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This article was published on February 25th, 2016
‘Never events’ are events that should never happen, removal of the wrong limb, wrong organ, surgical instruments being left inside a body etc. We have always been led to think that they are extremely rare incidents and based on the number of operations performed each year, this I still a true statement, however there are still too many occurring according to recent figures.
In the last four years there have been nearly 1200 recorded ‘never events in England which seems extremely high when you consider that each ‘never event’ has the potential to be a fatality if left unnoticed.
It seems unbelievable that, despite all the safety measures and procedures put in place pre-op, during operations and post op, serious life threatening errors can still occur.
Each year the figures are recorded which were 290 for 12/13, 338 for 13/14, 306 for 14/15 and currently there is 254 recorded for 15/16 so far. What is concerning is that we should really be seeing a reduction in figures as each ‘never event’ is investigated and lessons supposedly learned to prevent the same serious error happening again.
Shocking ‘never events’ recorded include, accidental removal of testicle rather than a cyst on it, removal of a healthy kidney leaving an infected, ineffective kidney, removal of a fallopian tube instead of an appendix, surgery to the wrong eye, wrong teeth being extracted and 102 incidents of foreign objects being left in a body and stitched back up in one year.
‘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.
