Arabic version: فتح تحقيق في خطأ جراحي بمستشفى صن شاين

According to ABC News, Victorian authorities are investigating an incident in which a Melbourne woman was mistakenly given surgery intended for another patient at Joan Kirner Women’s & Children’s Hospital in Sunshine.

Debra Buchanan attended the hospital in January for a minor procedure to remove a lesion on her pelvic area. Her lawyer, Erin Monsalve Fear, said Buchanan woke after surgery to discover that a portion of external tissue from her genital area had been removed instead, leaving permanent scarring.

Monsalve Fear described the incident as a “complete systemic failure” and said safeguards and procedures that should have prevented it had failed or were not followed. She said Buchanan later needed further surgery for the original cancerous lesion and had lost trust in the medical profession.

The Department of Health said Safer Care Victoria, the state agency overseeing patient care, was reviewing the incident with Western Health. Government minister Vicki Ward called what happened “awful” and “not acceptable.”

Western Health chief operating officer John Ferraro said the organisation could not comment on individual care because of privacy and confidentiality obligations. He said that under Victoria’s Statutory Duty of Candour requirements, it provides an apology, meets with patients, reviews adverse events and shares findings and actions intended to prevent recurrence. Buchanan’s lawyer said the hospital had acknowledged the wrong procedure but had not apologised to her client.