Patient representatives and medical chiefs said the errors are “unacceptable” and called for a “change in culture” to prevent further blunders.
The mistakes are revealed in an internal report outlining dozens of ‘serious incidents’ at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust within 12 months.
It comes after the hospital revised theatre policy following the death of a patient in 2008.
An inquest found that an operation to remove a large cotton swab, left inside a 73-year-old cancer patient during an initial procedure, could have contributed to his death.
The swab incidents are among six so-called ‘never events’ listed in the past year. The other two saw procedures being performed on the wrong part of the body.
The report, discussed at the hospital board meeting last Friday, records 64 ‘serious incidents’, and 920 incidents of ‘moderate harm’, where an extra procedure is required, in the past 12 months.
Managers said the proportion of mistakes is low among the 800,000 patients treated at the hospital each year, but they take any incidents “extremely seriously”. Derriford has been named among the best hospitals in the country for patient outcomes.
Patient representative Barry Lucas, said: “To get one retained swab is bad enough, but we’ve got four here.
“They are called ‘never events’ because they should never happen, that’s how serious they are.
“It can’t be allowed to happen. How are we going to stop it?”
Dr Alex Mayor, Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust medical director, said: “This is clearly something we take extremely seriously.
“I absolutely agree that it’s unacceptable. They are called ‘never events’ and, you are right, they should never happen. But the fact of the matter is they have happened and we now have to look forward and make sure they don’t happen again.
“The actions we have taken so far clearly haven’t addressed this and we need to go further.”
He said managers are putting a “robust” response in place to review and strengthen systems further, including supporting, educating and training staff.
“We have a collective responsibility and every member of staff has to take ownership of the safety agenda,” he said.
“Patients, staff and the public need to challenge and feel empowered to bring any concerns they have to the fore.
“We need to work together to change the culture, to create a culture that everyone takes responsibility for.”
Dr Mayor added that, although another procedure would have been required to remove the swabs, the four patients have suffered no lasting harm.
He added that the mistakes were made by different surgical departments during different types of procedure. They occurred this month, and in August, November and December last year.
Last year’s incidents have been investigated and action taken to prevent the individual circumstances from happening again.
Chief nurse Sarah Watson-Fisher said: “We have recognised there is an issue, we understand the significance of it and we are committed to the openness about what we are going to do to address it.”
She said the trust recognises the importance of staff reporting any incidents.
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