Surgical errors

What are surgical errors?

Surgical errors are mistakes made by surgeons, anaesthetists or nursing personnel both inside and outside the operating room. While the majority of surgeries are successfully performed, on occasion, mistakes occur, resulting in pain, repeat surgery, scarring or sometimes death.

Every surgery involves an element of risk. It is the responsibility of the surgeon to inform the patient before the operation about any risks that may be involved with respect to any proposed procedure. Patients have the right to make informed decisions whether or not to proceed with operations based on honest and clear information provided by their doctors.

Common Surgical Errors 

• Surgical procedures performed unnecessarily, such as operating on the wrong side of the body, removing the wrong organ or amputating the wrong limb. 
• Leaving surgical tools such as retractors in the body causing pain and unnecessary repeat surgery 
• Using dirty surgical instruments causing injuries and prolonged recovery time
• Inadequate pre-operative planning resulting in the use of the wrong procedure
• Equipment failure causing injury
• Damaging nerves or tissues during surgery
• Laser eye surgery going wrong

If you have suffered an injury or lost a loved one as a result of surgical error, you may be entitled to claim personal injury compensation.

How does the law protect you?

The professional body regulating doctors is the General Medical Council (GMC). The GMC requires doctors to:

• Make the care of their patient their first concern
• Protect and promote the health of patients and the public 
• Provide a good standard of practice and care 
• Keep their professional knowledge and skills up to date 
• Recognise and work within the limits of their competence 
• Work with colleagues in the ways that best serve patients' interests 
• Work in partnership with patients 
• Listen to patients and respond to their concerns and preferences
• Give patients the information they want or need in a way they can understand 
• Respect patients' right to reach decisions with the doctor about their treatment and care 
• Support patients in caring for themselves to improve and maintain their health

Surgical errors are caused by a failure to exercise reasonable care on the part of a surgeon, anaesthetist or nurse.

If you can show that your injury was caused by your surgeon or other medical practitioner’s failure to perform your surgery in the same way as a reasonable surgeon specialising in the same field would have, you will succeed in your claim for medical negligence compensation. But, you will also need to demonstrate that had your surgery been performed in a different way, the end result would have been different.

If you have suffered injury due to surgical error, give us a call on 0800 321 3287 for free advice. You may be entitled to make a personal injury claim for compensation.