KEY POINTS:
Health Minister David Cunliffe apologised yesterday for a "litany of preventable errors" that led to a rogue surgeon carrying out a series of botched sterilisations on women in Wanganui.
"People's lives have been affected. I wish to acknowledge those women and their families and offer my sincere regrets for what they have endured," Mr Cunliffe said.
"These events are an indictment on the surgeon and on historical practices in use at that time.
"Clearly there can be no excuse of the behaviour and practices of Dr Hasil. However, I am pleased the DHB has apologised to patients and is offering to meet with those concerned."
A report by Health and Disability Commissioner Ron Paterson described as "a sorry saga" the sterilisations performed by Dr Roman Hasil, whose previous record in Australia appeared "chequered."
Eight of the 32 women on whom Dr Hasil performed laparoscopic sterilisation, or tubal ligations, in 2005 and 2006 failed, with six becoming pregnant.
He did not place clips correctly on the Fallopian tubes of the eight women, presenting them with difficult decisions, Mr Paterson said. Most of the women had abortions.
Dr Hasil's failure rate for tubal ligations of 25 per cent compared with an accepted rate of 0.2 per cent.
Another woman who complained about Dr Hasil said she was unaware he had removed her ovaries in surgery.
Mr Cunliffe said Whanganui DHB now needed to concentrate on delivering the best possible health services and continue its improvement so that a repeat did not occur.
He noted since Dr Hasil was employed in 2005, the DHB had been involved in two reviews of clinical practices and had made a number of crucial improvements.
They included more thorough checking of references for staff, more stringent monitoring of supervision requirements and closer collaboration within the Whanganui-Mid Central region to develop a regional women's and children's health service.
Last year, the Ministry of Health placed an experienced governance adviser with the DHB to report on progress on a number of areas.
"I am satisfied the board has made a number of improvements," Mr Cunliffe said.
Wanganui Mayor Michael Laws said radical changes were required to assure the Wanganui public such mistakes would never be made again.
"The Hasil Report chronicles nothing less than a systemic failure at the DHB."
Mr Paterson stopped short of referring Dr Hasil or the DHB to the Director of Proceedings for legal action , but said three patients who had complained would be entitled to bring their own claims against Dr Hasil and the DHB before the Human Rights Review Tribunal.
Some patients have joined a class action being considered by a legal firm as a result of Dr Hasil's actions.
Mr Paterson said the DHB did not fulfil its duty of care and breached the Health and Disability Code by employing Dr Hasil, by failing to have a system to monitor his practice effectively and to respond to competency and health concerns about him in a timely and effective way.
He said it was "no wonder that many people in Wanganui felt let down by their hospital".
WHAT THE REPORT SAID
ON DR HASIL:
* Dr Hasil was an experienced obstetrician and gynaecologist in Slovakia but had a "chequered" work history in Australia from 1996 to 2005.
* He lied about a criminal conviction for which he was jailed in Singapore in 1995 and left Lismore Base Hospital in New South Wales in 2005 where there was an allegation against him for "fiddling" timesheets, which he denied.
* He was dismissed from a Victoria hospital in 2005 for alcohol use while on duty.
* He misled Whanganui District Health Board about his work and registration history in Australia and started work in 2005 as medical officer of health in its obstetrics and gynaecology department.
ON WHANGANUI DHB:
* It hesitated too long in the face of clear information that Dr Hasil might pose a risk of harm to patients.
* No formal or co-ordinated action was taken to assess or monitor his safety to practise until it was too late.
* Despite the raft of quality assurance policies and procedures at Whanganui DHB, they were not followed and chance played a large part in exposing the cluster of failed sterilisations.
- additional reporting NZPA
