Patient seeks compensation for clinical negligence

Posted 23/06/2009

An NHS hospital is facing a compensation claim from a patient who suffered severe pains after a routine operation.

Lynn Main is alleging that clinical negligence during a hysterectomy at the Horton General Hospital in Oxfordshire resulted in her suffering pains in her stomach.

Doctors believed constipation was the cause of the problem, but it later emerged that her bowel has been stitched up during the procedure, leading to peritonitis.

Ms Main commented: “These kinds of catastrophic mistakes should never happen in a hospital in this day and age.

“I’m lucky to be alive after such incompetence.”

She said the way she has been treated is a disgrace, adding that the ordeal has led to her losing two stone in weight and experiencing mobility problems.

The hospital has pledged to carry out an investigation into what went wrong during Ms Main’s hysterectomy and apologised for the distress she has experienced.

This comes after the Conservative Party estimated that the cost of clinical negligence claims in England could rise to £713 million per annum within the next few years.

Sandra Patton, a clinical negligence specialist at Ashtons Legal commented: “It is absolutely right that patients who are treated poorly are properly compensated for their injuries, which can often affect them for the rest of their lives.

“If such incidents were avoided in the first place and the NHS authority responsible for dealing with claims settled them more quickly rather than in some cases fighting them at all costs, the bill to the NHS would be reduced.

“Unfortunately, as solicitors specialising in this area of law, that is not our experience.”