Because he can't find a scalpel: Surgeon opens chest with pocket knife
Brighton (Great Britain) - A surgeon in England has operated with a Swiss army knife that he normally uses to cut apples .
The doctor opened the chest with the multi-purpose utensil, reports the BBC. The patient survived the unusual operation.
The clinic in the southern English city of Brighton spoke of an emergency. It was an urgent operation and the doctor was unable to find a sterile scalpel.
At the same time, the hospital emphasized that the surgeon's procedure was "not standard practice and would not have been necessary".
The BBC quoted from internal documents that colleagues had found the behavior "questionable" and were also very surprised that the doctor was unable to find a scalpel. The clinic has already been criticized for numerous other incidents.
"It surprises and appalls me," Graeme Poston, an expert witness in clinical negligence, told the public broadcaster.
"First of all, a pocket knife is not sterile. Secondly, it's not a surgical instrument. And thirdly, all the equipment must have been there."
It was not the first incident
According to the BBC, the police are already investigating at least 105 cases of suspected medical negligence at the hospital operator and are considering manslaughter charges.
There is talk of several avoidable deaths during operations and a "climate of fear". The British National Health Service (NHS) is considered to be chronically overburdened and underfunded.