UK's NHS becomes first healthcare system in world to publish numbers of avoidable deaths
Staff Writer | December 15, 2017
Publication of the data seeks to protect patients by showing how many deaths might have been caused by problems in care. It will allow trusts to share lessons and learn from failings.Article continues below
The NHS will become the first healthcare organisation in the world to publish estimates of how many patients may have died because of problems in their care.
The publication follows a promise by the health secretary after a 2016 Care Quality Commission report found that the NHS was missing opportunities to learn from patient deaths, and that too many families were not being included or listened to when an investigation happened.
The data will be published each quarter by individual trusts. 171 of the 223 trusts in England have already released or are releasing their first estimates by the end of December.
Each trust will make its own assessment of the number of deaths due to problems in care. The data will not be comparable and will not be collated centrally.
This will allow trusts to focus on learning from mistakes and sharing lessons across their organisations and their local healthcare systems.
The programme is likely to cover between 1,250 and 9,000 deaths, which research suggests is the number of deaths each year that may be down to problems in care – a fraction of the 19.7 million treatments and procedures carried out by the NHS in 2016 to 2017.
These deaths range from rare but high-profile failings in care, to those which involve terminally ill patients who die earlier than expected.
These deaths may make up a large number of those caused by problems in care, showing the need to continue to focus on improving all care, including end of life care. ■ What to read next
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