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NHS Blunders: Surgeons Operate on Wrong Body Parts Daily
15 Dec, 2025
Summary
- NHS 'never events' occur frequently, with 852 wrong-site surgeries in five years.
- These avoidable errors can cause lifelong injuries and require further procedures.
- Examples include removing the wrong organ, amputating the wrong toe, or wrong-eye injections.
Analysis of NHS figures from April 2020 to March 2025 has revealed a disturbing frequency of 'never events,' which are serious and avoidable medical mistakes.
These errors are occurring on an almost daily basis throughout the National Health Service. The most common serious mistake identified is wrong-site surgery, with a staggering 852 such incidents recorded over the five-year period.
Such blunders can result in patients suffering lifelong injuries, disabilities, and the significant trauma of requiring further corrective surgeries. Examples of these shocking cases include operations on the wrong body part, such as removing a fallopian tube instead of an appendix, amputating the wrong toe, and injecting medication into the incorrect eye.
