Vol. 536 No. 5
259 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of operations which took place on wrong body parts in public hospitals in 1998, 1999 and 2000, in view of the fact that a company (details supplied) states that several thousand incidents were reported to it and a total of 950 cases in surgery were processed by the company's claims department. [15128/01]
The information sought by the Deputy is not collected on a routine basis by hospitals, by health boards or by my Department. The figures referred to by the Deputy come from an analysis of incidents involving surgical procedures carries out by St Paul Ireland which indemnifies non consultant hospital doctors in public hospitals. The company has emphasised the fact that these incidents do not necessarily involve any negligence on the part of any doctor.
260 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of wrong body parts removed during surgical procedures in public hospitals in 1998, 1999 and 2000. [15129/01]
The information requested by the Deputy is not routinely collected by hospitals.
