Help me navigate this potential medical negligence...

[sharingiscaring23]

I had a C section (elective) which left me in a lot of pain. 8 days later I was in so much pain I was taken for a CT scan, where it was discovered some of my internal stitches had come undone & my bowel had herniated through them. I needed emergency surgery & was taken to theatre there & then. At this time my baby was in ICU. I was put on a ward far away from him & couldn't see him for a day. The consultant & surgeon who fixed me said they had never ever seen anything like this before & it was certainly not a common repercussion of a C section.

PALS have launched an investigation as I asked them to, I want answers. However it's been several months now. I keep chasing to be told that the investigation is ongoing. Having never experienced anything like this, I don't know if they are telling the truth, how I can speed things up, or in general if there is anything else I can do. Does anyone have any advice? A friend said why don't I contact a solicitor but I'm not sure I see the point as I have a feeling their findings will say 'it's just one of those things' because they won't want to pay out.

Thank you x

Firstly why do you believe it's negligence?
While awful for you, if it is a recognized albeit rare complication of a c section then it's not negligence.

I don’t know anything about medical negligence but I would request my medical records asap under Freedom of Information Act.

You may then be able to have a medical negligence solicitor review your records to see if you have a case.

Do you have any permanent injury as a result of the complications?

Another one who wants to sue the nhs.

Stitches coming undone is unfortunate for you but not negligence.

Use the energy else where and move on from this.

Why do you feel this is down to someone’s negligence?

all surgery has potential complications- some common and some very rare but it’s really not a risk free thing to undergo. You sign a consent form to say you understand there are things that can go wrong.

It sounds like they recognised there was an issue and dealt with it swiftly and have been entirely transparent. I do understand it must have been very upsetting being away from your newborn baby.

I can’t work out what outcome you want? If it’s just cash then I suspect you will be disappointed.

agree with above posters

also investigations take a long time. Please do not rush them or ask them to speed up as you want an accurate and comprehensive investigation. Only after this investigation can you or the nhs claim if it was negligence or not.

As it was an elective procedure you should've been advised of the possible complications and signed a consent form.

You need your notes to determine if it was negligence, a rare complication is just that mostly. An unfortunate rare occurrence.

Have you suffered any lasting damage? What are you seeking in recompense?

It's not negligence. A hernia is a not uncommon complication of abdominal surgery.

@samanthamori If I wanted to sue the NHS I would have instructed my solicitor. Did you see the word 'potential' in the post? I purely want to know what happened & why it happened & I'm finding it difficult having to wait.

For background, my daughter 5 years ago suffered a brain injury when I had a natural birth. It took a long time for me to be brave enough to have another baby & I went down the route of elective C section so things would be planned. I suppose I do blame the hospital for her injury slightly as I was kept in Labour for 3 days & that is a potential cause of her injury. But I have never perused anything as it is wasted energy & I could never prove anything.

The surgeon who did the corrective surgery said he has never seen a complication like this before & his words to me were 'it almost looked like the stitches had never been properly finished'.

I absolutely did sign a consent form & I suspect this is what I will get back. But I would just like to know what is going on & I feel like I need their explanation to move on with my life.

You could contact a firm like Irwin Mitchell, who specialise in medical malpractice. They usually have a web form where you can outline what’s happened to you, and if they think you may have a case, they’ll let you know. You should check your household insurance because sometimes you’ll have legal cover on there that would pay the legal fees.

I should add that in England, these cases almost always hinge on whether you’ve had a measurable harm. So if you’re now unable to work because you’ve been left permanently disabled, AND someone is clearly at fault, you might have a case. If there is no measurable harm but you feel you suffered emotional distress, possibly not.

I have family experience (as a claimant) of a case of medical negligence, but I’m not a lawyer. Feel free to PM me.

Also, no one should be made to
feel guilty for suing the NHS when/if there is a clear case of medical malpractice.

As the poster above has said, get a copy of your medical notes via a subject access request. You could write a formal complaint asking for a timeline and update on your investigation via pals. They should be updating you regularly ideally.

Ask them if it has been passed to the patient safety team at the hospital

If it has, you will likely get a full investigation, a copy of the investigation and a follow up meeting to go through the report

Investigations tend to take ages. If you don’t want to wait, get your notes via FOI and take them to a medico-legal and they will advise.

Did they give you a time scale ? When I did a PALS complaint it immediately got upgraded to an 'incident' (caused harm) and I was told I would (and did) get a full report in 28 days.

You have nothing to lose by contacting a solicitor to investigate whether there is a claim here. Any decent ones will offer you no win no fee so no financial implications for you if it goes nowhere but with all the benefit of having someone experienced and knowledgeable look over it to see if there has been negligence or not. Just do it sooner rather than later if you do plan to go down this route as there is a limitation date of 3 years on this sort of claim and some NHS trusts are notoriously slow at disclosing medical records.

Thanks v much everyone.

It's been 3 months & despite my emails to PALS I send every month chasing, all I'm told is it is still being investigated. I wasn't harmed physically, apart from them having to reopen up my scar & save my bowel. It's the fact that those stitches were/came undone, putting me in an excruciating amount of pain. But even if this was the fault of the surgeon at the time of the C section, they will never admit to it. They'll say it's a risk/one of those things.

Does anyone know who or how I get these notes via FOI? I've never heard of this before. Then again why would I have.

You make a subject access request (SAR) under the Data Protection Act 2018/GDPR, not the Freedom of Information Act. You just have to inform them of your request. They may ask you to fill out a form to assist their admin process, but you’re not obliged to do so.

More info here

Trying to get my head round what happened. Was it the stitches in your rectus sheath that came undone and a small amount of bowel herniated through and became strangulated, requiring urgent surgery?

If that's the case, I expect that happens more than we realise, but usually the hernia doesn't cause symptoms. I wonder whether, for whatever reason, your rectus sheath was a little thin in one area and a stitch pulled through. Hernia is usually listed as a complication on a C-section consent form. It's uncommon, but not very rare. The hernia becoming strangulated is rare and unfortunate, but doesn't sound negligent.

Either way, without access to all the facts, it's pure speculation.

Nothing you've said so far is jumping out as clear cut negligence, however it's important that a thorough investigation takes place - sorry it's taking so long. I think I'd keep chasing and await the full report.

Either way, it sounds like you've had a horrendous time and I really hope you recover quickly.

FOI is common to other areas, not just the NHS - so it’s entirely possible you’d have heard about it / used it elsewhere.

The OP has probably not heard of it because the FOI Act is not the right law to use to see your medical records.

The FOI Act is about getting access to policy decisions etc, not personal data.

It took 6 months before I had a formal response. The NHS needs to be held to account when things go wrong. The NHS is insured and those who receive financial compensation deserve it. If harm cannot be proved then there is no compensation and they will, in my experience try to wheedle out of any accountability of causing harm. Communication was awful for the concerns I raised a level 5 - causing severe harm or death. For a better understanding request your medical notes. No one should be discouraged from making complaints and if the errors made are serious enough to qualify for financial compensation then they are entitled to receive it. Lip service is made that improvements will happen but it does not help those and their families who face recovery from trauma and physical harm. When complaints are raised like any organisation the NHS will look to protect themselves first and the patient last.

Save your bowel how? Your bowel was never at risk

Anyway I had a similar experience and what they didn’t tell me was the strong painkillers they give you after your section cause horrendous constipation- my stools were backed up and then they were pressing on my stitches and then I was in agony.

However I realised myself swiftly what was the cause and it was resolved with no need for medical intervention- just meds that I got myself

@MissLucyEyelesbarrow Thank you, that is a really helpful link.