NHS Never Event data shows more than 400 serious preventable incidents in 2025/26

What are Never Events?

Never Events, as defined by NHS England, are serious, largely preventable patient safety incidents that should not occur if healthcare providers have implemented existing national guidance or safety recommendations correctly. Examples include operating on the wrong part of the body or leaving a surgical instrument or swab inside a patient.  While they are relatively rare, they can result in serious harm, additional treatment and significant distress for patients and their families, leading to Never Event claims.

How many Never Events were there in 2025/26?

Between April 2025 – March 2026 a total of 403 Never Events have been recorded by NHS Trusts.

This is particularly concerning because the same number of Never Events were reported in 2025/26 as in the previous year. The lack of any reduction suggests that, despite investigations and the sharing of learning following each incident, these lessons are not yet translating into meaningful changes in practice or reducing the risk of similar incidents occurring again.

What different types of Never Events are there?

Wrong site surgery, as highlighted in Table 1, remained the most frequently reported category, accounting for 166 incidents. This includes patients undergoing procedures on the wrong side of the body, receiving surgery not included in the agreed treatment plan and procedures carried out on the wrong patient.

The second most common Never Event involved retained foreign objects after surgery, with 121 incidents recorded. Objects included surgical instruments, swabs and surgical gloves and often required further surgery to remove them.

There are many more categorised Never Events and for 2025/26 they fell into the following descriptions:

Table 1 Frequency of Never Events by category for 2025/26

Which NHS trusts had the most Never Events in 2025/26?

The NHS publishes data showing how many Never Events were recorded at each individual trust and, as would be expected, there is significant variation between providers. However, these figures should be considered in context, as NHS trusts differ considerably in size, the type of services they provide and the number of patients they treat. Large acute trusts, specialist centres and organisations carrying out a high volume of operations may therefore report more Never Events than smaller providers, simply because they undertake far greater levels of clinical activity.

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust recorded the highest number of Never Events during 2025/26, with 12 incidents. The following Trusts recorded the highest number of Never Events during this time period, although investigations are still ongoing and therefore the figures may change accordingly.

1. Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust – 12
2. University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust – 10
3. Barts Health NHS Trust – 9
4. Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust – 9
5. East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust – 8

Do Never Events require investigation?

Every Never Event is expected to be investigated by the healthcare provider where it occurred. The purpose is to understand why the incident happened, understand why existing safety measures failed and identify actions to reduce the risk of similar incidents occurring again. NHS England collects and publishes the national data, helping to identify trends and share learning to improve patient safety across the NHS.

The Impact of Never Events

Although Never Events represent a small proportion of NHS activity, their consequences can be devastating. Patients may require additional operations, experience avoidable pain, suffer permanent injury as well as death.

Commenting on the latest figures, Anna Watson, Senior Associate said “Every Never Event represents a patient who may have suffered avoidable harm. While these incidents remain relatively rare, the increase in reported cases is concerning because they are considered largely preventable. The NHS must continue learning from these incidents.

“It’s also important that patients receive clear explanations about what happened and understand their legal rights where failures in care have caused injury.”

If you believe you or a loved one has suffered harm as a result of a Never Event, you may be entitled to claim compensation. Our expert medical negligence solicitors can provide free initial advice, explain your legal options and help you decide on the best next steps.