Decision Report 201507748

Summary

Mrs C complained that staff at the Victoria Hospital had failed to perform her hip surgery in an appropriate manner. We took independent advice on Mrs C's complaint from an adviser, who is a consultant trauma and orthopaedic surgeon. The adviser said that although the operation note in Mrs C's medical records indicated a completely satisfactory procedure, there were no images in the medical records to show the position of the implant in Mrs C's hip at the end of the operation. It was therefore impossible for the adviser to comment on the adequacy of the surgery carried out. However, they said that an image should have been taken to show the position at the end of the procedure and the fact that there was no such image in the records we received from the board amounted to a failure in record-keeping. We upheld this aspect of Mrs C's complaint for this specific reason and made the board aware of the adviser's comments.

Mrs C also complained that staff had failed to provide her with appropriate treatment following the hip surgery and this resulted in the amputation of her leg. It had been identified that Mrs C had sepsis (blood infection) at the time of her hip surgery. We found that the care and treatment she had received for this had been reasonable. The advice we received was clear that Mrs C's leg had been amputated due to a blocked artery and this had nothing to do with her previous hip surgery. Consequently, we did not uphold this aspect of Mrs C's complaint.