Care policies at Oswestry’s Orthopaedic Hospital have been revised after staff X-rayed the wrong patient, bosses have revealed.

The patient involved had a similar name and personal details to the person who should have been given the procedure. The mistake has been described by bosses as a “serious incident” and the procedures used by staff have been described as “clearly unsatisfactory”.

The error prompted a full review and recommendations have been implemented since the incident in May, the hospital’s trust board was told yesterday.

Medical director Iain McCall told the board meeting: “The wrong patient was taken to X-ray. Two patients had the same name on the ward and the porter took away the wrong patient.

“The radiographer did not formally check the wristband. It was a knee X-ray.

“The harm to the patient was zero but the procedures were clear unsatisfactory.

“We have altered one of our policies. We have made alterations to the system of porters receiving patients.”

The board meeting heard that the hospital continued to deliver an excellent service in the opinion of patients.

A report to the board said: “Ninety-eight per cent of patients rated the trust as excellent or good in May, exceeding the trust’s 95 per cent satisfaction target.”

The report added there were only eight complaints in May, representing a tiny fraction of the trust’s inpatient and outpatient activity.

It added: “Six complaints related to quality of care including two complaints relating to staff attitude.

“The remaining complaints related to a delay in receiving MRI results and a long wait in outpatient clinic.”

Other figures released to the trust board yesterday demonstrated the high efficiency levels at the Gobowen-based hospital.

The figures showed that during May theatre utilisation rates improved to 95.54 per cent while the overall average length of stay including day cases was 2.53 days.

By Iain St John