NHS pay multi million pound compensation after removing the wrong part of paramedics brain
Clinical Negligence News : 24 May 2012
Retired paramedic John Tunney, 63, has been awarded a seven-figure sum from University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS trust after they admitted liability for removing the wrong part of his brain.
Mr Tunney, who had worked for the West Midlands Ambulance Service for 23 years had initially had blood tests carried out in 2008 after suffering from suspected thyroid problems. An MRI scan was performed at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield which revealed abnormalities around his pituitary gland, leading to a referral to a specialist at Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry.
Mr Tunney had further blood tests whilst at the hospital in order to determine his hormone levels but doctors failed to check these results. If the results had been checked, the doctors would have discovered that Mr Tunney was suffering from prolactinoma - a benign tumour of the pituitary gland which can be easily controlled with tablets.
However, the doctors didn’t ever check the results and on April 29th 2008, Mr Tunney underwent a biopsy on his pituitary gland. During the operation, surgeons removed healthy tissue from Mr Tunneys’ brain instead of the tumour which caused a massive brain haemorrhage. As a result of this, Mr Tunney was left partially blind and severley disabled, needing permanent 24/7 care.
Pamela Tunney, John’s wife, said: "Our lives have both been completely devastated by a completely avoidable brain injury…to see the change in him and to know that it was all entirely avoidable is extremely upsetting- this mistake is not something that the hospital can just take back. It is appalling to think the surgeon managed to botch the procedure completely and then to find that the biopsy wasn't even necessary makes me incredibly angry.”
Mrs Tunney went on to describe her husband before the surgery, saying, “He was a very easy-going, active person who was always on the go. John was forever praising the work of doctors, so it was only natural for him to put his complete trust in the surgeon after they told him that he needed urgent brain surgery.”
The Tunney family have since relocated to South Wales along with some of their family friends who help Pamela with the constant care which her husbands situation now demands.
Meghana Pandit, chief medical officer from Walsgrave Hospital said: "I would like to apologise on behalf of UHCW again to Mr Tunney and his family for the complications he suffered as a result of his treatment with us four years ago.
"While we acknowledge that the financial settlement he has now received can never compensate for his suffering, I do hope that our sincere assurances that organisational learning from his management mean that patients with similar conditions will experience high quality and safe care will be reassuring to him."
Mr Tunneys solicitor, Timothy Deeming, from Irwin Mitchell Solicitors in Birmingham, said: ''The fact that the surgeon managed to remove perfectly healthy tissue rather than a sample of the tumour tissue is, in itself, an appalling error…to then find that the procedure was totally unnecessary because clinicians had failed to review a blood test, really does add insult to injury.
''The failings of the surgeon involved are so serious that the family is calling on the GMC to investigate his actions.''