<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Staff fatigue causing lapses at hospitals?
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I WAS shocked and saddened to read last Thursday's report, 'Two patients got days' worth of cancer drugs in hours'.
Allow me to share my experiences.
In December last year, in a government hospital, a doctor ordered a blood transfusion for my father-in-law when he did not need one. The doctor had read another patient's blood test results.
The doctors called us, explained the situation and apologised for this lapse.
In May this year, in another government hospital, my father was prescribed two types of drugs to control his glaucoma condition. However, he was given only one. This happened while he was in hospital. His condition remained the same and when I realised the mistake, I wrote to the hospital and we resolved this amicably.
I am looking after two aged parents and one parent-in-law, so I have an idea how things are in hospitals. I note that hospital staff are really hard-pressed to handle huge volumes of patients. This inevitably results in fatigue and could translate into grave consequences, such as the one that happened at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH).
It is heartening to note that doctors at KKH joined forces to counter the effects of the overdose. I also applaud the Health Sciences Authority for quickly approving a new antidote - still being tested and available only in Maryland in the United States - to be used to save the two cancer patients.
It is my hope that the Ministry of Health will take a serious look at staff arrangements and numbers, and find out the reason for such lapses. It may just boil down to fatigue.
Rajasegaran Ramasamy
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I WAS shocked and saddened to read last Thursday's report, 'Two patients got days' worth of cancer drugs in hours'.
Allow me to share my experiences.
In December last year, in a government hospital, a doctor ordered a blood transfusion for my father-in-law when he did not need one. The doctor had read another patient's blood test results.
The doctors called us, explained the situation and apologised for this lapse.
In May this year, in another government hospital, my father was prescribed two types of drugs to control his glaucoma condition. However, he was given only one. This happened while he was in hospital. His condition remained the same and when I realised the mistake, I wrote to the hospital and we resolved this amicably.
I am looking after two aged parents and one parent-in-law, so I have an idea how things are in hospitals. I note that hospital staff are really hard-pressed to handle huge volumes of patients. This inevitably results in fatigue and could translate into grave consequences, such as the one that happened at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH).
It is heartening to note that doctors at KKH joined forces to counter the effects of the overdose. I also applaud the Health Sciences Authority for quickly approving a new antidote - still being tested and available only in Maryland in the United States - to be used to save the two cancer patients.
It is my hope that the Ministry of Health will take a serious look at staff arrangements and numbers, and find out the reason for such lapses. It may just boil down to fatigue.
Rajasegaran Ramasamy
