Common Surgical Mistakes That Can Turn into Nasty Claims

Studies into surgical errors in the UK have been conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). One of these studies highlighted that the UK has 5.5 cases of surgical errors per 100,000 patients discharged from hospital.

The UK also has a large record of “never events” – which are incidents that are so bad that they should never happen again due to processes put in place to prevent them. These can range drastically from biopsy of the incorrect body part to retained foreign object post procedure whatever, the severity they all can have serious consequences for both the patient and medical professional.

During 2020 the UK has had more than 300 never events. In 2021 with the impacts of the pandemic on services and the workforce still in place, we have seen more than 250, totalling 550 never events over 2 years!