A Melbourne grandmother has been left permanently disfigured after hospital staff mixed her up with another patient with the same first name.
Debra Buchanan was admitted to the Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital at Sunshine Hospital for a routine procedure to remove a cancerous skin tag from her pelvic area on January 23.
Instead, a large portion of her external genitalia was removed.
“They called Deborah, and I said, ‘Did you mean Buchanan?’ And they said, ‘Oh yes, you’ll do’,” she told A Current Affair.
“The woman next to me said, ‘I’m Deborah,’ and they said, ‘Oh no, we’ve got the right one’.”
Buchanan said she had been a dental nurse for many years and would never call a patient by their first name.
When she woke up after the procedure and walked to the bathroom, she haemorrhaged everywhere and called the nurse.
“She came in, I said, ‘Can you explain why I’m bleeding so badly?’ She said, ‘Oh, that’s part of the operation.’ And I said, ‘What operation?’ I said, ‘I had it on here,’ and as I touched it, it was still there.”
A junior surgeon was sent to see Buchanan and looked at her like she was mad when she questioned why they operated on her pelvic area.
She called her husband and told him they had done the wrong operation, then the hospital discharged her with little explanation about what happened.
“I got a little bit to say that because of the two Debras, and also they were understaffed at the time. I found it very difficult to listen to,” she said.
She then had to return to the same hospital to have the skin cancer removed.
“I was terrified,” she said.
“Every time I have to go to the doctor, anxious; I’ve lost my confidence.
“You can’t make a mistake on a person. It’s not like breaking a cup. It’s life to them.”
Carbone Lawyers lawyer Erin Monsalve Fear specialises in medical negligence and said what happened to Buchanan was almost unbelievable.
“The fact that she was never consulted nor consented appropriately for the surgery prior to it taking place, and I think that’s one of the biggest things that it boils down to,” she said.
In a statement, Western Health chief operating officer John Ferraro said all patients had the right to safe, high-quality care, and patient safety remained the highest priority.
“Due to our obligations to protect patient privacy and confidentiality, we are unable to comment on the care of any individual patient,” he said.
“In line with Victoria’s Statutory Duty of Candour requirements, where a patient adverse event has occurred, we provide an apology, meet with the patient, undertake a review of the incident, and share the findings and actions taken to help prevent a recurrence.
“We are committed to open and transparent communication with patients throughout this process.”
