Mother receives £4.4m after surgery risks not explained

A WOMAN left paralysed when a spine operation went wrong has been awarded £4.4 million after a judge ruled an NHS surgeon did not properly explain the risks of the procedure.

Tracy Hassell, a 41-year-old mother of three, has been left unable to walk following the procedure at Mount Vernon Hospital, north-west London, in 2011.

The case is one of the first in the country to be brought against the NHS in which a patient did not have the full risks of a procedure explained to them.

Ms Hassell was operated on by Shaun Ridgeway, a spinal orthopaedic surgeon. She underwent a series of procedures between 2009 and 2011 until in October 2011 she had an operation that left her paralysed on her right side and with weakness on her left side.

Mr Justice Dingemans, the High Court judge, said Mr Ridgeway did not properly explain the risks of the surgery and, had he done so, it was likely that Ms Hassell would not have agreed to the operation.

He said: “I find that Ms Hassell did not give informed consent to the operation, and that if she had been given information about material risks and conservative treatment, Ms Hassell would not have agreed to the operation on October 3 2011.”

In court, the judge was told Ms Hassell had been informed that the worst case scenario was her spine would have to be fused, and there was no discussion about other options such as painkillers or physiotherapy.