Veterinary negligence any advice please

Cazzano1989

Hi everyone So here's the story. I have a beautiful nine year old Dalmatian who recently decided to eat the stuffing from his bed. I took him to my vets who performed x rays and put him on a drip etc however as they don't have staff on a weekend he had to be transferred to the emergency surgery. He stayed here overnight and then told me they needed to operate to remove an obstruction in his intestine. He went for the operation and everything seemed fine. Nice neat stitches etc they said over the phone that his back was a little red due to the heat pads they used throughout operation and that he had had a slight reaction to them. I went to see him the following day and he seemed fine and his back was a little red like they had said. However when I brought him home three days later the area had begun to scab over and over the week the whole area began to lift from his back. It was so bad you could see the muscle tissue. I took him to my vets who accidentally let slip that the report they had said he had been burnt by the heat pads during surgery. Not a slight reaction then. The emergency vets had been providing cream for free to treat this but my own vets said he was going to need another operation. The emergency vets did this for free however I was really reluctant to let him go there but felt I had no choice. He now has a huge scar running down his back and they had to remove some back muscle too. I paid 3500 pounds for the original operation and am angry that he has had to have another operation. I also worry about complications in the future. I have been told to try and settle out of court an to write a letter to the vet. The problem is I have no idea what to ask for? I had to take 2 weeks off work for stress as I worried about the costs etc also all the extra travelling expenses as the vets is almost a 40 mile round trip. If anyone has experience of this or can offer advice I would be very grateful thank you. Carrie

krlyr

The RCVS would be the ones you'd report this to if you want to take it further than the practice.
In regards to compensation, I would get legal advice. Is he insured? His insurance company may provide legal advice. Otherwise see if it's something you could get through your home insurance.

Fire_Fox

Agree I think you need legal advice. Have you written and requested a copy of all his veterinary notes yet?

moggymutt

This is really horrible for both you and your dog, I hope he makes a good recovery.

If you dog is insured, your insurance company would be a good place to start.

Otherwise, a trip to CAB if you cant afford a solicitor. I had an offer of an out of court settlement once, but it did come with a gagging order, so I refused, (unbeknown to me at the time, future events meant me and the cats benefitted hugely by me not signing that order, because the vet tried to merge with my new vets, and wanted to ban me as a client- details of the incident soon stopped that).

A letter should produce a result, but the CAB would be able to help tell you what expenses you should realistically claim for. Did you get paid for your 2 weeks off? Where the 2 weeks off as a result of the first op being so expensive, or the fact that it went wrong. These are some of the things that you need to think about, and the CAB could help with that. They could also help advise on what to do if just a letter from you fails, but from what you have written things look very clear cut.

As mentioned above, get hold of his medical records.

Your own vet surely must be very annoyed, it reflects badly on his own pratice that he is using an emergency vet that appears to have screwed up a very routine proceedure of making sure that an animal is warm enough when anaesthetised.

I'm really sorry for you and your dog, this sounds horrific, and definitely should not have happened. How long ago did this happen?

All vets are covered by the Veterinary Defense Society.

Cazzano1989

Yes i requested his notes as i wanted proof it was a burn. They said the heatpad wasnt faulty but then said it had been tested and was fine but they weren't going to use it we dont have insurance for the simple fact 40 pounds a month did not cover anything gastorental or anything to do with his legs. We have been told by our vets to write a letter expressing our feelings and to request compensation in the letter. The rvc said they dont deal with expenses and from what ive researched a solicitor is no good as unless its more than 5k we dont get no win no fee.

moggymutt

If the heatpad wasnt faulty then I would have thought that that makes the vets themselves definitely at fault- possibly too little coverings over the heat pad, but why the hell didnt they just keep checking it?
CAB? Small claims court? Really dont think they'd like this going to court since this hasnt been caused by a risky proceedure but a bog standard every day proceedure.

krlyr

Do you have legal cover on your home insurance? Many don't realise they can be covered for this sort of thing on their home insurance, I know of someone who recently managed to get their home insurance to pay out the vet bills for their neighbour's dog when their own dog jumped the fence and attacked.

jumpedtheshark

OP, I'm sorry you and your dog have to go through this, and hope he's well on the road to recovery.

If there's any way for you to get legal advice, I would do so. It sounds like you have a good case, but you know for sure that they are going to have legal advisors acting for them.

If it were me, I'd avoid no-win-no-fee solicitors, and draft a letter to the emergency vet, putting in precise terms what you want as an out-of-court settlement rather than vaguely "request compensation" and expect them to come up with a sum. I'd then take that draft to the CAB or possibly to a free 30 minute consult with a solicitors to get some feedback before sending it myself. Make sure the letter isn't emotional but as precise as it can be.

The following relates to the Sale of Goods Act 1979, but gives some general guidance on this type of letter writing: http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/consumer_advice/complain_writing_letter_pic.shtml

Depending on how serious the negligently-inflicted injury was compared to the scope of the original operation, I wonder if you couldn't just ask for a full refund under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 and then some a smaller measure of compensation on top. You might then want to talk about negligence as an alternative head of claim, ie. whichever way you look at it, they owe you ££. When thinking of what you need, remember to relate all of your costs to their negligence rather than the operation generally. So, for example, you should claim for the additional time off work you needed to take because of the lengthened recovery time, etc. Even if you took paid holiday, those days could have been used otherwise, so that cost is real.

After all this is done, I think you should also complain to the RCVS.

Fire_Fox

Cazzano1989 wrote: »

Yes i requested his notes as i wanted proof it was a burn. They said the heatpad wasnt faulty but then said it had been tested and was fine but they weren't going to use it we dont have insurance for the simple fact 40 pounds a month did not cover anything gastorental or anything to do with his legs. We have been told by our vets to write a letter expressing our feelings and to request compensation in the letter. The rvc said they dont deal with expenses and from what ive researched a solicitor is no good as unless its more than 5k we dont get no win no fee.

You are being rather negative without having researched the legal position thoroughly.

You don't need no win no fee if you have a solid case, and you don't need full legal representation for a small claims action - maybe just a couple of appointments. Sometimes companies will settle with a 'letter before action' if they can see you have prepared a good case. Remember all UK legislation is online, many Acts have plain English explanations on different websites if you spend time Googling. Check out Which?, Trading Standards, the BBC, CAB and gov.uk for a start.

I'd quote the Supply of Goods and Services Act and any information about veterinary ethics and responsibility and care you can get from the RCVS website. If RCVS will take action on the negligence, you can then use their report or findings to support your small claims action in the county court.

Cazzano1989

thanks for all your advice guys im drafting the letter as we speak. i have worked out how much money has been lost due to time off work and travelling costs etc. i am definately going to see if they come up with a sum first and then see if this is reasonable. i just hope that there are no more complications later on for my dog. ill keep you updated. thanks again
cazzano

michelle1303

hi you can always speak with justice for dogs based in powis ann is a retired solicitor she is helping me with a vet malpractice case