NHS Never events recently made it in to the news again after a man due for a cystoscopy (a procedure to look inside the bladder with a thin camera) was circumcised after his notes were mixed up with those of another patient.
Never events are serious, largely preventable patient safety incidents that should not occur if healthcare providers have implemented existing national guidance or safety recommendations.
Each year a report is published by NHS Improvement detailing the type and number of incidents reported and the number of never events reported by each trust.
Between 1 April 2018 and 31 January 2019, 423 incidents which meet the definition of never events were reported. This number may, however, be subject to change as investigations are completed.
Never events include incidents such as wrong site surgery, use of the wrong implant/prosthesis, retained foreign objects and misplaced naso or orogastric tubes.
The most commonly reported events in this reporting year included:
- Injections to the wrong eye;
- The wrong tooth being removed;
- Retained vaginal and surgical swabs;
- Wrong skin lesion being removed; and
- Wrong hip prosthesis or implant.
Some of the NHS Trusts who reported the most never events included Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, Barts Health NHS Trust, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.
When a never event occurs the Trust is expected to conduct its own investigation with a view to identifying the cause and to learn from its mistakes, however never events have the potential to cause serious harm to a patient or cause them to undergo a further unnecessary procedure to rectify the mistake.
Ultimately by their definition, these are events which are preventable. If you have been a victim of a never event or any other medical error which you believe could have been avoided, you may be entitled to compensation.
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