A new inquiry has been ordered into the death of a patient following cancer treatment at Waikato Hospital a decade ago after the pathologist who conducted the autopsy changed his conclusion on the cause of her death.
Monday, 24 May 2021, 2:14 pm
Health and Disability Commissioner Morag McDowell today
released a report finding a radiologist in breach of the
Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights
(the Code) for their failure to identify information in a
scan.
The man, aged in his eighties, had a CT scan at
a public hospital to investigate abdominal pain and
diarrhoea he was experiencing.
The scan showed he had
free gas in his abdominal cavity which indicated a bowel
perforation. However, the radiologist missed this in the
scan report and the man was discharged from hospital. Sadly,
a few days later he died as a result of septic shock due to
+Undoctored
Media release from the office of the Health and Disability Commissioner
Monday 17 May 2021, 03:49 PM
2 minutes to Read
Health and Disability Commissioner Morag McDowell today released a report finding a District Health Board and a speech language therapist in breach of the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights (the Code) for failures in their care of a man with throat cancer.
The man, in his mid-sixties, was referred to the Counties Manukau District Health Board’s (CMDHB) Otorhinolaryngology (ORL) service as his voice had become hoarse. Instead of being booked for an appointment with both an ORL clinician and speech language therapist, the man was mistakenly booked with a speech language therapist only.