London: In a shocker, medics at a UK hospital left a surgical glove inside a woman who underwent an operation to remove her womb. Sharon Birks of Wirksworth, Derbyshire, said she had been feeling unwell after the operation at the Royal Derby Hospital and was horrified when it emerged the glove had been left in her body. Birks said it was three days after the hysterectomy was carried out she herself discovered the error. The 42-year-old said she had just had her catheter removed and had gone to the toilet when she found the glove, the Derby Telegraph reported.

Birks said she needed the operation, on November 19, because of a tear which had developed in her womb. It took about five hours.

She remained in the hospital because she had been feeling unwell the day before and it was thought she might have an infection. Birks said she was given a bladder scan to check for problems and doctors gave her antibiotics. "I just had this really bad stomach ache and it almost felt like something was wedged in my stomach. At first, I just thought it was perhaps something to do with my catheter. By Thursday, I wasn't ready to go home and now I'm so glad I didn't," the mother-of-six, was quoted as saying by the paper. Birks, a learning disability support worker, said she had felt fully fit again since the glove had been removed. Derby's hospitals trust chief executive Sue James said staff has apologised in person for the mistake and an investigation would be carried out. "We are extremely sorry for the distress that was caused to Mrs Birks. Clearly this should not have happened and we have launched a detailed investigation," James said.