If the screw doesn't fit

Doctors on Merseyside rushed out to a DIY store in the middle of surgery to buy a tool needed to remove a metal plate from a patient's arm.

The plate had been put in overseas and none of the NHS screwdrivers at Whiston Hospital in Prescot fitted.

Surgeon Peter Mobbs sent an aide to a nearby B&Q to buy a £2.50 star-head screwdriver to do the job.

A spokesman for St Helens and Knowsley NHS Trust said the actions were in the patient's best interests.

"The patient concerned had had a metal plate secured by screws, inserted overseas which needed to be removed," he said.

"During the procedure it became apparent that the type of screw used had a head which is not used in orthopaedic equipment in the UK. The surgeon had a choice of abandoning the procedure or acquiring a screwdriver. He made a judgment that it was in the patient's best interests to continue with the operation and so asked a colleague to go out and obtain a screwdriver."

The screwdriver was sterilised before it was used in the operation.