Kerala government ignored doctors’ demand to implement surgical safety guidelines, says KGMCTA

The incident in which an artery forceps was found in the abdomen of a woman who underwent surgery in the Government Medical College Hospital, Alappuzha, in 2021 was extremely serious and this occurred because of the non-adherence to established surgical safety protocols and standards and the ineffective implementation of the Surgical Safety Checklist guidelines, Kerala Government Medical College Teachers’ Association (KGMCTA) has said.

Health Minister Veena George had on Friday put the blame for the incident squarely on doctors. She claimed that the WHO’s guidelines for surgical safety was being implemented in all government hospitals and that it was clearly a human error.

However, the KGMCTA pointed out that the association had submitted a comprehensive Surgical Safety Protocol to the government in 2024 to enhance surgical safety standards, which the government had failed to implement.

The key recommendations included the mandatory implementation of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist; a strict instrument count system – ensuring one scrub nurse and one floor nurse for every patient undergoing surgery; mandatory adherence to a “time-out” procedure; operation theatre-based safety audits and clear documentation of accountability.

The KGMCTA pointed out that thousands of surgeries are successfully performed every year in government medical colleges across the State. However, even isolated incidents like this can undermine public confidence in the health-care system, it reminded the government.

It said that significant shortcomings, including severe shortage of human resources, inadequate staff pattern in medical colleges, deficiencies in basic infrastructure and excessive surgical load, persisted in the system. The government’s failure to address these systemic issues while putting the blame for every untoward incident on doctors is unfair and extremely disappointing, the doctors said.

The KGMCTA said that at present, surgeons and theatre staff in government medical colleges were functioning under immense work-related pressures. When thousands of surgeries are done, the absence of adequate nursing, technical, and support staff as per prescribed standards was compromising patient safety.

Inside hospitals, patients who require to be moved for investigations or procedures, should be transported strictly under nursing supervision. In the public hospitals in the State, this responsibility has been handed down to the families — an extremely unsafe practice, the doctors said.

The government will have to substantially increase human resources beyond the current levels to ensure patient safety. The KGMCTA demanded that the government implement the Surgical Safety Protocol submitted by the organisation one-and-a-half years ago, without dilution, across the State.