TWO mistakes deemed so serious that they should never happen were recorded at Salisbury District Hospital in the first two months of 2018, according to the latest figures.

The so-called “never events” - described as serious incidents that are wholly preventable - were both surgical errors.

The first incident was classified as “wrong-site surgery” - meaning an operation was carried out on the wrong body part or the wrong patient. The second involved a “foreign object” being left inside a patient after surgery.

The hospital would not give any further details about either incident, citing reasons of patient confidentiality, but did say that the foreign object had been removed after the procedure.

A hospital spokesman said: “In both cases the patient and relatives were made aware of the situation. They will be kept fully informed of the investigation and the results shared with them.”

It means the hospital has now recorded three “never events” in the 2017/2018 financial year. Last year it recorded two.

A report for board members said that “never events” in surgery remained an “area of concern” for the trust and that theatres were “receiving intensive support” on the matter.

The NHS says “operating on the wrong site can have devastating consequences for patients”.

It describes “wrong-site surgery” as “surgical intervention performed on the wrong site, for example the wrong knee, wrong eye, wrong patient, wrong limb, or wrong organ.”

The Chief Medical Officer for England said errors involving operations on the wrong side or part of the body were “particularly worrying for the public, especially when they are repeated”.

Health bosses describe “foreign objects” as “any items that should be subject to a formal counting/checking process” at the start and end of the procedure.

Examples include swabs, needles, and surgical instruments.