DEATH OF A CHILD.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLVII, Issue 10807, 30 December 1926, Page 4

DEATH OF A CHILD.

AFTER AM OPERATION.

“PURELY ACCIDENTAL.” (Per Press Association). WELLINGTON, This Day. At a special meeting of the Welling-,-ton Hospital Committee, after thor- - ough investigation had been made into the circumstances of the death of thee child, Jean Greaves, who died after an operation for appendicitis, the following resolution was carried': “That in the opinion of the committee, the cause of the death of Jean Greaves was purely accidental. From . statements * presented to the committee, the saline, when administered, was at the standard temperature. Probably the instrument allowed 1 too great a flow of saline, which caused a burn and conse- - quent complications. -We; desire to place on record our recognition of the steps taken by the medical superintendent to hay© the case properly investigated and his action in having; an inquest held. We also instruct the medical superintendent to carry out hie proposal to consult the honorary surgical staff .with the object of preventing similar happenings in the future.” The medical superintendent (Dr. D. M. Wilson) submitted a long report to the Board, in which he sard he waa more inclined to blame their methods; of administering the saline. The accident showed that the .conditions and apparatus, though they had worked for years, were not “foolproof/’ and required modifying. It was the first case of the kind reported from the hospital-