A DOCTOR charged with the manslaughter of a nurse who was undergoing a routine operation had never performed the procedure unsupervised, a jury were told yesterday.
Dolores Moyano Ontiveros is accused of causing the death of staff nurse Elizabeth Rourke, who died on 17 October 2006 after suffering internal injuries. It was claimed in the Royal Court yesterday that Mrs Rourke suffered catastrophic internal bleeding and within six hours of the operation was dead despite efforts by the medical team to save her.
Crown Advocate Howard Sharp said that Dr Moyano had carried out up to 70 supervised hysteroscopy procedures (gynaecological investigations with cameras) from 1998 to 2002, and 13 since she came to Jersey in August 2006. But the routine procedure on Mrs Rourke was the first time Dr Ontiveros had carried out the operation unsupervised, the advocate claimed.
Mrs Rourke, who was 49 and worked on the Beauport Ward, was scheduled for the operation after suffering irregular periods. Dr Moyano, a consultant in a locum registrar post, was called in to assist consultant gynaecologist John Day after the original assisting doctor was called to the UK, the court heard.
Pictured: The General Hospital, where Mrs Rourke died
