More than 50 per cent of Irish people fear they will be harmed while receiving treatment in hospital, according to a new European Union Eurobarometer survey.
When questioned about the likelihood of a patient being harmed by hospital care, 55 per cent of Irish respondents said they believed it was likely, the joint 11th highest rate across the 27 EU member states. This was 5 per cent higher than the EU average.
Greek citizens, at 83 per cent, believed patients in their country were most likely to be harmed in hospital, followed by Cyprus (81 per cent) and Latvia (75 per cent), while residents of Austria (19 per cent) and Finland (27 per cent) were least concerned.
Twenty per cent of Irish participants in the EU Barometer survey said they or a family member had experienced an adverse event while in hospital. This is 6 per cent below the EU 27 average.
However, only 41 per cent of these adverse events were reported to an authority. French people, at only 4 per cent, were least likely to report a bad hospital experience.
A total of 1,000 citizens were surveyed in each of the 27 EU member states for the study.
According to the survey, some of 71 per cent of Irish respondents felt they were likely to contract a hospital infection, the fifth-highest rate across the 27 member states.
Greek residents, at 85 per cent, believed they were most likely to pick up an infection while in hospital, while residents of Austria, at 18 per cent, were least concerned.
Some 55 per cent of Irish participants in the survey feared they would fall victim to an incorrect, delayed or missed diagnosis.
This was the eighth lowest rate across the EU, with Latvians most concerned, 89 per cent, and residents of Austria, 26 per cent, the least worried.
Lithuanian and Latvian citizens were the most concerned about being prescribed the wrong medication or dosage at 77 per cent, while Austrians, at 24 per cent, were again the least fearful.
Just under two-fifths of Irish respondents regarded the prescription of medication as a cause for concern, the seventh lowest rate in the EU.
Irish residents were also at the lower end of the scale when it came to fearing surgical and medical equipment errors, at 34 and 29 per cent respectively.
