The injection mix-up in Taipei's Peicheng Hospital for Women and Children at the end of November last year left one new-born dead and six others injured. Prosecutors have sought a jail sentence of three years and six months for the nurse who administered the wrong medication and three years for the nurse anesthetist who misplaced the deadly muscle relaxant Atracurium.
This incident has sent shock waves throughout society and raised extensive discussion. It has also led to a great deal of soul-searching in medical circles and increased public awareness regarding patient safety.
The Consumers' Foundation issued a press release on Jan. 20, voicing doubts that the Panchiao Prosecutors' Office may have handled the incident too lightly. It suggested that an investigation be carried out into doctors' negligence in the blunder.
As a medical practitioner, I have opinions different from those of the foundation. The medical profession deals with human life -- the biggest difference separating it from other vocations.
Negligence of any degree on the part of medical practitioners might endanger a patient's life or cause mental or physical injuries that are hard to redress. Each medical worker should keep this in mind and be scrupulous in each step at work.
However, to prevent blunders, one cannot simply depend on well-trained medical staff. It requires the establishment of a secure medical system to make them less prone to mistakes.
The first step would be to build up an error-reporting system that does not resort to punishment. When mistakes occur, the medical staff would take the initiative in informing the hospital, which then alters operational procedures or regulations to avoid repeating mistakes, instead of hiding the truth.
In this way, creating the medical procedures and environment that help reduce slips can fully safeguard patients' safety and prevent medical mishaps from taking place. This cannot be achieved solely by meting out punishment to those who commit mistakes.
Those who work in the medical field would find it difficult to keep abreast of the times after three years behind bars. The two nurses at the center of the tragedy are being subjected to social criticism and legal punishments, but the severest penalty would be the life-long self-condemnation.
The repeating of mistakes can be avoided if society puts more emphasis on medical safety and if medical circles review their own procedures from time to time.
In view of the recent medical mishaps, National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) has made efforts to improve its incident-reporting system and set up a committee to safeguard patients' safety and enhance the quality of medical service.
To have a broader vision on this issue, I will invite the Consumers' Foundation to visit our hospital to exchange viewpoints. We would also like to share related experience with other medical institutions and cooperate to prevent such tragedies from occurring again. As a university hospital, NTUH takes this as one of its most important missions.
Lee Yuan-Teh is superintendent of National Taiwan University Hospital.
Translated by Jackie Lin
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