Patient launches £150,000 claim over operation complications
A man has launched a legal battle for compensation of £150,000 from the NHS after suffering serious complications during surgery.
A writ issued by Mark Arnott at London’s High Court says his oesophagus was perforated in an accident as an anaesthetist struggled to pass a tube into his airway before an operation.
Now the 60-year-old, of Thorpe Avenue, Burntwood, is seeking damages from University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Queen’s Hospital in Burton.
Mr Arnott was admitted for removal of part of his thyroid in his neck on May 9 2017, the writ says.
It adds that because of the injury to his oesophagus, he suffered from long lasting pain, problems swallowing, an altered voice, chronic acid reflux, and developed ulcerative colitis, as well as major depression.
Anaesthetic records are said to suggest an unremarkable assessment of his airway, and a straightforward intubation.
But the writ says this is not correct and that the anaesthetist made three attempts to insert a tube into his lungs.
The day after the operation, the anaesthetist tried to correct the record, but a serious incident review by the trust found that the significant difficulties and complications should have been recorded at the time, the court will hear.
Dr Magnus Harrison, executive medical director, said: “The trust cannot comment on this case as the legal proceedings are still under way.”
