A BABY was born with fractures and a brain injury during a caesarean at hospital.

The case was one of ten serious incidents declared by Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust between April and June.

Another case involved a patient being given the wrong anaesthetic, which is classed as a never event.

Never events are serious, largely preventable incidents that should not happen if the available preventative measures have been put in place.

This includes surgery in the wrong area of the body, retained instruments post operation and the wrong administration of chemotherapy.

In this case the mistake was picked up immediately by anaesthetists and the patient was not harmed.

Three cases from last year which were followed by a patient’s death were also reviewed by the trust between April and June.

It is not known at this point whether there were problems with the patients’ care, but the trust is looking into them.

The cases include a patient who died after being intubated, a process where a tube is inserted down the throat to help a person breathe.

Other serious incidents highlighted in a report to the trust board, which meets today, include a backlog in eye screening for patients with diabetes and another patient who had waited to be seen by a specialist for 83 weeks.

A Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals spokeswoman said: “As part of our drive to improve the care we provide our patients, we routinely publish information about reviews into incidents at the trust. We are currently reviewing three cases from last year to ensure we identify any issues that could have contributed to patients’ deaths and learn any lessons for the future.”

The board will today also be looking at the annual report on patient experience which reveals the trust received 1,413 complaints between April 2016 and the end of March,

Issues raised included staff attitude, cancelled operations and delays in getting treatment.

The report also outlines work done by the trust to deal with specific complaints. This includes a complaint about a delay in reporting an MRI result and lack of clarity regarding the process for getting results. The trust has now refreshed its MRI reporting process and all clinical and ward staff now use a centralised email address to get information.

Another complaint was over a delay in operating, failure to give broad spectrum of drugs for sepsis and poor communication with family about a patient’s deteriorating condition following abdominal surgery.

The trust investigated the incident and the report says improvements have since been made at each stage of the emergency surgery process and outcomes have significantly improved.

The trust’s patient advice and liaison team has been restructured and expanded so it is able to deal with complaints more quickly.

Approximately half of all formal complaints received by the trust are now managed as an early resolution.

This includes a variety of interventions such as telephone feedback and meetings with the clinical staff involved.