Spelling mistake contributes to death of pensioner…

From the Guardian (again) http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/02/irmgard-cooper-bleeds-to-death-surgery-spelling-error-delays-blood-supply

A woman bled to death after a spelling mistake meant blood intended for her during an operation was sent back

The spelling mistake: IrNgard instead of IrMgard.

A second mistake related to the communication of key facts about the availability of blood during the procedure – an example of timeliness and completeness of data errors.

The Guardian report quotes the family solicitor as saying:

The first error was the misspelling of the patient’s name on the blood sample. The lack of communication between the anaesthetist and the surgeon over the absence of blood was the second error

It’s good to see that systems have been implemented to prevent recurrence. But sometimes, the processes we need to manage the quality of data in are zero-defect areas.

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