FAILURE to invest in the NHS has seen nearly 5,000 patients die in “safety incidents” in understaffed hospitals, Labour has warned. 

New analysis of NHS National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) statistics by Labour has shown that 4,668 deaths in the NHS from October 2018 to last month were linked to such incidents.

In the statistics, patient safety incidents are defined as unexpected or unintended occurrences which could have led to harm for people who were in need of or receiving healthcare.