Surgery lands private hospital in soup after patient tests Covid positive

Covid test conducted in a non-accredited pvt lab; surgery performed before result was out
Surgery lands private hospital in soup after patient tests Covid positive

THRISSUR: The negligence on the part of a private hospital has put at least a dozen health workers on tenterhooks in Thrissur after a 55-year-old patient who underwent a surgery to remove her uterus tested positive for Covid-19. 

The hospital authorities flouted the standard operating procedure of the health department by not only conducting her Covid test in a non-accredited private lab but also did not wait for the test result before performing the hysterectomy. The hospital in Cherpu has been closed down now. 

When contacted, District Medical Officer K J Reena said, “The private hospital has erred on two counts. First, the Covid test was conducted in a non-accredited private lab, which is not acceptable. Second, the surgery was performed even before the test result was out, thereby exposing the health workers to the virus. We have not taken the private lab’s positive test result into account.

Soon after the incident came to the notice, the patient was taken to the Medical College Hospital and her swab samples were collected for testing. If the test carried out at the ICMR-accredited lab turns out positive, the hospital authorities will have to face action,” she added. The housewife, who resides in Paralam panchayat, was subjected to the swab sample test in the private hospital on June 15 and her surgery was performed on June 19.

After the surgery, she was discharged from the hospital and she tested positive on June 23. As per the preliminary report, her source of infection is still not clear, if the private lab test result is true. Soon after the private lab’s test result came, health authorities placed 12 people with whom the patient had come in contact into quarantine.

Further, around a dozen health workers in the private hospital including the doctor who performed the surgery, nurses and other staff were told to go into quarantine. It is to be noted that the highest number of health workers being infected with the virus is in Thrissur with 17 cases till June 25. The state has 40 accredited labs for Covid testing including 16 private labs and 24 labs under the state government.

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The New Indian Express
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