Four patients at a Sydney children's hospital have been given incorrect test results, prompting a call for improved laboratory monitoring systems.
The mistake at the Children's Hospital in Westmead has been described by NSW Health as an "isolated incident" due to "a human error in processing".
"We are nevertheless conducting an audit of other patients' samples as part of the comprehensive, independent review underway," chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Medical Error Action Group has questioned how certain the government is that the mix up is an isolated incident.
RELATED READING
Queensland school teacher with tuberculosis in isolation
"By saying it is isolated, how do they know that?" founder Lorraine Long told ABC Radio on Thursday.
"Commenting on this is the first error reported, that worries me because errors go on all the time and most of them aren't reported."
The hospital's error was uncovered after testing on a newborn baby was found not to match earlier prenatal tests.
Four other families were then found to have also been given incorrect genetic test results.
NSW Health admitted it has been unable to contact one of the families affected.
Share
