THERE MAY be a need for an external inquiry into the removal of the wrong kidney from a child during surgery at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin, Minister for Health Mary Harney has said.
Speaking at an event in Dublin yesterday Ms Harney said the medical error was very regrettable and clearly terrible for the child involved and the child's family. She expressed sympathy to them over what had occurred.
The error, details of which emerged at the weekend, occurred in recent weeks when doctors at the hospital went to remove a diseased or malfunctioning kidney from the child but mistakenly removed the child's healthy kidney instead.
The hospital has apologised to the family, who want to remain anonymous and to maintain their privacy, and an internal inquiry has begun.
Asked about the incident yesterday Ms Harney said: "There currently is an inquiry under way at the hospital. There may well be a need for an outside inquiry after that but I have total confidence in the hospital at Crumlin to carry out a thorough investigation to establish how this happened.
"Unfortunately, clinical errors happen in the best healthcare systems in the world.
"I've attended a number of conferences since I've become Minister for Health where I've heard very experienced surgeons talk about errors they've made, serious errors even though they may have 25 years' experience.
"What we've got to do in the healthcare system is minimise the capacity for error making," she said.
But notwithstanding the efforts made in this area, she said unfortunately serious clinical errors still do occur: "This is one such error and I very very much regret it and it's terrible for the child and for their family."
Crumlin has said the error was "unprecedented" and the child's parents were immediately informed. They were being kept informed of the review process and when the review was completed the report would be given to them, it said.
The retired cardiac surgeon and HEALTHpluscolumnist, Dr Maurice Neligan, said he was surprised at the error because surgeons, in their earliest training, had it drilled into them to be sure they were operating on the correct organ or limb of a patient.
Yet he said there were reports every year from the Medical Protection Society, a company insuring doctors, of wrong- side surgery, with a wrong breast being removed for example or a wrong limb being removed.
Labour's health spokeswoman, Jan O'Sullivan, said the incident at Crumlin was very alarming. "I will be looking for assurances from the Minister for Health, Mary Harney, and from HSE CEO Prof Drumm, that they will leave no stone unturned in investigating just how this error occurred," she said.
"While I would accept that private aspects of this case must remain private, any findings of an investigation that indicates that there may have been systems failures or other shortcomings should be published. If there are broader lessons to be learned, they should be made public," she added.