Kenya: Nurse admits brain surgery mix-up

A Kenyan nurse has admitted to sending the wrong patient for brain surgery, blaming a heavy workload for the error.  Mary Wahome only realised her mistake when surgeons said they could not find the patient’s blood clot.  They were meant to operate on a man with a blood clot on the brain. But the man […]

A Kenyan nurse has admitted to sending the wrong patient for brain surgery, blaming a heavy workload for the error. 

Mary Wahome only realised her mistake when surgeons said they could not find the patient’s blood clot. 

They were meant to operate on a man with a blood clot on the brain. But the man who had surgery only needed non-invasive treatment for swelling. 

The mistake, which made international headlines earlier this month, left Samuel Wachir with memory loss.

Ms Wahome was one of several members of staff from Kenyatta National Hospital to be questioned by a parliamentary committee on Wednesday. 

The hearing was told that only private patients in the hospital receive name-tags. 

Following the case, local media have questioned whether the hospital had proper mechanisms for identifying all its patients.