LOST PART OF MY FINGER Lawers please reply

[yobtaf]

back in january i started my new job after being made redundant by the "rover Crisis"

this new job was working with compressors about 4 weeks into the job i was cleaning a compressor out as it was balanced on a nut it sliped and took a small part of my little finger off just between my nail and knuckle i was rusherd to hospital i had puit the fingert in a plastic bad and was in A+E within 20 mins i was seen by the trieage nurse and sent to the emergancy assesment unit upstairs on arrival the nurse looked at my hand and requested the plastic surgen to come down.
i tolds her i had my finger (still in the bag) she took it from me and told me to wait for the surgen. when i asked for it back she said "why do you want it?" i jokingly said "well i was quite attached to it" she kept in and i sat down i was bandgaged up and was stiill waiting for the surgen. 4 hours later he comes down and starts to look at my finger he said "did u find the other part" i looked at him and told him a nurse had took it from me he looked shocked, he whent off and came back unable to find it. he said i would have to have an operation to remove some bone so my finger could heal properly,

the main point is the lost my finger that could have been reattached if they puyt it on ice when i gave it them what can i do???????????????????!!!! !!!!!!!!!!11111

[Jhawc24]

Thats sounds really nasty. Not sure what the nurse was thinking, was she a student by chance! Surely if the finger part was too damaged to be re-attached then this should have been the surgeons decision.

You could contact the PALS (patient advisory liaison service) at the hospital as a first point of raising a complaint.

Sometimes when the tip of a finger is damaged it's mainly flesh damage which does repair / heal itself with a little help. If you are having some of the bone removed then this sounds a bit more complicated.

Paramedic in the making, joan.

[JonCris]

Originally Posted by Jhawc24

Thats sounds really nasty. Not sure what the nurse was thinking, was she a student by chance! Surely if the finger part was too damaged to be re-attached then this should have been the surgeons decision.

You could contact the PALS (patient advisory liaison service) at the hospital as a first point of raising a complaint.

Sometimes when the tip of a finger is damaged it's mainly flesh damage which does repair / heal itself with a little help. If you are having some of the bone removed then this sounds a bit more complicated.

Paramedic in the making, joan.

Do you have union representationt? If so speak with your local rep. Without knowing the complete circumstances it appears to me that your first cause of action may be against your employer.

Only if you can prove negligence by the NHS would your claim be successful against the NHS. Remember the courts do allow that the NHS sometimes make mistakes which are not always deemed negligence.

[nathal]

Have a friend who back a couple of years just started a new job and a machine took of top of his finger. His hands were inside gloves, and he said he didnt know it had happened until he saw blood,maybe shock. He took the top piece of finger to hospital with him in ice but they were not able to attach it again, the response was that it had been crushed to badly. Not that it matters but he did get compensation for it.

[JonCris]

Originally Posted by nathal

Have a friend who back a couple of years just started a new job and a machine took of top of his finger. His hands were inside gloves, and he said he didnt know it had happened until he saw blood,maybe shock. He took the top piece of finger to hospital with him in ice but they were not able to attach it again, the response was that it had been crushed to badly. Not that it matters but he did get compensation for it.

You don't say from whom but I imagine it was the employer!

[chesham]

Your employers will have liability insurance, for which your claim would originate. If you have the means, contact a solicitor to start proceedings on Health & Safety grounds - the longer you leave it, the more complex and harder to prove the case will be. All employers have insurance for these, as many people are compensated even though it may have been an accident and they know people will claim if they are injured doing their job.

As for the NHS, I don't think there is any case - the vast majority of medics will know if the tip of a finger can be sewn back on or not. The part that you mention sounds like it was too severed to be connected, as is usually the case if there is exposed bone, as it means the nerve, connective tissue and tendons have been damaged or severed too badly to reconstruct. However, I'm not a doctor and the NHS can make mistakes - but really, you won't get it back and is it worth the hassle? Speak to a solicitor, see what they say - you've got nothing to lose really!! But you will more than likely be able to claim against your insurer's insurance.

[dubliner10]

Hiya,

Nasty injury by the sound of it and bloody painful. I've worked for years in an A&E dept. and the vast majority of times the last 1/3 of your finger from knuckle to tip if crushed cannot be reattached. Even if we sew it back on, you then need to see if the blood vessels, nerves etc. grow back. You have a really high chance of infection, and if gets in to the bone you've got problems. Most experienced nurses (and to work in Triage you should be experienced) will know if the tissue is viable. You also need to remember that the majority of nurses working in an area will have been there many years, most junior docs change every 6 months.
I hope you have recovered well, and wish you all the best. Sounds like communication could have been a lot better