Wrong site surgery

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The National Health Service describes wrong site surgery as “a surgical intervention performed on the wrong site; the incident is detected at any time after the start of the operation and the patient requires further surgery, on the correct site, and/or may have complications following the wrong surgery.” Typical instances includes operations on the wrong knee, wrong eye, wrong patient, wrong limb, or even wrong internal organ.

There are still more than 100 such cases in England each year

The problems that wrong site surgery creates and the distress that it causes are obvious and the NHS and World Health Organisation both provide comprehensive guidance to surgical teams on how it should be avoided.

This includes the use of wristbands and checklists, yet there are still more than 100 such cases in England each year. In almost all cases, medical negligence will be involved, but even in apparently straightforward cases such as wrong site surgery, bringing a medical negligence claim can be complicated and expert legal advice is essential.

Can you make a claim?

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    Can I sue the NHS?

    Before making a claim it is worth taking note of the following point.

    Check that your medical issues are grounds for negligence, and not a simple complaint procedure. Complaints about procedure dissatisfaction, or seeking an apology / admission for lack of care / treatment should go to PALS. Read more about suing the nhs.

    When you might have a claim

    Injury, continuous pain or loss due to the act of a practitioner or general lack of care at the NHS is an entirely different matter. You might very well have a claim. The duty of care might have been breached meaning the health care professional/s did not provide the expected level of care. If you believe you deserve compensation you may have a medical negligence claim. Read more about how to claim against the NHS here.

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