After the media publicized the case of children who howled in pain while harvesting their bone marrow because doctors did not give them proper anesthesia. The Patients’ Ombudsman demanded immediate explanations from the negligent hospitals. How did the individual institutions translate?
Andrzej Wyrwiński from Polsat News informed about the irregularities that took place in hospitals. He learned from the mothers of sick children that they did not know that the child should be given adequate anesthesia. Others were afraid to ask for them, because they did not want to expose the child to additional unpleasantness and even greater stress. After broadcasting the report on Polsat, hospitals announced that they would change the procedures and from now on will perform bone marrow biopsies for children under general anesthesia.
Despite assurances from hospitals and doctors themselves that little patients would stop suffering, the Ministry of Health and the Ombudsman for Patients’ Rights announced inspections and demanded explanations from the institutions where the irregularities occurred. In the information sent to the editors of MedTvoiLokony, the Ombudsman for Patients’ Rights assured us that he asked the directors of seven hospitals in Kielce, Wrocław, Katowice, Kraków, Poznań, Olsztyn and Bydgoszcz. In response to the letter, the institutions admitted that the final decision about the type of anesthesia should always be given by the anaesthesiologist who participates in the bone marrow collection. Such an argument was used by the facility from Wrocław. The hospital in Kielce assured that from now on, the parents of the child will be able to decide which anesthesia should be administered to the child. The facility in Poznań explained that in most children, the bone marrow is collected after the administration of sedative-hypnotic and analgesic drugs. General anesthesia is only used in children with neurological disorders. The facility in Kraków explained a similar explanation. The hospital in Olsztyn has announced that it will approach each patient individually and that doctors will inform parents that the child has the right to general anesthesia, the final decision should be up to them.
– In a situation where there are further reports of violations of patient rights, we will commission an on-site investigation in selected hospitals or we will decide to initiate proceedings and check whether the collective rights of patients have been violated. Of course, I have in mind that general anesthesia is not always possible. Each time it is the doctor who decides whether it is possible to use this form of anesthesia without any consequences for the life or health of the child, says Krystyna Barbara Kozłowska, acting for the Patient’s Rights Ombudsman.
It is worth noting that insufficient anesthesia administered during bone marrow collection is only the tip of the iceberg. Staff shortages, in this case of anaesthesiologists, are a huge problem for the Polish health service. – I suspect that it is not the doctors’ fault, but the hospital directors who are responsible for the organization of work – says Damian Patecki, a doctor in anesthesiology specializing in anesthesiology, and vice-president of the HMPA Association. – From the point of view of a doctor, the matter is simple: if I want to perform a procedure under general anesthesia, I must be sure that I will have an anesthesiologist at my disposal. Personally, I believe that doctors should provide patients not only with safety, but also comfort. I was lucky that in the hospitals where I worked, we anesthetized practically all procedures – he adds.
According to the Ombudsman for Patients, hospitals should deal with staff shortages on their own. – Institutions should take action and ensure that the hospital has an appropriate number of doctors of this specialty, or increase the number of employed anaesthesiologists, so as to ensure proper implementation of medical procedures – adds Krystyna Barbara Kozłowska, Acting Patient Ombudsman.