How Does Wrong-Site Surgery Occur?

When you think of complex and skilled professions, surgeons are likely to pop into your head. It takes many years of study and hard training to take up this vocation. In many cases, the tasks that surgeons perform are a matter of life and death.

As the stakes are so high, all medical practitioners owe you a legal duty of care. This means that they must refrain from being negligent.

Unfortunately, there are occasions when even the most highly skilled surgeons make mistakes. They may operate on a body part that does not require attention. How does this happen?

Poor preparation

Generally, you won’t be treated from start to finish by just one doctor. You’ll have a medical team that is tasked with taking care of you. There are several preparatory steps that need to be taken before you are operated on. Your diagnosis must be accurate, you must be given all of the appropriate tests and alternative treatments should be discussed. Your medical team has to communicate with each other from start to finish.

In some cases, you may not have received an accurate diagnosis and consequently obtain surgery that you did not need. In others, clerical staff may have mixed up your paperwork with someone else’s. The preparatory steps before surgery are absolutely vital.

Not listening to you

While doctors do need to be methodical in their approach to treatment, patients can occasionally be dehumanized. Paper and online records are useful but communication with the patient should never be neglected. It’s amazing what a simple conversation can uncover and nobody knows their body better than the individual who is being treated. If your medical team has let you down then there are ways to hold them to account. Seeking some legal guidance on the matter will let you know where you stand.