Patient’s daughter slams hospital for informing family of medical blunder only after she demanded answers
Michelle, 17, says she asked for answer in writing on mother’s case, but received it only hours before hospital held press conference
The daughter of a patient still in critical condition because of a serious medical blunder has slammed the Hospital Authority’s reasons for delaying the announcement of the mishap.
Two doctors at United Christian Hospital earlier this year failed to prescribe an antiviral drug to patient Tang Kwai-sze while treating her kidney disease with steroids. The oversight then caused Tang – a hepatitis B carrier – to develop acute liver failure and led to two urgent transplants last month.
The authority’s CEO Dr Leung Pak-yin on Wednesday said the blunder was kept from the public for 18 days because one of the doctors involved was on leave and Tang’s daughter, Michelle, was undergoing school exams.
Michelle, however, questioned whether it was a good enough reason not to hold a press conference last month.
“[The hospital] said they are concerned but [the delay] was because a doctor was on leave. I don’t know how much they have tried to contact the doctor,” the 17-year-old said. “I’m not sure if they are shirking responsibility or not, but in the end it was us who had to go to them first, before they would admit to it.”
The hospital only told Michelle on April 21 – two days after she demanded an explanation for her mother’s condition – that it was “possibly the case” that doctors failed to recognise Tang’s pre-existing illness.
The hospital then spent the rest of April considering whether or not to hold a press conference, which eventually went ahead on Tuesday. And while the family had also requested a written reply on Tang’s condition, they were not given one until just a few hours before the media briefing.
Patients’ rights advocate Tim Pang Hung-cheong accused United Christian of attempting to keep the mistake under wraps.
“From the timeline … it’s very difficult not to see the whole event as a deliberate cover-up,” Pang said on a radio programme.
“Of course, it will rest on the investigation panel to ascertain the entire course of events.
Pang said a mechanism put in place in 2007, requiring hospitals and the authority to set up an independent investigation panel within 48 hours of any reported incident, needed to be reviewed and frontline staff reminded of its importance.
“The purpose of the mechanism is not to punish medical workers, but to enhance risk management,” he said.
“From their perspective, [not disclosing an incident] may be about protecting their name, but from the view of the entire medical sector, it is a missed opportunity to improve services.”
He suggested that experience sharing needed to be improved between hospitals and a penalty for failing to notify the authority in time should also be considered.
A three-member panel has been formed by the Hospital Authority to conduct a comprehensive review of the current medical blunder reporting mechanism. And a six-member panel formed by United Christian Hospital will investigate the recent medical blunder itself.
Additional reporting by Emily Tsang