A Teesside hospital trust says direct comparisons with its North-East counterparts are unfair when it comes to the number of medical mistakes committed by staff.
Analysis of official data shows in the past five years South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust recorded 27 so-called ‘never events’.
This was 68% higher than the next nearest acute trust, South Tyneside and Sunderland where 16 were recorded over the same period.
South Tees’ figure was also three times higher than the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, which logged nine never events.
Never events often occur in surgery and can include surgical items being left behind in the body mistakenly, or even the wrong body parts being operated on.
Other errors commonly categorised in this way include incorrect implants or prostheses.
The trust said that as one of the biggest such organisations in the region it carried out more than a million patient appointments a year.
It also advised that the never event data should be considered in terms of what proportion of incidents had occurred per 1,000 occupied bed days.
Nonetheless, law firm Simpson Millar, which handles medical negligence claims on behalf of some patients, said the figures suggested “preventable mistakes are concentrated in certain areas, even after accounting for differences in hospital size and patient volumes”.
Meanwhile, according to the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch multiple factors often combine to allow preventable mistakes to occur, including staff fatigue, inexperience, unclear team roles, interruptions during procedures, equipment issues and organisational pressures.
Kate McCue, a senior associate solicitor at Simpson Millar, said: “When [never events] happen, patients and their families can experience lasting physical, emotional and financial consequences.
“People come to us confused and scared, trying to understand how something so fundamental could go wrong in a hospital or clinic.
“Our job is to help them get clear answers, ensure the circumstances are fully investigated and hold the NHS accountable where care standards have fallen short.
“By examining exactly what went wrong, families can gain a clearer understanding, and healthcare providers can learn from these mistakes.
“This is about more than compensation – it’s about preventing similar harm happening to others.
“While the NHS has strong frameworks in place, these incidents remind us that vigilance and transparency are vital to protect patients and maintain trust in the healthcare system.”
A South Tees Hospitals spokeswoman said: “The safety of our patients and the delivery of excellent care is of paramount importance across all our hospitals and healthcare services.
“As an anchor tertiary provider, we play an important part in providing specialist care to patients across our region, with 37 specialities delivered on one site and our major trauma centre sees half of all trauma cases in the North East and Cumbria, creating a high demand for our services.
“On the rare occasion an unintentional outcome occurs, our teams go above and beyond to ensure we continue to deliver meaningful improvements, all which impact positively on the quality and safety of patient care.
“We always work openly with our patients and their relatives to ensure their voice is always heard and that they are fully supported.”
In total 115 never events were recorded at hospitals in the North-East between 2020 and 2025.
