York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has confirmed that six patients had limbs amputated due to medical errors over a three-year period – the highest number admitted by any other in the country’s National Health Service trust network.
The trust carried out four of the amputations in 2020 and two more in 2021, all as a result of medical negligence. They, however, were not the only ones. The claims, brought by Accident Claims, revealed that other hospitals across the UK wrongly carried out life-changing amputations on their patients over the past three years.
These types of incidents are referred to as “never-occurring events” by the NHS and defined as “serious and largely preventable patient safety incidents that should not occur if healthcare providers had implemented existing national guidance or safety recommendations”. .
A further five cases of amputations due to medical negligence have been confirmed by Medway NHS Foundation Trust in Kent. One amputation was performed in 2021, another three in 2022 and another in 2023.
“Losing a limb changes lives and can be devastating for patients and their families. As well as the obvious emotional impact, injuries can cause a greater financial impact than many families can bear, especially in the current cost of living crisis when many are already struggling to make ends meet,” says Nick Banks, head of clinical negligence at JF Law and owner of the Accident Claims brand.
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