Surgeons operating on the wrong part of the body and foreign objects left inside patients after surgery are among the serious incidents which took place at Medway Maritime Hospital last year.

The hospital in Gillingham reported 68 "serious untoward incidents" (SUI) in 2014-2015 to the National Patient Safety Agency, which is responsible for monitoring patient safety within the NHS.

Of these incidents, four were "never events" - described as serious, wholly preventable incidents which should never happen.

These include two cases of wrong site surgery and one of a foreign object being left in a patient.

In another case, a patient was incorrectly given the drug methotrexate, which is widely used to treat rheumatoid arthritis but also given to cancer patients in much higher doses as a chemotherapy drug to treat cancers like leukaemia.

There were also three maternal deaths, 22 slips, trips and falls, seven cases of pressure ulcers, and four cases of care which fell below standard.

Maternal deaths are classified as the death of a mother between the point of becoming pregnant up until one year following the birth of the child. These are always reported as serious incidents.

There were four "other" and 24 "remaining" cases which relate to incidents that fall outside the other categories such as a significant drug error.

Trisha Bain, chief operating officer at Medway NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The safety and well-being of our patients is of paramount importance.

"With that in mind, we recently introduced a raft of new measures to help improve the way we investigate serious incidents on behalf of patients and their families.

“This is about putting patients at the heart of everything we do. As a trust, we have a responsibility to ensure patients receive a safe and compassionate level of service when they come under our care.”

She added: “It is also essential we have the correct tools and processes in place to establish what has happened, why it has happened and to identify key learning points. Most importantly, it is also about looking at what could be done differently in the future to prevent such incidents from happening again.”

SUIs include acts or omissions in care that result in unexpected or avoidable death or injury resulting in serious harm; incidents that prevent an organisation from delivering an acceptable quality of care; or incidents that lead to a loss of public confidence in the service.

There were 397 SUIs across Kent, of which six were "never" events. Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford recorded the most, with 120 SUIs taking place.