The incident was one of 10 'never events' recorded by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in the past year
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NEED TO KNOW
- A surgeon in Wales allegedly removed a healthy part of a cancer patient’s bowel after mistaking a tattoo for the site of a tumor, according to a new report
- The incident was one of 10 “never events” reported by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in the past year
- “Never events” are serious, preventable medical errors that should never happen
A surgeon in Wales removed the wrong part of a patient's bowel after mistaking their tattoo for the site of a tumor.
According to a new report for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which manages the National Health Service (NHS) in north Wales, a healthy part of a cancer patient's bowel was removed after the ink was believed to be a marking to indicate the location of the mass, per the BBC, Wales Online and North Wales Pioneer.
The incident was one of 10 "never events" recorded by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in the past year, the outlets reported. “Never events” are cases that should never occur due to errors that are extremely serious and preventable, according to Wales Online.
“The patient underwent a laparoscopic-assisted extended right hemicolectomy for bowel cancer. There was a tattoo placed distal to the tumor,” the report said, per the outlet. “At the operation, the surgeon could not find the tumor or the tattoo in the descending colon.”
PEOPLE reached out to Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Bangor's Ysbyty Gwynedd, and Wrexham Maelor Hospital for further comment.
Credit: Google
The report added, “However, a few centimeters proximal, there was a very visible tattoo, and the surgeon assumed that that must be the tattoo indicating the site of the tumor.”
“The surgeon proceeded with an extended right hemicolectomy (rather than a left hemicolectomy),” the report continued, per North Wales Pioneer. “This led the surgeon to take out the segment of bowel that did not have the cancer in it.”
Ahead of further surgery, the patient has undergone more investigations, per the outlet and the BBC.
Out of the 10 “never events” reported in the past year, five were "wrong site" procedures, two were incorrect implants, two included objects left inside patients such as swabs, and one involved medicine being administered incorrectly, per the BBC and North Wales Pioneer.
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In a separate case, a patient at Wrexham Maelor Hospital underwent an extreme cold treatment to treat cancer cells at a dermatology one-stop clinic, per the BBC and Wales Online.
However, after undergoing another minor operation on the same day, the patient told the clinic nurse that the incorrect area had been treated.
This led to the individual being operated on again on the same day. The investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
Five never events took place between 2022 to 2023, six in 2023 to 2024, five in 2024 to 2025, 10 in 2025 to 2026, and one so far in 2026-27, per North Wales Pioneer.
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