Brain Injury

Surgical errors

Consent to surgery

Every surgical procedure has risks. These should be explained to you by your surgeon before you agree to undergo any procedure or operation. No doctor should tell you that surgery is risk-free. The law says it is important that you know about the risks and benefits of undergoing surgery so that you are able to make an informed decision about whether you should proceed; this includes being told of any alternative treatments. If you are not warned adequately about a potential adverse outcome to surgery and then this arises, we can investigate a potential claim for damages on your behalf and have supported many families who have had the same happen to them.

Errors during surgery

Mistakes can happen in the operating theatre and the outcome may not be as you expected. A failure to notice changes in a patient’s blood pressure, oxygen levels or cardiac function whilst under anaesthetic can have devastating consequences. If cardiac arrest occurs, it can take only minutes for a brain injury to occur. There may be other medical errors made that cause injury to internal organs and have an equally damaging effect on the brain.

How we can help

We can support you through an investigation to explore whether you were not properly advised of risks and alternatives to surgery, or whether a surgical error should simply not have occurred. We can help you obtain the right level of compensation in order to ease your path to recovery and give you and your family financial security.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, you may be able to make a claim for a surgery that went wrong if it was caused by medical negligence. Medical negligence occurs when a healthcare professional fails to provide the expected standard of care, leading to harm or injury to the patient.

Some examples of surgical errors that may be considered medical negligence include:

  • Performing the wrong surgery or operating on the wrong body part
  • Using unsanitary equipment or instruments
  • Failing to properly monitor a patient during or after surgery
  • Administering incorrect anesthesia
  • Causing damage to organs, nerves or tissues during surgery
  • Leaving surgical equipment or foreign objects inside the patient’s body

A surgical error is a mistake or oversight that occurs during a surgical procedure, and can range from minor mistakes to serious, life-threatening complications. Some examples of surgical errors include:

  1. Wrong-site surgery: This occurs when the surgery is performed on the wrong part of the body, such as the wrong limb or organ.

  2. Incorrect incisions: The surgeon may make incisions in the wrong location or cut too deep, which can lead to damage to nerves, blood vessels, or organs.

  3. Leaving surgical instruments or other foreign objects inside the patient: This can cause serious infection and other complications.

  4. Anesthesia errors: This can include administering too much or too little anesthesia, using the wrong type of anesthesia, or failing to properly monitor the patient’s vital signs during the procedure.

  5. Infection or other complications: Improper sterilization of equipment or poor surgical technique can lead to serious infection or other complications.

  6. Post-operative complications: This can include complications such as bleeding, clotting, or infection that occur after the surgery is completed.

Surgical error claims due to medical negligence rarely go to court, with only a small percentage of the more complex cases ending up there. However, in the unlikely event that your case reaches court, we will be by your side throughout the process.

It is important to pursue your surgical error claim as quickly as possible due to time limits and to also enable us to help you obtain compensation as soon as possible. This is especially the case in complex cases as the process can be lengthy.

You have to start your claim within 3-years (limitation period) from when the injury occurred or when you first became aware of any potential negligence or injury as a result. However, the time limit only begins when a child reaches 18 years of age.

There may be several options open to you to include legal aid, No Win No Fee and legal expense insurance. We can advise you on the correct funding method for you. We have designed a No Win No Fee package to protect you from paying any costs should your claim not be successful.

We can provide a second opinion free of charge. We have acted for many clients who have been told they don’t have a case, but by looking at the claim in a different way and with our expertise, we have gone on to be successful.

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