Kidney surgeons' 'fatal blunder'

A nurse told a court yesterday how a top surgeon put his head on a desk and said "Oh God" after finding out the wrong kidney had been removed from a patient in a bungled operation.

Consultant urologist John Gethin Roberts is on trial for the unlawful killing of Graham Reeves, 69, who died five weeks after the surgery.

The court yesterday heard Roberts, 60, performed a second operation on Mr Reeves - despite being advised not to operate for the time being. Cardiff Crown Court has heard Roberts and the surgeon who performed the operation, Mahesh Geol, 40, did not check Mr Reeves's notes properly.

Both men are on trial for manslaughter after Mr Reeves's healthy left kidney was removed instead of his diseased right kidney.

Mary Isaac, a senior nurse at Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli, south Wales, said: "I went to see Mr Roberts and he was obviously distressed. He told me he had rung the transplant centre and that the kidney was not suitable for transplantation."

Mrs Isaac said: "The anaesthetist advised him to ring the medical director [of the NHS trust].

"He had his head on the desk. He was distressed and said something like: 'Oh God'. When he put the phone down he said Dr Peter Thomas told him he wasn't to operate again for the time being."

But later that afternoon, Roberts did perform another operationon Mr Reeves, the court heard. Mrs Isaac said that the next day, hospital policy changed, with nurses ordered to cross- check patient information.

Prosecutor Leighton Davies QC earlier told how retired pipe lagger Mr Reeves had a stone in his right kidney and underwent surgery on 24 January 2000. The mistake was realised two hours after the operation.

Roberts, of Swansea, and Goel, of Burnley, Lancashire, both deny manslaughter.