Patient safety must be at the heart of the 10-year plan (19 February 2025)

Summary

Every year, unsafe care costs the NHS an estimated £14bn and leads to nearly 13,500 avoidable deaths. Every week, more than 250 people could be dying as a result of waiting more than four hours in accident and emergency, according to the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. These figures are more than statistics: they represent real people, families torn apart, and lives changed forever. Research published last year by Imperial College London shows that if the NHS were to match the safety performance of the top 10% of OECD countries, thousands of lives could be saved annually, with billions more reinvested into frontline care.

The NHS faces a critical moment in reform, with patient safety as a key priority. Improving safety could save thousands of lives, reduce costs, and reshape care delivery, writes Jeremy Hunt in this blog for HSJ.