According to data published by the National Joint Registry, approximately 160,000 total knee and hip replacement procedures are carried in England and Wales every year. The vast majority are carried out successfully, however further surgery is sometimes required due to complications or medical negligence.
If your surgeon was negligent and made mistakes when carrying out your hip replacement surgery, you could be entitled to make a hip replacement compensation claim. The compensation will reflect your pain and suffering, tissue and nerve injury and provide for future corrective surgery, care support and loss of earnings. Compensation may also be available if you experienced medical negligence before or after the procedure eg. the failure to carry out adequate health checks, to fully advise you of the risks of the surgery, or to monitor the signs of infection and blood clots.
If we believe that you have strong grounds for a hip surgery compensation claim, our experienced medical negligence solicitors will support you with our ‘No Win No Fee‘ agreement. This means that you will not be charged any upfront legal costs in order to start your claim and if your claim is not successful, you will not incur any costs*. Contact us today to start your free no-obligation case evaluation. Call us on 0333 900 8787, email admin@devonshiresclaims.co.uk or complete our online form.
Reasons to bring a claim for hip replacement negligence
There are a number of areas in which negligence may have occurred before, during or after the hip replacement surgery. These could include:
- The hip implant could fail and require revision surgery to repair or replace it.
- Fractures and dislocation: The femur or thigh bone may have been broken while the stem was being attached to the implant.
- The wrong type of hip implant or the wrong size may have been fitted
- The hip implant may have been positioned incorrectly – i.e. at the wrong angle or depth. Failure to insert a hip implant deeply enough inside the socket could result in a condition called iliopsoas tendonitis.
- Nerve damage following hip replacement surgery may have resulted in a foot drop. Surgical instruments such as ‘retractors’ can also cause nerve compression which may damage the nerves. The leakage of bone cement can also cause nerve damage.
- A change in leg length may occur.
- Trauma or damage to the bones or tissues may have occurred due to the negligent use of surgical instruments such as scalpels, electrical instruments,
- Infections may develop or not have been correctly misdiagnosed or treated.
- Blood clots or deep vein thrombosis may have been misdiagnosed, not treated correctly, or may have developed after surgery.
- Osteolysis – a type of bone erosion may have resulted.
- Metal on metal implants can have serious consequences in people eg. metal toxicity which can affect long-term health and damage tissues.
- You were not fully advised of the risks of hip surgery or the factors which could make the procedure riskier eg. obesity, age, smoking, drug use, previous hip surgery, medical conditions which reduce the body’s ability to manage infection eg. diabetes. Diabetics can also be at increased risk of foot drop due to nerve damage or neuropathy. In this situation a diabetic patient will need to be advised of lifestyle and medication changes to support the operation.
- The failure to adequately carry out pre-operative checks. Eg. patients who are prescribed steroids, anti-clotting drugs such as warfarin and those with heart conditions will require confirmation from their GP and consultant to confirm that the hip surgery is safe to go ahead.
- The failure to take precautions and assess the risks of carrying out a hip replacement when a patient has had previous hip surgery.
- The failure to carry out adequate diagnostic tests before carrying out a hip replacement i.e. the hip joint replacement was unnecessary and more suitable treatment should have been offered.
Although some complications can be corrected, others may have a lifelong impact on the patient and affect their mobility and quality of life.
The NHS has defined a hip replacement procedure as:
“A hip replacement is a common type of surgery where a damaged hip joint is replaced with an artificial one (known as an implant)”.
“Hip replacement surgery is usually necessary when the hip joint is worn or damaged so that your mobility is reduced and you are in pain even while resting.
The most common reason for hip replacement surgery is osteoarthritis. Other conditions that can cause hip joint damage include:
- rheumatoid arthritis
- hip fracture
- septic arthritis
- disorders that cause unusual bone growth (bone dysplasias)
To make a hip surgery compensation claim, speak to one of our medical negligence solicitors. They will take the time to listen to the details of your case in an empathetic and caring manner and advise if you have grounds for a claim. Our team will assess whether the duty of care owed to you was breached, and whether breaching that duty of care caused your injuries. If this can be established then you will most likely have a strong case for compensation.
Your solicitor will take the strain off you and will handle your case for you, including collating the necessary evidence (including medical records and correspondence) and will write to the organisation responsible for your care, stating the grounds for your claim. Our team are best placed to be able to understand the response and move your claim forward to a satisfactory resolution.
Yes; the ‘limitation’ period to bring a claim for medical negligence is generally three years from the negligence or the reasonable date of knowledge of the injury. This means that if you became aware of the injury or diagnosis weeks, months, or even years later, the three-year period may commence from that point. Therefore, the limitation period may begin from when you first became aware that the hip problems following surgery were as a result of negligence.
In rare circumstances, the Court may use its discretion to extend the limitation period, but only for exceptional reasons, so it is important to contact us now, without further delay.
Medical negligence or mistakes made before, during or after hip replacement surgery can often have devastating effects on a person – both physically and emotionally.
As well as the pain, loss of mobility and nerve damage you could experience a significant loss of income.
Therefore calculating compensation for such mistakes can be a complex process. For more advice or to obtain a potential compensation figure, please contact Devonshires Claims for a free case evaluation.
There are two types of compensation or ‘damages’ awarded to victims of medical negligence. These are:
- General damages
- Special damages
General damages
General damages reflect the harm and injury that you sustained and the impact on the quality of your life. This includes your pain and suffering, emotional trauma and the impact on activities that you previously enjoyed (or could have enjoyed if the operation had been a success).
Special damages
Special damages reflect your financial losses – past, current and future- resulting from the medical negligence.
These often include:
- Personal care and assistance needs
- Accommodation and home adaptation costs
- Travel costs – to and from health providers
- Restorative Medical treatment – you can recover costs for private medical care and treatment even if the negligence occurred in an NHS facility.
- Medication costs
- Loss of earnings including loss of promotion
- Other miscellaneous financial losses
Calculating compensation for medical negligence can be a complex process. Devonshires Claims’ experts have supported clients in obtaining the maximum compensation payment by carefully determining the impact of the injury on their health and well being and future earnings capacity. This calculation should be determined by specialist medical negligence solicitors who have experience in supporting clients with varying financial and employment circumstances eg. self employment.
If we believe that you have the grounds for a hip surgery compensation claim, we will support you by providing a ‘No Win No Fee’ agreement. This means that you will not be charged any upfront legal costs in order to start your claim and if your claim is not successful, you will not incur any costs*.
Contact our hip surgery claims experts today
Devonshires Claims’ surgical negligence solicitors have supported a variety of orthopaedic claims. Although each hip surgery claim is unique a number of factors are commonly involved. These include:
- A defective hip implant or component
- Mistakes made during the hip replacement surgery which have resulted in damage to tissue, bones, tendons and nerves and negligent procedures which have resulted in the incorrect fitting and positioning of the implant
- The failure to treat and manage infections and blood clots due to poor post-operative care.
If your hip surgery or hospital care was negligent you could be entitled to compensation. Contact our experts today for advice on how to make a hip injury claim and the potential compensation you could receive. We provide a ‘No Win No Fee’ medical negligence claims service so you will not incur any costs if your claim is unsuccessful*. To start your free no-obligation case evaluation contact us today on 0333 900 8787, email admin@devonshiresclaims.co.uk or complete our online form to contact us.
Client Stories
Patient Advised To Have Unnecessary Hip Replacement Surgery When More Suitable Treatment Should Have Been Offered
Summary
We represented the Claimant in relation to her claim in damages arising from injury and loss sustained following a contraindicated total hip replacement.
Settlement
Liability was denied throughout the pre-action and post-issue phases of litigation, and the matter was settled at mediation 6 weeks before a listed 4-day trial.
The amount of settlement is to remain confidential.
Negligent Delay in Diagnosis of Slipped Upper Femoral Epiphysis (Hip) Condition: £250K Awarded
Summary
Legal action following significant, negligent delay in the diagnosis of a slipped upper femoral epiphysis (hip).
Settlement
£250K compensation awarded.
