Surgical error claims

Surgical errors and mistakes can give rise to medical negligence claims. The grounds for these claims differ widely and range from poor counselling on available treatment options or the risks of the proposed surgery to inappropriate surgical technique and failure to identify problems after a procedure.

Expert surgical negligence claims lawyers

With continuing innovation, an increasing number of medical conditions are being remedied or managed by surgery. It is one of the most important treatments offered by the NHS in secondary care and is also one of the most frequently occurring procedures in the private health setting. While many surgeons practise in the field of general surgery, they can also be involved in a number of different specialities.

As a treatment option, surgery may not however be the first course of action. Any surgery carries with it risks and conservative management will often have been tried before surgery is considered. In most cases the highest standards of care will be provided but nonetheless surgical errors do happen. These are not risks that a patient can consent to – they are events that are outside the usual risks of surgery and are preventable. Some surgical errors are so preventable that they are called ‘never events’, which means that they should never occur.

At Penningtons Manches Cooper, our specialist solicitors have a significant depth of experience in investigating surgical error claims. We have acted for clients seeking compensation as a result of nerve damage or injury to organs; infection due to poor infection control; foreign objects being left in the body; too much or too little anaesthetic; inappropriate advice or assessment of their suitability for surgery; and mistakes in managing treatment post-operatively. This list is not exhaustive, however, and our solicitors would be happy to talk through your concern with you.

Very caring, realistic, professional and efficient. Excellent preparation of my claim. Careful consideration of every step in the process. Kept me informed at every decision point and enabled me to make the right decisions.

Our surgical error claims team provides legal and practical advice on cases covering the full range of medical specialisms, including not only negligence involving NHS trusts but also claims against surgeons working privately and other members of the operating team, such as anaesthetists. We can help to secure damages to improve a patient’s quality of life if they have had a poor or unexpected outcome from surgery. These may cover loss of earnngs and past and future care needs.

Our initial consultation in surgical error claims is offered free of charge and without obligation. Funding options available to clients include no win no fee (conditional fee) agreements.

How we help our clients

Claims for failure to diagnose or operate with appropriate urgency

Cases where surgical risks are not considered or advised on properly

Advice on failures to identify damage caused by surgery

Failures to remove surgical instruments and swabs

Cases where precautions to avoid post-operative infections are inappropriate/absent

Incorrect post-operative monitoring

Never events

Useful resources

Making a medical negligence claim

Funding a medical negligence claim

General surgery negligence claims fact sheet

They have genuine strength in depth and are really down to earth, committed, and true specialists in their field.

The team were extremely professional and competent and I always felt that my case was in very good hands. Above this, however, I appreciated their kind and sympathetic manner through the process.

First class: professional, friendly, sensitive and ultimately successful! Thank you so much.

I felt that my solicitor was really fighting for what she thought I deserved. She was a great match. Her advice was important to me.

Everyone at Penningtons has always treated me with respect and compassion and done their best to help with my situation. I feel the whole team really have my best interests at heart.

Recent work highlights

£130,000 for bowel injury during surgery

Agreeing £130,000 plus costs for a negligent injury to our client’s bowel during the removal of his gall bladder. He continues to suffer from continence problems, a large abdominal herna and depression.

£12,000 for ectopic pregnancy error

Winning £12,000 in damages against a surgeon who failed to remove an ectopic foetus during surgery. Our traumatised client had to undergo a second laparoscopic procedure, leaving her with additional scars and a longer recovery period.

£75,000 settlement for negligent knee surgery

Settling a case against a private orthopaedic surgeon for performing an inappropriate and technically unacceptable partial knee replacement on our client, whose pre-existing knee condition meant the surgery had no chance of success.

Claim for infection after gastric band surgery

Representing a client left with permanent physical and psychological issues after a private hospital’s failure to recognise and manage developing post operative infection resulting in an emergency NHS admission and multiple further operations.

Admissions of failings in nursing care

Securing admissions of multiple failings in the nursing care provided to a high risk patient admitted to a surgical ward with acute pancreatitis who later died as a result of complications.

Novel surgical approach with higher risks

Acting for a client who suffered complications when a herna repair procedure was carried out using a novel and higher risk approach which he had not been properly advised about. We recovered damages after issuing High Court proceedings.

Case studies

We have settled a claim for a 27 year old female client whose appendix was not completely removed during surgery for appendicitis. Unfortunately, her abdominal symptoms continued and this affected her ability to work and socialise.

We have settled a claim against Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust for a client who suffered from blistering to her left foot resulting from the negligent use of compression bandaging after knee replacement surgery.

We have settled a claim against Spire Healthcare Ltd for a client who suffered an anastomotic leak following gastric bypass revision surgery, leading to the need for further surgery and causing her a problematic recovery.

We have recently settled a claim against an NHS trust for a delay in diagnosing and operating on ovarian torsion. The patient was admitted to hospital with severe abdominal pain on her left side, vomiting and haematuria.

We have recently settled a claim against a private surgeon for errors during surgery to remove our client’s gallbladder. Following the procedure, she was in significant pain and was not discharged home until almost a week later.