Swab left in Yorkshire cancer patient after 'entirely preventable' mistake

The woman, 61, had a hysterectomy at Castle Hill Hospital, near Hull, in March 2022 as part of her treatment for cancer, but a few weeks later realised that the wound wasn’t healing properly.

A period on antibiotics didn’t work and a CT scan picked up the swab left inside. It later turned out that a scrub nurse had incorrectly counted the number of swabs removed after the procedure.

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The patient had to postpone her next round of chemotherapy and needed counselling, following the traumatic incident, which left her anxious and prone to crying.

She said she decided on legal action after the surgeon was “dismissive” when she complained that the wound had blistered following the second operation.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust declared a “never” incident – defined as a serious incident that is “entirely preventable”.

The trust has apologised and made changes to procedures including using larger swabs with long tags that can remain outside the body in similar operations.

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The woman, who was represented by Hudgell Solicitors, received an out of court settlement. She said: “I sought legal representation as I didn’t feel that my consultant was compassionate or understanding enough about the impact this had on me. It was difficult for both myself and my husband when the wound opened up. There was the worry of what was causing it initially, especially given I’d had surgery to remove cancer, and my husband had to help me clean and redress the wound, which wasn’t pleasant.

“That was a real period of worry and anxiety and I was prone to bouts of crying and felt I was lacking in energy, so I went for counselling. Even now, if I feel anything unusual I start to panic in case something else has gone wrong.

“After the surgery to remove the swab, the wound blistered, and when I asked the consultant why this had happened she was quite dismissive, which I felt was unacceptable given it was the hospital’s error that had caused it."

A trust spokesperson said they’d implemented a number of recommendations which they are confident will improve safety, adding: “We have apologised to the patient concerned and we are pleased to have reached a settlement with them”.