The chief executive of the Hospital Authority has apologised to a woman who suffered a brain haemorrhage after receiving the wrong type of blood in a transfusion.
A day after the incident at the Caritas Medical Centre in Sham Shui Po came to light, Dr Leung Pak-yin admitted there had been a serious mistake. 'We are deeply sorry to the victim and her family,' Leung said.
The 64-year-old woman developed a brain haemorrhage after being given blood type A, instead of type B. She was being treated at Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei, where she was said to be in a serious condition last night.
Initial investigations found that laboratory staff at Caritas had swapped the woman's blood test results with those of another patient. The other patient did not require a transfusion and had already been discharged from hospital.
A panel of medical experts will investigate the incident and is expected to issue a report within eight weeks.
The woman was admitted to the Caritas centre on August 9 suffering from scoliosis - a curved spine, with a narrowing of the spinal column, a condition known as spinal stenosis