Harrowing moment man wakes up from surgery to hear doctor whisper ‘I’m terribly sorry, we made a mistake’
When you go into hospital for an operation, you’re putting a whole lot of trust into the surgeons and staff. I mean, you’re sometimes quite literally putting your life in their hands.
And of course, you’re hoping it will all go to plan – with absolutely no mistakes.
However, there was a harrowing moment for this man when he woke up from surgery to hear a doctor whisper: “I’m terribly sorry, we made a mistake.”
Tom Hadrys was in a bit of a drowsy blur when he heard those words from ‘who must have been the surgeon’ as he lay in the recovery ward.
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The 63-year-old told BBC Newsnight of the ordeal that happened back in 2016, classed as a ‘never event’. AKA, it should have never happened.
He’d had surgery at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, UK, when his surgeon was driving home at the end of his shift and realised there had been a mistake.
Turns out, a medical specimen bag had been left in Hadrys’ abdominal cavity, as well as a part of his bowel that had been cut out.
“He turned his car around and drove back to the hospital," Hadrys explained.
The doctor returned and told him about the mistake, before quickly taking the bloke back in for further surgery.
The ‘Bert’ bag (used to put removed parts of the body in) and chunk of his bowel were successfully extracted.
This led to a serious incident investigation and the hospital trust conceded that the errors made meant Hadrys’ recovery was prolonged. He received an apology and settlement of £15,000 in 2020.
However, the surgeon continued to operate and still works at the trust.
Professor Katie Urch, Chief Medical Officer at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, told BBC Newsnight: "Our surgery staff are committed to delivering the best, safest care to our patients, often in challenging situations.
"Surgeons do not work as individuals, they work collaboratively in teams. Those teams are highly skilled, performing complex surgery that is never without some risk.
"Their outcomes are continuously and closely monitored - both internally and externally - and whenever our care falls short of our high standards, we take immediate action to learn and improve."
Around eight years on since his hernia op, Hadrys said he has a lasting negative impact on his health.
"There's no doubt whatsoever that I'm suffering," he added. "It's affected me. I have a weak abdomen now, I can't really lift anything heavy."
Jess Battison