Hundreds of serious medical mistakes happen every year
- Feb 18, 2016
- EmmaArnold
It has been report that since 2012, over 1,000 NHS patients have experienced a medical error which is deemed so serious it should never happen. These events have been termed “never events”.
The range of mistakes include a man who had his testicle removed instead of a cyst and a woman who had her fallopian tubes removed rather than her appendix, according to the analysis from the Press Association.
Each year, hundreds of patients suffer medical mistake labelled as ‘never events’.
This type of clinical negligence is rare but still occurs in hospitals across the UK with patients being given the wrong type of blood during transfusions or the incorrect drugs or dosage year on year.
Other reported 'never events' include the incorrect hip, leg or knee being operated on as well as a woman who had a kidney removed instead of an ovary.
Some patients have also had 'foreign bodies' such as needles, scalpel blades, gauze and swabs left inside after operations which are 'basic, avoidable mistakes' according to the report analysis.
Others have suffered by having a feeding tube sited in their lung instead of their stomach which can prove a fatal mistake.
According to the analysis there were:
- 254 never events from April 2015 to the end of December 2015
- 306 never events from April 2014 to March 2015
- 338 never events from April 2013 to March 2014
- 290 never events from April 2012 to March 2013
Hannah Bottomley, solicitor in the clinical negligence team commented:
Having worked with patients who have been unfortunate enough to suffer from a ‘never event’, it is clear that early identification and acknowledgement of the mistake can go a long way to putting the patient’s mind at rest that it won’t happen again. However, sadly, that early recognition is not always forthcoming.
The description of ‘never events’ brings to mind many people’s worst fears regarding hospital treatment and this analysis shows that these events do still happen although thankfully they are relatively rare. The analysis also only deals with NHS patients but from experience I do know that such ‘never events’ can occur within the private healthcare system as well.
I understand how patients can feel let down by these types of mistakes, often much more so than where there has been a complex sequence of events which have led to an adverse outcome, and I understand the feeling of having been let down. Hopefully on-going recognition of these events will reduce their frequency but it will remain important for anyone affected by such an event to come forward so that mistakes can be acknowledged and lessons learnt.
If you have suffered from a 'never event' during surgery and would like more information regarding making a claim or hospital complaint processes contact a member of our specialist clinical negligence team on 0161 237 5888.