A WOMAN was housebound for a year after a botched bunion operation left her unable to walk.

Ms P, who cannot be named for legal reasons, developed deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a type of blood clot, after she was not given

proper medication before surgery.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages two acute hospitals, was ordered to pay Ms P £320 on top of the hundreds it had already given her after the supposedly routine procedure.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, which looks into complaints about the NHS, said Ms P “lost out on almost a year’s part-time earnings” and had to pay for physiotherapy and massages.

Ms P originally had a bunion operation, but was not given anticoagulant medication to stop blood clots despite the fact she had previously suffered from DVT.

Twelve days after the operation, her calf began swelling and her foot became sore.

She was soon diagnosed with DVT and given the proper medicine.

Six months later, she needed a second operation after a screw in her foot fractured.

Three years after that she had to have a third operation to remove a remnant of the screw.

Ms P lived alone and was unable to drive for a year, meaning she could not work and had to pay for private care.

She later complained to the Ombudsman that the trust had failed to explain the risks of the bunion surgery.

The Ombudsman partly upheld the complaint as the prolonged pain Ms P felt was related to the surgery.

Ms P also claimed the consent form she signed before the surgery inadequately described the risks and was not in line with national guidance.

However, the Ombudsman stated Ms P would have most likely gone ahead with the operation even if she knew the risks.

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