New NHS figures reveal a record number of 'foreign objects' including scalpel blades, swabs, gauze, drill bits, and other surgical tools, were left in patients during surgeries conducted in 2021/22.
According to an analysis last year, surgeons supposedly fished out these objects from inside patients.
Blunders that involve items that were accidentally left inside the body during surgical procedures led to a record of 291 'finished consultant episodes' in 2021/22, the Daily Mail informs.
Also, an analysis by PA Media has discovered that 291 cases is the highest annual total recorded in more than two decades.
In 2001/02, there were reportedly 156 of these episodes and in 2003/04, 138 episodes were recorded.
Though patients, right from babies to those over 90 years old have been affected, last, year, the average age of affected patients was reportedly found to be 57.
This comes as the NHS is facing more intense pressure than it ever faced, even during the Covid pandemic – caring for even more patients due to flu cases and a fresh wave of coronavirus. It is also being battered by strikes.
Some of the most common items left inside a patient are swabs and gauze used during surgery. However, though rare, tools such as scalpels and drill bits have also been found inside patients.
When a surgical item is accidentally left inside a patient, further surgery may be required to remove it. However, at times these things are not discovered immediately and may even take years to detect.
In order to prevent such blunders from occurring, hospitals reportedly follow strict procedures.
Some of these procedures include checklists and the counting of surgical tools repeatedly.
Leaving an object inside a patient after a surgical procedure is classed as a “never event” by the NHS – which means the incident is so serious it should never have occurred.
Rachel Power, the chief executive of the Patients Association, reportedly 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 from happening.
“The serious physical and psychological effects they cause can stay with a patient for the rest of their life, 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 preventive measures are implemented.”
However, Emmalene Bushnell and Kriya Hurley, from the medical negligence department at the law firm Leigh Day, are quoted as saying, “Unfortunately, we continue to see cases of retained objects post-surgery resulting in patients being readmitted to hospital, having a second surgery, suffering sepsis or infection, experiencing a fistula or bowel obstruction, visceral perforation, and psychological harm.
“These events, known as never events, should not occur and we welcome any steps to reduce the incidence of retained objects.”
Further, an NHS spokesperson states, “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.”
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