RCS response to Jeremy Hunt's speech on the cost of unsafe care

Today Jeremy Hunt will make a speech discussing the cost incurred by the NHS every year as a result of poor care. The figures are from a Frontier Economics report Exploring the costs of unsafe care in the NHS that was published today by the Government. The findings come as part of a wider effort by the government to improve safety across improvements in healthcare.

In response to Jeremy Hunt's speech Miss Clare Marx, President of the Royal College of Surgeons, said:

“Poor care is devastating for patients and can create a financial burden for the NHS. Surgeons know by delivering the highest standards of care we can reduce some of the costs of poor care such as readmission and infections.  

“Introducing simple measures, such as the WHO surgical safety checklist reduces the chance of serious harm. Creating the right culture in hospitals and the NHS will ensure that staff feel they are able to speak about incidents which have led to poor care and we will be able to learn from them.

“By being the first to publish consultants outcomes data we have shown our commitment to improve standards, encouraging transparency in surgery in order to ensure patients are receiving the highest standard of care.”