An outbreak of the highly infectious skin disease scabies struck patients on three wards at a hospital.

The spread of the disease was among eight serious incidents reported by East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust in November.

Another case involved a throat pack not being removed from a patient after dental surgery, which was carried out during general anaesthetic.

The pack was left inside the patient after the surgery and risked obstructing the patient’s airway.

The mistake was classed by the trust as a “never event”, which is one that should not happen if the right preventative measures are put in place.

A third incident involved a case where a patient’s confidential information was faxed via an insecure route.

Other cases were two incidents of bed- sores, intestinal bleeding following an operation, a delay in a doctor review following a patient having a leg amputated and a failure to respond to Freedom of Information requests.

The scabies case affected Egerton, Baird and Irvine wards at Conquest Hospital in St Leonards.

The trust, which also runs Eastbourne District General Hospital, revealed details of the incidents at its latest board meeting.

Director of nursing Jane Hentley said in the report the trust had dealt with 64 serious incidents so far this year compared to 47 last year.

She said this was partly due to the trust’s expansion to include more services earlier this year and changes in reporting criteria.

The report said: “The higher numbers in 2011 are due to the integration of the organisation with community services on April 1, 2011 and the requirement to report pressure ulcers Grades 3 and 4 as serious incidents.”

A trust spokesman said the outbreak of scabies had been contained and dealt with and all reported incidents were being looked into.

The trust has been given between 45 and 60 days to finish a full investigation into each case.