Call for more NHS funding after 87 die following equipment failures

Almost 100 people have died and 4,000 have been harmed after equipment malfunctions in the NHS in the past three years, prompting calls for more government funding to upgrade broken and obsolete medical devices.

- Michael Goodier Denis Campbell

A defibrillator advising paramedics not to administer a shock, an emergency alarm system on a neonatal ward failing, and the camera on an intubation device going dark were just three occasions when patients died after such failures.

They are included in figures released for the first time by NHS England that show patients were harmed after 3,915 equipment malfunction incidents - with 87 being followed by a death - since 2022.

Paul Whiteing, the chief executive of Action Against Medical Accidents, said: "These are shocking statistics. Behind these numbers are real people who are needlessly harmed, the impact of which will be life-changing and traumatic.

"The scale of the harm and loss of life that has resulted from basic equipment failures and malfunctions shows in stark relief the scale of the tragedy that has resulted from years of underfunding in the NHS."

The Labour party has pledged to double the number of scanners in English hospitals over the course of the parliament, and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is expected to announce significant additional capital funding for the NHS in this week's spending review.