A legislator and a patients' rights advocate on Friday said there is a need to enhance the training for doctors following a medical error at Pamela Youde Eastern Hospital. It came a day after the Hospital Authority said it will deliver a report within eight weeks, after a houseman wrongly placed a feeding tube into the lung of a 76-year-old patient. The patient ended up in intensive care after medication was delivered through the tube into his lung. Speaking on an RTHK radio programme, Tim Pang, an advocate for patients' rights from the Society for Community Organisation, said the incident is unacceptable. "Looking at the results, it is definitely unacceptable. However, considering the situation, it can be understood. We should not blame this houseman too much. Of course, this incident also reflects a need to strengthen the training at medical school," he added. "Or, when housemen enter a new work environment, they may need to be given sufficient basic information beforehand to get more experience." The incident followed a similar blunder in June, when medical staff inserted a tube into the airway of a 61-year-old man at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Medical sector lawmaker, Dr David Lam, said authorities have to review the training for doctors. "We have two incidents in a short period of time that indicates seriously that there is a fault either in the training or in the system," he explained. "So, I would think it is reasonable to put a stop to that and require all medical officers to see the x-ray films for an isometric tube intubation before further orders are made. That should be the new norm until we can be certain that effective training for interns is in place."
