Compensation can be claimed where there has been inappropriate advice given. This may have been about your treatment options and the risks and benefits of the various options. In addition, where excessive delays have occurred in providing you with treatment, such as intravenous antibiotics. There are many examples below of substandard care in orthopaedics that amounts to actual Medical Negligence.

Do contact our friendly team of specialist lawyers at Medical Solicitors. We conduct most of our Clinical and Medical Negligence claims under ‘No Win, No Fee’ agreements, also known as Conditional Fee Agreements. So, you do not have to worry about how you are going to afford to bring a compensation claim for poor orthopaedic care or negligent orthopaedic surgery. You have nothing to lose in speaking to us.

Patients may decide to bring orthopaedic claims for compensation for various reasons. Happily, most patients will not encounter problems after orthopaedic surgery. However, orthopaedic surgery claims are not uncommon and form a sizeable proportion of the cases that we regularly investigate (particularly in the field of joint replacement).

Risks of Orthopaedic Surgery

As with any surgery, there are risks, including reaction to anaesthesia, bleeding, infection, blood clots, nerve damage, lack of full range of motion, development of arthritis, scar formation, or re-injury of the joint or soft tissue. If some of these risks materialise, then this may just be one of those things and not negligent.

Why Choose Us?

We’ve handled many different types of medical negligence cases and provided expert advice for over 30 years.

  • We offer FREE, no obligation legal advice all throughout
  • Our processes are hassle free & we handle all the paperwork
  • We won't charge you a penny until your case has been settled

Our Orthopedic claims expert:

Caroline Moore

Managing Director/Head of Sheffield Office

The types of orthopaedic claims we often help with:

Mistakes that can happen with orthopaedic surgery

However, there are factors that may entitle a patient to compensation in orthopaedic claims, such as:

  • substandard quality of surgery, for example, failing to check that a prosthesis is placed correctly;
  • undue delay in diagnosis or treatment;
  • substandard peri-operative care, for example, insertion of the wrong size implant;
  • substandard placement of an implant;
  • too much force being applied, leading to a fracture, or vulnerability to post-operative complications;
  • too much bone, or other tissue being taken away;
  • failure to prescribe or to give prescribed antibiotics during surgery;
  • Joint replacement being carried out with standard joints for patients with complex joint issues;
  • Failure to deal with joint instability of surrounding structures as well as joint replacement;
  • the operation was not indicated, or the timing of the surgery was premature;
  • adequate consent not obtained or patient not warned of specific risks;
  • failure to treat infection issues quickly and effectively;
  • and, finally, that defective products/prostheses had been used.

By way of example, there can be pressure to get into the operating theatre to deal with an acute injury, such as a traumatic fracture. However, it can be better to wait to operate, until soft tissues have settled down, to get a better result. In addition, it can be better to wait for a Consultant to be available to perform the operation, rather than a more junior surgeon.

Claims for failed hip surgery

We are presently pursuing a claim on behalf of a lady who has ended up in a wheelchair after hip replacement surgery. This is because surgeons failed to take out her hip replacement early enough when issues with infection arose. During the period of delay, she lost bone and soft tissue permanently. This now means that she cannot have a new hip joint put in and she will be permanently in a wheelchair.

Claims for tendonitis after hip surgery

We are also presently investigating cases of tendonitis suffered after hip replacement surgery (iliopsoas irritation). This can happen because the prosthesis is not placed deep enough into the socket and therefore is left to irritate the nearby tendon. It is a simple matter during surgery to check whether a prosthesis is sitting nicely in the socket. The surgeon simply has to run his finger around the area to check. If it’s not quite in the right position, it can then be easily removed and repositioned. This can avoid this unfortunate complication of orthopaedic surgery. There has recently been a successful claim that went all the way to a trial in Manchester on this issue and the Claimant succeeded.

For more detailed information on hip surgery claims, see our separate webpage here.

Claims for failed knee surgery

Please click to go to our detailed separate page on knee surgery claims.

How Medical Solicitors Can Help You

We have been supporting and winning compensation for our clients for over two decades. Operating throughout the UK, we have a team of 15 friendly staff, made up of qualified solicitors, legal executives, legal assistants and administrative staff who are here to listen and guide you through your clinical and medical negligence claim.
  • We offer FREE, no obligation advice

  • We can help determine if you have a claim

  • We help you get your claim started and guide you throughout

  • We offer help, advise, get answers and secure justice for our clients

  • We offer No Win, No Fee agreements

Want to learn more about how we can help you? Get in touch

What’s Our Process

Medical Solicitors operates very differently from most other law firms. We won’t ask you to sign a contract straight away. First, we will take the time to understand your case, gather information, advise on the way forward, and if we believe you have a claim, offer a No Win, No Fee agreement.
  • Talk to us

    A claim starts with a no-obligation chat. We want to understand your case and if we can help. This can be done by email or telephone whichever you prefer.
  • We Advise

    We will advise you on the way forward. Whether that is raising a complaint with the health provider initially, or proceeding straight to obtaining medical records.
  • We Investigate

    A senior member of our team will review your case and decide if we can further investigate your claim for you.
  • We Take Action

    If we believe there is a case to investigate. We will offer you a NO Win, No Fee agreement.
  • We Keep you Informed

    As we progress your claim, we will keep you informed every step of the way.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are our most frequently asked questions about orthopaedic claims claims: