On Saturday, the microbiology department at Haukeland University Hospital discovered that two analysis boards with corona samples sent to the Bergen emergency room had been replaced.
– We discovered that two boards with 96 samples on each board had been confused with each other. They had been exchanged, so that the test results from one board were published on samples from the other board, says head of the microbiology department at Haukeland, Elling Ulvestad, to Dagbladet.
– What consequences did this have for the patients?
This meant that 30 patients, who had been placed in isolation, should not have been placed in isolation, while 30 who were infected were not isolated.
Christmas advice: Think carefully about this
Confused
Among those who were not put in isolation was Lea Hobæk Hovland. The 22-year-old had himself been in quarantine after his cohabitant had tested positive for corona.
After a few days, Hovland developed symptoms, and on Wednesday last week she therefore chose to take a quick test. It showed that the 22-year-old had corona.
She was therefore very surprised when the PCR test she took later the same day showed something else.
– I went to the test station to take a PCR test, to get it confirmed. The day after [torsdag] I was notified that the test answer was ready. I was sure that it was also positive, but was quite surprised when it turned out that it was negative, says Hovland to Dagbladet.
TAKE ACTION: Haukeland University Hospital changes its routines after errors with test results. This is the central block of the hospital, where various messages were projected on the wall earlier during the pandemic. Photo: Eivind Senneset
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– What did you do when you received two different answers to a quick test and a PCR test on the same day?
– I did not understand why. It did not make much sense. I called the corona phone, and they were very confused about how it could be negative, she says.
– I was told that I had to test myself again. And then the new test showed that I had been diagnosed with corona, she adds.
Hovland does not want to blame anyone on Haukeland, but says it is unfortunate that such a mistake can happen.
– It is stupid, but in all systems where people work, it is possible that errors occur.
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Tar grip
The system error at Haukeland had several consequences, and meant that all the samples had to be analyzed again, says the head of the microbiology department.
– When we discovered it on Saturday, we took the samples from all these 188 patients and analyzed them again. Then 30 patients who had had a negative test result received a positive answer. While 30 patients who had had a positive test result, received a negative answer, says Ulvestad.
Ulvestad is aware that it has been an unfortunate situation for Haukeland, and that they are now taking action to prevent something similar from happening again.
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– We do the same work processes, but now the movement of these test trays will be controlled by an additional bioengineer. There should always be two bioengineers who sign that it has been done correctly. Thus, it is almost impossible to make this mistake again, he believes.
– This event has been mapped in detail and all samples have been analyzed again. We have reported this back to both the patients and the county doctor as a discrepancy.
He emphasizes that this case has been stressful and that they apologize to everyone it has gone beyond.
– It is clear that pride is at stake. It has been a very unfortunate case that we strongly apologize to those affected, Ulvestad concludes.
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