NHS chiefs have revealed that four “serious incidents” took place at the QE2 Hospital, Welwyn Garden City, in the past year, including one in gynaecology and another in maternity.

Cases recorded as “serious incidents” by NHS trusts in other parts of the country have included a patient left locked in an ambulance overnight, a mix-up that led to the wrong body being released for burial and the death of a baby.

But, aside from admitting that four incidents were recorded as “serious”, details of untoward occurrences at the QE2 have been withheld by the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust on patient confidentiality grounds.

All the trust would say was that the four incidents, recorded between January 1 last year and January 23 this year, were made up of one case each in gynaecology, general surgery, medicine and maternity.

Peter Gibson, associate director or public affairs for the East and North Herts NHS Trust, told the WHT: “The problem we face when it comes to serious incidents reports is that inevitably they contain information that if placed in the public domain could lead to the patient involved being identified.

“As we have a legal duty to maintain their right to privacy at all times, we have to be very prudent when it comes to answering questions such as yours.”

He added: “During the same period, hundreds of thousands of patients were treated at the QE2, and in its assessment of the trust’s performance, the National Patient Safety Agency has described the trust’s patient safety reporting patterns as being typical of an organisation with a good patient safety culture.”