A SWAB was sewn up inside a patient in the operating theatre at Salisbury District Hospital in September, it has been revealed.

Hospital bosses have confirmed the so-called “never event” - the NHS term for a mistake so serious it should never happen.

Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust says the issue was identified promptly and the patient was unharmed.

The patient and family were notified immediately and the trust apologised.

The never event was initially reported at the first public board meeting after it happened, in October 2014.

It was later confirmed at the trust’s December board meeting.

The trust has investigated the matter.

Never events are described by the NHS as “serious, largely preventable patient safety incidents that should not occur if the available preventative measures have been implemented.”

They include incidents such as operating on the wrong body part, and leaving implements inside a patient following surgery.

In one such event at Salisbury District Hospital in 2013, surgeons removed the wrong testicle from a cancer patient.