Urgent national legislation is needed to
protect patients' lives from the actions of some cosmetic surgeons, health
experts have warned.
Professor
Hugh Bartholomeusz from the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons said he was
very concerned by a leaked report showing Australia's largest cosmetic surgery
provider, The Cosmetic Institute (TCI), had placed patient's health and safety at
risk.
The ABC
revealed the damning report, which showed patients were given sedative drugs in
excess of safe limits.
TCI has
clinics in Sydney and the Gold Coast, with women flying in from around
Australia for cut-price breast implants.
Professor
Bartholomeusz said states and territories could not put the problem of cosmetic
surgery safety on the back burner.
"We
need urgent national legislation where patients' lives are at risk," he
said.
He has
met with health department representatives from all states and territories to
discuss the issue.
The NSW
Health Care Complaints Commission began an investigation into the Cosmetic
Institute (TCI) in January 2015 when a 20-year-old woman nearly died when she
had a cardiac arrest during a routine breast implant procedure in Sydney.
Amy
Rickhuss was one of six patients who suffered potentially life-threatening
complications, including rapid heartbeat, seizures and cardiac arrest.
The HCCC
report suggests TCI's use of anaesthetics was to blame.
"Local
anaesthetic agents were used at TCI in excess of safe doses, and dose
calculations — on occasion — were not individualised according to patient body
weight," it said.
If found
"TCI's consent procedures are therefore inadequate. Patients are being
placed under either deeper sedation or general anaesthetic with no consent
provided for this".
Patients must give consent: experts
Health
providers and facilities must be held to account for any breach of safety
requirements, according to the Australian Hospitals and Healthcare Association
(AHHA).
"Informed
consent, appropriate documentation, and an effective complaints mechanism are
key requirements underpinning the safety and quality of our health
system," AHHA CEO Alison Verhoeven said.
The
Cosmetic Institute general manager Andrew Gill said the clinics had already
taken action to address the issues investigated by the HCCC.
"Effective
from last year, all TCI surgeries in NSW are now carried out at licensed
premises at Concord Private Hospital," he said.
He said
the procedures were done under deep sedation or general anaesthetic, unless the
use of conscious sedation was clinically necessary for a particular patient.
"TCI
is also reviewing consent procedures and documentation to ensure that patients
are fully aware of the level of sedation under which they will be placed,"
he said.
Mr Gill
said the clinics had reviewed its procedures to ensure safe upper limits for
adrenaline and local anaesthetic usage.
[Watch
related Video here]
By
medical reporter Sophie Scott and Rebecca Armitage
No comments:
Post a Comment