Shocking new figures have exposed that NHS doctors operated on the incorrect part of the body in nearly 100 separate cases during a six-month period last year. These serious mistakes were among a total of 237 catastrophic errors officially recorded as 'never events' – incidents so serious they should never occur – between April and September.
A Catalogue of Alarming Mistakes
The data, released under Freedom of Information laws, paints a distressing picture of systemic failures. In one particularly egregious case, a man who simply walked into a hospital for a consultation with his consultant was mistakenly subjected to a cystoscopy, an invasive internal bladder examination. The error was only discovered when another patient with the same name enquired at reception about when his scheduled cystoscopy would take place.
Other harrowing incidents detailed in the dossier include a woman who woke from anaesthesia expecting to have had a hysterectomy, only to learn surgeons had erroneously removed her right ovary. In another bewildering mix-up, laser eye surgery was performed on the wrong patient while the intended recipient waited for their appointment. Surgeons also removed the wrong adrenal gland from a patient and operated on the incorrect eye of a glaucoma sufferer.
The Human Cost and Financial Fallout
The toll of these errors is both personal and financial. Separate statistics reveal the NHS faced a compensation bill of £15.7 million to settle cases where surgical mistakes were made. The recent tranche of 'never events' included 98 cases of wrong-site surgery and 65 incidents where foreign objects, such as swabs or instruments, were left inside patients' bodies.
Matthew Tuff, president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, stated: "Never events are just that – appalling failings in NHS patient care that should never have happened. Some victims will require compensation to help them recover and get their lives back on track, so far as possible. It is essential that injured patients have access to justice."
Near Misses and Corrective Procedures
The reports also highlight several near misses where disaster was narrowly averted. One patient being treated for sciatica questioned why she had been injected with local anaesthetic in her 'good leg' while already on the operating table. This prompt query led staff to check their paperwork and perform the procedure on the correct limb.
In another case, a man underwent surgery to have a kidney stone removed via a tube inserted through his bladder. It was only upon returning home and reading his discharge letter that he discovered the procedure had been performed on the wrong side of his body. He was forced to return to hospital for a second operation on the correct side and to have the incorrectly placed stent removed.
An NHS spokesman responded to the findings, saying: "The NHS has robust procedures in place so that when unacceptable incidents happen, they are fully investigated and effective action taken to those impacted. The NHS continues to strengthen patient safety through training, clear standards and measures that make it easier for patients and families to raise concerns about care."
