Hip doctor realised error too late to act

By Keith Perry

Surgeon Joe Brownlee realised he had made a terrible blunder as soon as he spotted the bloody hip joint he was removing, it was revealed last night.

The joint was in far better condition than expected and Mr Brownlee instantly knew he had dissected the wrong limb.

By then the operation was so far advanced he had no choice but to replace the healthy hip with an artificial one and face the full consequences of his actions.

Health Minister Wyatt Creech confirmed last night that he had asked for a full report on the error at the newly opened Ascot private hospital.

He said the mistake on the elderly male patient was totally unacceptable.

"I have asked for a full report into what went wrong. I want to know how a terrible thing like this can occur and what can be done to stop it in future.

"The people of New Zealand expect a high-quality health system and this case simply fails to meet that standard."

The Ascot chairman, Dr Richard Fisher, said the surgeon might still face disciplinary action following the completion of an external review.

He said an internal inquiry into what went wrong had been completed and the external audit by the Orthopaedic Society was expected to be completed this week.

"Despite all the safety processes in place, at some crucial time a vital piece of information was missing from the link," Dr Fisher said. "It was unacceptable. We accept it happened in our hospital and we will go on to do better."

Dr Fisher said that a study showed 30 per cent of orthopaedic surgeons had this happen at some time in their careers despite careful checks and balances.

He dismissed suggestions that the surgeon might have made the mistake because of pressure from a heavy workload. Around two or three hip operations were carried out at the Ascot each day, he said.

"Our problem with the external review is that it may form part of a disciplinary process and we may not be able to release significant parts of that [review] if it was thought to impinge on that process.

"From our point of view it is in our interests to expose everything as early as possible. But we may be limited in what we can release because of those constraints."

Dr Fisher said operating theatre procedures had already been tightened up.

"I would have thought Ascot was one of the safest places in the world to have an operation now."

The Health Funding Authority said that if the patient lodged an ACC claim it could result in an investigation into possible medical misadventure.