Medication Error Statistics UK: Errors, Harm and NHS Costs
Online CPD Academy
https://onlinecpdacademy.co.uk/blog/medication-error-statistics-uk

A national model estimates 237 million medication errors annually in England, including about 66 million with potential for clinically significant harm. Newer research on hospital transitions estimates 1.8 million undetected errors a year at admission, discharge and transfers.

STATISTICS

Estimated medication errors across care settings: 237 million a year
2020 study | England
Model based on underlying studies and service activity, not incident-report count.

Errors potentially causing moderate or severe harm: About 66 million a year
2020 study | England
Potential harm does not mean an injury occurred.

NHS cost of definitely avoidable adverse drug events: £98.5 million a year
2020 study model | England
Historical modelled estimate, not current-price expenditure.

Deaths to which definitely avoidable adverse drug events contributed: 1,708 a year
2020 study model | England
Modelled contribution; not individually confirmed error-caused deaths.

Undetected hospital-transition errors: 1.8 million a year
2024 study | England
95% credibility interval: 1.3–2.6 million.

Patients experiencing harm from those transition errors: About 31,500 a year
2024 study | England
Modelled; not additional to the entire national burden estimate.

COVERAGE
The national estimate was published in 2020; the hospital-transition model in 2024. Both cover England and use modelling, with different and partly overlapping scopes.

USING THESE STATISTICS
Please credit Online CPD Academy and link to https://onlinecpdacademy.co.uk/blog/medication-error-statistics-uk when using these statistics. Retain each figure’s reporting period and coverage.

SOURCES
1. Elliott et al. — Economic analysis of medication error in England, BMJ Quality & Safety
https://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/30/2/96

2. PubMed — Elliott et al. national medication-error model
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32527980/

3. Camacho et al. — Digital transfer of prescription information in the English NHS
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38531659/

4. BMJ Group — Explanation of the 2024 hospital-transition modelling study
https://bmjgroup.com/shared-digital-nhs-prescribing-record-could-avoid-nearly-1-million-annual-drug-errors/

5. NHS England — NRLS to LFPSE Transition Report, January 2021 to December 2024
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/patient-safety-data/2024-25/nrls-to-lfpse-transition-report/

6. MHRA — Once-weekly methotrexate: avoiding inadvertent daily dosing
https://www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update/methotrexate-once-weekly-for-autoimmune-diseases-new-measures-to-reduce-risk-of-fatal-overdose-due-to-inadvertent-daily-instead-of-weekly-dosing

7. BMJ Group — Explanation of the 2020 national medication-error model
https://bmjgroup.com/237-million-medication-errors-made-every-year-in-england/