Hospital sorry as Facebook row sizzles over needle left in woman

Pak Chong Nana Hospital director Dr Praveen Tantaprapa said the hospital would take full responsibility and cover all the expenses for the patient who suffered.
“The hospital feels sorry for the incident and is ready to take full responsibility for her. No doctors wanted the incident to happen,” he said at a press conference.
The case was posted on a Facebook page called “Mam Poe Dam” on Wednesday by the unidentified woman, who recently suffered severe stomach pains. She went to see doctors at a provincial hospital and had an MRI scan that discovered the needle in her uterus. 
She told a Facebook administrator that she believed it had been left inside her during a Caesarean section when she gave birth to her second child in 2005.
Praveen told reporters that the affected woman came to talk about the incident with hospital staff on May 23. “The hospital then set up a panel to investigate the allegation. After getting confirmation, the hospital sent a team of doctors to discuss the case with her to provide care and preliminary treatment.”
The woman initially indicated that she wanted to have the needle removed in a provincial hospital, which Pak Chong Nana Hospital agreed to, the director said. The hospital also complied when she changed her mind to have the operation in a private hospital, he said. 
On Monday, the hospital sent a team to her office to discuss the details and operation plan to alleviate her concerns. Her employer arranged for the discussion to be held in a private room, Praveen added.
However, the woman complained on Facebook that the medical team went to her office without giving her prior notice. “I think this case is a personal matter and should not have been brought to my office,” she said.
She also wrote that she wanted to discuss the case with the hospital director but the hospital had sent nurses to talk to her.
Praveen said the team that visited her office suggested that Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital had the proper operating theatre with modern equipment and medical specialists, while Pak Chong Nana Hospital would assign a team to monitor her post-operative condition.
Concerning compensation, Pak Chong Nana Hospital was ready to contribute as much as possible, Praveen said, adding that the patient had said she wanted to talk about the issue with her relatives first and would meet him today. However, the story was posted on social media on Wednesday before the scheduled meeting, Praveen said. The woman also claimed the hospital never mentioned compensation, only that it wanted to remove the needle.
Meanwhile, Dr Panadda Khemrattanaku, a specialist obstetrician, said the MRI scan showed that the medical needle in the front part of the woman’s uterus was about 2.5-centimetres long.
“The needle looks to be in a position where doctors cut open the uterus to deliver a baby. It is in the muscle layer and has not affected inner organs. It is a medical device so it will not rust.”