A dad-of-one left with restricted hand movement after a delay in treating his infection has spoken out about how his daily life has been “hugely compromised.”

Anthony Burrell, 65, from Bicester, began having issues with his fingers bending inwards around 2015 and was diagnosed with Dupuytren’s contracture, an abnormal thickening of the tissue under the skin on the palm and fingers.

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Anthony went through surgery at the Horton Treatment Centre to straighten out his left index finger by removing the tendon causing the problem and was discharged the same day.

Over the next two weeks, Anthony’s hand became increasingly swollen, and he was advised to keep his hand raised and to use pain relief and an ice pack.

Within two days, Anthony said his hand “looked like a boxing glove” and he had developed night sweats.

During a visit to the A&E he was found to have an infection and was administered IV antibiotics and underwent two operations to repair the infected tendons.

After the second operation, Anthony asked medical negligence experts to investigate whether the infection should have been diagnosed and treated earlier.

The legal team has now secured Anthony a settlement from Ramsay Healthcare, which ran the Horton Treatment Centre.

Ramsay Healthcare apologised for the “shortcomings in the care provided and accepted that if antibiotics had been prescribed initially, Anthony would have avoided the severe infection and surgical intervention.

Anthony said: “I have struggled a lot doing tasks around the house and it made looking after my disabled wife a lot more difficult.”

“Simple things such as undoing a bottle cap, using zips and shoelaces or putting washing on the line are frustratingly hard.

“My day-to-day life has been hugely compromised and I feel things could have turned out so differently had the infection been caught and treated earlier.”

Christopher Hurlston, specialist medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing Anthony, said: “His (Anthony) case is among a number we’ve come across where unfortunately care hasn’t been up to expected standards and a patient has had to have further treatment to rectify the issue.

“While there is nothing, we can do to turn back the clock and change what Anthony has gone through, it’s vital that lessons are learned to help prevent others from suffering like he has and hope that measures will be put in place to ensure infections are properly monitored in future and call for these to be implemented as soon as possible.”

 

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