A SWALLOWED BUTTON

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 41, 18 February 1931, Page 11

A SWALLOWED BUTTON

YOUNG DOCTOR'S ERROR

(Special to "The Evening Post.") . AUCKLAND, This Day. Considerable indignation was expressed by a number of members of the Auckland Hospital Board at a meeting yesterday when it was reported that a boy who had been sent in from Pukekoho for the removal of a button which he had swallowed was sent back by a junior woman doctor of the staff without the complete treatment which the hospital should have.been able to give. A parent of the boy had written complaining of the unsatisfactory treatment received by the boy, and in reporting the incident to the board the House Committee stated that an X-ray examination had failed to disclose ths button, and tho boy was sont to th» throat department for further examination. A young doctor, on her own initiative, told the parents to take tha boy. home again and consult their own medical adviser. Onthe following day, the button was extracted by a specialist, the fees, including operating theatre charges, being £.12 12s. Ths committee stated that it had instructed the Medical Superintendent to taka such stops as would prevent a recurrence of a similar mistake, the opinion being stressed that junior doctors should not lightly discharge a patient without reference to the honorary member of the staff in charge. It was decided that the out-of-pocket expenses of the father should bo paid without prejudice.