§ PUBLISHED JUDGMENT · 2012

Clements v The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust

[2012] EWHC 2335 (QB)·High Court (Queen's Bench Division)·8 August 2012

Mrs Clements alleged that during bowel cancer surgery the surgeons twisted the bowel's mesentery before rejoining it and failed to check, causing obstruction, a second operation and catastrophic complications. The judge found the join was properly formed and the later obstruction was caused by adhesions, so there was no negligence.

Outcome

Claim failed

Sum stated in judgment

Not stated

Claim type

Surgical Errors

Decided

Liability decided at trial

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§ WHAT HAPPENED

The facts, in brief.

Defendant: The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust

Injury: Bowel obstruction and infection after hemicolectomy leading to cardiac arrest, hypoxic brain injury and 24-hour care; patient later died

Specialty: Colorectal surgery · England

§ WHAT THE COURT SAID

In the judgment’s own words.

“It follows that there was no breach of duty by Mr Burns or Mr Carter on behalf of the defendant, and that the claimant has failed to establish any liability of the defendant.”

The money

Claim dismissed

§ WHY IT MATTERS

What this case shows.

Serious complications after surgery do not by themselves prove the operation was done negligently. The court will weigh the operating surgeons' evidence against what was found at the second operation.

About surgical errors claims →

§ MORE SURGICAL ERRORS JUDGMENTS

Claim failed

Tarrant v Monkhouse

[2025] EWHC 2576 (KB)·2025·Liability decided at trial

After a sleeve gastrectomy the claimant had trouble swallowing; the surgeon performed a gastroscopy and balloon dilatation, after which the sleeve leaked. The judge found no breach of duty in the post-operative care or the dilatation and dismissed the claim despite the very serious consequences.

A bad outcome after a recognised complication is not enough; the claimant must show the treatment decision fell outside what a responsible body of surgeons would do. Sympathy for the patient does not change the legal test.

Claim failed

Julia Tosh v Vivek Gupta

[2025] EWHC 2025 (KB)·2025·Liability decided at trial

The claimant developed anal stenosis after a private haemorrhoidectomy and argued her haemorrhoids had been over-graded, non-surgical options were not discussed and the stenosis risk was not explained. The judge found the grading was correct, alternatives were discussed and the risk was disclosed on the consent form and in the information leaflet, so the claim was dismissed.

Documented consent, including a signed form and a written leaflet naming the specific complication, can be decisive in defeating a Montgomery consent claim.

Claimant succeeded

MJF v University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

[2024] EWHC 3156 (KB)·2024·Liability decided at trial

A young woman with cerebral palsy had a PEG feeding tube inserted and was found unresponsive two days later with peritonitis and sepsis. The judge rejected the doctor's account of how the tube was fixed, found it was placed under too much tension, and entered judgment for the claimant.

Where a clinician's recollection is unreliable and contradicted by the physical evidence, the court can find a procedure was done negligently. Causation may still be limited where a pre-existing condition would have deteriorated anyway.

All surgical errors judgments →

Contains information licensed under the Open Justice - Licence v2.0. Judgments from Find Case Law, The National Archives. Summaries are ours; amounts only where printed in the judgment.

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