By FRANCESCA MOLD and MARTIN JOHNSTON
Inexperienced staff and a shortage of money have been blamed in part for a health scare at Gisborne Hospital involving an anaesthetist who reused syringes on patients.
A Canadian anaesthetist who worked at the east coast hospital from October 1999 to last March is being investigated by Tairawhiti Healthcare officials over reusing syringes on 134 patients.
The anaesthetist is understood to have left the country.
Gisborne MP Janet Mackey told the Herald she believed a lack of money had led to the loss of many experienced staff who might have picked up the anaesthetist's health-care breach earlier.
She said that although it was unacceptable to reuse syringes, back-up security procedures should have prevented its happening.
A Tairawhiti source said the hospital and health service had had difficulties keeping staff. "It's recruitment, it's retention and it's not valuing who you have ... "
The source said it was significant that Tairawhiti had needed to employ a locum anaesthetist.
"We have had, in the past 18 months or so, two very good, young anaesthetists and they have both left."
Meanwhile, patients caught up in the health scare told the Herald yesterday that they were waiting to receive letters from Tairawhiti Healthcare before deciding whether to have tests to see if they had been exposed to infections via the reused syringes.
There is a small risk that some patients might have caught blood-borne infections like hepatitis C, B and HIV when the anaesthetist used dirty syringes to inject drugs into their intravenous drips.
Syringe scare link to lack of finance
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.