INVESTIGATIONS have been launched by both Poole and Royal Bournemouth hospitals after each reported serious surgical errors in recent months.

‘Never events’ – mistakes so serious they should never happen – have been recorded by the boards of both trusts since figures were last published in November.

Eight have been reported by Dorset NHS trusts since the beginning of April, according to the clinical commissioning group’s latest board papers.

Never events are defined as “serious, largely preventable patient safety incidents” that should not happen so long as national guidance is correctly followed.

The latest such incident was reported by Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals (RBCH) trust on January 14 relating to an error made during gynaecological surgery.

The trust says that there was no “clinical harm” as a result of the mistake but that it has launched “a full root cause analysis investigation” into what happened.

A report to its board ahead of its meeting on Wednesday (January 30), says that the issue has been discussed with the patient under its ‘duty of candour’ obligations.

It follows the reporting of a never event at Poole Hospital in November which saw an injection intended for a rheumatology facet joint given in the wrong place during a procedure.

Dorset County Hospital has reported three never events since the start of 2018/19 – the joint most alongside Poole – while two have taken place at RBCH.

The rate at which the incidents have taken place has reduced since last year when 14 were recorded across the county – more than half (eight) of which took place at RBCH.