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Prior to surgery
A number of mistakes can be made prior to surgery, which will lead to catastrophic mistakes:
Amputation of wrong digit or limb/operating on the wrong side
Surgeon should make adequate contact with the patient pre-operatively ensuring correct area is marked with waterproof pen.
Removing the wrong organ/ removing a solitary organ
If one of a pair of organs is diseased care should be taken to identify it. It is also important to check that the other organ is present and functioning.
Operating on the wrong patient
Again the onus is on the surgeon to check carefully pre-operatively.
Cases and extra information
In many of the above examples it may be possible to rely on the maxim res ipsa loquitur ('the act speaks for itself). In effect it may be difficult to pinpoint a specific act of negligence, but it will be obvious that some act of negligence has occurred. If a surgeon removes a right kidney instead of a left or if a swab is left in an operation site then negligence can be assumed to have occurred at some stage. It is unlikely that such a case will reach court, but not impossible. In Cassidey v. Ministry of Health the patient entered hospital for treatment on two fingers and left with a useless hand.
If you feel that you need to sue your surgeon to obtain compensation, or simply make a complaint against the NHS, please submit your details via the enquiry form.