Latin Times
Hospital officials are questioning a surgeon’s decision to use a Swiss Army knife normally used for his lunch to operate on a patient after he claimed he could not find a sterile scalpel, according to a report.
While University Hospitals Sussex said the situation was an emergency, the surgeon’s decision was not normal procedures and “should not have been necessary,” according to BBC.
The unnamed surgeon reportedly decided to use a Swiss Army knife he normally used to cut fruit for his lunch when he was allegedly unable to find a scalpel while operating on a patient at Royal Hospital Sussex in Brighton.
The patient did survive the surgery, however the hospital stated that the surgeon’s decision was “questionable.” They also were “very surprised” that he was unable to find the correct tool, as reported by the BBC.
Graeme Poston, a former consultant surgeon and an expert witness on clinical negligence, told the outlet, “It surprises me and appalls me. Firstly, a penknife is not sterile. Secondly it is not an operating instrument. And thirdly all the kit [must have been] there.”
The same surgeon was also a part of three assumedly low-risk procedures in two months that all ended with the patients dying soon after. Internal investigations into the cases were launched by the trust who determined that they had received “poor care,” the BBC reported.
The investigations also concluded that one of the patients, a woman, “would have survived if there were no postoperative complications,” the BBC reported.
“We didn’t understand how mum died. No one seemed to know why the operation was not successful,” the woman’s daughter, who asked not to be identified, told the outlet. “There needs to be a thorough investigation into these deaths, not just an action plan. That’s not enough.”
The case is just one of 105 cases that police have been looking into separately regarding alleged medical negligence at the NHS trust. Police are reportedly considering manslaughter charges.
