A patient has been awarded a six-figure sum in compensation after he was left severely disabled following an operation at York Hospital.
During the surgery, the patient suffered a “catastrophic stroke” and a cardiac arrest, according to Hudgell Solicitors, who represented him in legal action against the NHS.
He was successfully revived, but was left “severely disabled” with brain damage.
After suffering a minor stroke in 2016, the man, now 74, was initially taken to Harrogate District Hospital for a CT scan.
The lawyers alleged the imaging was then improperly reported and surgery was therefore “unnecessary”.
The out-of-court settlement will cover the cost of future care, nursing home fees, private medical treatment and more.
Elizabeth Maliakal, a specialist in medical negligence claims at Hudgell Solicitors, represented the family.
She said: “Firstly, there was no need for surgical intervention and, had my client not undergone surgery, he would have avoided the stroke which occurred during surgery and the later cardiac arrest.
“Secondly, he was inadequately consented over the decision to operate and, given doubts about his mental capacity to consent, his family were not consulted over the decision either.
“Had an appropriate discussion taken place regarding the relative risks and benefits, neither my client nor his family would have consented.
“Whilst our medical experts felt that he may well have gone on to suffer further strokes in the near future, had he not undergone the surgery, they were of the opinion that he would not have been left as profoundly disabled as he is now.
“He has been left with a catastrophic injury. He is paralysed, has little vision in his right eye and reduced vision in his left eye. He is unable to talk, he is doubly incontinent, needs to be fed through a tube and requires hoists to be moved. He now lives permanently in a nursing home.”
The legal action was taken against two trusts, York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust.
The trusts released this joint statement: “The trusts sincerely regret the difficulties experienced by the claimant and are pleased to have been able to reach an amicable compromise of his claim. The Trusts wish the claimant and his family well for the future.”
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