Fifteen serious incidents recorded at Northampton General Hospital in two years

Between April 1, 2015 and 31 March, 2017 28 serious incidents were reported, 15 of which were upheld.

Serious incidents include avoidable or unexpected injury, serious harm or death; abuse; Never Events; events that prevent the hospital from providing acceptable healthcare; and anything leading to widespread public concern about the level of healthcare provided.

Digit amputation, surgical errors and the extraction of a tooth are some of the examples of these types of incidents listed in the hospital's board papers.

Freedom of Information requests showed that NGH's 15 serious incidents was the lowest total in the East Midlands.

The highest tally of recorded serious incidents was found at Derby Teaching Hospitals (166), followed by Burton Hospitals (131), Nottingham University Hospitals (94), Derbyshire Community Health Services (76), Chesterfield Royal Hospital (52), University Hospitals Of Leicester (48), and Sherwood Forest Hospitals (29).

A spokeswoman for Northampton General Hospital said: “We have a very strong culture of safety, and we were very pleased that was recognised in our recent inspection by the Care Quality Commission.

"Our patients deserve the highest standards of safety when they need our care, and that's why it's important that we're open and honest when things go wrong, no matter how rare that is.”