SYDNEY, June 24 (Xinhua) -- The New South Wales (NSW) state health minister in Australia has ordered his department to launch a full investigation on Monday, over a "serious incident" at a Sydney hospital where surgeons removed the wrong side of a cancer patient's bowel by mistake.
"Immediately upon being advised of this issue, I instructed NSW Health to liaise with Northern Beaches Hospital to ensure that all support possible for the patient and for the patient's family would be available," NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said.
"In such situations there are investigative processes and those must proceed to their conclusion before any further comment can be made," the health minister added.
Plagued by a range of scandals since the 600-million-Australian dollar (417-million-U.S. dollar), 588-bed facility opened in October last year, the botched surgery follows separate accusations of mismanagement, critical staff shortages and a lack of medical supplies.
The public-private partnership which is operated by Healthscope, also came under fire after its CEO Deborah Latta resigned just two days after the Northern Beaches Hospital officially opened its doors.
In the following months medical director Louise Messara and head of anaesthetics Alistair Boyce also handed in their resignations.
According to local media reports, however, the latest debacle is being blamed on an erroneous pathology report outsourced to a private laboratory.
In a statement Healthscope said "the patient and their family have been provided full disclosure and Northern Beaches Hospital is supporting their ongoing care and treatment."
"The incident was immediately notified to NSW Health and the cause for the error is under investigation," the statement said.
The patient is now set to undergo another surgery at the hospital to remedy the mistake.
