NHS to publish data on avoidable deaths

The NHS is to begin publishing estimates of how many patients may have died because of care failings, becoming the first healthcare organisation in the world to do so.

Data on the number of avoidable deaths will be published each quarter by individual trusts, with 171 of the 223 trusts in England having either already released their first estimates, or scheduling the release before the end of December.

Each trust will make its own assessment on the numbers, with this data not set to be compared or collated centrally. This will allow every organisation to focus on learning from their own mistakes, before sharing lessons across local healthcare systems.

This measure is being taken in response to a 2016 Care Quality Commission report finding that the NHS was missing opportunities to learn from patient deaths, and that too many families were not being included or listened to during the investigation process.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt said this step "marks a significant milestone in ensuring the NHS learns from every tragic case, sharing lessons across the whole system to prevent mistakes recurring and ultimately delivering safer care for all patients in the future".

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