A new report on patient safety shows that Norway ranks number one out of 38 OECD countries, while the UK is in 21st place.
The Global State of Patient Safety 2025 from the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London and Patient Safety Watch will be launched by Health Secretary Wes Streeting MP and former Health Secretary Sir Jeremy Hunt MP at the House of Lords tonight [29 January 2026].
This is the second report in the series, with the first published in 2023. The ranking assessed the 38 countries using the same four measures as in 2023:
- Maternal mortality (deaths per 100,000 live births) – all causes of maternal deaths
- Neonatal disorders (deaths per 100,000 live births) – a combined indicator comprising the five main causes of neonatal death
- Treatable mortality (deaths per 100,000 people) – due to causes like sepsis that can be mainly avoided
- Adverse effects of medical treatment (deaths per 100,000 people) – deaths from a medical procedure or treatment.
Analysis of more than 100 patient safety indicators found that, globally:
- Excess mortality for people with severe mental illness is a major concern. For people with bipolar disorder, excess mortality has risen by 41 per cent since 2015, and by 21 per cent in the same period for people with schizophrenia.
- In 2023, there were approximately 103,000 deaths due to the adverse effects of medical treatment.
- Average waiting times for selected planned procedures, which increased during the pandemic, are largely returning to pre-pandemic levels.
- Average rates of maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths continue to fall, and neonatal mortality rates (deaths of babies under 28 days old) have fallen 46 per cent since 2000.
The report highlights some key insights for the UK:
- If the UK had matched the rate of treatable mortality in Switzerland (no. 1 for this measure), it could have had 22,789 fewer deaths in 2021 (when the latest comparable data was available).
- The neonatal mortality rate in the UK fell between 2000 and 2017 but has plateaued since then. If the UK matched the neonatal mortality rate of Japan (no. 1 for this measure), it could have had 1,123 fewer neonatal deaths in 2023.
- OECD rates for four out of five indicators for surgical complications have fallen since 2009, but the UK recorded the highest complication rates for three of the indicators using the latest available data.
- The UK has higher than average waits for more complex procedures.
Since the 2023 report, few countries have moved significantly in the rankings, suggesting that meaningful change in patient safety takes time. The value of the data lies, say the authors, not in ranking for its own sake, but in revealing where further inquiry and action on patient safety is required.
The report considers four countries (Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands and Norway) – showcased in the report – whose patient safety approaches highlight valuable learning for other countries.
The report builds on the recommendations made in the 2023 report, arguing for:
- A more comprehensive set of global patient safety indicators
- Improved adoption of best practice in patient safety
- Ensuring patients, and their families and carers, are active partners in safe care.
It also consolidates the learning from other countries into 16 ambitions for safer healthcare systems, covering four key areas: strategy and governance, implementation and learning, involvement and capability, and data and measurement.
Accompanying the report is an interactive patient safety dashboard. With 108 indicators from 209 countries over 25 years, it provides a central hub for the latest global patient safety data.
It is imperative that we tackle care deficiencies now to prevent patient safety risks later. Patient safety is everyone's responsibility, and our report suggests how healthcare teams in one part of the system can support safety in another. Professor Bryony Dean Franklin Director of the NIHR North West London Patient Safety Research Collaboration at the Institute of Global Health Innovation
Professor Bryony Dean Franklin, Director of the NIHR North West London Patient Safety Research Collaboration at the Institute of Global Health Innovation, and one of the report's authors, says: "It is imperative that we tackle care deficiencies now to prevent patient safety risks later. Patient safety is everyone's responsibility, and our report suggests how healthcare teams in one part of the system can support safety in another.
"As healthcare professionals, there is much more we can – and must – do to foster multi-disciplinary teamworking and cross-sector collaboration to improve patient safety."
Sir Jeremy Hunt, former health secretary, and chair of Patient Safety Watch added: "Tens of thousands of lives could be saved every year if the UK matched the patient safety performance of the world's best health systems, according to this report.
"For example, if the UK had mirrored Switzerland's rate for treatable mortality, over 22,000 deaths could have been avoided in a single year. That's a toll that demands urgent national attention and action."
James Titcombe OBE, chief executive of Patient Safety Watch, and one of the report's authors, added:"Behind every statistic in this report is a person who should still be alive, and a family whose lives have been permanently changed. The gap between where the UK is on patient safety and where we could be – if we matched the best performing health system – represents around 22,000 lives every year. That's 60 lives every day.
"But the harm does not stop there. Preventable failures in care send ripples of suffering through families, communities and the NHS workforce, traumatising staff, undermining trust, and diverting scarce time and resources away from caring for patients and towards dealing with the consequences of avoidable harm.
"Closing this gap must now be an urgent national priority. Improving patient safety in the NHS is not optional – it is fundamental to saving lives, supporting staff, and restoring confidence in the health service."
Lord Darzi, Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London, and another of the report's authors noted: "It will take sustained effort to improve the UK's patient safety performance, given the state of the NHS I set out in my investigation. But the message of this report is clear: the safety gap is measurable, and therefore fixable.
"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."
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Citation: Illingworth J, Batchelor S, Khalsa I, Leis M, Howitt P, Titcombe J, Durkin M, Darzi A, Franklin BD. Global State of Patient Safety 2025. Imperial College London (2026).
