A mother of two who had a tummy tuck ended up with more than she bargained for when the surgeon took it upon himself to perform a more involved operation than the one she had consented to.

Dawn Read, a 42-year-old from Wolverhampton has received £15,000 for compensation after her surgeon performed a full tummy tuck as opposed to the mini tummy tuck that she had requested.

Ms Read was very conscious of a small overhang on one side of her abdomen which had been left following a hysterectomy in 1996 and so decided to have a mini abdominoplasty, commonly known as a tummy tuck.

In February 2007, Ms Read attended Dolan Park Hospital in Bromsgrove for a consultation with Dr Edgardo Schiavone. He advised Ms Read that a mini tummy tuck should correct the overhang. Ms Read therefore signed a consent form agreeing to a mini tummy tuck.

On 7th March 2007, Ms Read underwent what she thought was a mini tummy tuck but upon coming round from the operation she realised that she had a wound around her belly button. Dr Schiavone had not explained prior to the operation about it being necessary to cut around the belly button and so Ms Read was very surprised by this.

It was eventually explained to Ms Read, by letter, that in actual fact instead of having a mini tummy tuck Dr Schiavone had performed a full tummy tuck. Further Ms Read discovered that the consent form she had signed had been altered. The word MINI was crossed out and instead the word FULL appeared. In addition a sentence had been inserted which said “07/03/07 last minute variation performed a full abdominoplasty.”

At no time was Ms Read told of the possibility that Dr Schiavone may alter the nature of the operation he was performing nor did she consent to him doing a full tummy tuck.

The operation has left Ms Read with unsightly scarring around her belly button which she is now very conscious of and which prevents her wearing a bikini on holiday.

Ms Read instructed Thompsons solicitors to pursue a claim for compensation. Whilst the issues in the case were quite clear cut there was a difficulty in obtaining a response as Dr Schiavone’s insurers are based in Italy which made them difficult to contact. Eventually a response was received and Dr Schiavone admitted that he had performed an operation to which Ms Read had not consented. As a result an offer of £15,000 was made to Ms Read which she accepted.

Sian Thompson from Thompsons Solicitors said “It is a frightening thought that in this day and age patients can find themselves being operated on without their consent. In an elective procedure such as this there was no reason for Dr Schiavone to have taken the unilateral decision to change the nature of the operation he was performing, particularly given that this was going to leave the patient with further unsightly scarring.”