Patient in ‘constant pain’ since surgery by under-fire doctor

WOMAN MAKES CLAIM OF NEGLIGENCE FOR ALLEGED OP ‘ERRORS’

A DERBY woman says she is in “constant pain” two years after being operated on by a surgeon who is now under investigation.

The patient is making a claim for negligence against surgeon Daniel Hay, who worked at Royal Derby Hospital. More than 270 women have been contacted to say their treatment is being reviewed.

A DERBY woman is still in “constant pain” two years after the removal of her uterus, fallopian tube and ovaries due to “neglect” from an under-fire doctor.

The woman in question, who wishes to remain anonymous, was operated on by Daniel Hay, a former consultant at Royal Derby Hospital, in February 2018.

Mr Hay, who is said to have stopped clinical work at the hospital in June 2018, four months later, is under investigation by the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust and NHS England.

The 52-year-old patient, who is now pursuing a medical negligence claim as a client of Thompsons Solicitors, said she had ad been suffering with a condindition called menorrhaagia – which made her periods abnormally heavy.

She alleges Mr Hay failed to correctly close a blood vessel while removing her uterus, fallopian tube and ovaries. s.

It is alleged these ese errors led to further complications, which caused used her to have multiple major operations in just five days.

She said: “I’m still in pain more than two years later.”

For weeks after the initial operation, the woman suffered from excruciating pain in her bowel and stomach, a fever, vomiting and a pungent smell from the area of the wound. Some weeks later, after visiting her GP in distress, she was informed 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 pain painkillers throughou out the day and n night to keep the agony at bay. A fitness enthusiast prior to her surgery, she u used to do regular exercise clas classes but can now b barely jog on a treadmil treadmill.

“One of t 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.”

Neither the hospital trust, NHS England or the General Medical Council will confirm that Daniel Hay is the consultant under review.

Mr Hay confirmed he was the consultant under review in an interview with The Times.

He also said that he had stopped work and had now retired due to mental health issues.

To date, 272 women have been sent letters as part of the investigations, saying their treatment is to be reviewed, including 79 further women involved in intermediate care between April 2017 and June 2018, announced last week.

An initial review of 57 cases involving Mr Hay, in April, identified eight lapses of care resulting in “unnecessary harm”, for which he and the trust apologise.

A number of women who were patients of Mr Hay’s have expressed concerns. Some have said they are worried because they were treated by Mr Hay but have not received letters as part of the investigation. Others said they were sent notes listing him as their doctor more than a year after he is said to have stopped work.

Mr Hay’s name remaining on letters is said to be because of a recommendation in the Sir Robert Francis 2013 report which sees every patient have a named, identifiable clinician assigned to them, even if that clinician is on leave at the time.

One woman told the LDRS Mr Hay was her consultant when she was pregnant and that she was left with complications, but had not received a letter.

She said: “This has actually made me sick to find out this way.”

Another woman said her son was born early and she contracted an infection due to Mr Hay’s alleged errors.

A further woman said she still has complications to this day after having her ovaries removed by Mr Hay.

One woman said she was contacted by the trust but has not been given any further information, calling it a “waiting game”. Another woman said she “nearly died twice” during Mr Hay’s treatment.

A further woman who received a letter from the trust said it was a “nightmare for all” and that she was “dreading the outcome”.

A patient who had an appointment booked with Mr Hay named as her clinician for July 2019 but wishes to remain anonymous said: “I wasn’t referred to the service until June 2019, I think that letter was the first one, or one of the first ones, I had from the team so I’m not sure why he’d remain as my clinician.

“But I never met him, he was just named on my letters.

“I saw doctors under him, then he was named as my surgeon originally for a laparoscopy (keyhole surgery) in 2020 but I requested to change surgeons as I needed one trained in urology as well to do a cystoscopy while I was already under.”

Mr Hay has referred all media inquiries to the hospital. The hospital said it did not want to comment on the latest allegations.

Overnight, I went from being an incredibly fit person to needing my partner to get me out of bed. Patient