Anaesthetic negligence compensation claim
When you undergo surgery
you put your trust in doctors and anaestheologists to treat you
properly.
Unfortunately doctors and
anaestheologists are not as infallible as we would all like them to
be.
Anaesthetic awareness claims
Medical professionals are over-stretched and resources are
tight.
Diagnoses are often very
complicated and treatments can be highly technical and complex.
Many of these carry some level of risk and most patients are warned
of these risks before treatment.
One of the most alarming
mistakes that a patient can suffer during surgery is that of
anaesthetic awareness.
As a result of
anaesthetic awareness patients often suffer from intense pain and
crippling psychological disturbances.
If you believe that your
anaesthetist was negligent and failed to take proper care of your
medical welfare then you may be able to claim compensation.
Causes of anaesthetic awareness
Anaesthetic Awareness is
when you become conscious during your operation and can remember
things that happened.
This is an uncommon event but can be very
distressing.
Anaesthetic awareness could occur because you
are not receiving enough anaesthetic during the course of the
operation to keep you unconscious. This could happen because the
anaesthetist misjudges the amount of anaesthetic needed to keep you
unconscious. It could also happen if the equipment that
delivers the anaesthetic is malfunctioning. It could
also be a combination of these two factors.
Anaesthetic awareness causes can be categorised as
follows:
- Faulty technique 70%
- Failure to check equipment 20%
- Faulty equipment 2.5%
- Justified risk taking 2.5%
Awareness during
anaesthesia is a problem that surgeons are well aware of
and whilst some people are resilient to anaesthetics, there are a
number of things that can be done to reduce the incidence
including:
- obtaining a thorough preoperative history
- adequate premedication
- all apparatus should be checked to exclude faults and
malfunctions
- the proper use of all new or unfamiliar equipment should be
fully understood
- all syringes should be labelled, to ensure the right drug is
given at the right time
- vaporizers should contain sufficient chemicals and monitoring
devices should be used to detect inadequate concentration
- opiate anaesthesia may need to be supplemented for certain
resilient patients
If you have experienced anaesthetic awareness during an
operation and wish to seek legal advice in relation to this, please
call a member of our Specialist Team on 029 2039 1132.
Hugh James anaesthetic awareness
experience
Over the years the medical negligence experts at Hugh James have
successfully recovered damages for many patients and have become
experts in this field of medical negligence.
We have access to the best specialist medical
experts to enable us to obtain evidence of past and possible future
needs to ensure that you are adequately compensated for the
disability and frustrations that you suffer.
We treat every client with sensitivity and
care, whilst aiming at the same time to deliver results including
the highest financial settlement possible.
We are able to deal assist you on a No Win No
Fee basis.
If you or a member of your family has suffered
as a result of a anaesthetic negligence, contact our friendly and
approachable team of solicitors on 029 2039 1132.
If after talking to us you decide not to take
matters further you are under no obligation to do so and you will
not be charged for our initial advice session.
We are dedicated to your best interests and
can advise you on how to proceed.