Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the NHS is taking to reduce the number of deaths in hospitals related to treatment errors.

On 13 December 2016 in his oral statement, Official Report, column 621 my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health set out a series of commitments for National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts to learn from deaths. All trusts will be required to publish evidence of learning and action that is happening as a consequence of that information.

The new Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch will become fully established by April 2017 and will investigate certain incidents or accidents likely to generate lessons that will make NHS treatment and care safer.