Man Accidentally Circumcised After Going To Hospital For Bladder Check-Up

We go to the hospital because we trust the professionals when it comes to our health problems. They certainly know more than us as they studied their profession for years, sometimes even a decade. With that said, we are confident to put our lives in the hands of doctors and hospital staff.

However, just because they are professionals doesn’t mean that they can’t do anything wrong. In fact, one unlucky man was mistakenly circumcised when surgeons mixed up his notes with another patient.

An NHS report revealed that one man was due to have an entirely different procedure, but was circumcised instead.

The unnamed patient was supposed to have a cystoscopy, which is a procedure that examines the lining of the bladder and the tube that carries urine out of the body. In other words, this is a whole different scenario than having his foreskin removed.

The patient’s notes got mixed up with those of a man who was due to be circumcised last September. The shocking incident was one of eight “never events” at University Hospital of Leicester NHS Trusts last year.

Back in April, a patient was given a surgery meant for another man with the same name.

The trust says never events are “serious, largely preventable safety incidents that should not occur if the available preventative measures are implemented.”

Moira Durbridge, director of safety and risk at Leicester’s Hospitals, said:

“We remain deeply and genuinely sorry to those patients involved, and of course we have personally apologized to each one. We are committed to learning and improving and have enshrined this work into our clinical priorities within our Quality Strategy for 2019/20.”

Chris West, director of nursing and quality at Leicester City Clinical Commissioning Group, added:

“[We] are working with the trust to support them to improve quality and safety for patients.”