Essington man in new ITV NHS documentary
A grandfather who has a shortened life expectancy after suffering complications in surgery outsourced from the NHS has called on private hospitals to become more transparent with patients.
Keith Salt, of Essington, Staffordshire, suffered a bile duct injury during an operation to remove his gallbladder at the privately-run Spire Parkway Hospital in Solihull.
A liver surgeon from an NHS hospital had to be called to help treat him and reconstruct the duct because there was no specialist team on hand.
Weeks later, Mr Salt was admitted to an NHS hospital and diagnosed with liver the disease, cholangitis.
The 60-year-old father-of-three, who is also a grandfather-of-eight, suffers from regular gallbladder infections and has liver disease. He may even require a liver transplant.
Mr Salt is also in regular pain and has been forced to retire from his job as a lorry driver and civil worker for a water company.
He said: "I was the sort of granddad who would go running around, playing games. However, I cannot do as much of that now.
"For months I was in agony and things seem to be getting worse. When I was told about being able to have surgery at the private hospital I thought that would be an end to things.
"My concentration was on the surgery to cure my symptoms, I wasn’t thinking about what could go wrong.
"I just feel that the risks and what could happen if there were complications were not fully explained to me.
"If I’d have known then what I now know I would have decided to wait for an appointment on the NHS.
"I know nothing can make up for what happened. I just think that private hospitals should be more open with patients so they can make the best decision about their care."
Mr Salt struggles are included in a national feature length documentary about NHS privatisation on ITV, called The Dirty War on the NHS, which airs tonight.
He instructed specialist medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate his care under Spire Hospital Company.
Spire Healthcare Ltd denied liability for negligence but admitted had Mr Salt not suffered a bile duct injury he would have been in hospital for around three to five days, making a full recovery in six weeks.
Caroline Brogan, the expert medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing him, said: “What has happened to Keith had a profound effect on him and his family.
"Patients are focused on receiving the care they require rather than the often complex nature of the contracts between private healthcare providers and the professionals who work there.
"We call on all private hospitals to ensure that patients’ needs and safety are always the top priority and people are made aware of the advantages and disadvantages of going private so they can make an informed decision about their care."
The ITV documentary is being broadcast tonight at 10.45pm.
