A man who was left permanently disabled after a nerve was inadvertently severed during a hospital operation on his hand has been awarded £45,000 in compensation from the NHS.
The pensioner went under the knife after developing Dupuytren’s Contracture, a condition which causes fingers to bend into the palm of the hand. However, the operation only made matters worse and he was left suffering from numbness, pins and needles and burning sensations in his left hand.
His ulnar digital nerve had been divided during the operation and the failure to notice that error in time had caused the permanent damage. The court found that the care given to him had, in that respect, ‘fallen below the standard of a reasonable competent doctor’. Damages were agreed at £45,000 and the NHS Trust responsible for the hospital was ordered to pay the pensioner’s legal costs.