I need some advice.

My partner had an operation a week ago on his foot which went well however when they put a back slab (plaster) on his calf to support his foot, they did not put it on properly and he ended up having a deep chemical burn from the plaster. After the operation, he continually told the nurses that he felt that his calf was burning but was told, it is part of the surgery. The nurses did not bother to check his calf. As a result of this, he now needs a skin graft due to chemical burns from the plaster and the burns being so deep. I tried to contact the hospital who did the surgery which is private but the surgery was paid for by the NHS, however they do not has a Patient Advice and Liaison Service and the only way to complain is to email youropinionmatters or another email which is used for feedback mainly. We were advised by the two hospitals that he now had to attend for treatment, to take the matter further as the hospital that did the surgery were negligent.

Recently the Consultant that carried out the operation called and stated that he had received notification of what had happened to him and was not aware of the burning. He asked when the burning started and my partner stated straight after surgery and he informed nurses continually. The Consultant said that no-one brought it to his attention and even when he asked if my partner was ok for discharge, the nurses said yes. My partner has a pre-scheduled appointment with him coming up and he said he would like to discuss what happened with him. I am guessing that he does not wish us to go through the medical negligence route that we were advised to take but as we have never been through this before I would like advice on next steps. Help anyone please.

It sounds like the doctor is genuinely concerned and wants to investigate. Have you written to the hospital trust

My partner was referred by his GP but ended up having it done at a private hospital as this was one of the choices paid for by the nhs, therefore, it does not come under a trust.

I do believe he is genuinely concerned however my partner is in a lot of pain due to their lack of care. He only thought about attending his follow up appointments but he has been to A&E twice for dressings and now has to travel to a hospital who specialises in burns which is over 8 miles from my home. As I don't drive we have to take a cab as he has to keep off his feet as much as possible. This has so far cost us over £60 in 2 days. This cost will rise as he now has to have an further operation at this hospital and return twice a week for further treatment. While the original operation went ok, the lack of care afterwards was more than neglectful.

You could try speaking to a local solicitor who deals with medical negligence? You can find specialists near to you via the Law Society websiteand they should speak to you on the phone or for an initial meeting without charging.

HB

Thank you for any advice as I am speaking up on my partners behalf and need to know how to approach this when we see the consultant next week for the follow up of his initial operation.

We will be meeting with the consultant who carried out my partners operation on Tuesday as he is now aware of the chemical burn which was due to the lack of care at his hospital. Apart from letting him know how angry we both are, especially my partner due to the pain, the amount of extra travel and the further operation he needed to have, do we tell him our intentions to sue as this has added time onto my partners recuperation.