Over 60 patients have undergone incorrect procedures

At least 63 patients have undergone “wrong-site” surgical procedures in Irish hospitals over the past five years, according to new figures.

The number of such incorrect procedures increased for three years in a row to 2015, when 16 wrong-site incidents were recorded.

The total number of wrong-site procedures is higher than 63 as no figures were reported for some parts of the country for some years.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines wrong-site surgery as “the performance of an operation or surgical procedure on the wrong part of the body”. This includes incorrect operations, or operations done on the wrong side of the body (such as a left kidney instead of a right kidney), or correct side but incorrect location (eg, incorrect finger on the correct hand).

The figures relate to State-funded hospitals only and were obtained under freedom of information.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) said the incidents were recorded in the context of a “very significant number of procedures” performed in hospitals every year. In 2014, for example, 1.6 million discharges were recorded.

“Reporting is encouraged so an increasing trend in incident reporting is not necessarily negative but rather reflects a transparent organisation focused on learning and ensuring safe care.”

‘Avoidable’

Chairman of the

Irish Patients Association

Stephen McMahon described the figures as disappointing. “A recent research study has shown that one in every eight hospital admissions results in an adverse event, and 70 per cent of these events are avoidable. Serious matters like this call for greater vigilance and best-known practice to prevent recurrences in the future,” he said.

The RCSI Hospital Group recorded the highest number of wrong-site procedures with 23 from 2011 to 2015. The group includes Beaumont Hospital, Connolly Hospital, Cavan General Hospital, Rotunda Hospital, Louth County Hospital, Monaghan Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

The Ireland East Hospital Group, which includes the Mater hospital, St Vincent’s hospital, Mullingar hospital, St Luke’s General Hospital in Kilkenny, Wexford General Hospital, The National Maternity Hospital, Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan, St Columcille’s Hospital and The National Orthopaedic Hospital saw 15 of these surgeries.

Hospital grouping

The Saolta West/North-West grouping, which includes Galway University Hospital, Letterkenny General Hospital, Mayo General Hospital, Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe, Sligo General Hospital and Roscommon General Hospital also saw 15.

The smaller UL/Midwest hospital group registered five incorrect procedures, as did the Dublin Midlands hospital group, which includes St James’s Hospital, Dublin Midlands Regional Hospital, Naas General Hospital and the Midlands Regional Hospital in Portlaoise. However, both groups returned data for just two years during the period.

Statistics for the South/South-West Hospital Group could not be obtained due to “inconsistencies in data entry”.

The worst recent year for these procedures was 2012, with a total of 18 occurring in hospitals around the country.

Cathriona Molloy of Patient Focus said there was not enough communication between hospitals about learning from adverse events, or consistency in how the HSE implements policy complaints and investigations.

While these incorrect procedures make up only a tiny percentage of the total number of surgeries completed in Ireland every year, the WHO considers them to be avoidable.