BUNGLED surgery resulted in Great Western Hospital chiefs logging a never event in May.

The incident was described as a case of “wrong site surgery” in GWH’s planned care division when it was brought before hospital directors.

An investigation is now underway to establish how the mistake happened. A never event is the most serious type of incident that must be reported under NHS rules and includes operations carried out on the wrong patient or on the wrong part of a person's body.

A report on the bungle will be prepared for hospital managers by the end of July.

GWH bosses also heard that nine serious incidents had been reported in May, the latest month for which figures were available. In April, just one serious incident was logged.

Of the nine incidents, seven were pressure ulcers reported by nurses in the hospital’s community services.

Toni Lynch, deputy chief nurse, put it down in part to better reporting by nurses. She said of the high figure: “This is in line with the improvement work being undertaken across the community to raise awareness and identification of patients with deteriorating skin integrity.”