Norfolk patient angry surgeon was not punished over operation mistakes

A woman has spoken of her anger after a surgeon's mistakes permanently disabled her and another patient in the space of a week.

Lucy Wilson, 33, went in to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) for routine gall bladder surgery in January 2020 but had too much removed.

She said she could no longer take care of herself because of her injuries and "could no longer be who I was".

The NNUH has apologised but the doctor concerned continues to practise.

Paul Tooth, an RAF veteran from Norfolk, has previously spoken of undergoing the same procedure a few days after Mrs Wilson, when the same doctor made similar errors.

He says he was left "mutilated" and now requires two drains attached to his abdomen to manage the bile leaking from his injury.

Both patients were sent to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge but doctors there were unable to repair the damage.

An operation on a third patient in the same week by the same doctor was also investigated, but no details have emerged from that inquiry.

Mrs Wilson, a mother of two from north Norwich, says she can no longer dress herself or walk unaided and can't have any more children as a result.

She told the BBC: "I'm just waiting to die. I'm just sitting in my chair. I don't do anything. I'm just waiting to die, I have no life left."

The three operations carried out by the surgeon - whom the BBC is not naming, pending the outcome of an investigation by the General Medical Council - were subject to separate internal inquiries plus an external review by the Royal College of Surgeons.

Those findings have not been published but in a letter to Mrs Wilson, the trust said it was assured there were no ongoing risks to patient safety.

The doctor is continuing to operate under supervision for gall bladder procedures and has been given extra training.

The surgeon also sent a letter to Mrs Wilson and her husband expressing his remorse.

He wrote: "I want you to know that I will never forget your name. I have replayed that surgery in my head numerous times. I want you to know that I have learnt from my mistake, as I do not take your suffering lightly."

Mrs Wilson said she wanted more action to be taken, adding: "I think at the moment I'm angriest because he hasn't been punished for what he's done.

"I'm heartbroken that I can't do things for myself any more. I can't be me any more. I'm disappointed in the NHS for letting this happen.

"I feel like I could no longer be who I was and what I was meant to be. I can no longer work. I'm not the same mum that I was to my children. I'm not the same wife that I was to my husband."

Prof Erika Denton, NNUH medical director, said: "We offer our continued apologies to Mrs Wilson for the serious injury and complications she experienced during her surgery last year.

"We have fully investigated what happened and changed and strengthened our surgical processes to ensure that this will not happen again."

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