National evaluation of harm associated with patient safety incident reports related to the provision of parenteral nutrition to patients, using a national incident reporting system

Background: Parenteral nutrition (PN)-related patient safety incidents have been associated with harm. Large-scale studies are scarce, and little is known about contributory factors. This study evaluated PN-related incident reports that described harm using a national database.

Materials and methods: A retrospective evaluation of incident reports involving PN in England and Wales reported to the National Reporting and Learning System between 2015 and 2020. We described frequency by degree of reported harm and incident characteristics. Content analysis was undertaken to understand contributory factors for reports related to moderate/severe harm or death.

Results: 12,907 incident reports were identified. After screening, 2242 were evaluated; 1879 (83.8%) reported no harm, 309 (13.8%) low harm, 47 (0.02%) moderate harm, 4 (0.002%) severe harm, 3 (0.001%) deaths. The most reported age group, medication process, and error category were neonates (<28 days) (n = 570/1923, 29.6%), administration (n = 1126/2242, 50%), and omitted medication/ingredient (n = 291/2242, 13%), respectively. Content analysis of reports related to moderate/severe harm and death revealed patient age of <1 year, dependence on home PN (HPN), comorbidities, and staff errors as contributory factors.

Conclusions: This is the first evaluation of PN-related incident reports in England and Wales to our knowledge. We demonstrated a low frequency of reports related to moderate or severe harm or death. More incidents were reported for neonates and during the administration processes. To reduce harm, systems/procedures that reduce errors in high-risk patients (eg, neonates, patients receiving HPN) need to be established within organizations. Database limitations of voluntary reporting systems were recognized.