NHS tasked with saving 6,000 lives ‘by cutting out mistakes’

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt wants the NHS to save 6,000 lives over the next three years by reducing the number of serious mistakes it makes.

Mr Hunt explained NHS trusts should focus on halving avoidable harm figures, which includes medication errors, blood clots and bedsores.

Trusts that put specific plans in place for the Sign up to Safety push will get reduced premiums for insurance cover, he announced.

Mr Hunt said the NHS should become the safest healthcare system in the world.

He added: "We now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to save lives and prevent avoidable harm – which will empower staff and save money that can be reinvested in patient care."

This is one of a number of new schemes to improve safety in hospitals and there is an onus on the NHS that tasks the service to be open and honest with patients about mistakes, following the Francis Inquiry into the Stafford Hospital scandal.