The NHS in England has been collecting and publishing data on never events, serious and largely preventable patient safety incidents, since 2008. However, there has been a steady decline in patient safety standards in surgery in NHS hospitals, with at least one patient experiencing a potentially life-changing never event during surgery every day across the UK. A recent report by Proximie, in association with leading surgeons, patient advocates, economists, and NHS leaders, revealed that the number of never events in the NHS has seen no improvement since 2015, with 407 incidents recorded in the 12 months to March 2022. The report recommends high-quality data to give a clearer picture of what's happening and to learn from any mistakes that do occur.
