A surgeon at a crisis-hit NHS Trust used a Swiss Army knife to open the chest of a patient in an emergency because he claimed he could not find a sterile scalpel.
Although the patient survived, the action was described by University Hospitals Sussex as being “outside normal procedures and should not have been necessary”, reports the BBC.
Professor Graeme Poston, an expert witness on clinical negligence and a former consultant surgeon, said the report had “surprised and appalled” him.
“First, a penknife is not sterile. Second, it is not an operating instrument. And third, all of the kit must have been there.”
The penknife in question was apparently normally used by the surgeon to cut his fruit at lunchtime.
Internal documents show that his colleagues considered his behaviour “questionable” and that they were “very surprised” he was unable to find a scalpel.
The BBC has also discovered the same surgeon carried out three supposedly low-risk operations in two months where all three patients died soon after.
Police are separately looking into at least 105 cases of alleged medical negligence at the Trust and considering manslaughter charges.
The BBC had previously reported that:
• Four whistle-blowers said patients had died unnecessarily and been “effectively maimed” at the Trust
• A former surgeon claimed a “gang culture” existed in the neurosurgery department. The same doctor alleged one surgeon had disproportionate deaths and a second did complex operations without adequate training
• An internal review conceded doctors could have saved the life of a young patient had they acted sooner
• A Royal College of Surgeons review found a “culture of fear” at the Trust and suggested senior managers may need to be replaced
The Trust launched a series of internal investigations into the three patients who had died, and concluded they had experienced “poor care”.
It also conceded that one woman who died “would have survived if there were no post-operative complications”.
'Training problems'
However, health watchdog the Care Quality Commission looked at the deaths and concluded there had been no breach of regulations.
University Hospitals Sussex said: “Our investigations did not raise concerns about the surgeries themselves but did identify common themes for improvement, upon which we acted immediately to ensure our services are as safe as possible.
“These included better communication with patients before and after surgery, improved training for end-of-life care, and strengthened processes especially when care is transferred from one site to another.”
BBC article – Surgeon operated with penknife he uses to cut up lunch (Open access)
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