Mr B got some glass from a fluorescent tube in his hand when emptying a wheelie bin into a skip whilst working at a recycling centre in Worksop.  As it was a small cut, and didn’t seem to bleed much, he noted the accident in the accident book and didn’t think much more about it.

Surgery removes 4 pieces of glass from hand

However, over the weekend, his hand began to tingle and became painful, then numb.  Mr B attended Bassetlaw Hospital A & E and x-rays showed a foreign body in his palm.  He was sent to Northern General Hospital, where he was told that he would need surgery the following day.  However, when he returned the next day there was no room for his surgery and it was carried out a day later.

4 pieces of glass were removed from Mr B’s hand, which was stitched and dressed with bandages.  He was told not to do any heavy lifting and to return to hospital if there was any more pain.

Negligent surgery leaves glass in hand

After 2 weeks the wound healed, the pain had stopped but Mr B’s hand was still numb.  At a check-up he was told that the numbness would go in time.  Around 3 months later, Mr B was suffering with pain from a lump in his wrist.  The lump got bigger and bigger and so he went to see his GP 2 months later.  He was told it was a ganglion and referred for an ultrasound scan, which took place another month later.  The scan showed that there was still glass in Mr B’s hand and he was told he would need a further operation but that he would need to go back to his GP for a referral to hospital.  The piece of glass, 13mm x 6mm, was removed 2 months later.

Whilst the lump, pain and numbness have now gone, Mr B has been left with 2 scars from his operations and he now suffers from wrist pain in cold weather.

Petra wins compensation after negligent surgery

Mr B contacted Graysons to see if he could get compensation from the hospital for negligence.  Petra took up the case and contacted Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.    The trust admitted that the treatment provided fell below an acceptable standard, admitting that pre-operative radiographs appear not to have been adequately assessed leading to the larger glass fragment being missed.  Petra was able to negotiate a settlement of £3,500 for Mr B.

If you have suffered as a result of an inadequate standard of treatment from any health professional, please contact us to arrange a confidential meeting in which we can discuss your case.

You can find out more about making a medical negligence compensation claim on our web pages.