Hospital apologizes after imaging delay results in needle being left in patient

A hospital is under fire after a patient’s wife blamed the organization's delay in imaging for her husband’s untimely death. 

Leslie Runkee was 75 when he underwent a heart operation at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham, England, in October 2023. During that operation, surgeons became aware they were missing a needle, at which time they called for imaging to help them locate the foreign body within the patient.  

Given that the surgery was after hours, the hospital, which operates under Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, did not have a radiographer on campus. However, the hospital utilizes off-site radiographers from Hull Royal Infirmary between the hours of 8 p.m. and 12 a.m. The stipulation is that once a tech has been notified of the need for imaging, they present on-site within 30 minutes. On the night of Runkee’s surgery, it took over an hour for the designated radiographer to arrive, according to the BBC. 

Runkee’s condition began to deteriorate before imaging was available to locate the needle, forcing surgeons to end the operation. The team conducted an additional operation two days later to retrieve the needle; legal representatives for Runkee’s wife, Gillian, have since implied that the delay in care ultimately led to Runkee’s death months later in May of 2024. 

“This was a basic, unavoidable error that should not have happened. As a consequence of the radiographer not arriving to attend to Mr. Runkee in a timely manner, the missing needle was not able to be removed and therefore another operation was required,” said Samantha Gardner, a senior medical negligence solicitor at Hudgell Solicitors, who represented the Runkee family. “The rust offered an apology to the Runkees and compensation was agreed, but the pain and suffering that this has caused the family is immeasurable. We hope that lessons have been learned to stop this happening in the future.” 

NHS trust has owned up to a “breach of trust” and acknowledged that the second operation would not have been required if imaging would have been available within 30 minutes. The Trust settled a surgical negligence claim with the family for an undisclosed amount.