Leaving a surgical instrument inside a patient following an operation is not the kind of blunder you would expect from a highly skilled and intelligent doctor or surgeon. Yet this simplest of errors has cost the NHS £4 million in medical negligence compensation since 2004.

This comprises a small but substantial amount of the £560 million paid out by the NHS in medical negligence compensation claims each year.

It is likely that similar incidents of medical negligence are going undetected. As a spokesperson from Action Against Medical Accidents says, "It is almost certain that there are a lot more incidents of this nature that are unknown because people never find out about it. Also there will be a great number of people who even when this happens decide not to take legal action.

"What is so tragic is that these are such basic errors - they are so easily avoidable through routine checks."

Some of the implements found inside patients during the period included a catheter, a metal clip, swabs, a contraceptive coil, and a metal clip.

In recent history there have been infamous cases of surgeons leaving mind-bogglingly large implements inside the bodies of patients.

In 2001 the story of a US man provoked astonishment in the medical and media establishments. Following an operation to remove a stomach tumour the man was alerted to a 13-inch long, 2-inch wide surgical retractor when passing through an airport x-ray machine.

The medical negligence solicitor representing him offered a startling analogy. He said that the failure of surgeons to notice its presence was, "Tantamount to not seeing a truck parked on your lawn."

A British tragedy
Every year in Britain such blunders cause acute infections, organ damage, as well as pain and discomfort. In the worst cases they may even eventually contribute to a fatal accident.

The recent case of the death of a 76-year-old man who suffered medical negligence is alarmingly common. Everyday, at least two NHS patients in the UK are thought to be left with a medical instrument inside them following an operation.

The 76-year-old father of five underwent heart bypass surgery in a Plymouth hospital in 2003. During the operation, surgeons unable to find a two-inch scalpel blade assumed it had been thrown out with clinical waste.

When the man later complained of stomach pains he was given a precautionary X-ray. Staff examining the X-ray were astounded to see the blade lodged inside the man's body.

The blade was considered to be too dangerously situated to remove. Soon after, the man died of unrelated complications, but his widow believes that the stress induced when suffering the clinical negligence was a contributing factor in the timing of his death.

If this kind of example of medical negligence seems to be one that attracts a disproportionately high level of media attention, it is probably because it is symbolic of more widespread concerns at blunders within the hospital service than it is symptomatic of any morbid fascination on the part of the media.

Anxiety preventing action
It is difficult to gauge the true extent to which clinical negligence predominates in Britain's hospitals, as many people, for a variety of reasons, do not pursue medical negligence compensation claims when it is clear that they would have a valid and pursuable case.

The wish to avoid stress and anxiety is often the chief motive for not pursuing a medical negligence claim. It is perfectly understandable that someone who has undergone a health scare which has been complicated by medical errors or a lengthy operation which has been botched by surgeons needs a period of calm in which to recuperate.

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