Hospital mix-up led to woman in for hand operation having womb removed

A Romanian woman Erica Ionescu, 38, who went to a hospital in the Belgian capital Brussels for an operation to repair a tendon in her hand woke up to find that they had taken out her womb. Hospital officials admitted that they had made a mix-up and had confused the Romanian woman, who spoke very little French, with another woman who was scheduled to have a hysterectomy.

The mix-up happened 2 months ago.  Ionescu has now started a legal case demanding £400,000 compensation against the unnamed hospital. She said: "I cut my hand on a piece of sharp metal and it was stitched at the Hospital Saint-Pierre but they told me that the tendon needed to be reconstructed and sent me to another hospital.



"I remember speaking to one of the nurses there who even moved me onto the bed holding onto my injured hand and I told her to be careful – because that was my hand that was due to be operated on. She told me not to worry. The next thing I knew was waking up with enormous pains in the abdominal region. I didn't think about it until a Romanian doctor turned up beside my bed to say that they believed there had been a terrible mistake."

She added: "This is the worst nightmare you can possibly imagine. I have suffered from nightmares and depression ever since - and I also had a dream of a third child - that dream will now never be realised." Daniel Desir from the Brugmann Hospital confirmed that the women's uterus had been removed by mistake in a three-hour operation and added: "The insurance company will pay compensation," adding only the amount needed to be decided. He said that the doctor involved had been suspicious about some of the details and had gone outside to speak to the husband, but had spoken to the wrong man - who was the partner of the woman who was due to have the hysterectomy.