Botched Hernia Operation - Medical Claim

Slim4Summer

Hi Fatman
Just to add my tuppenceworth ... at the followup meeting it is a good idea to have someone with you in case you dont remember all that was said, afterwards. You can ask for Minutes of the meeting to be sent to you later. As someone else said it would be a mistake to involve a lawyer at this stage.
Medical negligence cases are notoriously difficult. You should go to the Law Society website (England and Wales or Scotland as appropriate) and find an accredited specialist in medical negligence. You can then be certain they are expert at what they are doing!
Funding of med neg cases is a real problem. Unlike with other injury claims, you will not find a lawyer who is willing to pay for the reports required to establish your case - you will need to do that yourself although if the case is successful you will get the cost back. You might be looking at £1000 - £2000 for a report on the negligence issue and a further £750 for a report on your "losses" ie stating what actual difference the negligence has made to you in terms of pain and suffering etc. (People don't get damages for what "nearly" happened to them I'm afraid, no matter how catastrophic it would have been had it transpired.)You would also have to pay for your lawyer to recover copies of your medical records which might cost £50 or more.
If the reports were supportive the lawyer would probably continue to act on a no win no fee basis.
However, I don't know if you would be eligible for Legal Aid? It would be worth finding out.
Often a case looks like it is a "stick on" but it transpires that it does not meet the test laid down to establish medical negligence. For example it may well be that what happened to you was a rare but recognised potential complication? That is what the expert will have to be asked to comment upon in the report - ie whether the " negligence" meets the test laid down by the courts in Hunter v Hanley and the cases which followed.
Litigation is a long tough gruelling road and one you would not be advised to follow lightly.
In one of your posts you mentioned wanting the responsible person to be "punished" - I am afraid that wouldnt be likely to happen, but they would be under a lot of stress and sufer anxiety for the duration of the case. I am sure the doctor feels badly as it is. As do you of course!
Best of luck whatever you decide and I hope you feel better soon.

FatMan_3

Thank you Slim4Summer, some very useful information there.

Now that I know there are three years to make a claim, the matter will be put on the backburner while I wait to see if there are any long term effects. Assuming progress continues without any major setbacks I doubt any claim will be made.

I did see my GP yesterday and he said that during '36 years in the business' he had never known anyone else requring an emergency laparotomy after a peri-umbilical hernia operation. He went on to say that he had the same operation at the same hospital a few weeks before me and that he was glad the same problems did not occur in his case!

Nevertheless, my complication is not without precendent and I simply do not have sufficient medical knowledge to know if the complication arose from any normal risk factor or if the doctor exacerbated the risk by some avoidable 'mistake' during the prcoedure.

What I do know is that the consultant who carried out the hernai repair was 'unavailable' after my iniitial operation and this delayed subsequent treatment.

Anyway, my main concern at the moment is to get better and get back to working as a 'mystery shopper'. At the moment I am just fatigued and tired and have a low haemoglobin level due to the transfusion of 8 units of blood. I hope to be working again in about 10 days.

Toothsmith

Good luck, & get well soon.