OPERATIONS.

Auckland Star, Issue LVII, 1 March 1926, Page 14

OPERATIONS.

(To the Editor.! Sir, —The recent case of a boy's death during an operation in Wellington, and later the Hospital Board's statement, should draw public attention to the important matter of minor and major operations and by whom they are performed. Experimental and medical research is necessary and medical students must practice, in order to become proficient surgeons. This should, however, be only under careful supervision. I would suggest in the public interest that before the operation the patient should be informed of the name of the doctor who will operate, also the person who will administer tlie anaesthetic, and further, a signed certificate should be given to the patient, after the operation, by the doctor who operated, with full particulars as to what was done. Patients are often under. the :inipressioji that a certain doctor will operate and then find this was not the case and are absolutely in the dark as to what has taken place. In fact, in certain known serious cases, the medical history and particulars of the operation have been lost and no trace of same for future reference was obtainable when urgently required. —I am, etc., CORRIGENDA.