Patients alarmed by headlines in some papers proclaiming that drug errors by hospitals had doubled since 2006 no doubt wondered what was going on. Careless reporting is the simple answer.

What has actually doubled since 2006 are reports of medication errors, a very different thing. Such mistakes have long been a part of medical practice everywhere, but it is unlikely they are actually increasing. What has increased, as a result of pressure by the National Patient Safety Agency, is the willingness of hospitals to report them.

That ought to be welcomed, not used as another stick with which to beat the NHS. Since, even now, the actual number of reported incidents remains a small fraction of the total, the reported numbers seem likely to go on rising, probably for a decade or more, as reported figures get closer to the real ones. So far, almost nothing is reported from general practice, where a huge number of errors are made, and quickly covered up - wrong diagnoses, late diagnoses, drug interactions, wrong prescriptions, inappropriate referrals, you name it and GPs do it, usually inadvertantly.

Once NPSA starts to get a grip on this, there is likely to be an explosion of reports, so journalists ought to start covering the story accurately so everybody can understand what is going on. The Guardian and The Times did the best job on this occasion. 

Government departments get a fair amount of stick on this website, so I'm happy to declare on this occasion that the NPSA is doing what needs to be done, and deserves a more mature recognition of the fact.