NGPod a Guiding Light in Safety

In the UK, there were 2,397 incidents relating to incorrect nasogastric tube placement between August 2005 and February 2008, resulting in 6 deaths.

Despite numerous NPSA stage 1 and 2 safety alerts, 28 serious incidents were recorded between April 2017 – March 2018. This trend is set to continue this year, with 7 ‘Never Events’ already recorded between April and June 2018 (NHS Improvement)

In the US, nearly 500,000 tubes (NG and PEG) are misplaced every year. Between 1993 and 2014, there were 1750 malpractice cases relating to placement of tubes.

In the UK and US, between 2-4% of all tubes are misplaced.