A botched hip surgical procedure has led to a £100,000 medical negligence case for the Coventry grandmother who underwent the operation.
According to an article in the Coventry Telegraph newspaper, Maggie Peabody, of Wood End, had been admitted to Rugby’s St Cross Hospital for a routine surgery to correct osteoarthritis that had developed in her hip. Medical negligence solicitors told the paper that Mrs Peabody had been told that the surgical procedure was quite simple, and that the surgeon performing her operation was very experienced.
However, during the procedure, her sciatic nerve had been severed accidentally. Mrs Peabody discovered that she had no feeling at all in her right leg after the anaesthetic from the procedure wore off, a condition her doctors informed her that she would suffer from for the rest of her life.
Following the incident, Mrs Peabody took legal advice and made a personal injury compensation claim for medical negligence against the NHS trust for the hospital. As a result, the mother of four has been given £100,000 in compensation, which will aid in paying for her future care costs and also adaptations to her accommodation.
The grandmother’s legal team’s spokesperson remarked that the mistakes that were made during her surgery were simply inexcusable. Mrs Peabody’s sciatic nerve should have been protected adequately to avoid its accidental severing, the spokesperson added, yet precautions were not properly taken.
The NHS Trust for the hospital investigated the incident, concluding that the standard of care of the hospital had been much lower than should have been expected from its medical staff. As a result, the surgeon who was responsible for the mistake is no longer employed by the trust.