Broken drill and wires left in patients post-op

Mistakes that led to surgical items, including a piece of broken drill, being left inside patients after operations cost a hospital trust more than £287,000.

Six patients submitted claims to South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the five years to April 2024, figures from NHS Resolution show.

The trust spent £287,109 dealing with the claims, including £148,546 in compensation, with the rest spent on legal costs.

University Hospitals Tees, the group representing the trust, said the instances were rare, but when they happened it worked "openly and honestly" with patients and their families.

A spokesman added: "This enables us to make meaningful improvements to patient safety processes for the future."

So-called retained foreign objects also included guidewires, surgical swabs and skin clips.

South Tees Hospitals operates the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough and the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton, along with primary care hospitals in Redcar and Brotton.

Elsewhere in the region, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, which runs hospitals in Stockton and Hartlepool, received fewer than five compensation claims over the period the research covered, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The trust did not give details on the number of incidents involved or the amount of damages paid.

The figures, requested by specialist solicitors firm Medical Negligence Assist, show trusts across England paid out £14.8m in damages across the five-year period, with 556 successful claims.

Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].