Woman, 61, awarded £320,000 damages after botched gallbladder op

A woman from Doncaster who thought she was going into hospital for a day but spent four months there after a botched gallbladder operation has been awarded £320,000 damages.

Cheryl Gravil, 61, says she was told surgery to remove her gallbladder would be uncomplicated. However she ended up in intensive care at Doncaster Royal Infirmary after doctors caused damage to her bowel during the op.

She spent more than four months in hospital battling sepsis, pneumonia and other infections needing to be fed intravenously at times.

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Doncaster and Bassetlaw hospital trust agreed an out of court settlement following a legal claim made on her behalf by Hudgells Solicitors. The trust admitted causing the injury to the bowel during surgery had been negligent.

Cheryl Gravil says her life has completely changed following the botched surgery and she now tends to eat only once a day She said: If I know we are planning to go out somewhere, I’ll avoid eating beforehand as I know I’ll just be in pain. "It is awful to live with and it will be lifelong now.”Cheryl Gravil says her life has completely changed following the botched surgery and she now tends to eat only once a day She said: If I know we are planning to go out somewhere, I’ll avoid eating beforehand as I know I’ll just be in pain. "It is awful to live with and it will be lifelong now.”
Cheryl Gravil says her life has completely changed following the botched surgery and she now tends to eat only once a day She said: If I know we are planning to go out somewhere, I’ll avoid eating beforehand as I know I’ll just be in pain. "It is awful to live with and it will be lifelong now.”

Mrs Gravil was kept in overnight after the op in July 2017 and was sick and had bad stomach pain, but was told her symptoms were common. It was only when her husband found her crying in pain that he insisted she was seen by a doctor. “I remember being told I may need an X-ray and possibly surgery, and then the next thing I can remember is waking up in intensive care with all these tubes coming out of me and a colostomy bag.

“It was then that I was then told that the surgeon had nicked my bowel during the surgery and that the contents had been leaking out. I was told the infection was so extensive that a large area of my bowel needed removing, and that was why needed the colostomy bag. I was later told that I’d have only survived another couple hours had I not been admitted to intensive care when I was."

She lost two stone in weight in hospital and was effectively bedbound. She had surgery to reverse the colostomy in October 2017.

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Since then she says her life has completely changed becoming a “constant stream of medical appointments and having to have further surgery for a hernia. When she eats she feels “awful”: “I have awful wind that I can’t get rid of and I often have to be sick”.

Acting executive medical director Dr Nick Mallaband said: "We sincerely apologise to Mrs Gravil for the harm caused during her treatment. We regret that the care provided fell below the standard expected, and for this, we are truly sorry.”

The trust had carried out a review and made changes to minimise the chance of it happening again.

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