As if the daily assault of news about the health risks associated with obesity were not enough, operating nurse Kim Hepper said the bigger the patient, the greater the risk of a foreign object being lost and left behind.

"It can cause harm and it can cause death," Hepper said.

Hepper will speak to delegates today about the ways they can reduce those risks. In the case of forgotten foreign objects in patients, rigorous counting is the most important procedure, she said.