Patients 'moments from hospital surgery without proper consent'

TWO patients at Wales' largest hospital reportedly came close to going under the knife without giving proper consent.

- CONOR GOGARTY

One of the patients at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff was already under anaesthetic by the time staff realised the error “at the very last moment”, the Western Mail understands.

A whistleblower claimed the hospital had recently had near-misses involving patients entering operating theatres “without a consent form or with the wrong consent form”.

In two cases, they said, three stages of the checking process failed before theatre staff eventually noticed the mistake.

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said it was aware of two “occurrences of patients arriving to theatres without the appropriate consent forms” and has launched a “comprehensive review” of checking procedures to “ensure this is more robust”.

A health board spokeswoman said: “There are a series of processes and checks in place to ensure no patient undergoes a procedure without the appropriate consent.

“On each of these occasions, checks at the beginning of the pathway to theatre failed.