Blunder left patient unable to open mouth

A MOTHER has received a six-figure payout after a botched operation left her unable to open her mouth wider than 2cm for five years.

Amanda Walker, 48, who lived on a diet of soup and bananas and had difficulty talking and laughing, was in constant pain after a doctor dislocated her jaw while fitting breathing apparatus during a procedure.

Ms Walker was undergoing a womb operation after she miscarried twins at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust Hospital days before Christmas in 2010. But she began to regain consciousness too soon and the anaesthetist used excessive force when fitting a laryngeal mask to keep her airway open, dislocating her jaw.

Ms Walker, from Knaresborough, North Yorks, has received a payout between £100,000 and £400,000 and a written apology from the hospital.

She said: “In her panic to rectify the situation the anaesthetist used a laryngeal mask designed for a 25-stone man, forcing it down my throat.”

In April 2011 Ms Walker, who has an 11-year-old son, had her jaw drilled to align the joints, but this only worked on the left-hand side. She had the same procedure that August but it failed. The following month she had unsuccessful surgery to shave away bone on the right side of her jaw.

In May last year Ms Walker had a partial titanium jaw replacement at Bradford Royal Infirmary, West Yorks.

Dr David Scullion, medical director at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We conducted an investigation into Ms Walker’s care with us in 2010 and want to give assurance that we have learnt all we can from this incident.”