Never event – Medical mistake leads to circumcision

Never event - Medical mistake leads to circumcision

Imagine going in for a routine bladder operation and waking up to be told you’ve been circumcised.

This is what happened to Terry Brazier following a medical mistake.

He has been awarded £20,000 in compensation[1][1]

Mr Brazier went into Leicester Royal Infirmary for botox injection into his bladder. He said that he was told two hours after surgery about the mix up.

He was stunned and didn’t know what to say.

This has been recorded as a ‘never event’

The medical mix up has been recorded as a never event. These are events that would never have happened if preventative measures were used.

Hospital admission

The 70 year old grandfather says that he took legal action after receiving a letter from the hospital. In the letter the hospital admits that the necessary checks were not conducted.

Jokes but serious

Mr Brazier says there have been many jokes about what happened, but stresses that this is serious:

“It could have been worse for someone else, someone could end up having the wrong body part amputated.

This shouldn’t have happened and more importantly I don’t want it to happen again.”

Melanie Lidstone-Land, medical negligence lawyer at Swain & Co Solicitors comments,

“It is shocking to hear that never events happen. You trust the hospital to look after you and at the very least perform the procedure you were consented to have. Mr Brazier’s comment is absolutely right, this should not have happened. There are basic checks and measures that should have been in place to prevent this serious medical mistake from happening.”

Whilst compensation can never make this right, it can, along with an apology, provide recognition of what has happened. It can help a patient come to terms with what has happened and move forward. In many cases the patient simply seeks an apology and wanting to ensure it doesn’t happen to someone else.

If you need answers, Melanie and the medical negligence team are here for you.

They can provide free, no obligation initial advice so you can work out if they are the right team to help you.

Call them on 02392 483322

OR

Fill out our enquiry form and they will call you back when suits you.

[2][1] As reported on BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-49243595?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health&link_location=live-reporting-story. NOTE: We did not act for Mr Brazier.