Never events: 'Surgeons left forceps inside my body'

A routine gall bladder operation left Donna Bowett suffering constant abdominal pain after surgeons left a seven-inch pair of forceps inside her body.

The mistake was discovered in an X-ray after an MRI scan had to be abandoned when it left her in agony.

As well as heating the metal, the scanner had been acting as a magnet and trying to pull the surgical tool out of her body.

The incident was one of 762 serious preventable incidents recorded in hospitals across England over the last four years, according to figures revealed by a BBC investigation.

Ms Bowett told Nicola Beckford, of BBC Radio 4's The World at One, the incident in 2009 is still taking its toll as she can no longer walk her dog or play sports.

The NHS trust involved admitted they were at fault for the error and agreed compensation with Ms Bowett.

Listen to the full report on The World at One on BBC Radio 4 at 13:00 BST on Thursday 9 May and afterwards on the BBC iPlayer