A SURGEON used a penknife to cut open a patient’s chest during a cardiac arrest, claiming he couldn’t find a clean scalpel.
The patient, who was treated at Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton in December 2023, survived.
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The BBC reported that internal documents revealed colleagues felt the surgeon’s behaviour was “questionable”.
It said they were “very surprised” he was unable to find a sterile scalpel to carry out the procedure.
Instead, he used a swiss army knife which he normally used to chop up fruit for his lunch.
Prof Graeme Poston, an expert witness on clinical negligence and a former consultant surgeon, told the BBC: “It surprises me and appals me.
“Firstly, a penknife is not sterile.
“Secondly it is not an operating instrument. And thirdly all the kit [must have been] there.”
University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, has since added the patient was due to have an emergency operation.
But on the way to the theatre, he collapsed with a cardiac arrest outside of the operating room, which is when the surgeon intervened, the trust told Health Service Journal (HSJ).
People who have a cardiac arrest – which is when the heart stops beating – will suffer irreversible brain damage within minutes unless they can be resuscitated.
Instead of waiting for a scalpel, the surgeon used the penknife to relieve gas trapped in the chest, otherwise known as a tension pneumothorax.
It can cause the lung to collapse and other potentially life-threatening complications if not treated urgently.
He was also successfully resuscitated outside the theatre before being taken inside the operating room for surgery.
The BBC said it had also discovered the same surgeon carried out three supposedly low-risk operations in two months where all three patients died soon after, which the trust refutes.
The trust refused to add further comment.
‘Outside normal procedures’
Professor Catherine Urch, the trust’s chief medical officer, previously told the BBC: “The patient’s life was thankfully saved as a result of the actions of the surgical team, but everyone involved has accepted that those actions taken at the moment were outside normal procedures, and should not have been necessary.
“The surgeon involved reported the incident, and together with the wider team, they have reviewed what happened, to learn lessons.
“The patient was fully informed as part of our commitment to duty of candour, and the team rapidly made changes as a result, as well as sharing their learning with colleagues at patient safety meetings.”
It comes as Sussex Police are investigating allegations of medical negligence at the trust between 2015 and 2021, relating to neurosurgery and general surgery at the Brighton Hospital.
‘Another reason to be concerned’
A Sussex Police spokeswoman told The Sun: “A number of cases from within the specified NHS departments and during the specified time period have been assessed and are forming part of the ongoing investigation.
“A dedicated team of specially trained officers are in contact with those patients or families of patients whose cases are included in the investigation and providing information to support them while the investigation is ongoing.
“We are working closely with partner agencies and the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust is co-operating fully with our investigation.”
Brain surgeon ‘let her daughter, 13, drill hole into patient’s skull’
A BRAIN surgeon in Austria is under fire for allegedly allowing her 13-year-old daughter to drill a hole in a patient’s skull.
A 33-year-old man was flown to University Hospital Graz, in Styria, in January with serious head injuries following an accident in an Austrian forest.
The unnamed female neurosurgeon is alleged to have allowed her teenage daughter to participate in the emergency surgery, according to Austria’s Kronen Zeitung.
The newspaper reported that she was even allowed to drill a hole in the patient’s skull.
The surgery was successful, but in April, an anonymous tip-off to Graz public prosecutor’s office prompted an investigation.
The patient found out about the incident from the news, only to have the police tell him in July that he was the victim.
Nisha Sharma, principal lawyer at Slater and Gordon, who is acting for patients and families in cases of poor standards of care at the Royal Sussex, said: “For months we have been shocked by ongoing details emerging from the Royal Sussex, but this case involving the surgeon using his own penknife is appalling.
“The facts that are being uncovered about practices at this hospital are genuinely shocking to the community – people living in Brighton rely on the Royal Sussex for their own care and that of their families, and this is yet another reason for them to be deeply concerned.”
