Patient Safety Alert

National Patient Safety Alert: Patient hoists and slings (all types): risk of death and serious harm from falls (NatPSA/2026/005/MHRA)

Issued 16 Sep 2026 · NatPSA/2026/005/MHRA

Read and act on the official notice on GOV.UK

The MHRA's summary

Fatal and serious harm continues to occur when patients fall from hoists or slings during transfers and repositioning. A review of recent incidents with a fatal outcome and wider surveillance data shows an average of two deaths per year since 2015.

MHRA's audience tags: Anaesthetics, Care home staff, Critical care, Emergency medicine, Neurology, Orthopaedics, Pain management palliation, Physiotherapy occupational therapy, Radiology, Rheumatology, Theatre practitioners

Pharmshark is not an official alerting route. Make sure your pharmacy receives alerts directly from the MHRA and through your organisation, and always act on the official GOV.UK notice.

Source: the MHRA on GOV.UK. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Pharmshark is not affiliated with or endorsed by the MHRA.