Our client was initially recalled about negligent shoulder operations but now her hand surgery is also under review
A patient’s care at Spire Parkway in Solihull is being looked into for the second time as fears emerge that she has been on the receiving end of medical negligence twice at the hands of the same consultant orthopaedic surgeon, Mr Habib Rahman.
The 53-year-old NHS patient, who doesn’t wish to be named, was originally recalled by Spire in 2019 and told that she had undergone two unnecessary surgeries for shoulder pain. She also learned that the type of surgery she had received from Mr Rahman wasn’t within his specialist field.
After receiving the letter, she contacted social justice law firm, Thompsons Solicitors, to investigate a medical negligence claim.
Now, she has received another letter from Spire Parkway about an “independent desktop review” at the hospital into treatment she received on her left hand for carpal tunnel syndrome, again from Mr Rahman, which left her with tingling, numbness and a painful scar.
Due to ongoing pain and discomfort in her hand, the procedure was done a second time but by another consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Spire Parkway and, while corrected, the patient believes her hand hasn’t been the same since.
The patient said: “The operation on my hand by Mr Rahman was a mess. I was put under a full anaesthetic, which I later found out was unnecessary, and I was left in real pain and unable to work.
“Luckily, I’m right-handed so I just about manage day-to-day. There’s no question that given the muck up in the original operation I compensate for it with my good hand.
“I couldn’t quite believe what I was reading when I opened the letter. It was a complete deja vu. To be told that the same surgeon is being investigated twice is really worrying.
“I had no reason not to trust him, why would I? I feel like I’ve been deceived not just once, which is bad enough, but twice. You wonder where it’s all going to end.”
Spire Parkway is no stranger to surgical scandals. This latest report of potential wrongdoing at the hospital coincides with the first anniversary of the Independent Inquiry into the disgraced breast surgeon, Ian Paterson, who also operated at Spire Parkway. He was found guilty of wounding with intent after giving patients unnecessary breast surgeries and is serving a 20-year prison term.
Linda Millband, partner and head of clinical negligence at Thompsons Solicitors, led the civil claims against Spire in the wake of the Ian Paterson scandal and is supporting this patient with her second review. She comments: “It beggars belief that our client’s treatment is being reviewed a second time for issues with the same surgeon, at the same hospital, but for another potential act of negligence.
“Is the basic act of learning lessons beyond Spire Parkway, or is it now looking under stones and playing catch up with what it finds?
“This looks like systemic failings at Spire Parkway, not bad luck. We find it hard to believe our client is an exception, how many other patients have received a letter for the second time?
“A year ago, recommendations were made by an independent inquiry in the wake of Paterson’s horrific crimes that the government has yet to implement. Every day the changes, that those affected have supported, are not made, is another day patients are at risk.”
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