Decision Report 201301320

Summary

Mrs C complained that she had a day procedure in Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh to treat abnormal bleeding of the womb. She said that this had left her with pain, discomfort and nerve damage, to the extent that she has been unable to work for several months. Mrs C also said that when she signed the original consent form, nerve damage was not mentioned as a possible complication.

We took independent advice on this case from one of our medical advisers, and did not uphold Mrs C's complaint. The adviser said that the operation appeared to have been straightforward, and that nerve damage was an extremely unusual complication of the surgery and was not an issue that he would expect to be discussed when obtaining consent before the operation. We concluded that the operation was carried out according to guidelines and procedures and that Mrs C was a suitable patient for the procedure. Mrs C also complained that the board did not respond to two emails she sent. As we found that these had been incorrectly addressed, we did not uphold this.