Decision Report 201407891

Summary

Mr C complained that the Golden Jubilee National Hospital did not carry out his knee surgery properly and that his aftercare was of a poor standard. He also had concerns about the consent he gave for the procedure as he was under the impression that his named consultant would mainly be performing it, but found out after the operation that another doctor had carried out the operation under the supervision of the consultant.

We took independent advice from a consultant orthopaedic surgeon. We considered that the need for Mr C to have revision surgery within a year was not acceptable and there were likely some failings in relation to the way in which the procedure was performed, so we upheld this part of his complaint.

We found that Mr C's consent to the procedure had been reasonably obtained by the other doctor the day before surgery, in that he had indicated that he would be involved with the procedure and had highlighted the risks. In addition, the consent form Mr C signed sets out that the procedure might not be performed by the clinician who had been treating him. In terms of Mr C's aftercare, we concluded that reasonable steps were taken in response to his ongoing symptoms of pain and difficulty walking. We did not consider that Mr C was intentionally misled in this respect and therefore we did not uphold this aspect of his complaint.

Recommendations

We recommended that the board:

• apologise to Mr C for the failings identified in relation to his surgery; and
• share the findings with the doctor for future learning.