Supreme Court orders surprise checks of operation theatres and complaint desks in every hospital after sponge-in-abdomen case

Key takeaways

• The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ordered regular inspections and surprise visits to operation theatres in both public and private hospitals, with action against violations.
• Every hospital must have a complaint redressal desk, and there must be an accessible, timely system for medical negligence complaints.
• Doctors and nurses must get regular training in patient safety and infection prevention, and newly qualified doctors must work under the supervision of qualified surgeons.
• The authorities must send a compliance report within 90 days.
• The case involved a woman from Pishin, Balochistan, who said surgical sponges were left in her abdomen after a caesarean section in 2007.

The case

A three-member bench of Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Shakeel Ahmad decided the compensation claim of Bibi Hanifa.

According to the 23-page judgment, as reported by APP:

• She was admitted to the District Headquarters Hospital, Pishin, to deliver her eighth child and had a caesarean section on November 20, 2007.
• She later developed abdominal pain and fever, and was moved to another hospital when her condition got worse.
• In a later operation, medical sponges were found inside her abdomen. She said they had been left there during the first surgery.
• Her newborn died the day after birth.

The Supreme Court set aside a Balochistan High Court judgment in the case, allowed her 2018 civil petition and the connected appeal, and awarded her costs.

What the court ordered

Copies of the judgment go to the health department, the Prime Minister's Office and the healthcare commission. The court called its directions "comprehensive but not exhaustive" and said the health secretary may issue further instructions.

Why it matters

Patients in Pakistan often have few clear ways to complain when something goes wrong in surgery. If the order is carried out, every hospital will need a visible place to file complaints, and operation theatres can be checked without warning. That covers private hospitals too, not only government ones.

What patients and families can do

• Ask the hospital where its complaint desk is. Under this ruling, every hospital should have one.
• Keep copies of admission papers, operation notes and discharge slips. These matter if you need to raise a concern later.
• Provincial healthcare commissions also accept complaints about hospitals and clinics.

What happens next

• Health authorities have 90 days to show the court what they have done.
• Watch for provincial notifications setting up complaint desks and inspection teams.

This article is for general information and is not medical or legal advice.