A 29 year old woman from Bristol has raised concerns about the post operative care at the Emerson’s Green NHS Treatment Centre in Bristol, following the catastrophic problems she experienced after a routine diagnostic procedure.

The Woman, Miss R, who wishes to remain anonymous, was referred to Emerson’s Green Treatment Centre in July 2010 for a diagnostic laparoscopic procedure. During the laparoscopy her bowel was damaged but the surgeon carrying out the procedure failed to identify the damage and Miss R was later discharged.

During the evening of the following day Miss R began to experience excruciating pain and her abdomen became extremely swollen.  During the night her partner contacted the Emerson’s Green Centre on two occasions but he was merely advised to give her pain killers and for them to come in the next day if the pain continued.

The pain did continue and Miss R returned to the Treatment Centre early the next morning.  For many hours the staff and surgeons at the Centre advised Miss R that the pain was probably caused by trapped wind following the laparoscopy procedure.  Her family, however, became increasingly concerned and her mother, who is an ex-nurse, suspected a bowel perforation.  They therefore requested a transfer to Frenchay Hospital.  This, however, did not take place until many hours later and Miss R did not arrive at Frenchay until 7pm.  This was 11 hours after her readmission at Emerson’s Green.  Once at Frenchay she underwent emergency surgery to repair the severe damage to her bowel which had caused Peritonitis.  This resulted in her having a Colostomy.

Miss R then suffered further complications following the surgery which included a blood clot on one of her lungs requiring her to take Warfarin daily for 6 months.  Fortunately, 7 months on, Miss R has recently undergone a successful reversal of the colostomy.

Clinical Negligence Lawyers at Davies and Partners Solicitors are representing Miss R following the incident.  They believe there is a growing concern nationally about the level of care following laparoscopy procedures.  Suzanne Williams said, “The misdiagnosis of post operative complications is not uncommon, and our client is determined to raise awareness of this fact, so that other people do not suffer in this way.”

“Following our client’s complaint there was an internal review carried out by the Emerson’s Green Treatment Centre which was very critical of the delay in making the diagnosis.  In September 2010, the National Patients Safety Agency issued a Rapid Response Alert (RRA) regarding the failure of hospitals to recognise post-operative deterioration and referred to cases such as this.  The RRA required immediate action by hospitals to implement new protocols and systems to avoid this happening again.”

“Our client is extremely concerned about the care she received at The Emerson’s Green NHS Treatment Centre, which is one of the new centres set up by the Government in 2009 to support larger NHS Hospitals."