A week after teenage footballer Priya R died of medical negligence, more than 600 surgeons from government hospitals across Naduhave gathered at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in the city to brainstorm mandatory medical checklists and protocols for all surgeries.
The State Government has announced it will form a surgical death audit committee to review random and special cases to prevent repetition of errors and initiate corrective measures. Four such committees in Chennai (north),Trichy(central), Coimbatore (west) andMadurai(south) would be formed with doctors from medical, surgical, anaesthetic and orthopaedic teams, Health ministerMa Subramaniansaid. Although all hospitals have a death audit committee, the surgical committee will periodically review selective deaths, he said.
Earlier, the minister released a 65-page handbook State Surgical Protocol and Checklist for doctors to adopt international protocols and guidelines to standardise safety norms before surgery, during the procedure, post-surgery and after discharge.