Zero: Eliminating Preventable Harm and Tragedy in the NHS By: Jeremy Hunt

Author: Jeremy Hunt

Could this be our 1948 moment?

Mistakes happen. In most fields the consequences are limited, but in healthcare they can be fatal. Every week in England, there are 150 avoidable deaths. Most tragedies are treated as ‘inevitable’ when in fact they could be prevented simply and cheaply if we were better at learning from mistakes.

By committing to a profession where the consequences of a mistake can be life or death, people in healthcare are braver than most of us. The problem is that the system that ‘goes after’ someone when something goes wrong, and the result is a blame game that stops learning and allows the same mistake to be repeated, often countless times.

Zero is a book about how the NHS can reduce the number of avoidable deaths to zero, and in the process save money, reduce backlogs and improve working conditions. Delivering the safest, highest quality care in the NHS post-pandemic is our very own 1948 moment.