Antrim Area Hospital: Memo after tube inserted in wrong patient

[Northerner]

A memo has been sent out to staff in the Northern Health Trust after a plastic tube was inserted into the wrong patient at Antrim Area Hospital.

The tube was inserted through the nose, throat and stomach, before staff realised they had the wrong person.

Staff have been reminded to positively identify patients before they are removed from a ward for treatment.

The trust said the memo was an indication of how it was attempting to prevent mistakes from happening again.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-26928988

 

[HERE TINTIN]

That's a bit scarey it just shouldn't happen.

 

[robert@fm]

Hospital patients (at least in the hospitals where I've been admitted) wear wristbands bearing their name, date of birth and NHS number (and sometimes a barcode to be scanned by medical instruments, such as the BG meter used at St. Thomas'), and are asked to verbally confirm name/DOB before any procedure, even just a BG check. This sort of thing shouldn't be possible. 🙄