Thousands of NHS patients suffer ‘botched’ surgery even having the WRONG organs removed, shocking new figures show… including one woman who had a fallopian tube taken out rather than her appendix
- Since 2015, the lives of 3,684 patients have been endangered by a botched operation
- An estimated 1,500 procedures were performed on the wrong part of the body
Thousands of NHS patients have suffered from botched procedures, where the wrong organs are removed during surgery and medical equipment is left behind.
An analysis of healthcare data found that some 3,684 life-threatening errors were recorded by doctors between 2015 and 2023.
The most common and serious – so-called 'never events' – involve more than 1,500 operations that were performed on the wrong part of the body.
One woman had one of her fallopian tubes – part of the reproductive system – removed instead of her appendix, while other patients had the wrong toe removed or an injection given in the wrong eye.
Items such as cotton balls, clamps, surgical gloves and needles have also been accidentally sewn into patients during operations, while others were given the wrong implant, according to analysis by accident compensation company claims.co.uk.
Thousands of NHS patients have had botched operations since 2015, shocking new figures have revealed
Clumsy doctors have removed the wrong organs, operated on the wrong parts of the body, or even left surgical supplies inside the patient
One patient undergoing cranial surgery had a skull plate custom-made for another patient implanted, while others had the wrong pacemaker or stent placed.
Some even received the wrong organ or blood transfusion for their blood type.
A so-called never event is defined as a serious incident that could have been completely avoided if the applicable safety procedures had been followed correctly. Most affected patients will have required further corrective surgery to address the errors and will have spent more time in hospital.
The Patients Association, a charity that campaigns for better health and social care, says these mistakes cause 'serious physical and psychological consequences that can stay with the patient for the rest of their life'.
Other mistakes include injecting patients with medications they should have swallowed, overdosing on the immunosuppressant methotrexate – often used to treat cancer – and incorrectly placing feeding tubes in the lungs, which can cause potentially fatal blockages or infections.
Referring to the data earlier this month, the Royal College of Surgeons described the number of avoidable errors in surgery as 'unacceptable', adding: 'Learning from mistakes and using best practice and guidance to avoid such errors should be the priority from every medical and surgical team across the country.”