The UK is trailing countries such as Norway, Switzerland, Japan, Spain, and Italy when it comes to patient safety, according to a new report.
A chart of the safest places to receive care from 38 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ranked the UK in 21st place.
The global state of patient safety 2025 study, from Imperial College London, included key aspects of patient safety, one of which is deaths from treatable causes, such as from sepsis and blood clots like venous thromboembolism.
The UK’s most recent data in this area is from 2021. Researchers found that if the UK had matched the best-performing country, Switzerland, in that year, the UK could have had 22,789 fewer deaths that year.
Other patient safety indicators in the report are deaths of women in pregnancy or childbirth; deaths as a result of undergoing a procedure, treatment or other exposure to the healthcare system in the country; and baby deaths, such as from premature birth complications, brain damage during delivery, sepsis, and other neonatal infections.
Neonatal Deaths and Surgical Complications
The report said the neonatal death rate in the UK has fallen since 2000 but plateaued since 2017 while the OECD average rate has continued to fall.
If the UK matched the neonatal death rate of Japan (which ranks first out of OECD countries for this measure), the UK could have had 1123 fewer neonatal deaths in 2023, researchers found.
While OECD rates for four out of five indicators for surgical complications have fallen since 2009, the UK recorded the highest complication rates for three of the indicators where data was there, the report said.
The UK also has higher than average waits for more complex procedures.
Analysis by the Press Association of wider data in the report found the UK ranked 141 out of 205 countries worldwide for deaths due to adverse events following medical procedures. It ranked bottom out of 11 countries on waiting times for coronary artery bypass graft and bottom for deep vein thrombosis following a hip or knee replacement.
The UK was ninth place out of 10 countries for hysterectomy waiting times and bottom out of 10 countries for sepsis following abdominal or pelvic surgery.
International Rankings and Government Response
Overall, the study found Norway leads the world on patient safety across the OECD, followed by Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Ireland, Finland, Japan, Spain, and Sweden. Next comes Iceland, the Netherlands, Italy, Australia, Denmark, Luxembourg, Estonia, Germany, Canada, and New Zealand.
Below the UK are countries including France (29th place), Greece (31st), and the US (34th).
Lord Darzi, director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London, and one of the report’s authors, said “the message of this report is clear” for the NHS.
“This report also shows where we can make rapid progress — reducing surgical complications, reducing avoidable deaths and learning systematically from the countries that lead.
“Better data, stronger governance and patients as partners are the foundations of safer care.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “This Government inherited an NHS that was failing too many patients and families.
“We have taken rapid action to strengthen patient safety – overhauling the Care Quality Commission, rolling out Martha’s Rule and Jess’s Rule so patients can get a fresh clinical review, and introducing hospital league tables to drive improvement.
“We have also brought in new maternity safety measures and are establishing a taskforce so every mother can have confidence in NHS care once again.
“We know there is much more to do but we are determined to make sure the NHS is the safest in the world.”
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