Fri, 20 Nov 2009 8:02p.m.
On Auckland’s North Shore two women who share the same name, live in unusual fear of having to go to hospital.
That’s because their medical files have been mixed up, not once but several times - this year.
They’ve spoken to as many people as they could to correct the problem but it still happens.
Finally out of frustration they've come to us.
The women have the same names, birthdates and both live on the North Shore.
One’s a teacher and the other a hairdresser. So kind of understandable the North Shore hospital would make the mistake of thinking they were the same woman.
Sandra Fernandes - the teacher - first went to North Shore hospital in 1997 to have a baby.
The confusion arose when Sandra Fernandes - the hairdresser - went in for surgery in September this year.
Andrew Potts from North Shore Hospital says the mix up began outside of the hospital system.
“One of the referrals from one of the general practices had inaccurately incorporated the other patient's national health index number onto their referral, so their registration process had essentially got the wrong ladies details in terms of their unique patient identifier,” he said.
So the hospital sorted out the problem from that point on? No.
So hairdresser Sandra got in touch with teacher Sandra to warn her. But what came next really frightened them both.
On the October 19 Sandra the teacher rang the hospital to double check the problem had been fixed.
On the 20th both Sandra's were assured everything was correct. But the following week Sandra the teacher collapsed and was taken to North Shore hospital.
When she woke the next morning the files were still incorrect and 33 days had passed since North Shore hospital was first alerted to the mix up.
Andrew Potts wanted to assure the Sandra’s that there are enough other checks in place to make sure no medical mishap would have taken place.
But they want something in writing to prove they'll get the appropriate treatment.
A good start would be even an acknowledgement of Sandra the hairdresser's complaint letter.
North Shore hospital staff did phone one of the women last week but they're not content to take the hospital at its word anymore.