THE NHS has paid out £16million to patients for surgery on the wrong parts of their bodies.
It has coughed up for 340 major negligence incidents since 2019.
On top of compensation, legal costs bring the bill to the taxpayer to £26million[/caption]
Victims include those who had the wrong organs taken out, an incorrect limb amputated or their teeth removed for no reason.
In one case, a woman had both her ovaries removed instead of just one, while a spinal tap was performed on a different patient by mistake.
A total of 70 such incidents, known as never events, have happened since this April alone.
On top of compensation, legal costs bring the bill to the taxpayer up to £26million — enough to pay the starting salaries of nearly 900 nurses.
Personal injury expert John McQuater, of Switalskis Solicitors, said: “These are called ‘never events’ because they should never happen.
“You don’t get compensation just for a mistake being made – it is compensation that tries to put you in the position you would be in were it not for the injury.
“The figures speak to the gravity of the consequences of these errors.
“These are things that everybody agrees should never happen.”
NHS Resolution, which settled the payouts, declined to comment.
