CAMPAIGNERS accused the government of an “unforgivable dereliction of duty” after a report found Britain could have avoided 22,000 deaths under a Swiss-style healthcare model.

In a new chart examining the level of patient safety in 28 countries, Britain ranked 21st, trailing behind countries such as Italy, Spain, Japan, Switzerland and Norway.

The review of OECD countries conducted by Imperial College London found that if Britain had matched the best-performing country Switzerland in 2021, it would have avoided 22,789 deaths.

Defending its track record, the government claimed it made improvements to the system despite inheriting an “NHS that was failing too many patients” from the previous Tory government.

Keep Our NHS Public co-chair Tony O’Sullivan said there was “a terrible complacency in government responses to this report.”

He told the Morning Star: “It is urgent — now, not by the next election — to provide more GPs, reopen and staff closed wards, reinstate good social care provision and repair the broken NHS estate.

“This would enable staff in A&E and hospital wards quickly to end the 16,600 avoidable deaths from delayed emergency care, a major portion of this annual 22,000 death toll.

“The blinkered insistence on prioritising AI, major tech and private health contracts over funding the urgent expansion of NHS and social care public provision to address this emergency is an unforgivable dereliction of duty.”

The report looked at key aspects of patient safety, including deaths from treatable causes, deaths of women in pregnancy or childbirth, procedure-related deaths, treatment and baby deaths.

Neonatal death rates in Britain had fallen from the year 2000, but has plateaued since 2017 while other OECD countries saw their rates fall, the report said.

Britain also had higher average wait times for more complex procedures and the highest rates of surgical complications for three out of four indicators, the report said.

Similar countries saw these numbers fall since 2009.

Norway leads the world ranking in overall patient safety, the report found, with the Republic of Korea, Switzerland and Ireland close behind.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said they had “inherited an NHS that was failing” after 14 years of Conservative rule.

The spokesperson highlighted the government’s work in strengthening patient safety, including “overhauling the Care Quality Commission” and rolling out “Martha’s Rule and Jess’s Rule,” as well as bringing in new maternity safety measures.

“We know there is much more to do but we are determined to make sure the NHS is the safest in the world.”