Patients in Lancashire hospitals have had a number of items left inside them after surgery, a Freedom of Information request has revealed. 

The Lancashire Evening Post report:

A piece of a drill, part of a tap, a piece of a blade and gold pins are among the items left inside people who had surgery at hospitals in Central Lancashire in the past four years.

Figures released in a Freedom of Information request show that, between 2009-10 and 2012-13, 18 patients woke up from the operating table at the Royal Preston Hospital and Chorley and South Ribble District General with surgical items left behind.

The highest number was in 2011-12 when six items were left inside patients following a procedure, and the lowest in 2012-13 when three surgical items were left.

You can read the full story here.

Matthew Burgess
http://www.mattburgess.co
I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.