Kenyans woke up to the horror news that a surgeon at Kenyatta National Hospital conducted brain surgery on a wrong patient following a mix-up in name tags.
According to the Daily Nation, which kicked off the investigation that forced the hospital’s management to come clean on the debacle, two men had been wheeled into KNH unconscious last Sunday.
One needed head surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain while the other only required nursing and medication to heal a trauma swelling in his head, medically known as closed head injury.
However, a horror mix-up of identification tags saw the wrong man wheeled into theatre and his skull opened.
Doctors did not realise the mistake until hours into the surgery, when they discovered there was no blood clot in the brain of the man sprawled on the operating table.
In an effort to limit the damage following Daily Nation enquiries, the hospital’s chief operating officer Lily Koros issued a statement announcing the suspension of four medics who were at work on the fateful night.
They included the neurosurgeon, the ward nurse, theatre receiving nurse, and the anaesthetist.
“The management has suspended the admission rights of a neurosurgery registrar and issued him with a show-cause letter for apparently operating on the wrong patient,” Ms Koros said.
Many Kenyans were in disbelief following the revelation.
Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jnr tweeted: “How on earth did a neurosurgeon conduct a surgery on a wrong patient at KNH! Medical negligence needs be to be addressed through punitive damages.”
“How do you conduct brain surgery on the wrong patient? Kenyatta National Hospital has outdone themselves. Horrfying!!!!” Radio Africa sports presenter Carol Radull tweeted.
And @Waambui had this to say: “Oh my God! Brain surgery on the wrong patient? I hope the person recovers well. But what is really happening at Kenyatta National Hospital? Rape cases, theft of newborns, etc. What is the worst that must happen at KNH for there to be a change of management? Really what?”
However, Dr Njoki Ngumi, in a long thread, raised various issues regarding the incident while warning against framing the surgeon as the culprit before a full investigation is done.
“When there are questions, or errors, or uncertainties, ideally all these are documented. Person A can for instance say they want to do Procedure X that needs Person B’s okay, and then Person B says they won’t do it and gives the reasons why. All these things are written down. We also document when things go wrong, and exactly what was happening at that time and why. Because there are often several eyes, we also have multiple points of view and reports which have to be looked at separately and together to tease out one main, fully detailed report,” Dr Ngumi averred.
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“Media have to be careful when framing these issues, to avoid casting aspersions or adding new issues. We also overglorify doctors alone for successes that belong to teams. We remember Ben Carson by name, but an army helped the seperation of those conjoined twins,” she added.
Dr Mercy Korir, a health/medical reporter/anchor with KTN News, tweeted: “On KNH: Patient misidentification is a risk every day, esp for lab&radiology tests and surgeries. That’s why there are protocols to follow. It’s like a chain of custody. Team work is key. If someone in that chain doesn’t do their part, wrong patients end up on the table.”
