Temple street hospital using unauthorised devices

If the implants used were what was always used then no CSSD wouldn’t have anything to do with them as they’d have been stored next to or in the theatre already sterile. The instrument sets would go through CSSD though.

And sorry if I wasn’t clear, but it did happen where replacement crews or plates (and in orthopaedics there’s a load of that stuff) would come through CSSD and either be sterilised separately for use in the operation, or if they weren’t needed straight away would be kept in CSSD and added when the set came down. I mentioned that they might be involved because if the screws weren’t authorised then were they pre sterilised ? I hope CSSD had no role in this.

There is the purchasing part also which is a good point, and that’s why I’m confused, and I can only speak to my experience in that anything anyone wanted to buy you needed to get it cleared.

Well the implants or anchors or whatever i saw were in plastic with a clear front and white background and were opened in front of the nurse and double checked. As you say something happened to bypass those many checks.

And spot on about the staff and how hard they work. At times it’s very easy to generalise the whole health service and not be specific.

The management is a major issue and given the enormous amounts of money spent on health it should be better but that’s not the staffs fault. That’s not the fault of the staff in the hospitals yet some just say the “health service is broken” or some version of that quote when it’s not the case.

Yes it is wrong to blame any particular Individual that can’t possibly have had anything to do with this specific case. The anaesthetists for example by at least two posters should be struck off apparently for no reason, when that individual would have no hand act or part in any of this.

Agree or leave you sitting for an hour and then tell you to go for an X-ray or a scan and when you go they are on their break.

How on earth is blaming individuals wrong? You've literally proven my point, 'The Management' are an issue, how can they all be yet 'The Staff' are at no fault at all?

It makes absolutely no sense that every member of management is useless but every member of staff is an angel. Why would anyone think this?

I never said blaming individual is wrong. I’ve said in previous posts that at least one and maybe more fucked up big time, because with my experience in this area and all the hoops to jump through people had to have messed up. My issue was two posters saying the anaesthetist should the “struck off, sued.” That’s my issue as it’s blaming someone who had no part of play in what happened here for no reason. Not everyone in that theatre complex(and I don’t know how many theatres temple street has) is at fault is my point.

This doesn’t happen otherwise. I think the surgeon in this story should face consequences because if what I’ve read is true then they have acted in a ridiculously reckless way.

Well actually I worked in a part of the operating theatre of a hospital so I’m speaking from a position of some knowledge and I’d be very confident that an anaesthetist has no part to play.

Not saying those issues don't exist as anywhere you have humans working there will be some good , some bad.

My point is its not really what this is all about, grumpy unprofessional admin staff and consultants that don't prioritise clinic appointments while not great and off putting, are far from what is being discussed here .

I know from experience the many reasons why these things can happen but am in no way excusing any of it .

If you believe that everything you read in ghe media about this is right, you're very naive.

The reality is likely a lot more complex.

Many comments here are along the lines of "someone should have spoke up". This may be true, but the deeper lesson is proper procedures, which do not rely on someone speaking up but require 3 people to check the implant serial number etc and sign off on it before it is used. Medical science has looked at procedures in the airline industry. Airlines are very safe, despite flying around in the air, because they have evolved rigorous controls. They have checklists and the co-pilot has to sign off as well as the pilot. I haven't had too many dealings with hospitals, thank God, but when I did they said things like "right side" knowing well that it was on the left but they wanted me to correct them to be sure to be sure.

There needs to be rigorous, even mind numbing, procedures so that this kind of thing cannot happen regardless of the personalities involved. The likes of HIQA need to ensure that best international practice is in place everywhere, whether it suits or not.

Do you know how many years of training it takes to become a pediatric orthopedic surgeon? Like did this surgeon have a head injury or something? How did they decide to do this after decades of evidence based medical training. Would love some kind of explanation. And for what? What did they get out of it? They could never publish research like this.

The idea that the anaesthetists should be fired is bizarre as they almost certainly had no idea of the intricacies of a procedure, nor is it important to their core role in the operating theatre.

They’re not present for the equipment setup as they’re in the anaesthetic room anaesthetising the patient and once the patient is then on the table, the drape goes up and they don’t see below the head. Their sole role in the situation is to focus on keeping the patient alive, vitally stable and anaesthetised. They should not nor would they be focused on the ins and outs of a procedure. Nevermind the fact that it is one of hundreds of different procedures they anaesthetise for so they cannot possibly know an equipment check list or the steps involved for all of them nor is it their role to know this.

Several people had to have known beyond him. There’s no way nobody else didn’t know before hand.

This is absolutely shocking to read.

The parents are 100% correct not to rely on the HSE's "external" review. The HSE like to pretend these reviews are independent but I can tell you whatever individual or team they get in to do the review will be working hand in glove with the upper management of the hospital.

Absolutely disgusting whats happened and what lies ahead for these children and their families.

If this surgeon isnt jailed what kind of country are we living in?