PATIENT'S CLAIM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23058, 8 June 1938, Page 16

PATIENT'S CLAIM

ALLEGED NEGLIGENCE HOSPITAL BOARD SUED WITNESSES FOR DEFENCE SOME STATEMENTS DENTEI) Evidence for tho defence was heard by Mr. Justice Cnllnn and a jury of 11 in the Supremo Court yesterday in the claim for £I6OO general and £213 special damages which is being brought against the Auckland Hospital Board. The plaintiff is Mrs. Mary Margaret Barry, aged 32, of St. Heliers (Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Winter), who bases her claim on allegations of negligent and unskilful treatment. Plaintiff's. claim states that she was a patient in the Auckland Hospital from January 10, 1937, to October 19, 1937, and she was operated on on .January 11 and April 11, and she alleges ' that- during one of these operations a #wab or other foreign body was left in her abdomen. This was so concealed -that tho. cause of her resulting injuries was not known to her until after an operation in a private hospital on November 27. Mr. V. R. Meredith and Mr. McCarthy, for the Hospital Board, denied all allegations of negligence, and added the further defcnco that plaintiff had not commenced her action within the required period of six months. A Rumour Heard Mother Mary Agnes, second in charge of the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, said she was actually in charge at the time of the operation on Mrs. Barry. She had had over 40 years' nursing experience. She had personally attended the operation on Mi's. Barry because they had heard fa - -rumour that possibly a swab had been left in the . patient by another hospital. She felt that as the responsible person she ought to be present. Outside the operating theatre there was a rostrum on which was always left a form for the doctor to fill in,.showing what had been removed during the operation. Other details were filled-in beforehand. The staff present was the usual one for such an operation, and sjie emphatically denied the suggestion' that they were understaffed on that'-occasion. Saline injections were given daily in the operating theatre and the apparatus was always there. Witness explained tho system* of checking the swabs used in an operation, and said she was as close to the operation as Dr. Bridgman was. Only small' fragments were removed, and she saw no mass at any time. She saw no swab apart from those being used in the operation. - - Statements JJenied Mr. Meredith: Dr. Bridgman says that he took out a piece of something that 1 yoked like felt, and that you said that was a swab? Witness: I emphatically deny it. If I made any remark about a swab I cannot recollect, but it was impressed on my mind that the material tho doctor showed me was not a swab. The doctor, witness continued, showed her «L. fragment on his finger, but he did;? not remark upon it. To her it looked an abscess wall, and she put it in tho . basin. ' . Mr.'Meredith: Dr. Bridgman has said that you slipped it under a green cover .and that he pulled it out? Witnesjii'That i 3 a gross falsehood. Witness said she had seen nothing about the size of a lemon, as described by Dr. Bridgman, removed from the wound. The operation was long but went through quietly." She did not hear Dr.;, .. qdc for speed, and she 6aw--.no 'taj*n'--6f l ci>llap3fe in the patient. Salihe was given her as a precaution against shock, but that was not unusual. , .v. After the operation witness said she ;got_ JDr. Bridgman to fill in and sign the ; sheet produced. It gave a correct account of the operation as she saw it. , Mother Agnes Oross-Examlned Cross-examined by Mr. Winter, witness. said, she had hoard rumours about a sjwab two or ihraa-days before the; operation. She dicLjiot know from 1 wh&m she heard the rumour, but she did' not hear of it froifi Dr. Gwvnno or Dr.' Fowler. No: medical man suggested that she should attend the operation. 'The ' two "scout" nurses remained •throughout the "operation. Tho nurses \who brought-the patient to the theatre '.were quite free to remain, and she was ■.perfectly sure that in this case they ,didt not ask if; might remain. • At that tinie. was attending :In the theatrfe eyoly' day, she Baid. The (Operation began about 11 a.m. and lasted untfl'abtiut 1 p'.m. The saline injection was not given until after the •operation. She did not hear either Dr. Bridgman or Dr. Maskell say anything about the patient being unable "to stay the distance." Converation Was unusual during an operation. She was not askod about her part in the operation until about a fortnight ago, but she* had heard that it was supposed that a swab had been found at the Mater Hospital, She. spoke about it to Sir Cariick Robertson, but she was emphatic that ho had not spoken of it to hey before the operation. Condition of Patient Mr, Winter: If y6u knew of this, why were you not prepared to tell Mr. Sullivan what had- happened at tho operation ? Witness: When Mr. Sullivan called we did not know our legal position, and we asked him to wait until we had ! ascertained our position. i Witness said that judging from Mrs. | Barry's appearunco she made a rapid convalescence. She would not deny that Dr. Bridgman had had to get tho X-ray apparatus to enable him to complete his operation. Mrs. Barry's stay at the Mater Hospital had endod. somewhat abiiiptly, and she had left before witness knew. On one occasion she had withheld a dose of morphia prescribed by Dr. Bridgman until she had seen him in tho morning. The patient was irrational and there ivei'o other methods of treating her. Mr. Winter: Did you go the length of telling Dr. Bridgman that you j t''ike any more ot his patients >f he gave this woman morphia P Witness: Certainly not. In re-examination. witness said that after getting legal'advice she told Mr. feulhvan there was: no swab and' that the X-ray. .photographs and records were there for him to have 1 access to. In answer to Mr. Winter witness said that 'Mr. Meredith had already been shown the records by then. That was two -days before the case. Anaesthetist's Evidence Dr. John William Maskell, anaethetist and general :• practitioner, who gave the anaesthetic to Mrs. Barry at tho Mater Hospital, said that before the operation Dr. Bridgman suggested to him the possibility of a swab having been left' in the wound. The operationlasted nearly two hours. He watched the progress of tho operation and saw no swab recovered and heard no discussion about a swab. He saw no. mass being removed. Tho patient beljaved perfectly well under the anaesthetic and gave him no anxiety. - SMyTUcffeue that he had warned Dr. Bridgman at one stage that he must finish within 10 minutes.

"Dr. Bridgman never spoke to me during the anaesthetic," snid witness, "and neither did I to him." Walking down the corridor afterwards Dr. Bridgman said to him, "I thought I saw tho impression of a swab." To Mr. Sullivan witness said ho was a member of the British Medical Association. His Honor: What proportion of the doctors in Auckland are members of the British Medical Association? Witness: I presume about 70 or 80 per cent. Mr. Sullivan: Would you as a member of tlie association confer with a non-meniberP—Certainly 1 would. Witness said that Dr. Craven, medical superintendent of the Auckland Hospital, had not discussed the case with him. Ho did not know of any reason why lie should wish to get away early from the operation. Witness said it was a He if Dr. Bridgman said that witness had said to him that tho second race at Takapuna would be over. He had only once been to a race meeting iu New Zealand. and that was about 20 years ago. IHe had not mentioned races to Dr. ! Bridgman, and had not gone to the i Takapuna meeting. ! Witness said ho know nothing # of a ■ case this year in which a pair of | forceps had been recovered from a patient. j Mrs. M. Mac-Reynolds said that | before her marriage six weeks ago she ' was Miss Weeks. She was a trained j nurse and was present at the operation ion Mrs. Barry as instrument nurse. S All she saw Dr. Bridgman remove were ; fragments of a cyst. She searched the i bowl afterwards to see that there was i no swab among the contents. She did not hear any conversation about a swab during tho operation. Dr. John Dreadon said that Mrs. Barry had been admitted to the Auckland Hospital on January 10 of last year on a note from Dr. Douglas, suffering from acute abdominal pains. Witness detailed the results of his own examination.

At this stage late in the afternoon the case was adjourned until this morning on account of tho illness of a juryman.