There were a record number of 'episodes' of people needing help after a surgical tool has been left inside them following an operation or procedure in hospitals, according to new data analysis.
Blunders involving a 'foreign object' accidentally left in body during surgical and medical care” led to a record 291 “finished consultant episodes” in 2021/22. This could include swabs, gauze or even surgical devices, including drill bits.
Analysis shows that the rate of these mistakes has doubled over the last 20 years. In 2001/02, there were 156 of these episodes. The lowest number was in 2003/04, when 138 episodes were recorded by clinicians.
One woman who was left with a surgical blade inside her says she 'lost hope' following the procedure to remove her ovaries. The woman, who does not wish to be named, said: "“When I woke up, I felt something in my belly.
"The knife they used to cut me broke and they left part in my belly. I was weak, I lost so much blood, I was in pain, all I could do was cry."
The object was left inside her for five days, leading to an additional two-week hospital stay. She added: “I lost hope, I lost faith in them, I don’t trust them anymore. Every time I look at my belly it’s there."
There are strict procedures in hospitals to prevent such blunders, including checklists and the repeated counting of surgical tools. Leaving an object inside a patient after surgery is classed as a “never event” by the NHS – meaning the incident is so serious it should never have happened.
When a surgical implement is left inside a patient, it can require further surgery to remove it. Sometimes such errors are not discovered for weeks, months or years after the event.
Commenting on the analysis, Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: “Never events are called that because they are serious incidents that are entirely preventable because the hospital or clinic has systems in place to prevent them happening.
“When they occur, the serious physical and psychological effects they cause can stay with a patient for the rest of their lives, and that should never happen to anyone who seeks treatment from the NHS. While we fully appreciate the crisis facing the NHS, never events simply should not occur if the preventative measures are implemented.”
Last year, the average age of patients with a foreign body left inside them was 57 - but the figures show a broad age range affected by the errors, from babies to patients over the age of 90. It comes as the NHS is under intense pressure and is caring for more patients than ever before.
Hospital data shows there were more than 1.7 million “finished consultant episodes” (FCEs) attributed to “external causes” in 2021/22 compared with 840,000 two decades earlier. The so-called “external causes” data shows some of the reasons people need hospital care and also includes information on the number of patients treated for car crash injuries, falls and dog bites.
Overall, there were 19.6 million FCEs recorded in 2021/22 – an increase of 21 percent compared to the year before. Swabs and gauzes used during surgery or a procedure are one of the most common items left inside a patient, but in rare cases surgical tools such as scalpels and drill bits have been found.
Earlier analysis by PA, published in May 2022, found that some 407 never events were recorded in the NHS in England from April 2021 until March 2022. Vaginal swabs were left in patients 32 times and surgical swabs were left 21 times.
Some of the other objects left inside patients included part of a pair of wire cutters, part of a scalpel blade, and the bolt from surgical forceps. On three separate occasions over the year, part of a drill bit was left inside a patient.
An NHS spokesman said: “Thanks to the hard work of NHS staff, incidents like these are rare. However, when they do happen the NHS is committed to learning from them to improve care for future patients.
“Last year, the NHS published new guidance introducing a significant shift in the way the NHS responds to patient safety incidents, which will help organisations increase their focus on understanding how incidents happen and taking steps to make improvements.”
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