NHS reports link 312 deaths to medical device incidents over two years
NHS safety reports in England linked 312 patient deaths to medical devices or equipment incidents across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years. The cases include equipment failures and human errors, raising concerns about the reliability, maintenance and use of devices in urgent care.
Examples included defibrillators with dead batteries, resuscitation bags missing parts, a shut oxygen-mask valve and a failed emergency bleep system. The database does not establish whether equipment directly caused each death; NHS clinicians review reports of death or severe harm. Separately, NHS Resolution recorded five compensation payouts last year for deaths linked to faulty equipment, totalling £254,500.
- NHS records linked 312 deaths to device incidents over two financial years.
- Reports include equipment faults and errors in its use.
- The database does not show whether devices directly caused each death.
Both sides, in good faith
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The case for
The reports point to serious weaknesses in equipment reliability, maintenance and readiness, particularly in urgent care where a dead battery, missing part or failed alarm can have grave consequences. Even though the database does not prove that equipment caused each death, the number and nature of the incidents support calls for stronger checks, clearer responsibility and learning from near misses as well as fatal cases.
The case against
The reports should not be treated as proof that medical devices caused 312 deaths: they record incidents linked to deaths, and clinicians review them without establishing causation in every case. The examples also include human errors and varied circumstances, while the separate compensation figures concern only five payouts; policy responses should therefore be based on careful investigation and evidence about which failures are preventable, rather than assuming all incidents reflect systemic equipment problems.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Faulty NHS medical equipment is blamed for more than 300 deaths in two years”.