THREE ‘never events’ happened at the Countess of Chester Hospital last year including surgeons removing the wrong vein.

A BBC investigation highlighted more than 750 patients suffered preventable mistakes in England’s hospitals over the past four years which are categorised by the Department of Health as ‘never events’.

The other two ‘never events’ at the Countess in 2012/13 were fitting the incorrect lens to a patient and carrying out a diagnostic test on the wrong person.

The newly formed Healthwatch Cheshire West had already written to the Countess chief executive Tony Chambers to ask for an explanation.

Spokesman Geoff Ryall-Harvey said: “The three reported ‘never events’ are highly regrettable and must have caused considerable distress to the individuals concerned.

“Healthwatch Cheshire West has discussed these incidents with the Countess of Chester Hospital and has been reassured that they are isolated incidents of human error or failure to follow best practice and are not indicative of any wider trend. The Trust is committed to learning from these incidents and improving patient safety and Healthwatch Cheshire West will monitor the Trust’s progress on these issues.”

Countess medical director Ian Harvey said: “During 2012/13 the Trust reported three ‘never events’. As is our policy, any ‘never events’ are reported to the National Patient Safety Agency. West Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) are also aware of the three ‘never events’ that have occurred at the Countess.

“Never events are something that should not occur in any NHS organisation but on the rare occasions when they have at the Countess, a robust and detailed course of action is disseminated throughout the Trust to ensure lessons are learnt and to prevent a similar incident occurring in the future.

“These action plans are monitored externally by the CCG.”