HEALTH watchdogs are investigating a botched operation carried out by a surgeon at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

Details of the incident, which happened last summer, will be revealed once a full investigation has been carried out, according to the Bolton NHS Foundation Trust.

The incident is described in a health report as "wrong site surgery" — a surgical procedure carried out either on the wrong part of the body or wrong patient.

It is classed as a "never event", which is described by the Care Quality Commission as a serious, largely preventable patient safety incident that should never happen if the available preventative measures have been implemented.

The trust has declined to provide details of the event until the investigation is completed.

There have been 11 never events relating to wrong site surgery across Greater Manchester since April, 2013.

The NHS Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), in charge of allocating funding for health services, will visit theatres at the Royal Bolton to discuss the incident.