A specialist neurosurgeon and senior lecturer at the
University of Zimbabwe (UZ) who administered anaesthesia to a patient whose
life was at risk, has taken Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals to the High Court
for instituting disciplinary proceedings. Parirenyatwa Hospital accused Aaron
Musara of misconduct, saying he acted in an unprocedural and inappropriate
manner.
Musara is seeking a High Court order declaring that
Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals and its acting clinical director, Aspect Jacob
Maunganidze, have no disciplinary powers over him.
He also wants a memo in his file dated August 2, 2019 to be
declared null and void. “The habitual suspension and cancellation of surgical
operations by Parirenyatwa between 1pm and 4pm to be declared
unconstitutional,” read the draft order.
“Respondent shall take all necessary steps and measures to
avoid absurd cancellation of surgical operations booked for each day.
“Parirenyatwa Hospital to furnish the applicant with a copy
of its Standard Operating Procedures within seven days of the order.”
Musara is a senior lecturer in the UZ’s Neurosurgery Unit,
Department of Surgery in College of Health Sciences, which is based at
Parirenyatwa.
“The internal medicine and outpatient clinics of the
hospital are inter alia, staffed by UZ’s lecturers and students studying for
master’s degrees in medicine,” read the application.
“I have access to the hospital’s patients and medical
facilities and entitled to conduct surgical operations upon the hospital’s
willing patients using its facilities.”
Musara says on June 4 this year, his team attended to
Shadreck Musekiwa, who needed urgent laminectomy decompression of the spine and
a team decided to operate him the same day.
The patient was at risk of losing his life, the hospitals
anaesthetic team refused to anaesthetise the patient citing other urgent cases.
The operation was scheduled for the following day.
“Unfortunately, the doctor who was anaesthetising patients
on this day refused to put Musekiwa to sleep citing that he and his team wanted
to go for lectures,” said Musara.
“The operation was cancelled. I took the bold decision to
administer general anaesthesia upon the patient. The operation was carried out
successfully and the patient recovered well.”
Resultantly, Musara was accused of misconduct. “I was served with a letter on August 8, where Maunganidze
ruled that I acted unprocedurally and inappropriately. The communication was to
be kept in my personal file for future reference,” said Musara.
The letter mars my disciplinary record, say Musara.
“I am not employed by the hospital. Thus, the hospital or
Maunganidze do not have jurisdiction to conduct any disciplinary action against
me or to pronounce any penalty against me,” he says.
“Surgeons are not completely prohibited from administering
general anaesthesia upon patients at the hospital in casu. Any practitioner can
administer anaesthesia where it would be a life saving measure.” Herald
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