Hospital Apologises For Losing Patient's Finger

The Prince of Wales Hospital has apologised after it lost the index finger of a man involved in an accident with an electric saw and was unable to properly reattach it when it was found three hours later.

The hospital says it's investigating the incident and will submit a report to the Hospital Authority within eight weeks.

"The hospital has met the patient and his family to explain the details of the surgery and extended sincere apology for missing the amputated finger for some time during the operation," a spokesman said.

"The medical team will closely monitor the condition of the patient and provide appropriate treatment."

The 63-year-old man arrived at the accident emergency department of the hospital in Sha Tin on Wednesday afternoon with severe injuries to his left hand following an accident. He brought with him his index finger, which had been amputated in the accident.

He was sent for emergency surgery, with medics concentrating first on his seriously injured middle and ring fingers while the index finger was kept in a sterile glove in a plastic box filled with ice water

However on a shift changeover at 10.30pm staff cold not find the amputated finger. They searched for several hours, eventually finding it among waster from an operating theatre at 1.30am.

Surgeons attempted to reattach the finger but could not restore the flow of blood, and had to remove it again overnight.