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Wellington surgeon Vasu Iyengar is to complain to the Ombudsman about what she calls a "name and shame inquisition" following the death of one of her patients.
The post-operative care of Moina Simcock was severely criticised in findings made public at the weekend by Health and Disability Commissioner Ron Paterson.
The 64-year-old died in 2005, three weeks after Ms Iyengar performed gynaecological surgery on her at Wakefield Hospital.
A subsequent hernia went undiagnosed for almost two weeks and Mrs Simcock died from septicaemia.
Surgeon Gary Stone is also in the spotlight after Mr Paterson found that one of his patients, Beverley Malone, died from post-operative complications after abdominal surgery at the same hospital in 2003.
Mr Stone has been referred for possible legal action, and Ms Iyengar faces a competence review by the Medical Council. Both still work in Wellington hospitals.
It is not normal practice for the Health and Disability Commissioner to name parties involved in complaints he investigates, but he has spoken out this time after the husbands of both women named the surgeons and hospital involved on Friday.
They said they went public with the story of their wives' deaths because they feared other patients could die in similar circumstances.
Mr Paterson ruled that Ms Iyengar failed to provide proper post-operative care when Mrs Simcock became unwell.
He also found that Wakefield Hospital had inadequate back-up for deteriorating patients.
Ms Iyengar yesterday said she was at the centre of a "witch hunt".
In a letter addressed to Mr Paterson, she accused the commissioner of conducting a witch hunt by "fostering a culture of shaming, blame and retribution against individual doctors and hospitals in the media".
She told the Dominion Post that, though she would continue practising, it was not "a safe environment".
Patients' deaths were a reality, and cardiac and trauma surgeons lost people daily.
"I'm getting pilloried for a very, very rare complication that we eventually picked up."
Mr Paterson said his intention was not to make scapegoats of surgeons, but to "spotlight the need for improvement in the safety net for patients in private hospitals".
Wakefield Hospital chief executive Andrew Blair said systems had been changed since the deaths.
- NZPA
