Patient signed form before operation, inquiry told

A hysterectomy patient did sign a consent form before entering the operating theatre, a consultant anaesthetist told an inquiry yesterday, contrary to previous claims by the patient.

Penugonda Prasad contradicted evidence given earlier this week by patient Helen Cruise, who underwent a hysterectomy at Aut Even private hospital in Kilkenny on August 23, 2011.

She had claimed she signed the consent form for a hysterectomy while on the operating theatre table, after a spinal anaesthetic was administered.