Aston Webb building at the University of Birmingham

We will all need medical help at some time in our lives and if you live in England this will most probably take place within the publicly funded National Health Service (NHS). Most people will receive safe care but unfortunately some will not. From April to June 2022, a total of 652,246 patient safety incidents were reported to the NHS patient safety incident reporting system. The World Heath Organisation (WHO) state that in high income countries it is estimated that on average one in ten patients is subject to an adverse event while receiving hospital care. In any health care system, some degree of error is going to be inevitable.