Patient had to undergo HIV test due to blunder
It has been revealed that a female patient had to be tested for HIV after an anaesthetist pricked himself on a needle he was removing from her arm.
The woman, 58, had to give her consent for the test following the medical negligence claim, just before she underwent an operation.
The hospital employee jabbed his finger when removing the needle before the patient’s carpel tunnel surgery.
The victim said her personal injury on her hand from the operation was so bad that it became infected for several weeks – after five months it still had not healed properly. Due to the previous blunder, she told the doctor to leave her hand alone.
She said: “The anaesthetist pricked his finger when taking out a needle from my hand, which drew blood. This left me laying in the operating theatre while he got sorted and came back with consent forms for me to sign in order that they could take blood samples from me for testing. Not a good start.”
The patient, from Fobbing, plans to file a formal complaint over the professional negligence.
Updated on 17/06/2010