Needle and tampon mistakenly left inside patients as Essex-based NHS Trust pays out nearly £250k for retained object negligence claims

NEEDLE and tampon mistakenly left inside patients as Essex-based NHS Trust pays out nearly £250k for retained object negligence claims

Only two Trusts around England faced more settled compensation claims than Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust paid close to a quarter of a million pounds in damages to people affected by a retained foreign object across five years, according to newly gathered information.

Data collected by Medical Negligence Assist shows that the Trust had 14 compensation claims for retained object damage resolved by NHS Resolution, the national health litigation authority. Only two Trusts in England had more claims settled in the same time frame.

£240,175 was paid out in damages, at an average of £17,194 per claim. Inclusive of legal costs, the Trust’s expenditure on these claims reached £549,545.

According to NHS England, a retained foreign object post-procedure – meaning an object being left inside the patient after an operation when it should have been removed – is a ‘Never Event’. The NHS defines Never Events as “serious, largely preventable patient safety incidents” that may identify possible weaknesses in how key safety measures are applied.

While many retained object cases may be identified and resolved without the patient suffering any discomfort, the error has the potential to cause significant and lasting pain.

Responding to a Freedom of Information request by Medical Negligence Assist, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust reported that nine foreign body incidents were filed between April 2019 and the end of September 2024. The items noted as being left inside patients mistakenly were a:

Guidewire.

Swab.

Trocar, which is inserted into the body to allow access for other instruments.

Needle.

Tampon.

The Trust also took note of an unnamed surgical instrument being retained by a patient.

Elsewhere in Essex, East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust stated that swabs, string and metal fragments were among the items found inside patients in five separate reviews of retained objects. The Trust had fewer than five claims made against them, with NHS Resolution not revealing specific details in order to protect claimant identity.

In London, eight Trusts paid out nearly £2 million in damages between them, with St George’s University Hospitals accounting for £580,000 and Barts Health – which had a £246,347 damages bill – joining Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust in having 14 cases settled in the claimant’s favour.

Medical Negligence Assist learned that NHS Trusts around England paid out a total of £14,839,727 in damages between 2019/20 and 2023/24, solely due to claims related to retained objects.

741 claims were resolved by NHS Resolution on behalf of Trusts, with 556 of those cases leading to the claimant receiving a payment.

In the same period, NHS Resolution received 657 new claims. 281 of the cases were initiated within the past two years.

120 claims were made due to errors in general surgery, with £5,112,168 paid out. Obstetrics negligence led to 83 further claims and £2,420,746 paid in damages.

There were only seven cases of retained foreign object claims linked to neurology, but they cost the NHS £664,500 in damages alone–or just under £95,000 per claim.

Overall, claims for retained post-procedure object damage cost the NHS £30,599,908, including legal costs.

Data released publicly by the NHS reveals that 45 retained foreign object cases were reported between April and August 2024, with 177 logged between 2022/23 and 2023/24.

When investigating retained swabs earlier in 2024, the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) reported that staff “were continuously having to make decisions and trade-offs to balance safety risks whilst also trying to maintain productivity and efficiency”, noting that NHS staff had to consider a variety of factors including the number of procedures that could be completed per day.

The HSSIB also stated that “blame can be inappropriately placed on individual team members when an item goes missing” and called on healthcare bodies to “review, amend and embed the process” for counting items to prevent future errors.

A person who suffers unnecessary harm because the correct standard of care was not provided could potentially join those who sought medical negligence compensation from the Trusts.

Clinical negligence solicitor Sophie Cope told Medical Negligence Assist: “Foreign body cases are thankfully not too common but, when they happen, they can have a significant impact on a person’s life. If someone suffers avoidable harm due to negligent care, they have a right to seek compensation.”

In one case, Cope’s team secured compensation of close to £20,000 for one client who suffered years of pain and discomfort due to a foreign item retained post-surgery. The client learned after a CT scan in 2022 that a piece of gastric band tubing had been left in their body during a gastric bypass procedure carried out 13 years before.

Cope added: “A solicitor can help someone get the compensation they deserve for the impact a foreign body retained after surgery has on their physical and mental health. I would encourage anyone who has suffered pain caused by a foreign object to visit www.medicalnegligenceassist.co.uk for advice on whether they could make a claim.”