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

Key Changes

• Alert covers patient hoists and slings (all types) for risk of death and serious harm from falls.
• Fatal and serious harm continues to occur when patients fall during transfers and repositioning.
• Review of recent fatal incidents and wider surveillance data shows an average of two deaths per year since 2015.

Affected Roles

Action Required

Review the original source must be reviewed before compliance decisions; as a review suggestion, check the full alert text to confirm applicability and any actions for your setting.