Kidney parents 'raised concerns'

[okarol]

Kidney parents 'raised concerns'

Thursday, 23 October 2008 18:03 UK


The parents of a child who had the wrong kidney removed raised concerns about the side surgeons in the Republic of Ireland planned to operate on.

The operation took place at at Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin.

A review, carried out by Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, found 10 contributory factors to the error.

The report said the child's poorly-functioning right kidney was wrongly listed by a consultant general surgeon for a left-sided nephrectomy.

The family has appealed for their privacy to be respected.

Consent was obtained from the parents for the removal of the left kidney, and the procedure was carried out by a specialist registrar in paediatric surgery who had not seen the patient previously.

Before the operation took place, however, the parents raised concerns on a number of occasions with nursing staff about the side planned for the surgery.

The report has also blamed an incorrect imaging report that was six years old, the fact that no fail-safe system to ensure a multi-disciplinary meeting was held when a major organ was to be removed, as well as the long hours and workload of senior doctors.

The hospital said it took full responsibility for the tragic error and has apologised to the family, who have chosen to continue to have their child cared for at the hospital.

Other failures identified were the regular admission of patients outside of normal working hours, radiology reports not being sent to theatre and formal consent being taken by surgeons who are not competent to perform the procedure.

The hospital has introduced a 'correct site surgery' policy and said it accepted all the report's recommendations.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7687453.stm