After discovering that one of their doctors asked a cleaner to help with a toe amputation, administrators at a hospital in western Germany have expressed regret.
According to public radio SWR, the incident which took place in 2020 at Mainz University Hospital, didn’t cause the patient any issues, but the doctor was later sacked.
According to Norbert Pfeiffer, the hospital’s chief executive, the surgeon made the poor decision to proceed with the procedure even though there was no trained assistant available, according to SWR.
According to the local newspaper Mainzer Allgemeine Zeitung, the patient had become restless while under local anesthesia. The doctor instructed a nearby cleaner to support the patient’s leg while passing surgical tools, despite her having no medical training, according to the newspaper.
According to the complaint, the cleaner was in the operating room when a hospital manager noticed her holding bloody gauze pads.
Pfeiffer was quoted as saying, “this shouldn’t have happened.”
