"[2] A 2012 study reported there may be as many as 1,500 instances of one never event, a retained foreign object, per year in the United States.
The same study suggests an estimated total of surgical mistakes at just over 4,000 per year in the United States, but these statistics are extrapolations from small samples rather than actual event counts.
[7] NHS Improvement has produced monthly and cumulative annual reports since 2015, when the definition of what constitutes a Never Event in the NHS also changed to require not only actual patient harm but also the potential for significant actual harm.
Annual counts have therefore increased, and comparing recent with older data is misleading.
[8] A provisional report for the 10 month period April 1st 2017 to 31st Jan 2018 acknowledged 393 never events within NHS England, including 172 wrong site surgeries, 97 retained foreign body post procedures, 60 wrong implants/prostheses and 31 medication administration errors.