Leading medical negligence law firm, Thompsons Solicitors, has today (25 September) revealed the extent of physical and emotional stress experienced by just one patient of Royal Derby Hospital gynaecologist, Daniel Hay.

A report in The Times last weekend revealed that an inquiry has been launched into claims that almost 300 women suffered “unnecessary harm” at the hands of the former hospital gynaecologist.

A client of Thompsons - who does not wish to be named – is pursuing a medical negligence claim following a procedure by Mr Hay in 2018. She is one of a considerable number of patients who received a letter from the hospital earlier this year.

Mr Hay operated on the now 52-year-old, who was suffering with a condition called menorrhagia – which made her periods abnormally heavy - in February 2018.

During the operation he failed to correctly close a blood vessel when he removed her uterus, fallopian tube and ovaries, which has left her in constant pain two-years on. The errors led to further complications, which caused her to have multiple major operations in just five days.

“The morning of my surgery Mr Hay seemed more preoccupied about other meetings than my personal care,” the woman said. “Because of him, and the negligent care I received, I’m still in pain more than two years on.”

An unacceptable catalogue of errors led to serious physical and emotional trauma to our client, which she is yet to recover from. She put her trust in her surgeon and was severely let down.

Estelle Cockayne Thompsons Solicitors

For weeks after the initial operation, the woman suffered from excruciating pain in her bowels and stomach, a fever, vomiting and a pungent smell in the area of the wound. Some weeks later, after visiting her GP in distress, she was informed that she had metal staples inside her, which should by then have been removed several weeks before.

The woman has been left with severe chronic stomach and bowel pain ever since and takes a series of painkillers throughout the day and at night to keep the agony at bay. A fitness enthusiast prior to her surgery, she used to do regular exercise classes, but can now barely jog on a treadmill.

“One of the consultants even said to me that if I had not been so fit, my body wouldn’t have been able to take the strain of all the operations in such quick succession. Overnight, I went from being an incredibly fit person to needing my partner to get me out of bed, wash me and put me back in bed, for four weeks. It was incredibly frustrating, humiliating and a burden he should never have had to bear.”

Estelle Cockayne at Thompsons Solicitors, who is representing the woman, said: “An unacceptable catalogue of errors led to serious physical and emotional trauma to our client, which she is yet to recover from. She put her trust in her surgeon and was severely let down.

“We know hundreds of women have been contacted. We encourage others who have had such a letter or feel they have received similar treatment from Mr Hay to come forward.”

If you feel you have been injured as a result of treatment from Mr Hay, please contact Thompsons Solicitors on 0800 0 224 224 or fill out our claims form.