Cambridge News | cambridge-news.co.

uk | September 11, 2017 | 11

HEALTH

Hospital issues public apology after operating on the wrong patient

A HOSPITAL has publicly
apologised after a blunder which
saw staff operate on the wrong
patient.
The ‘never event’ – so named
because they should never happen
– occurred At the West Suffolk
Hospital in Bury St Edmaunds in
March when the patient had the
wrong procedure performed.
The patient suffered no ill effects
but the hospital has not revealed
what caused the mistake to happen
now the investigation into the
incident has finished.
Rowan Procter, chief nurse at
West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust,
said: “Very disappointingly, a ‘never
event’ occurred in March relating to
an outpatient procedure.”
“Although no harm was caused
to the patient involved, we
immediately undertook a robust
and thorough investigation. This
has now been completed and steps
have been taken to ensure as far as
possible that this doesn’t happen
again.”
She added: “We take incidents
like this very seriously, as we
support the philosophy that they
are wholly preventable. Patient
safety remains our top priority and
we work with staff to continually
improve our processes and
procedures.
“We have apologised to
the patient involved, and are
grateful for their co-operation
and involvement throughout the
investigation process.”
The same report which revealed
the ‘never event’ also detailed
nine other serious incidents which
included two unavoidable or
unexpected deaths, one the result
of a trip, slip or fall and the other
in maternity; six were classed as
threatening the ability/quality of
health care services, including five
norovirus outbreaks which closed
wards at the hospital, and another
incident where serious harm was
caused to a patient.

COMMUNITY

Social services
‘split up family’
over child’s rash
RACHAEL
MCMENEMY
@rach_mc94CN
A MOTHER has spoken out
after a hospital visit ended
with her partner being ac-
cused of abuse and the fam-
ily torn apart.
Jasmine Yates, 20, and
Kevin Gardiner, 31, from
Haverhill, took one-year-old
Amara to West Suffolk Hos-
pital over concerns about a
rash on her leg.
But prior to any tests being
run, social services and the
police arrived and accused
Kevin of abuse, separating
him from Jasmine, Amara,
and her half-sister Gene-
vieve, who was 10-days-old
at the time.
Jasmine said: “It’s been
hard and emotionally drain-
ing for us all. I knew there
was something wrong with
my daughter and it just felt
like no-one was listening.
She said: “It started so in-
nocently. I got Amara out of
bed to change her nappy and
noticed a rash on her thigh.
“I took her to the doctor
and he said we should go to
the hospital and sent me out
to the waiting room while he
made the phone call. “
According to Jasmine and
Kevin, as soon as they ar-
rived at the hospital on June
29, staff treated them with
suspicion and suggested the
mark on their daughter’s leg
was a burn.
They said it took 24 hours
to run tests which bred more
worry and frustration.
Jasmine said: “After the
hospital said it was a burn
TOGETHER:
Kevin and
Amara
they said we had to stay the
night. I could stay with Am-
ara but Kevin was told he
had to go home and would
have to come back in the
morning with our 10-day-
old daughter so she could be
checked over.”
The following day social
services and police became
involved as well as a skin spe-
cialist who Jasmine claimed
was adamant Amara’s mark
was not a rash or skin infec-
tion despite a swab being
taken only seconds before
social services arrived.
Jasmine said Kevin was
immediately separated from
his family and was not al-
lowed to say goodbye to her
or the two children.
Rowan Procter, executive
chief nurse at West Suffolk
NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“We are sorry to hear of the
distress Ms Yates and her
family are feeling, and would
encourage Ms Yates to log
any concerns formally with
our patient experience team.
“The protection of chil-
dren is of utmost importance
to the trust, and we have rig-
orous processes in place to
ensure potentially vulnera-
ble children are safeguarded
from harm. We apologise for
any unnecessary stress that
may have been caused.”
The family were separated
for more than a week.
Kevin told the News he had
to take time off work while
the issue was being resolved
because he found himself
struggling emotionally.
Jasmine said: “It was so
upsetting. We just wanted
our family together and to
enjoy time with Amara and
our new baby. “
After a week the hospital
rang to confirm the mark on
Amara’s leg was a skin infec-
tion. The couple say they re-
ceived no apology from the
hospital. Kevin was then al-
lowed to return to his family.
Kevin said: “I was just over
the moon. I thought I might
never see them again.”
However, for reasons the
family still do not know, so-
cial services remained in-
volved until last week.
A spokesman for Suffolk
County Council said: “We
have a statutory duty to
follow its child protection
procedures when such con-
cerns are raised. This is par-
ticularly important when we
receive any referral from a
specialist consultant within
a local health authority.
“We discussed the situa-
tion with the family at the
time who understood that
we were following our statu-
tory duties and we conclud-
ed our involvement when we
received further information
from the health authority
following their initial diag-
nosis.”