MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE PATIENT SAFETY ITEM 1.2

PATIENT SAFETY ACT 2023

John Whelan Solicitor with specialist expertise in Medical Negligence and Patient Safety gives an example of a Notifiable Incident as envisaged by Item 1.2 of the Act. 

There are 13 notifiable incidents set out in the Act but other notifiable incidents may be introduced by Ministerial regulation under Section 8 of the Act.

Item 1.2

Surgery performed on the wrong site resulting in unintended and unanticipated death which did not arise from or was a consequence of an illness or an underlying condition of the Patient or having regard to any such illness or underlying condition was not wholly attributable to that illness

An example of surgery performed on the wrong site resulting in an unintended and unanticipated death.   A Patient was scheduled for surgery to relieve bleeding in the Patient’s brain.    The surgical team, however, operated on the wrong side of the Patient’s brain. The Patient suffered from complications as a result of the incorrect procedure and died a few weeks later.

In this case, the wrong-site surgery led directly to the Patient's death.   The Patient was suffering from a condition, but the fatal complications were not a consequence of the pre-existing condition.  Instead, the death was the result of the surgical team’s error in performing the procedure on the incorrect side of the Patient’s brain causing further brain damage and ultimately death.

Had the correct site been operated on, the Patient might have survived, or the outcome would likely have been different. Therefore, the fatal outcome was not wholly attributable to the Patient’s pre-existing illness but rather to the wrong site surgery. This incident is an example of how a mistake in surgical practice can lead to unintended and unanticipated death, independent of the Patient’s underlying condition.

For more detailed insights into how the Patient Safety Act 2023 impacts you and how Whelan Law can support you, please visit our Patient Safety Rights Legal Advice https://www.whelanlaw.ie/news/medical-negligence-and-patient-safety/