HONG KONG: Secretary for Food and Health York Chow says a mix-up of two newborn babies at a public hospital earlier this month was caused by human error.

Two baby girls were switched at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on August 7 and were given back to the right parents after a few days. The hospital did not announce the incident until after media enquiries Sunday.

Chow urged healthcare staff to pay attention to their work and the Hospital Authority (HA) to enhance its supervision.

"This is, I think, not an error of the procedure itself or the guideline itself, but rather the concentration and also the work attitude of some of the staff concerned," he told reporters yesterday.

He added there is no evidence to suggest that a lack of manpower led to the blunder.

Chow found it unacceptable that the incident happened under basic, normal procedures and has requested the HA strengthen training and supervision of frontline workers to ensure all workers adopt a correct working attitude.

"Staff should concentrate on their duty and commit themselves to patients," he said. "They also have to keep an eye on the most basic procedures."

As health chief, Chow said he should be held responsible to make sure employee standards are upheld and they be held accountable for some of the mistakes.

Chow was only informed of the blunder early Monday, more than a week after it happened. He said Queen Elizabeth Hospital should have reported to the administration as early as possible given the severity of the incident and that the government would have handled it immediately.

"I was upset because normally we are informed a bit earlier," Chow said.

Hospital management said a preliminary investigation revealed staff in the postnatal ward did not follow procedure and mixed the identification bands of the two babies. An investigation panel is investigating the causes behind the blunder.

Joseph Lee Kok-long, lawmaker from the health services, was disappointed that hospital management failed to determine which procedures caused the blunder even after a week. He thought the investigation panel must find out whether the problem is the staff's attitude or a lack of resources.

The Chairman of the Alliance for Patients' Mutual Help Organizations Cheung Tak-hei urged the panel to submit a report as soon as possible to alleviate the fears of other expecting mothers.

The blunder was unveiled after the father of one of the swapped babies expressed his agitation on his blog. The entry was deleted when the incident was made public.

(HK Edition 08/19/2009 page1)