Patient arrives for liver operation with a bottle of vodka

(Flickr (torbakhopper))

A liver transplant patient turned up to her operation appointment at a German hospital with a bottle of vodka in her bag, a court has heard.

A court in Gottingen, Lower Saxony, heard that a nurse working at the hospital had found the bottle stowed away in the patient's bag, and had poured it away, according to reports in the Hamburger Abendblatt on Monday.

Rules state patients should be sober for at least six months before a liver operation, but the nurse claimed that the patient had admitted drinking a bottle of vodka a day in the weeks leading up to the operation.

It is thought that despite breaking the rules, the unidentified patient was still allowed to undergo the operation, which has now led to an investigation.

The nurse was giving evidence in the trial for a man simply known as Aiman O - the former head of transplants at the hospital - who is charged with 11 counts of attempted manslaughter and three cases of grievous bodily harm.

It is alleged that he had manipulated medical files in order for his patients to receive transplants quicker, with 25 cases reported.

After the scandal was revealed in 2012, it is believed that the amount of organ donors has plummeted to its lowest level since 1997, with donor irregularities being reported in hospitals in Munich, Leipzig and Regensburg.