Basildon and Southend hospitals have among the highest number of ‘serious incidents’ recorded, according to new figures.

A Freedom of Information request, carried out by Blackwater Law, found that more than 40,000 ‘serious incidents’ had been recorded in 242 NHS Trusts across the country.

They found from 27 NHS Trusts in the East of England, Basildon and Southend Hospitals ranked among the top, with Basildon in 7th place and Southend in 4th place.

Basildon had 109 serious incidents recorded between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017 while Southend had 130 in the same time frame.

Although no standard definition of a ‘serious incidents’ exists, they are considered to be adverse events whereby the consequences to patients and NHS organisations are so significant that a heightened level of response and investigation is justified.

These can include incidents such as medical negligence claims and birth injury claims - such as cerebral palsy.

In light of these figures, both hospitals said they adopt an “open and honest culture” and they are committed to providing safe care for their patients.

Denise Townsend, director of nursing at Southend Hospital, said: “Southend University Hospital is absolutely committed to providing safe and effective care for every patient using our services and we actively promote a culture of openness and honesty with regard to reporting issues and incidents.

“When a serious incident does occur, we undertake a root cause analysis to understand how the issue arose and what we can do to prevent the same thing happening again.

“We continue to display our positive reporting culture and the latest information from the National Reporting and Learning system (NRLS) confirm we continue to have high reporting levels with lower levels of harm than nationally reported.”

A spokesman for Basildon Hospital said: “Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is committed to providing all its patents with safe, high quality treatment and care.

“There is strong international evidence that the safest hospitals are those which have an open and honest culture, where staff feel comfortable about raising issues and reporting incidents.

“It is only when this happens that we can investigate and learn lessons, which helps reduce the risk of the same thing happening again.

“Our open and transparent reporting has been commended by our regulators and recognised as good practice.”

Out of the 27 NHS Trusts, Norfolk Community Health and Care Trust came highest with 276 ‘serious incidents’.