A post-mortem examination was today being performed on a hospital patient who was wrongly injected with a pain relief drug into a vein instead of the spine.

The fatal blunder happened during routine surgery at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton. The patient, who has not been named, died on Saturday after three days in intensive care.

The consultant anaesthetist who injected the drug Bupivicaine into the patient's vein has been suspended pending an inquiry by the Royal College of Anaesthetists.

An independent pathologist was to carry out the post-mortem examination in Brighton today.

An inquest into the death is due to open once the results of the examination are known.

Meanwhile, managers at Brighton Health Care NHS Trust today moved to deny allegations made by an anonymous doctor that mistakes during surgery were common.

The Sussex doctor, who is not employed by the trust, claimed mistakes were never reported.

But Brighton Health Care NHS Trust medical director Dr Charles Turton said it was the job of every doctor to report errors.

He said: "The public can be assured that clinical errors, like that currently being investigated, are not an everyday occurrence at Brighton Health Care NHS Trust.

"A number of tried and tested systems are in place to ensure the quality and safety of our patient services. The responsibility for ensuring safety rests with every one of us who works in the trust.

"Each clinician practising in our hospitals is aware of that responsibility and in encouraged to report errors."