The overburdening of the UK health service is also leading to an increase in dangerous accidents during surgery: recent data shows that objects were accidentally left in patients’ bodies 291 times between April 2021 and March 2022.
Cotton swabs or bandages are usually left in the patient’s body. However, in individual cases drills or a scalpel were also forgotten. Such errors sometimes result in further operations and are considered “never events” – ie incidents that should never have happened.
High charges, no money
England’s state-funded health service was considered chronically underfunded even before the pandemic, but with the added burden of the pandemic and inflation, the situation is now devastating and workers are at their breaking point. Nurses and paramedics are currently fighting for better working conditions and higher wages.
“Luckily, thanks to the hard work of our staff, incidents like this are rare,” a National Health Service (NHS) spokesperson said in reference to the outages. The health service strives to learn from mistakes made to improve treatments in the future.
errors increase
Yet it is clear that the numbers are rising, because 20 years earlier – between April 2001 and March 2002 – failures such as those mentioned above occurred only 156 times, two years later, only 138 times something was forgotten by the patient.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
