An analysis of data for the year 2021-22 by the UK’s Press Association news agency found 291 separate incidents.
The reports showed that swabs, pieces of gauze and occasionally even scalpels and surgical drill bits were mislaid inside patients’ bodies after operations — requiring further surgery to remove them.
One 49-year-old woman victim of such an incident described how when she woke up following surgery to remove her ovaries, she"felt something in my belly.”
"The knife they used to cut me broke, and they left a part in my belly," she said, adding that surgeons only removed it five days later, extending her hospital inpatient recovery by two weeks. "I was weak, I lost so much blood, I was in pain, all I could do was cry," the woman said said. "I lost hope, I lost faith in them, I don't trust them any more."
The incision from the second operation took long to heal and left a visible scar. "Every time I look at my belly, it's there," she said.
The National Health Service (NHS) terms such incidents “never events” as they should never happen — with surgical teams required to keep a checklist of all items used.
“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 happening,” said Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association.
The “serious physical and psychological effects” of such bungling “can stay with a patient for the rest of their lives,” she added.
While Power acknowledged the current crisis in the NHS, she stressed that "never events simply should not occur if the preventative measures are implemented."