[ad_1]
KITCHEN / ROBERT THINGS
A builder’s apprentice witnessed surgery at Wellington Regional Hospital after unethically accessing the facility.
A medical student was barred from multiple district health boards after she let her roommate see heart surgery at Wellington Regional Hospital.
On Saturday, Capital & Coast DHB said it had concluded its investigation into an incident in August this year where a member of the public improperly accessed the hospital to observe someone’s surgery.
The incident may have happened after the medical student, who at the time was a University of Otago intern, gave her roommate gowns and a swipe card to enter the hospital through a non-public entrance.
The associate was not a medical student, but hospital staff assumed he was.
SUPPLIED
The student was from the University of Otago and when approached about the incident, she said she felt “sick.”
READ MORE:
* Medical student expelled from DHB grounds after a member of the public entered the operating room
* Coronavirus: Wellington school to be used as testing center
* Disruption for patients as Wellington Regional Hospital replaces 28 km of faulty plumbing
The gap was only discovered when a doctor asked the associate about his studies, at which point the associate said he was an apprentice builder.
“I am not a medical student, I hope to start in three years. I am an apprentice builder. Thank you very much, ”the associate said, according to a report detailing the gap.
The report said the patient’s privacy was violated “in an unacceptable manner” by having the associate witness his surgery.
When hospital staff approached the genuine medical student to explain why she had given her roommate her gowns and magnetic card, she said that he “wanted to see an operation.”
The student said he felt upset and “sick” about the incident.
Monique Ford / Stuff
John Tait, chief medical officer for Capital & Coast DHB, said the incident was a clear breach of the code of conduct.
He was elevated to the dean of the Otago School of Medicine, the vice chancellor of the university, the police and the privacy commissioner. The police decided that no further action could be taken against the man as the student gave him the magnetic card.
“This was a clear violation of the Code of Conduct that students sign when beginning a placement, and a betrayal of the trust we have in them to put the safety of patients first at all times,” said the head of DHB at Capital & Coast physician John Tait.
“We are deeply disappointed in the actions and behavior of this student, which have impacted the patient and his family, as well as our staff.”
While the man did not participate in the surgery or have any contact with the patient, a DHB investigation into the incident found that the DHB lacked a formal procedure to verify the identities of students with identification cards when entering theaters. .
The DHB said that a formal process had since been put in place and that it was in the process of implementing other recommendations in the report.
Rosa Woods / Stuff
The student allowed her partner to witness surgery after giving him her swipe card and uniform.
“We have apologized to the patient and his family, and we wish to take this opportunity to do so again,” said Tait.
“We take patient privacy very seriously, and this unacceptable breach in our security protocols could have been exploited. Our systems have failed the patient and his family in this case. “
The student had been excluded from the Capital & Coast DHB and Hutt Valley DHB facilities.
Discussions about the student’s future were continuing between the DHB, the university and the Medical Council, the DHB said.
