STW,

I wonder if anyone on here may know anything about this subject? Has anyone tried to take the NHS to court??

In quick summary, I had an orthopaedic operation 15yrs ago and as a result of that op, its causing a few problems with other bones/twist in my spine/clicky hips etc, and wondered who i’d need to speak to/recommendations to speak to (i’m in sheffield)

again and as always, thanks in advance.

Jonathan

I must add, i’ve done a little google’ing and really don’t want any involvement with a ‘where theres blame, theres a claim’ types, my main goal is to have the problem sorted!

jt

You need a Solicitor

Compo – a solicitor
Current medical problems – a doctor

my main goal is to have the problem sorted

I could well be wrong, but I can’t for the life of me see how the courts can help you receive appropriate medical treatment.

Unless of course, you’re suggesting that the NHS is refusing to treat you ?

my main goal is to have the problem sorted!

Go and see a doctor then

They will probably have a better chance of curing you than a lawyer

Or else go and live in America and sue the next person who gives you a hot cup of coffee

Sorry pal but I dont see your problem

You had surgery 15 years ago and its an issue now?

Grrrrr

You do realise that the NHS has finite resources and is paid for by our taxes

So people dicking around trying to sue for nefarious reasons actually do divert resources away from children with cancer

I admit the above may be a tad hysterical but come on….

Tell us what operation you had, did it cure you at the time, and what are your problems now?

Peace 🙂

actually do divert resources away from children with cancer

emotive claptrap, you might as well say the same for any treatment NOT directed at cancerous children, or indeed any other government expenditure not spent on the NHS. If it’s any help, I’d like the whole of the ‘defence’ budget I pay for diverted to the NHS…

I had an op’ to cure ‘clubbed foot’ – the foot was operated on, and all is ok (not great as limited movement, arch of the foot not touching the floor (so an insert has to be worn to use spd’s) (but its marginally better than it was.

that was when i was 13, i’m now 28, a physio has advised my spine has a slight twist in it due to the leg length discrepancy – (the leg had plaster on it for 12 weeks or so, and is approx 2cm’s shorter than my left leg) this has caused problems with my hip also.

the ‘effects’ of the operation were never noted until plenty of time has gone by, as a youth you dont notice these things and get on with life, and now as an adult, a moderately high cadence causes a bit of a wobble, i walk with a limp, my spine has a twist in it, both ankles/knee’s and left hip clicks and ache’s a fair bit.

the last NHS person i spoke to said nothing can be done, which, I don’t beleive, i was offered various, none surgical, solutions to try and resolve it, i’m not happy with what has been offered, and i’m concerned that at 28 my body is showing the effects of a poorly thought out operation and i want to be in good physical health by the time i’m 50.

So – i need legal advice as to what i can, or cannot, make happen – i want my leg putting to the correct length, i want a program of physio (or whatever) to try and sort out the damned spine and stop me walking with a limp.

I know i can walk, take a piss when i want to, etc, live a normal life, but, my foot looks a right mess, and i’ve got all of the above + dont want any more skeletal problems when i’m older…. is that too much to ask for?

Please don’t be so silly to raise the taxes issue, i’m fully aware of the situation! but feel what I am after is just and within the rights of a normal person. I’m not asking for millions in compo’, I just want some advice on sorting out the mess that the surgeon did!?

Am I being unreasonable in my request? i’d like to hear the thoughts of the STW collective!

Jonathan

That should have read “I’m 28 now, and had my last op at 13… recently I visited a physio who advised….”

jt

The money and the medicine are seperate issues; 2nd opinion/ complaints proceedure/ ombudsman if you are unhappy with the service. Solicitor for the

the last NHS person i spoke to said nothing can be done, which, I don’t beleive

Why do you not believe what this ‘NHS person’ said ? Were they not suitably qualified ? Have you had a second opinion ? Have they actually said your current problems are the result of the negligence or incompetence of the orthopaedic surgeon ?

There are complaints procedures within the NHS if you are not happy and you need to be very careful making allegations such as ‘poorly thought out operation’ and ‘sorting out the mess that the surgeon did’.

If your main aim is to have the problem sorted, I fail to see how taking the NHS to court will help…..unless, of course, you think they are failing to provide treatment purely on the grounds of cost !

Go and see an orthopaedic surgeon who specialises in foot and ankle surgery- sounds obvious doesnt it!

gingerflash is your man for all things medical and law.

I’m not being funny but if you want to get it sorted why did you title your post clinical negligence!! a tad misleading.

It’s likely that without your surgery for clubfoot you may never have been able to walk or cycle. You may be developing problems and if you were born with this abnormality a complete correction may at the time been impossible-especially as at the time of the surgery you were still growing..

i don’t think your leg can be lengthened now( however i’m not an orthopod)the only way i could think of would be to serially break and externally fixate your leg surgically – gradually increasing the length with each break- seems extreme and i douby many surgeons would offer that! However the only option may be shoes raises to correct the limb length discrepancy. Good luck and I hope they can help you – but it is a possibility that there is no surgical cure.

AS DR Nick says – but on a very superficial view here is little that can be done. There is usually a time cut off for complaints of Clinical Negligence, there is not a perfect outcome to every operation / treatment, you had a congenital deformity corrected to the best of the ability of the staff involved at the time.

AS your GP for a referal to a specialist – do some net research for a orthapeadic surgeon who has an interest in this sort of disorder.

I very much doubt that anything be done now

How horrible that this is people’s first thought now when they have a problem. Can you not just ask for a second opinion?

i fell down some steps when i was a kid, sprained my ankle, and have favoured it ever since. this has resulted in my pelvis being ‘on the pi55’, and i’ve had back problems, so should i seek some redress from the doctor who treated me at the time?
echo the above advice. if you really believe that the job was done poorly, then you will need to pay for a private consultation from a specialist, or you will have to go down the ‘no win no fee’ route if you can’t afford that.
i would go for the inserts/physio approach myself, if that was an option. 15 years on your body has probably adapted as best it is going to, and the risks of surgery, compounded by the changes your body has gone through probably mean you will be no better off. however i am obviously not a doctor, and even if i was, i wouldn’t be able to do a diagnosis over the net.
i can understand you being pi55ed off about it, and wanting to get fixed, but i think you may have to accept you’re never likely to be ‘normal’.
get specialist help.
all the best.

Drnick et al, perhaps my post title was a misleading, I have absolutely no idea who to speak with!

Please don’t think my immediate thought was ‘where there is blame … etc’, that really isn’t my thing!

I’ll arrange to see my GP and take it from there….

thanks for your advice people!

jt

give the lad a break, he wants to lead a normal life without pain – is that too much to ask? He wants his botched operation sorting to do this – wtf is wrong with that

I agree RR, but if you start a thread with the title with medical negligence it does tend to make it look like you are looking to claim, doesn’t it.

He wants his botched operation sorting

Do you know it was botched?

As he can cycle to a fair degree off road (Im assuming) Id say hes done well

jon – no offence mate but what side effects were explained to your parents when they put you up for surgery
Looky here

Good luck

I just jumped in as once again somebody has a medical problem and asks opinions from a lawyer not a doctor

Its madness

He wants his botched operation sorting to do this – wtf is wrong with that

he said his leg failed to grow as much as the other one while it was in plaster. I suppose this is a likely outcome whenever a young person has a leg in plaster, and I don’t know how it can be mitigated

My left foot was much worse at birth, and now it is ‘better’ than the right foot, in terms of doing the job its supposed to do, so if one foot which starts off worse is now much better, and one foot which was in better shape to start with, ends up being worse than the starting out of the left foot – in terms what a foot is supposed to do, coupled with what i’ve previously said, it doesn’t make sense to me.

If it is a likely outcome of a leg in plaster, why was this never mentioned to anyone and why was an appropriate course of action not taken to try and prevent it / minimise further damage to my growing body? – Not aimed at you, just answering the question!

My right heel and base of the foot was broken & remodelled to sit correctly, I need to ascertain whether this operation cause the leg to be shorter due to the heel remodelling, as opposed to growth restrictions during plaster.

Time to see my GP and perhaps pay for a full biomechanical assessment.

jt

Putting legs in plaster doesn’t stop them growing…

Depends on where the leg length discrepancy is as to what the problem is and what (if anything) can be done about it.

Shortening of the tibia and fibula (the two bones in your lower leg) is a common occurrence in people with club feet, and part of the ‘syndrome’, and there is not always a lot that can be done TBH. Not wanting to come across as defending the surgeon (and ‘closing ranks’) that operated on you, but it may be that the operation was a complete success. You may just be one of the unfortunate people that has the shortened Tib and Fib that goes with a club foot.

As to what can be done about it now, that needs to be discussed with an orthopaedic surgeon with an interest in lower limb surgery. I suspect that the answer may be ‘nothing surgical’. However that doesn’t mean nothing at all. But this needs to be discussed in person with access to your notes and x-rays, not on an internet forum with access to myth and rumour.

Sorry was still writing my reply when you posted, hope it answers some of your questions but off to the GP methinks…..

dr_death

Thank you, your answer was pretty much what I was looking for! 😉 not bad for a mountain bike forum!

Appointment booked for this week 😉

Jonathan 😉

“approx 2cm’s shorter than my left leg)”

Most orthopaedic surgeons would regard this as a fairly minor discrepancy after major surgery. It’s not enough to be regarded as negligent. After hip replacements for example, people often (5-10%) have a difference of 2cm or more. The fact that you’ve (presumably) grown a lot since the operation is also important and would make it more difficult to prove what the discrepancy was immediately after the surgery. Your legs may well have grown at different rates particularly if the growth plates were involved in the surgery (you don’t really say much about what was done).

Also measuring leg lengths accurately is VERY difficult and is often done from imaging, not with a tape measure at a normal physio session.

A clinical negligence claim is very unlikely to “sort out this mess” – it can only achieve an award of compensation. If you’re bothered about sorting out your orthopaedic condition, then ask your GP for a referral to one of the many excellent leg orthopods in Sheffield like Bickerstaff, Royston, Stockley etc.

Reading a few club foot web forums suggests that you might have done a fair bit better than many people with that condition do.

Re ‘time barring’ for medical negligence, If I recall correctly it is from the time you realise there is a problem, not necessarily from the time of treatment.

Also, (I’m sure GF will correct me if I’m wrong) but for negligence to be proven, you have to show that any reasonable practitioner would not have treated you in the way you claim this practitioner/team have done/not done to you.

From an osteopathic perspective,and agreeing with gingerflash, 2cm is not that much, I very much doubt any surgeon woulf consider operating for that small a disrepancy. A orthotic lift may be necessary but I would first look at more treatment to restore mobility and function to the spine and pelvic area, a good physio, osteo or chiro should be able to help, all will have slightly different approaches – it may take a little trial and error to find what works in your case (obviously I think an osteo will be best but then I am biased….).

Jojo is (almost) correct on both fronts.

The three years starts either from the date of the incident or the date on which you first suspected (or should have suspected) that you’d suffered an injury as a result of someone’s mistake, whichever is the later.

Treatment is considered negligent if no reasonable body of opinion in that particular field (orthopaedic surgery) would regard the treatment as acceptable. You’d have to show that no reasonable, competent and responsible orthopaedic surgeons would think a 2cm discrepancy was an acceptable result and I just don’t think you’d be able to do that. Lots, if not most, would consider it an acceptable, but maybe not great, outcome.

I’d imagine that cycling is the sport in which you’re going to have most problems with length discrepancy. It would matter a lot less in other sports I’d have thought.

Gingerflash and others.

I have an appointment booked with a GP this week, so hopefully they’ll refer me.

As I said, i’m not after cash, just medical NHS-paid for assistance.

Thanks for the positive comments from those in the know, its appreciated!

Jonathan