Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital Group Action Claims

We're helping former patients of Dr Arunkalaivanan under Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital NHS Trust who have had to initiate a patient recall following unauthorised use of Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) treatment.

Anyone who has received confirmation that they are a former patient fitted with synthetic surgical mesh treatments for POP may have a claim for medical negligence compensation.

Our Group Action Lawyers have accepted instructions to act in this recall, and we can help you too if you are affected.

What has happened?

Former Urogynaecological patients of Dr Angamuthu Arunkalaivanan are being recalled after the discovery was made that he had been using banned mesh treatments for POP.

In accordance with guidelines from The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), who said that "there is not much good evidence about how well this procedure works in the long term" and cited major risks of complications, the Trust stopped using them. But despite this, Dr Arunkalaivanan continued to use the highly criticised course of treatment without any authority from the Trust!

The Trust are now having to recall former patients who were given the banned treatment, and they may need corrective surgery which could lead to very serious and permanent problems.

Why is this a major problem?

The Trust decided to stop using mesh implants because of the serious complications that have arisen since they were first introduced. The complications and problems can actually be very serious, leaving sufferers with irreversible damage, including incontinence and loss of sexual function. Other known problems include infections, bleeding, scarring, pain, mobility problems, organ damage, and recurrent prolapsing.

So, the major issue is that patients need to be fully informed to provide their explicit consent to the treatment, having been given plenty of information about what can go wrong. Since the Trust had banned the use of the implants, there is seemingly no way of knowing how well people were informed, or whether they were given proper warnings at all.

NICE guidelines are very strict in terms of the approaches to using mesh implants. They state that:

• Clinical governance leads in Trusts need to be informed
• Ensure patients understand the long-term risks and unknowns, and provide them with NICE's own information documentation
• Audit and review outcomes for patients

Since he went against Trust policy, how was any of the above ever adhered to?

On top of this, one of the major reasons for mesh implant failure has been put down to poor surgical skill. If surgeon is prepared to go against Trust practice and use banned treatments, then it's fair to say that his skills should be heavily questioned. 

What to do if you are affected by this

This type of claim falls within the realms of medical negligence, which is an inherently complex area of personal injury law. Our Group Action Lawyers have recovered millions of pounds for medical negligence victims, including insignificant Medical Device actions like the PIP Breast Implant Scandal and Metal-on-Metal Hip Implant Claims.

We are helping victims claim on a No Win, No Fee basis with exclusive access to decades of experience and our network of experienced barristers and medical consultants.

Please contact our Medical Negligence Lawyers on 0800 634 75 75 or feel free to use the Contact Form below.