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This article was published on June 17th, 2016
‘Never events’ are as they sound, events that should never happen. Hospitals have a duty to record any ‘never events’ that occur which can be events such as operating on the wrong part of the body and leaving foreign objects inside a body after surgery etc.
Information from minutes released by the North East Essex CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) revealed a recent ‘never event’ whereby the wrong toe tendon was cut during surgery.
For the 2015/16 period, eight never events were recorded for the Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust but a number of these errors occurred in 2014/15. A spokesperson for the Trust said:
“It is pleasing that the number of Never Events, Serious Incidents and complaints fell in 2015/16 compared with the previous 12-month period.
“It is a sign of the progress the trust made during the year, which is something that both NHS Improvement and the Care Quality Commission acknowledged last month.
The report on the Trust confirms: “Four of the confirmed Never Events met the criteria of ‘wrong site surgery’.” The remaining events involved leaving “foreign objects” inside bodies after surgery except for one which involved a misplaced tube in the respiratory rather than gastrointestinal tract.
‘Never events’ are still relatively rare, but they do still happen and if it ever happens to you then you WILL be entitled to compensation for clinical negligence. Any extra pain and suffering, emotional distress and loss of income should be compensated for. If you have been unfortunate enough to have experienced a traumatic experience in hospital then contact us now at Thorneycroft Solicitors today for a free no-obligation assessment of your case on 0800 1979 345 or complete our online enquiry form.
Our medical negligence solicitors are dedicated to maximising the compensation for medical negligence available on a no win – no fee basis.
