A newborn underwent a traumatic medical procedure after NHS staff picked wrong baby

A NEWBORN had a traumatic medical procedure meant for another tot in a hospital blunder.

The bungle — a jab in the spine to draw fluid — came because they had the same surname and similar first names.

It was one of 423 such errors in the NHS in England over nine months from last April to January this year.

Others included a man circumcised when he was meant to have just a bladder check.

A patient got a laser op on the wrong eye after going forward when someone else’s name was called. Further gaffes saw surgeons amputate the wrong toe and remove tonsils by mistake.

They also forgot wires and pins in 91 patients, NHS data shows.

The toll is a shock rise on 356 errors over 12 months in 2016-17 — the last full year for which figures are available.

The NHS admits the so-called “never event” blunders are “serious, largely preventable patient safety incidents”.

Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth blamed “Tory squeezes and failures to recruit”.

But NHS safety chief Dr Aidan Fowler said: “It’s vital that when they happen, hospitals learn.

“The NHS is one of the safest health systems in the world.”