Was it worth it?

[Vbgr]

Has anyone claimed for clinical negligence after an op. Was it stressful to the point of wishing it hadn’t been started. Would really like to know whether to go for it or not. Thank you for sharing. Val

[Greekchick]

Dear Val,

I’m so sorry to hear this. What actually happened? What was the negligence? Would need to know some details to advise you. Hoping to are OK.

[Vbgr in reply to Greekchick]

Sorry Greekchick, I don’t want to go into detail, but have been told there is a case for negligence by the usual no win no fee. I would like to know if anyone has been through this and how it was for them. Thank you Val

[Greekchick in reply to Vbgr]

No worries - just hope you are doing OK

[Vbgr]

Thank you really fed up, I know how much could be on the cards, but is it really stressful. I would like someone who has been through it to get in touch if they can give an insight in to how it feels. Val

[Vbgr]

Thank you, that doesn’t sound too bad

[MaisieGray]

I think even if someone has been through the process themselves, how stressful or otherwise, they found it, might be very different from how you will experience it. I've only been through a straightforward claim for recompense for whiplash as a result of a car accident that was accepted from the outset as being entirely the other driver's fault, but even so, the amount of award was argued back and forth for ages, and the first medical assessment I had was deemed inadequate so the other party wanted me to have a second, so I can only imagine how drawn out a medical negligence case might be. Which is the point I want to make - in 2016-17 for instance, the successful claimants' legal costs exceeded the damages awarded, in 61% of all settled claims against the NHS (National Audit Office figures). That means that not only were those claimants actually out of pocket even though successful in their claim, but that presumably there's a good chance that at least part of that was due to the protracted nature of the negotiations ie how many hours their legal people put in on the claimants' behalf. So really, whether that is something you feel okay about being involved in, largely depends on your own resilience, how well you are, in relation to the condition that led to the negligent treatment, how the negligence has injured you etc etc ....

[Rapunzel in reply to MaisieGray]

Hammer on the nail. The only people who benefit from negligence claims are the lawyers, most typically. I would only sue for catastrophic injury and that isn't likely to happen now I have a healthy distrust of doing what I'm told. Vexatious litigation ( and there is plenty, more's the pity ) might result in less treatment options for the many to fund the damages awarded to the few. The NHS is a money pit, but has no money tree in its garden.

[Ness54]

Yes I have been through this some years ago now. I was awarded an amount before it got to court after waiting over a year and was advised by my solicitor to accept as going to court he didn’t think I would get awarded more.

[bahai-dot-org]

I was the plaintiff in a toxic mold lawsuit it's not quite the same thing but yes it was extremely stressful. the hardest part is that the attorneys for the defense their whole goal was to make me feel bad and look bad and just try to discredit me it was very very difficult we ended up settling out of court I would not have survived this.

Between the toxic mold exposure and my crashing adrenals and thyroid it would have just been too hard I'm glad that my attorneys wanted to settle out of court.

[Tropicalgardener18]

My medical negligence claim is still ongoing, three and a half years to date but coming to the final stages now. Yes, it is very stressful which is not good for thyroid problems, and yes there were many occasions when I wished I hadn't bothered. It's very distressing to have a trusted body like the NHS make you out to be a liar and fabricate documents, but now it's coming to an end I'm glad I made a stand in the hope that my situation doesn't happen to someone else.

[Lilian15]

Yes, a friend went in for an operation and woke up paralysed. It has been several years and a lot of hassle but he has got some compensation. Just be aware of no win no fee solicitors. It means exactly that no win no 'fee' , but you will still have to pay their expenses whether you win or lose. If you win they take their fee and expenses so it also depends on the type of compensation you are looking for. A protracted case can incrue a substantial amount. Obviously in the case of my friend the compensation was very large too.

[Vbgr]

Many thanks to all of you for your comments and support. Telling me how it actually is will get me towards a decision. Probably the main concern is, will the NHS and more importantly the people treating me in the future take revenge in little ways, Val

[Gilbo72]

My little twopence worth about 13 years ago, I had a dreadful time after my second child, physically and emotionally left in a right mess. I went to PALs and found out the medical staff had ‘lost’ my notes. My GP at the time who was lovely, said to me ‘off the record- do not persue this, it will be so stressful at a time that you need to concentrate on you and the baby getting better, they have treated you abominably and will close ranks...’ so I didn’t, 3 privately funded operations later, and developing Hashimotos from the stress, I am ‘better’. Should I have listened to him? probably. I was lucky to have private insurance at the time, so I could do what I needed to do. Not sure if that helps you at all!! Sorry!

[Vbgr in reply to Gilbo72]

So pleased you have got over this well. I am not in the position of having private medical insurance, will have to think about it. Thank you for sharing. Val

[serenfach]

First, check your insurance as it may have cover to help pay the bills. I went through it and in the end they found I was to blame for making my artery go into spasm when I was unconcious, so the surgeon did not stitch the renal artery. I was on life support for a while. I thought I had a good case, but was shot down. The solicitor, a so called expert, provided by my insurance, was hopeless. The surgeon died not long aftewards and I found out he had just been diagnosed with cancer and should not have been in the operating room!

The same hospital gave me x10 the dosage of iodine for a scan. I stopped breathing about a minute afterwards. That scan is not in my notes. I believe that is where my troubles with the thyroid started.

I hope you have a good solicitor and get the result you want. I just wanted an apology which I did not get. Good luck!

[Vbgr in reply to serenfach]

I am beginning to find that anyone trying for retribution can have missing notes, letters turning up that you didn’t know about etc. Makes you think doesn’t it. Val

[Judithdalston]

Yes tried, after ending up in intensive care with septic shock, sepsis and acute pancreatitis following a routine procedure a few hours earlier to unblock bile duct. I was type 2 diabetic and had bloods etc checked the night before, ended up being permanently insulin dependent. Had appointment to view my hospital notes, no one allowed to go with me, and balancing them on unsuitable uncleared desk: some were definitely missing which I had seen on admission, other were bound together so I could not read them as I had not asked for them...I had as asked for certain dates! Had asked lawyer to start proceedings to sue but after 2 weeks told there wasn’t sufficient evidence of neglect etc. Within a year a public hearing came up for another woman’s death for same procedure the month before I had mine. Unlike me, who had started vomiting in the hospital just before dismissal home, she had gone home and when sepsis developed she was too far from treatment and died. But a new protocol was supposed to have been brought in...to give diabetic patients antibiotics before such procedures as they had a high likelihood of sepsis...but I didn’t get antibiotics. So I think they were negligent but proof is difficult, and I was trying to concentrate my efforts on getting better not dwell on the illness and it’s consequences, and presumably lucky I didn’t die (Always wondered why at 1 am nurse asked if I wanted them to phone my family to come....!)

[Vbgr]

Hi Judith, I’m hearing this more and more. Notes, xrays etc missing. Makes it impossible to rely on the truth of the matter. That’s what I would call stress. Thank you for telling me. Val

[Hidden]

Hi

I'm so sorry you've had to cope with so much. I hope you manage to claim against such negligence. I'm hearing this more and more. Please take care. Love and hugs Lynne xxxx

[serenfach]

Get your full notes first, before even hinting at any legal matters. Just say you want them for a family member or something. I had to pay £50 and only got 7 pages! I had to chase for months to get them all (with bits still missing). The solicitor then paid £50 to get them and had to wait 6 months, and did not chase until I chased her. Turned out she was involved in a BIG medical negligence case and I was not worth her bother!

Scans have now shown there is a foreign body where they operated but I will not go back to that hospital if I can help it.

[Vbgr in reply to serenfach]

Oh dear serenfach, that sounds serious. Have they left something in the site that should not be there.? Please take care of yourself.Val

[Hidden]

Hi Vbgr,

I went through a slightly different situation 2 years ago however, instead of it being a claim on grounds of negligence, it was a signed for letter to the board of the public hospital, asking why I was being pushed backwards on the waiting list for the surgery, since there where suspicions of a papillary carcinoma and surgeries associated to oncological conditions should be performed within 3 months maximum where I live.

Before sending the letter I called different sections of the hospital and no one gave a satisfactory answer until someone slipped and told me that on the waiting list I was registered as having just a multinodular goitre. I lost my nerve and sent the letter.

One week later I received a call from a hospital employee, asking me if I could have my surgery after two weeks (by then I had almost 400 people in front of me), on the 30th December. I said "Sure".

The day I was hospitalised, my surgeon summoned me to talk in private and told my 25 yo face that I shouldn't be there because he had far more serious cases to tend to and because I didn't have cancer. I got angry and bitter as hell but I felt unable to talk back.

I went under surgery, then home and my post-op was postponed to April. I only came to know that I had a papillary carcinoma with already localised metastasis mid-March, at a "thyroid oncology" appointment. Much later and through someone who worked at the hospital, I came to know that the pathology result was signed for this surgeon just 6 days after the surgery.

There are good doctors to whom may happen unfortunate incidents when doing their best. There are also surgeons here in Portugal that willingly exhaust the allowed timeframe to perform surgeries while OR are empty for days on end and then the government issues surgery-checks for patients to have private surgery, performed by these same surgeons at private hospitals, for an obnoxious amount of money.

What I mean is that we shall complain both for our own sake and in order to stop others from going through the same. In the end this is about believing in justice as they will be judged by theirs peers. And even if they did wrong and get away with its in the end, the whole bunch of wrong doers will start fearing going through the same and little by little, they'll treat us all better. And doctors are insured in case you are wondering.

It may be stressful. Get a tape recorder and ask to record the talk if someone harasses you. You'll never even need to be rude but you are a 100% entitled to talk back. Deny that doctor or team the opportunity of doing the same to a loved one of yours.

[Vbgr in reply to Hidden]

Your post has made me think very deeply and I am so sorry you had to go through it all. I’m sure you will have made a difference. At the moment I am feeling tired but hope to bounce back. Val

[Hidden in reply to Vbgr]

I do hope so. I was told he also had a son more or less my age at med school. It really made me wonder about what ethics the father would be teaching the son.

Look forward to a closure but don't let it affect you any longer after submitting the formal complaint. I wish you the best Val.

[Margjeans]

My husband had surgery on his foot to remove a veruca,didn’t put enough stitches in ,terrible mess.Should have been at least anothe 8 . He refused to go back to see surgeon ,he went to our local doctor everyday to get it dressed for over a week. He never went back to surgeon for follow up. Our doctor now refuses to refer any more patients to him . I might add my husband has lived even after ,burst appendix,sepsis,triple bypass, prostatectomy. He is 85. Doctors not giving referrals will affect his income and tell him something is wrong. The word will get round in the profession,doctors talk between themselves. I personally don’t think it would be worth the stress to start proceedings against him,you will only make yourself worse. Think ,can I really go through all the stress,Karma will get him. Good luck ,whatever you decide to do.

[Vbgr in reply to Margjeans]

Dear Margjeans, thank you, I like the idea of Karma very much. Val