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On Sunday 30th July at 4pm, my son * 8yrs, was bitten on his face by a dog, while he was at a banger racing event with his dad. St Johns ambulance patched him up and sent him to Weston-super-Mare General Hospital; they had a look, cleaned the wound and covered it with a dressing. Unfortunately they were unable to transfer * to * Hospital that night as there weren’t any beds available, so he was sent home with an appointment for 9am Monday morning to go to the * ward.
We arrive Monday 31st July at 9am as instructed, * spent some time on the ward before he was assessed by the surgeon, Mr *, who was doing the operation, he explained what he was going to do with the wound and how he would close it up etc. I signed all the necessary forms and * was given a wrist band (number !!!!!!), he was taken down for the operation at 4pm, by 5.30pm he was back the operation had gone well and he was fine. * stayed overnight in the * room, he continued to be assessed and given medication.
The following day, Tuesday 1st August, * spent the day on the ward, and at about 2.30pm we were visited by the surgeon, Mr *, who had performed the operation, he had a look at the wound and asked a nurse who was with us to make some appointments for * to come back. The first appointment was for 10.30am Thursday 3rd August to see a nurse and to make sure the wound hadn’t become infected; the second appointment was for 1.45pm Tuesday 8th August for the surgeon Mr * to assess whether some or all of the stitches should be removed.
We attend the first appointment and spoke with a nurse who said that *'s notes had gone missing. She had a look at his wound and said it looked quite good, she gave us some advice about what to put on it, keeping it out of the sun and making sure once the stitches where out that we massaged the area to stop it going lumpy. She asked when our appointment was to come back and have the stitches out and we told her it was the following Tuesday. She didn’t seem too happy with this and said that most stitches come out earlier; so she made an appointment for * to come back at 10am Saturday 5th August to have the stitches removed.
We arrive for our appointment at 10am and had to wait a short while, as we were waiting on the ward for a nurse to become available, she removed *’s stitches and put them in a pot for him to keep. We got home at 11.30am and had some lunch, at 12noon * sat down to watch some television, I was in the kitchen when my husband called me, * had yawned and the wound had fully opened up and was bleeding. I quickly covered the wound with some dressing I had in our first aid box using some plasters to secure it and we drove back to hospital. We arrived at the * ward at about 12.30pm and were taken into the treatment room, I was very upset and waited outside the room as I was crying and didn’t want * to get upset. They had a quick look and said they would page the Doctor to come and have a look. At about 5pm the Doctor and a nurse came to see * and I had to sign all the necessary forms again and * was given a wrist band (number !!!!!!) as he had had lunch he was unable to have the operation until after 6pm. I asked if * had a bed and we were shown into the * room (bed 1), * settled down and watched the television.
At about 9pm the surgeon (a different one) came to see * and said he was unable to do the operation as two emergencies had come in and wouldn’t finish until the early hours of the morning; He said that * could have something to eat and drink. When he had gone I asked the nurse if she could change *’s dressing as I had put it on when we were rushing back and it had started to fall off, she went of to find out, but came back a while later saying they had decided to keep it on. I was unhappy with this as the first surgeon had made a fuss about making sure it was kept very clean as it was a dog bite and likely to become infected. After I made a fuss they did change the dressing.
In the morning * was prepped ready for surgery, and was taken down at 11am, he was brought back at 12.45pm and again the operation had gone ok. The nurse made an appointment for him to come back and have his stitches removed at 9am Monday 14th August, he was then allowed home at around 6pm.
As you can imagine this has been a very traumatic time for *, he was extremely worried about being put to sleep the first time, as he was worried he wouldn’t wake up, he kept asking if he would be put to sleep when the stitches came out and we assured him he wouldn’t. We feel that because of nurses’ negligence he was unnecessarily put through surgery a second time and maybe scarred far worse, than he would have been. The nurse made a decision without consulting *’s notes (as they were missing) or talking to the Surgeon who had performed the operation. The injury * suffered was a very deep incision to his cheek; the dog had bitten a chunk out of his cheek, very close to his mouth, this needed internal stitches as well as external.
I am sure the surgeon, Mr *, made the appointment for 8 days later, as he felt it was necessary to allow the wound to heal fully, and when he had looked at it he would have made the decision whether to remove some or all of the stitches. The nurse who saw us based her decision on what she saw, and as such the stitches were removed after just over 4 days, and I am certain that this decision contributed to the opening up of the wound and *’s need for a second operation.
* is now terrified of having the stitches out as he is worried that the wound will open up again, his dad and I are worried about the possible 'worse scaring' that may occur and the physiological effect this has had on *.
I look forward to hearing from you within 7 days of receipt of this letter
Can you read and tell me if you think it sounds ok.....i need a better ending, and im not sure i should call it an incision, as it was a bite out of his cheek..
We arrive Monday 31st July at 9am as instructed, * spent some time on the ward before he was assessed by the surgeon, Mr *, who was doing the operation, he explained what he was going to do with the wound and how he would close it up etc. I signed all the necessary forms and * was given a wrist band (number !!!!!!), he was taken down for the operation at 4pm, by 5.30pm he was back the operation had gone well and he was fine. * stayed overnight in the * room, he continued to be assessed and given medication.
The following day, Tuesday 1st August, * spent the day on the ward, and at about 2.30pm we were visited by the surgeon, Mr *, who had performed the operation, he had a look at the wound and asked a nurse who was with us to make some appointments for * to come back. The first appointment was for 10.30am Thursday 3rd August to see a nurse and to make sure the wound hadn’t become infected; the second appointment was for 1.45pm Tuesday 8th August for the surgeon Mr * to assess whether some or all of the stitches should be removed.
We attend the first appointment and spoke with a nurse who said that *'s notes had gone missing. She had a look at his wound and said it looked quite good, she gave us some advice about what to put on it, keeping it out of the sun and making sure once the stitches where out that we massaged the area to stop it going lumpy. She asked when our appointment was to come back and have the stitches out and we told her it was the following Tuesday. She didn’t seem too happy with this and said that most stitches come out earlier; so she made an appointment for * to come back at 10am Saturday 5th August to have the stitches removed.
We arrive for our appointment at 10am and had to wait a short while, as we were waiting on the ward for a nurse to become available, she removed *’s stitches and put them in a pot for him to keep. We got home at 11.30am and had some lunch, at 12noon * sat down to watch some television, I was in the kitchen when my husband called me, * had yawned and the wound had fully opened up and was bleeding. I quickly covered the wound with some dressing I had in our first aid box using some plasters to secure it and we drove back to hospital. We arrived at the * ward at about 12.30pm and were taken into the treatment room, I was very upset and waited outside the room as I was crying and didn’t want * to get upset. They had a quick look and said they would page the Doctor to come and have a look. At about 5pm the Doctor and a nurse came to see * and I had to sign all the necessary forms again and * was given a wrist band (number !!!!!!) as he had had lunch he was unable to have the operation until after 6pm. I asked if * had a bed and we were shown into the * room (bed 1), * settled down and watched the television.
At about 9pm the surgeon (a different one) came to see * and said he was unable to do the operation as two emergencies had come in and wouldn’t finish until the early hours of the morning; He said that * could have something to eat and drink. When he had gone I asked the nurse if she could change *’s dressing as I had put it on when we were rushing back and it had started to fall off, she went of to find out, but came back a while later saying they had decided to keep it on. I was unhappy with this as the first surgeon had made a fuss about making sure it was kept very clean as it was a dog bite and likely to become infected. After I made a fuss they did change the dressing.
In the morning * was prepped ready for surgery, and was taken down at 11am, he was brought back at 12.45pm and again the operation had gone ok. The nurse made an appointment for him to come back and have his stitches removed at 9am Monday 14th August, he was then allowed home at around 6pm.
As you can imagine this has been a very traumatic time for *, he was extremely worried about being put to sleep the first time, as he was worried he wouldn’t wake up, he kept asking if he would be put to sleep when the stitches came out and we assured him he wouldn’t. We feel that because of nurses’ negligence he was unnecessarily put through surgery a second time and maybe scarred far worse, than he would have been. The nurse made a decision without consulting *’s notes (as they were missing) or talking to the Surgeon who had performed the operation. The injury * suffered was a very deep incision to his cheek; the dog had bitten a chunk out of his cheek, very close to his mouth, this needed internal stitches as well as external.
I am sure the surgeon, Mr *, made the appointment for 8 days later, as he felt it was necessary to allow the wound to heal fully, and when he had looked at it he would have made the decision whether to remove some or all of the stitches. The nurse who saw us based her decision on what she saw, and as such the stitches were removed after just over 4 days, and I am certain that this decision contributed to the opening up of the wound and *’s need for a second operation.
* is now terrified of having the stitches out as he is worried that the wound will open up again, his dad and I are worried about the possible 'worse scaring' that may occur and the physiological effect this has had on *.
I look forward to hearing from you within 7 days of receipt of this letter
Can you read and tell me if you think it sounds ok.....i need a better ending, and im not sure i should call it an incision, as it was a bite out of his cheek..
Have you already sent this letter, Kim?
