To date, Rotherham Hospital has settled 10 compensation claims made after botched treatment carried out by orthopaedic surgeon Manjit Bhamra. Individual payments have ranged from 1,750 to 500,000, with the total bill currently standing at 1,010,250. This may rise considerably, however, as there are 85 more former patients of Mr Bhamra looking to take legal action, as well as 3 further claims that are currently ‘live’. Rotherham Hospital hasn’t admitted liability in all of the cases where it has made compensation payments so far.
In terms of the claims settled to date, as well as most of those in the pipeline, the majority relate to hip surgery. After suffering a fractured pelvis and damaged sciatic nerve as a result of Mr Bhamra’s treatment, one patient was left disabled and unable to work.
Solicitors are due to meet officials at Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust in order to discuss the way forward in what may turn out to be one of the biggest medical negligence cases Yorkshire has ever seen.
The majority of the 85 people considering legal action had operations between 2005 and 2007, when Mr Bhamra left Rotherham Hospital. He has been working as an orthopaedic surgeon at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust since January 2008, and his colleagues have given him their full support. Tim Hendra, Medical Director at the Trust, cited their “robust recruitment process” and said there were “no concerns about Mr Bhamra’s current clinical practice.”
Mr Bhamra, who still has a full licence to practice and is not due to face any proceedings in front of the General Medical Council (GMC), declined to comment on the claims.
Former patients have been advised to contact their GP to discuss their condition before pursuing legal action. A firm representing many of those who wish to make a claim has sent a letter of complaint to the GMC, but no response has been received as yet.
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