[h=1]MOH raps hospital chief over baby swap[/h]The chief executive of a hospital where two babies had been given to different parents has been reprimanded by authorities.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said it has issued a “stern” letter to KK Woman's and Children's Hospital (KKH) CEO Kenneth Kwek letter expressing its concern over the lack of supervision and oversight, especially over patient identity and safety in the nursery.
“KKH must take appropriate remedial actions to address the shortcomings disclosed through this incident, and also establish and maintain robust systems, processes and structures to address all major patient safety areas,” it said.
Last month two babies went home with the wrong parents. One pair of parents realised the baby they brought home wasn’t theirs they noticed the tag identifying the mother of the baby didn’t match. The couple carrying the infant then alerted KKH and the babies have been since reunited with their biological parents on the same day.
Kwek told local media that the mix-up was the result of a series of mistakes that started when the infant lost one of his ankle tags and was given a wrong replacement tag.
In a separate media statement, KKH has since issued a public apology and says that it “accepts full responsibility for the incident”.
Disciplinary actions have since been taken against staff directly involved in the mix-up and their supervisors. A total of 17 staff members have been given formal warning letters or counseled, the hospital said.
The three nurses who were directly involved in the incident have received disciplinary action. Each received a final written warning, a week’s suspension with no pay and have been taken out of clinical duties for at least three months. They can only return to duty when supervisors are satisfied thereafter, KKH added.
A third-party Review Committee chaired by Ho Lai Yun, senior consultant of the Department of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine at the Singapore General Hospital, has come up with recommendations that have been accepted by KKH to prevent another baby mix-up.
These include tightening newborn identification measures include closer monitoring of newborn identification and tagging process, recording incidences and well as staff education.
The way a baby is tagged will be improved so that the tag does not fall off easily. There will now be two nurses will carry out the tagging process. The infant’s mother will also have to verify information whenever a tag is replaced.
