injury but, fortunately, did not.

During the same period a further two people died or were seriously injured as a result of medication being wrongly administered and there were 43 near misses'.

Dr Wood explained: "Incorrect treatment could be anything from a delay in treating the patient to a procedure being carried out incorrectly.

"With medication, it could be that the wrong type has been administered or the wrong amount."

But she added each year the Trust treats around 250,000 people as outpatients, performs 28,000 to 30,000 operations and sees around 95,000 patients in accident and emergency.

She said: "I have confidence in the staff here to report incidents and in the healthcare we deliver but I'm not so arrogant that I say we don't make mistakes."

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