Breast Implants as a result of cancer

cath2

When diagnosed with breast cancer we sold our house and I opted to go to one of the leading UK Private hospitals, who told me the implants would last up to 20 years. After 5 years the shape totally changed and the consultant told me they needed changing and did not say why, I was so shocked they needed replacing after such a short time, I tried to communicate with the consultant via email and he never replied, the hospital told me I have to claim with the surgeon, I told them we paid the hospital using our joint credit card. We could not afford for me to go private again, I waited 6 months for NHS. I had the op and was told by the breast cancer specialist who is one of the leading consultants the reason for the deflation was because the filling tube had been left in, the manufacturer states on the delivery brochure the filling tube must not remain more than 6 months, mine remained for 5 years, thus why the implants deflated. Because the hospital refuted my claim wit them and the surgeon did not respond, I contacted our credit card company who said I have no claim, because they were replaced on NHS I cannot get a refund! Does anyone have the answer on this one please? I cannot understand all this I need help please

Hintza

You need a lawyer as your claim will be a negligence claim (by what you have said)

Caitlin_Bree

This is probably not going to be of much help, but have you spoken to the patient advice and liason service (PALS) at the hospital?
Or maybe get a free consultation with a lawyer who deals with medical things to find out what you can do next.
When you say the hospital "refuted your claim" what did they refute?
As far as I'm aware, there needs to be a complaint made against the hospital for any kind of legal proceedings to ensue. From what you've written, it sounds like there has been a (lack of) conversation with the surgeon but no official complaints procedure has been taken. Is that right?

I think that if you are looking to be refunded, and you have a complaint against your surgeon for negligence, you'll need to go through legal channels after filing an official complaint with the hospital.

As you can probably tell, I am not a lawyer.