While the total number of adverse events reported by Connecticut hospitals declined in 2016, sexual assaults against patients and staff surged 140 percent, according to a report from Connecticut Department of Public Health cited by WNPR.
The report shows medical errors dropped from 456 in 2015 to 431 in 2016. Over the same period, sexual assaults in healthcare settings increased from 10 to 24. Among the 24 instances of sexual assault, 22 occurred in acute care hospitals, seven involved staff assaulting a patient, two involved a patient assaulting staff, 10 were patient-to-patient assaults and five were attributed to unknown perpetrators against a patient.
The rise in sexual assaults could be partially attributable to hospital employees feeling more comfortable reporting these occurrences, Mary Cooper, MD, vice president and chief quality officer of the Connecticut Hospital Association, told WNPR.
"Zero sexual assaults is, obviously, where we want to be," Dr. Cooper said. "We are really promoting people coming forward and talking about these things. More reporting is always better because it lets us get to the root of what's going on."
Among reported adverse events, pressure ulcers remained the most common, despite a 19 percent decline. In 2015, Connecticut hospitals and health systems reported 230 pressure ulcers, compared to 186 in 2016.
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