The new report, commissioned by the Department of Health, estimates that mistakes with medication costs the NHS up to £770million, recognition of sepsis could cost up to £196million and reducing the number of patients who develop an infection after orthopaedic surgery could save up to £200-£300million.
Doctors' and nurses' leaders have challenged Hunt and claimed that staff shortages and inadequate budgets to deal with rising demand needed to be addressed in order for patient services to be improved.
Find out more about Macmillan's work to improve patient and staff experience by going to our Values Based Standard course.