Bosses: Safety is the top priority.

RICHARD KENNEDY, medical director of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire, said: "To put our number of SUIs in context, as a Trust we have 800,000 episodes of care a year including major trauma cases." "However we cannot be complacent which is why last year we also instigated a Put Patient Safety First campaign which aims to reduce the incidents which cause harm to our patients." Glen Burley, chief executive at South Warwickshire General

Hospitals, said around three quarters of its incidents related to mandatory reports such as outbtreaks of the C. difficile superbug.

"The Trust has made patient safety its highest priority and has pledged it's commitment to the National Patient Safety Campaign as well as participating in the NHS Institute's Leadership Improvement in Patient Safety (LIPS) programme," he said.

Ray Steingold, medical director at George Eliot Hospital, said: "The quality of care our patients receive is our top priority." "Significant reductions in our infection rates and our mortality rate provide strong evidence that our patient safety strategy, including the reporting of incidents, is helping to improve the quality of care local people receive."

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EXPLANATIONS .... Glen Burley, Richard Kennedy and Ray Steingold