£2.3m cost of major mistakes at hospitals

NHS medics have amputated healthy limbs, operated on the wrong patient and left needles inside bodies in major surgical mistakes across the UK, a startling new report has revealed.

- STEPHANIE BALLOO Staff Reporter

The data details the number of hospital ‘never events’ - defined as serious, largely preventable incidents that should not happen if healthcare providers adhere to established safety guidelines.

The University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) reported 24 ‘never events’ in a decade, between 2014 and 2024 - with a £2.3 million total payout to victims, the report said.

More than four million surgical procedures were carried out at UHB during that time.

The Trust, which runs the Queen Elizabeth, Good Hope, Solihull and Heartlands hospitals, was the subject of 19 successful claims and paid a total of £2,392,619 to victims over the decade, according to the report. Successful claimants were paid an average of £125,927.