Not every medical procedure goes according to plan and, when patients suffer due to clinical negligence, it is only right that they should be compensated. In a case on point, a woman who went into hospital for gastric bypass surgery, but emerged in a worse condition than before, was awarded six-figure damages.
The woman was severely overweight and hoped that the operation would mark a significant improvement in her quality of life. However, she endured grave post-operative complications and spent seven months in hospital. She required further major surgery and the bypass eventually had to be reversed.
The whole experience was deeply traumatic for her and she has been left without any of the hoped-for benefits of the operation. In the years since, the impact on her physical and mental health has been severe. After she took legal advice, proceedings were launched on her behalf against the NHS trust that ran the hospital.
In upholding her claim, a judge found that the post-operative treatment she received had in some respects been negligent. Had it not been for that, she would have recovered more quickly and the bypass would have been a success. She would have achieved significant weight loss with a consequent improvement in her general health. The full amount of her damages award has yet to be calculated, but it will include £100,000 for her pain, suffering and loss of amenity.
