SINGAPORE: Two new-born babies were wrongly discharged to different mothers at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) on Sunday.
The babies have been reunited with their biological parents and are doing well.
KKH said the
incident came to light when one of the parents noticed that the baby
taken home wore an identification tag belonging to another mother.
This happened about an hour after they brought him home.
KKH
said all babies have double tags, and this baby had an incorrect tag
and a correct tag on his legs when he was given to the wrong parents.
The hospital suspected that checks were not carried out properly when the baby was being discharged.
The other baby, also a boy, was with the wrong parents for about 10 hours.
He was wearing two correct tags but was given to the wrong set of parents during discharge.
The hospital informed the parents after a blood test of the first baby confirmed the mix-up.
It has conducted DNA tests on the babies and is waiting for the results.
KKH
said on Monday that it deeply regrets this error and is now carrying
out thorough investigations to find out how this error occurred.
It is extending full support to both families -- medically and emotionally.
Both mothers have been offered counselling by the hospital.
KKH
said it takes a very serious view of the incident and it unreservedly
apologised to the parents for this error and pledged to take all steps
to prevent any recurrence.
A full review is being carried out, and the Ministry of Health has been informed.
- CNA/lp
like that also can - its the work of some foreign cheap labior?
missys are working OT and this makes them tired and make mistakes.
see, dragon year fault.
parents by discharge time still cannot recognise baby? must see tag then realise?? after 1 hr, after 10 hrs??!
hello KKH
hello parents
oh yeah, all babies look the same, kinda.
but parents will always think theirs is the cutest.
Originally posted by FireIce:oh yeah, all babies look the same, kinda.
but parents will always think theirs is the cutest.
There's tat guy in China who thinks his baby is incredibly ugly... later sued his wife becoz she plastic one...
at least her PS was successful. kinda.
Hospitals rely on tags, staff, parents to prevent mix-up of babies
SINGAPORE: Hospitals in Singapore have in place robust procedures to ensure that parents do not go home with the wrong baby.
But they also rely on staff and parents to prevent mistakes.
Channel NewsAsia
checked with five hospitals on their systems, a day after KK Women's and
Children's Hospital (KKH) revealed its mix-up over two babies who were
discharged to the wrong sets of parents on Sunday.
All babies are tagged and are carefully checked to ensure that they are matched with their mothers.
Still, the unexpected had happened at KKH.
The baby who left the hospital first had two correct tags with his mother's name.
The second baby was wearing mismatched tags.
One tag had the name of his mother, while the other carried the name of the mother of the first baby.
This incident has left many wondering why the checks were not thorough enough.
Other maternity hospitals that Channel NewsAsia checked with also rely on tagging.
Each
baby is given two tags minutes after birth and when it is time to leave
the hospital, staff would check both tags to confirm their identities.
Mount Elizabeth Hospital takes extra simple steps, such as getting the mothers to read out the babies' tags.
It also uses Radio-frequency identification to match baby and mother.
Mount
Elizabeth Hospital's chief executive officer, Dr Kelvin Loh, said:
"Only if the baby goes off the correct mother, the tag will give off a
pleasant chime.
"If the baby goes to the wrong mother, it will
actually sound off an alarm so that will be an additional mechanism that
will help to match the baby to the right mother."
At least one other hospital is looking at using new technology to ensure that newborn babies are paired with the right mothers.
KKH
is still investigating the mix-up and is working with the health
ministry to ensure this will be the only and last mix-up incident.
- CNA/lp
guarantee plus chop.
Originally posted by TehJarVu:parents by discharge time still cannot recognise baby? must see tag then realise?? after 1 hr, after 10 hrs??!
hello KKH
hello parents
looks bad.
DNA tests confirm babies reunited with biological parents
SINGAPORE: The DNA tests have confirmed that the two babies who were given to the wrong parents in a mix-up by KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) were reunited with their biological parents.
KKH said on Tuesday that it received the results on 23 November from the Health Sciences Authority (HSA).
The babies were reunited with their biological parents hours after the mix-up happened on 18 November.
Turning
to the investigations into the mix-up, KKH said early findings
confirmed that the problem stemmed from an incorrect replacement tag and
failure to verify the identification tags when the babies were being
discharged.
KKH said it takes an extremely serious view of the
incident and has put in place more measures to tighten the
identification process and ensure that staff follow the guidelines.
Parents will be more involved in verifying the baby at birth and in the ward nursery.
After
staff have thoroughly checked the mother's identity and tags, mothers
will read back and confirm the particulars on the tags - after birth and
at the time of discharge.
The father or mother will also be
involved in affixing the first identification tag, and in verifying the
second identification tag at the ward nursery.
KKH has also tweaked the way identification tags are affixed to ensure that they don't fall off.
The tags will be affixed closest to the narrowest section of the baby's ankle, allowing just a finger-tip's space.
Two nurses will verify the identification tag in the ward and at the time of discharge.
They'll
also verify both the ankle tags with the particulars on the cot each
time the baby is carried out and placed back in the cot, such as for
feeding and bathing.
Measures have also been tightened in the replacement of identification tags.
Mothers will be informed about the replacement.
Two nurses will verify the reprinted tag before it is affixed to the baby.
KKH is also stepping up monitoring and auditing to ensure compliance.
"Following
this unfortunate incident, we have strengthened and added to our
processes and protocols and reinforced with all staff the need to be
vigilant and strictly adhere to these processes and protocols for the
care of our patients at all times," KKH's director of nursing Tan Soh
Chin said.
The hospital will continue to review all processes to enhance and tighten the identification process.
- CNA/ck
KKH to implement all recommendations by committee in baby mix-up case
SINGAPORE: A Review Committee has come up with 15 recommendations to prevent another baby mix-up at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH).
Two newborn babies were wrongly discharged to their mothers in an incident in November.
The measures involve
tightening processes regarding identification of newborns, ward
operations, the discharge process, and implementing new technology.
There
will be two staff involved in the tagging and re-tagging of babies at
all times. Parents will verify the baby's particulars.
The way a baby is tagged will be refined to ensure that the tag does not drop off easily.
There will also be proper documentation for tracking the movement of babies in and out of the nursery.
At
a media conference on Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer of KKH
Professor Kenneth Kwek said the hospital has accepted all the
recommendations made by the four-member committee, and they will be
implemented by the end of next month.
Most of the recommendations made had already been acted on and implemented within a week of the incident.
The hospital will act on the remaining recommendations by the end of January.
Professor Kwek also said 17 people involved in the incident have been taken to task.
Three
staff nurses directly involved in the mix-up have received disciplinary
action. They received written warnings, were suspended from work for a
week with no pay, and have been taken out of clinical duties for at
least three months.
They will be closely supervised and their performance reviewed for at least six months.
Fourteen ward staff involved also received warnings or counselling.
Professor
Kwek said the hospital extended an offer of compensation to the parents
over and beyond the cost of their stay, but would not give further
details.
The committee noted that the mix-up was triggered when
the babies were placed in wrong cots. This resulted in a wrong
identification tag being applied to one baby.
KKH earlier said
the incident came to light when one of the parents noticed that the baby
taken home wore an identification tag belonging to another mother.
The
hospital suspected that checks were not carried out properly when the
baby was being discharged. The other baby was with the wrong parents for
about 10 hours.
The Ministry of Health said the lapse by KK
Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) in not safeguarding and ensuring
patient safety was unacceptable.
It said the lapse revealed that
more work needs to be done to root and reinforce the culture of safety
across the organisation and in all of its activities.
The
Ministry's statement came after a Review Committee tasked to look into
the recent incident where two babies were discharged to the wrong
parents found that the mix-up was due to a lack of compliance with
established procedures.
MOH has written a stern letter to the CEO
of KKH to register its disappointment and concern on the lack of
supervision and oversight, especially with regard to patient identity
and safety in the nursery.
It has also directed the Chairman of
KKH's Patient's Safety Council to step up the council's oversight of
ensuring patient safety and compliance by the staff.
MOH said
KKH's leadership will need to take all necessary steps to close gaps and
to make improvements including conducting periodic audits to check for
compliance.
The Review Committee was chaired by Professor Ho Lai
Yun, Senior Consultant of the Department of Neonatal and Developmental
Medicine at the Singapore General Hospital.
- CNA/de
oh dear, later one indian couple see why their babies is chinese 1
KKH service standard dropped la.
I don't know about you people but I do notice that the standard of service by the govt/govt related has dropped tremendously.
Looks like even for providing service, they also wayang wayang. As long as I do the job, I don't care if you are provided good service by us, job is done that is it.
Originally posted by FireIce:guarantee plus chop.
only junior staff la, no department head will be chop.. too precious..always junior staff fault..
Originally posted by SJS6638:KKH service standard dropped la.
I don't know about you people but I do notice that the standard of service by the govt/govt related has dropped tremendously.
Looks like even for providing service, they also wayang wayang. As long as I do the job, I don't care if you are provided good service by us, job is done that is it.
it depends lah.
like election time, the town council people was extremely nice.
Originally posted by Summer hill:it depends lah.
like election time, the town council people was extremely nice.
Please, I am not talking about election time. It is overall that I am concern about.
Even in PAP kindgergarten they the teachers are also nice to parents hope to get them to vote for PAP.
Just imagine, you are disagreeable with the policies of PAP and as a PAP teacher you have to do it. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ...................... yucks.................
Originally posted by SJS6638:Please, I am not talking about election time. It is overall that I am concern about.
Even in PAP kindgergarten they the teachers are also nice to parents hope to get them to vote for PAP.
Just imagine, you are disagreeable with the policies of PAP and as a PAP teacher you have to do it. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ...................... yucks.................
yup...during kindergarden my teacher kept on telling me i can have such a nice life is because of pap...lol
brainwashing has to start from young.
Originally posted by GHoST_18:brainwashing has to start from young.