NIHR Newcastle PSRC, Professor Annette Hand
On a dull and foggy Thursday afternoon I travelled down to the House of Lords in London to represent the Newcastle NIHR PSRC for the launch of the National State of Patient Safety Report (2024). This report, first published two years ago, is produced by the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London and is commissioned by the charity Patient Safety Watch. The report assesses the state of patient safety within the NHS, using all available data, and provides a detailed picture of the national state of patient safety in England.
After making my way through security I was ushered up a grand and spiralling staircase to the beautiful River Room to mingle with academics, researchers, politicians and charity staff, all personally invited due to their connection to improving patient safety. The event was hosted by Professor Lord Ara Darzi, Co-Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation, who informed us that unfortunately there had been a decline in 12 out of the 22 metrics that had been reassessed. Lord Darzi stated that “Our latest report on patient safety in England reveals alarming declines…The NHS is now falling behind leading nations in patient safety. We urgently need to address these issues to repair the health service and provide high quality care for all patients and their families.”
He provided some of the headlines of the report which are:
- In 2023, the number of deaths that could have been avoided if the UK matched the top 10% of OECD countries: 13,495 deaths
- In 2023, the UK ranked 21st out of 38 OECD countries for patient safety
- The NHS spends £14.7 billion a year treating people who have been harmed by mistakes made during their care.
- Cost of harm for claims resulting from incidents in 2023/24: £5.1 billion
- In June 2024, the number of people waiting for elective care was 7.6 million
- 2 in 3 staff feel unable to carry out their jobs fully due to workforce shortages
Whilst these are all stark statistics Lord Darzi eloquently illustrated the personal impact of this report stating that we must never forget that behind every statistic outlined in this report, is a life. A life cut short, or seriously impaired. A family in grief, or now consigned to be life-long carers. He described the only way we can properly commemorate the people affected by patient safety failings is to learn and improve.
The report also highlights that the impacts of unsafe care are not spread evenly across England but are greater in the North than the South, something we are only too aware of. The report also details a complex picture of national patient safety with evidence that the health system cannot keep pace with the number of recommendations already made on it. What was reassuring was rather than adding further recommendations it was advised that a focused set of patient safety priorities must be agreed that we can all work towards, and something I expect we will hear more about this in 2025.
We also briefly heard form Jeremy Hunt, Chair of Patient Safety Watch and Baroness Merron, the Minister for Patient Safety, on their progress and commitment to the patient safety agenda. Finally, we hear from Merope Mills, a senior editor of the Guardian and patient safety campaigner, providing us with an emotional update on the progress of Martha’s Rule NHS England » NHS to roll out ‘Martha’s Rule’, and the fantastic impact this is already having to so many lives within the NHS.
I had plenty to reflect on during my long journey home, and whilst the report does provide some very sobering statistics, I know that together we can change this trend and make a real difference to patient safety outcomes.
Read the report: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/stories/National-State-Patient-Safety-2024