A bungling doctor operated on the wrong part of a patient’s body at a private hospital.
And at NHS hospitals in Huddersfield and Calderdale ‘foreign objects’ were accidentally left inside patients’ bodies after procedures.
Today the Examiner reveals several errors record as ‘never events’ that took place in local hospitals.
‘Never events’ are serious and preventable breaches of patient safety, caused by hospital staff ignoring or failing to follow safety procedures.
At the BMI Huddersfield Hospital, run by private healthcare company BMI, medical staff operated on the wrong part of a patient.
The event, which took place at the Birkby hospital in September, was reported by local health authority.
A spokesperson for BMI said: “We treat never events seriously.
“These are rare, and when they happen, the doctor has a duty of candour to explain to the patient, or their family, what went wrong, the remedy for the patient and the measures put in place to reduce the likelihood of anything similar happening in the future.
“We also conduct a thorough investigation to establish to root causes and learn lessons.”
In June, Calderdale and Huddersfield Foundation Trust, which runs HRI and Calderdale Royal, recorded an incident in which a swab was left inside a woman’s vagina following a maternity procedure.
The month before, the trust recorded a event where staff attempted to feed a patient through a tube that passes into the stomach via the nose – but the tube was dislodged.
The trust also recorded two incidents – one in December 2015 and another February 2016 – in which ‘foreign objects’ were left in the bodies of patients.
Calderdale and Huddersfield Foundation Trust (CHFT) also recorded another accident in November 2015, in which a nasal or gastric tube was misplaced.
The trust said it took never events very seriously.
CHFT Director of Nursing, Brendan Brown, said: “Any event relating to the quality or safety aspect of a patient’s care is taken very seriously by our trust and we are committed to being open, honest and transparent when issues occur.
“The recent never event that has taken place at the trust is currently being investigated, so we can determine what we need to do to prevent such an occurrence happening again.
“The findings of our investigation will be shared with the patient and their family, the healthcare team directly involved and, if more widely relevant, across the trust.”
‘Never events’ figures are released by NHS England Patient Safety.
Nationally, some of the worst incidents include a patient’s ovaries being removed when the plan had been to conserve them, an incision made to the wrong testicle, laser surgery on the wrong eye and an entire procedure performed on the WRONG PATIENT.
Across England, 316 never events were recorded during 2015/16.
Surgery on the wrong site was the most common never event, happening 132 times.
Seventy-nine foreign objects, including part of a chisel and a surgical clamp, were left inside patients, while 39 incorrect implants or prostheses were inserted.
London’s Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust was the worst single offender.
Four instances of surgery on the wrong site were recorded, along with three foreign objects left inside patients and three instances of a feeding tube being placed down the patient’s windpipe rather than their oesophagus.
Other ‘never events’ include overdoses of medicine, drugs being administered intravenously instead of orally as intended, and blood transfusions of the wrong type.
