Improving patient safety in hospitals has become a top priority for the safety research institute Onderzoeksraad voor Veiligheid, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday.

The number of unnecessary deaths and injuries in hospitals must be reduced drastically, chairman Tjibbe Joustra is quoted as saying.

Joustra said it is ‘unacceptable’ that 2,000 people die in hospitals every year because of mistakes and 38,000 are unnecessarily injured.

He called on the health inspectorate to improve its supervision. ‘Safety threatens to become a marginal issue in hospitals’, the Volkskrant quoted the council research as saying.

On Wednesday, a majority of MPs called on health minister Edith Schippers to set up a register where patients can get proper information about the quality of the hospitals and doctors they use, including details of criminal convictions and serious complaints.