Medication errors, falls, and a case of delayed treatment where a patient permanently lost their eyesight were some of the adverse events recorded by the Hawke's Bay DHB in the year to June 2016.
Hawke's Bay Hospital chief medical and dental officer Dr John Gommans said that although patients were harmed, it was only through learning from these events that the risk of others being harmed could be reduced.
From June 2015 to June 2016, two medication errors, four falls and injuries resulting in fractures, two cases of delayed diagnosis and two cases of delayed treatment were among those recorded in the HB DHB serious adverse event report.
In one case of delayed treatment, caused by a booking error by relieving staff, a patient suffered a "non-reversible loss of vision".
Four patients suffered bone fractures with causes ranging from being injured while being moved out of a scanner to slippery flooring.