‘At the time of my treatment I thought I could trust the man to have my best interests at heart. My trust has been destroyed’
WOMEN TELL OF ORDEALS AS RETIRED GYNAECOLOGIST FACES INVESTIGATION OVER
FOUR women, including one from Leicestershire, have made formal complaints against a gynaecologist over operations carried out over the past 15 years.
The women, who do not wish to be named publicly, have all lodged complaints with the General Medical Council (GMC), the organisation responsible for registering medical practitioners, about retired surgeon Daniel Hay.
The complaints on behalf of the four former patients, filed by law firm Slater and Gordon in late April, allege the women underwent procedures which resulted in physical and mental trauma that “destroyed” their lives.
All the women said they were suffering the symptoms of post-trauhome, matic stress disorder, and that the trauma had caused them to avoid social situations, including engaging in romantic relationships.
Derbyshire-based Mr Hay is currently “registered without a licence to practise” as of July 23, with restrictions attached, but could rejoin the medical register at a later date, with his licence still intact. The restrictions were put in place while the GMC investigates the allegations.
One of the women, who is now in her 60s and from Leicestershire, said she first complained to the GMC about Mr Hay in January 2006.
In early December 2006, the GMC concluded that the patient’s complaint would not see Mr Hay referred to a fitness to practice panel - which would have seen him thoroughly examined and could have seen him suspended. A request for a review was also refused.
The investigation is being carried out by the GMC, NHS England and the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust (UHDB).
The GMC will not say if it has ever received complaints about Mr Hay nor how many complaints it has received, but is conducting its own investigation into the surgeon.
The review by the NHS and the hospitals’ trust is focused on the years 2015 to 2018. Although the women have described that process as a “vicious circle of anxiety” that is bringing back “painful memories”, they said they were keen to share their stories for the sake of helping other people.
The women claimed their treatment by Mr Hay felt like a “betrayal”, and had led to a negative perception of the whole of the NHS that has damaged their trust of medics of all kinds.
There is also concern that the complaints about Mr Hay - which began in 2006 - were not acted upon quickly enough, and as a result had caused unnecessary further harm to “dozens of patients”.
The Leicestershire woman, who suffered bleeding after treatment to cure endometriosis, claimed: “The treatment received from Mr Hay has led to long-term physical detriment. Worst of all was the betrayal of trust and the outcome of the GMC investigation (into the 2006 complaints).
“This had a severely detrimental impact on my psychological wellbeing. In short, I felt as though I could not trust the medical profession.
“The whole experience broke my sense of confidence and self-esteem. The experience changed me as a person. I felt as though I would never be believed.
“In short, it destroyed my life.” She claimed Mr Hay put “undue” pressure on her to have a hysterectomy. He eventually performed keyhole surgery to remove adhesions, after which she suffered haemorrhaging.
Despite this, Mr Hay sent her she claimed. The patient claimed Mr Hay continued to exert pressure on her to have a hysterectomy.
Later, the patient suffered a serious haemorrhage and was readmitted as an emergency to stem the bleeding.
The woman claimed: “Having had a very successful career taking me across Europe, the health complications following treatment and the severe blow delivered to my confidence meant travelling and being in the public eye became impossible.
“To this day, I still find it impossible to do so much as drive my own car.”
In May, an interim review as part of the investigation being carried out by NHS England and the hospital trust reported that the doctor had a “surgery-first” approach and often did not tell patients about risks and alternatives to the surgery he was offering them.
It also found widespread instances of poor record keeping, which in some cases were non-existent.
The review found major concerns around 50 women treated by Mr Hay, and some concern over the care of 69 further women.
When asked how she felt after seeing Mr Hay in the news as the subject of a review into his practice, the woman from Leicestershire said: “I was gutted, less for my own sake but more for the fact that what we had
An interim review found the doctor often did not tell patients about risks and alternatives to surgery
said 18 years ago had clearly come to pass in that women have continued to suffer at his hands when the people with the power to prevent it had completely failed to listen.
“These women have suffered needlessly.
“When I heard in the press that NHS England were investigating I did feel a certain measure of relief, that after all this time we might see some justice served.
“However, that relief was shortlived when it was revealed that the inquiry would only be considering a three-year time span between 2015 and 2018.”
Another of the four women claimed: “I have been living a nightmare – I just want it to be all over and settled. I want to rebuild my life again.
“At the time of treatment I had genuinely thought I could trust the man to have my best interests at heart. To then wake from surgery and it had all gone wrong, impacted on me in several ways.
“I have terrible scarring that is not just a physical issue, but has affected my relationships dramatically. I am extremely aware of the scars and what they represent. “The scars are very mentally debilitating and I avoid intimacy and full-length mirrors. The scars have caused me to hate my reflection.
“I have lost all faith in putting my trust in any gynaecology specialists. I have some ongoing issues which I am not confident to get help with – my trust has been destroyed.
“I have a broken relationship on the back of how the incident affected me, my mood swings and other PTSD symptoms left me unbearable. “Things have been difficult and I wish I had never been referred to him in the first place – but I needed the surgery and couldn’t carry on in that much pain. “Mr Hay should have been investigated much sooner. This would have prevented hundreds of women receiving substandard care delivery and coming to harm. “This obviously means I might have been given alternative options, I might never have needed surgery and I wouldn’t be reliving this whole event nearly every day of my life since.”
A GMC spokesman confirmed that it would not give details of complaints.
He said: “We have received the interim report from University Hospitals of Derby and Burton and we are sorry to hear that patients are likely to have been harmed.
“While our investigation is ongoing, and to protect future patients, Mr Hay‘s practice has been restricted by an interim orders tribunal at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service.”
A UHDB trust spokesman said: “The interim report of investigation suggests that a further look back at the practice of the former specialist consultant benign gynaecologist may be required should this be recommended once the full report is complete.
“The trust will make a decision about this once the information shared by the 383 women has been fully evaluated.”
Dr Magnus Harrison, executive medical director at UHDB, said: “There is still much work to do, but the interim Report of Investigation released earlier this year demonstrates that it was the right decision to formally investigate the work of this consultant. We will share the full report in 2022 and implement its recommendations in full.”
I have been living a nightmare – I just want it to be all over and settled
Former patient of Daniel Hay