Decision Report 201707403

Summary

Mrs C complained that, following a foot operation at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital, she continued to suffer pain and discomfort. During the surgery a bone fractured and had to be fixed by a wire. Mrs C reported continuing problems and was reviewed at both the Golden Jubilee National Hospital and the orthopaedic department of her local hospital, where it was established that she had also suffered a further complication of the surgery where there was a non-union of the bone. Mrs C believed that the original surgery had not been performed properly and that she had not been told of the risks of surgery prior to her operation.

We took independent advice from a consultant orthopaedic surgeon. We found that both the bone fracture during the surgery and the subsequent non-union of the bone were recognised, but rare complications, of the surgery. We found that there was no indication that the original surgery was not performed to a satisfactory standard. The fracture was caused when inserting a screw in order to fix a bone into place and we found that it was appropriate to change the fixation method to wire when the bone fractured. The two complications of the surgery which affected Mrs C were not specifically mentioned in the operation consent form as they were rare; however, it was found that the actual risks mentioned on the form were adequate as they had identified the most common types of complications. We did not uphold the complaints.