Recent whistleblowers have reported an alarming history of patients being injured during surgery at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, including reports of a surgeon claiming he had no access to a sterile scalpel and using his personal penknife, which he used for lunch, instead.

Whilst it can only be assumed that such events are the exception, stories in the media such as these call into focus wider questions. Internal and external reviews at the hospital Trust, including by the Police, have revealed that a number of deaths could have been avoided, including those of ‘low-risk’ patients.

Of equal concern, is that a number of the issues only came to light after the Trust lost a legal battle to try and restrict access to certain documents in an Employment Tribunal; effectively trying to hide the problems at their hospitals. 

The issues have been considered so significant, that the local Police have had to hire additional staff to support a manslaughter investigation against the Trust. 

The NHS has a ‘Duty of Candour’ to admit when it gets things wrong, but taking steps to cover up events flies in the face of such obligations. 

Whilst a Swiss Army knife may be useful for many things, it has no place in an operating theatre.