Watch: Jo Etienne Abela Blames Human Error For Mistaken Identities In Health Records
Mistakes in people’s health records were the result of human error, and not part of an ID card racket, Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela has said.
Interviewed by Lovin Malta’s Tim Diacono, Abela said he had requested an internal investigation after receiving a complaint by a woman whose online health records didn’t match her health history.
He said he was informed that there a few other similar cases, but not more than ten.
“It transpired that ID card digits were changed by mistake… if you input ’56’ instead of ’65’ you change the game,” he said.
“I can talk about this because it happened to me a million times [while working as a doctor]. I wasn’t around when the digital system was rolled out, but when we were paper-based, I did sometimes make a mistake in someone’s notes and then have to start from the beginning after noticing.”
Jason Azzopardi, who exposed an ID card racket that is currently subject to a magisterial inquiry, warned that the scandal extended to people’s health records.
He said a teenager was called in for a Mater Dei appointment to treat a serious illness she didn’t suffer from, and a man found out he was officially registered as dead.
However, Abela stressed that, so far, investigations have only uncovered human error.
“If future investigations uncover the use of duplicate ID cards, then I will be upfront about it,” he pledged. “However, investigations have shown that it was simply human error.”
He dismissed concerns that new guidelines adding a fresh layer of patient identification amounted to excess bureaucracy.
“We are adding a new layer of identification. When we ask for someone’s ID card number, there’s nothing wrong with also asking them for their date of birth to ensure the records match. Some people even asked for my resignation because of this circular.”
“I don’t consider it to be excess bureaucracy because patient safety should never be be compromised. When I operate on someone, I must first use a patient safety checklist drafted by the WHO, which is a list of questions that surgeons must ask patients before operating.”
The full interview with Jo Etienne Abela will be published on Saturday