Doctors left medical equipment inside woman’s breast
A woman has received £10,000 compensation after a piece of metal wire was mistakenly left inside her breast during surgery.
The woman was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012. An operation was arranged, and a small guide titanium wire was inserted into her breast to indicate to surgeons the location of the cancerous tissue that needed to be removed.
Surgery took place that day but due to a series of errors, the metal wire and some of the cancerous tissue were not removed.
However, the surgeons were unaware of this and believed the operation had been a success.
The woman was sent home with a follow-up appointment arranged for two weeks later.
At the follow-up appointment a scan revealed t hat the woman’s breast still contained some cancerous tissue, and also the metal wire. Another operation was needed, with another metal wire being inserted into the woman’s breast to act as a guide. This time the cancerous tissues and both metal wires were successfully removed.
The woman took legal action, claiming the hospital had been negligent in failing to remove the cancerous tissue and metal wire from her breast. She also said medical staff would have realised the mistake immediately had they carried out a scan straight after the surgery.
The hospital denied liability, claiming it had not been negligent to leave the guide wire in the woman’s breast, because that was a recognised complication with the procedure.
However, it agreed to an out-of-court settlement of £10,000 to compensate the woman for her pain and trauma.
Insert name said: “It is horrific to think that a lack of communication can lead to errors like this, when surgeons have people’s lives in their hands. Rightfully, this woman has received compensation for the trauma and pain she has endured because of an avoidable mistake.”
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BAILEY v THE ROYAL LIVERPOOL & BROADGREEN UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS TRUST (2014)
Total Damages: £10,000 (£10,133.75 RPI)
Trial/settlement date: 7/2/2014
Type of Award: Out of Court Settlement
