Charing Cross Hospital patient suffered incorrect invasive line insertion

A patient at Charing Cross Hospital had an invasive line incorrectly inserted during an operation in May, according to documents released by the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. The hospital classified the error as a never event. This term refers to medical incidents that hospital processes are designed to prevent.

The patient did not come to any harm because of the error, a spokesperson for the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust said. The Trust has apologised to the patient for the mistake. Officials have since introduced further safeguards to prevent a recurrence.

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Safety reviews underway

The hospital is currently conducting a multi-disciplinary team review. This review aims to ensure that local procedural safety checklists remain effective. The Trust also issued a patient safety alert to all staff via its intranet. It remains unclear whether the line was inserted in the wrong location or if the procedure was entirely unnecessary.

The incident was detailed in board papers ahead of a meeting for the North West London Acute Provider Group (NWL APG). This group includes four NHS Trusts: Imperial, Chelsea and Westminster, London North West University, and The Hillingdon Hospitals. These organisations collectively manage 12 hospitals and serve 2.2 million people.

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Financial deficit concerns

The board papers also highlighted financial challenges facing the NWL APG. As of May, the group was failing to meet its deficit plan by £7.8m. This shortfall was largely caused by the resident doctors' strike in April and a failure to meet year-to-date efficiency targets.

While the group faces financial pressure, the reports noted improvements in cancer treatment performance and reductions in long waiting times. The Trust confirmed it continues to investigate the causes of the May incident to reinforce infection prevention and control standards.