Surgeon found guilty of ‘serious misconduct’ after leaving patients with life-changing injuries
- 09.02.2023
- EmmaArnold
- Clinical-negligence
A surgeon has received a formal warning by an independent medical panel after two of his operations went wrong, causing serious injuries to both patients.
Camilo Valero Valdivieso, the surgeon based at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH), is still allowed to carry on working as he was deemed to have “learned from these events” and his fitness to practise was not currently impaired.
During the two operations, he "misinterpreted the anatomy" and, on one occasion, severed a patient's gallbladder.
One of the patients who was injured was Paul Tooth, 65, who had a tube which carries bile from the liver and gallbladder removed inappropriately. The panel was also told the surgeon failed to seek assistance from another experienced consultant during Mr Tooth’s operation.
As a result of the surgical negligence, Mr Tooth had to undergo further surgery and live with a tube connected to his liver for 16 months. He is calling for future investigations at the NNUH to be more transparent and wants to know why these cases were not escalated more quickly.
A second patient who was injured by the surgeon is Lucy Wilson, 35, who underwent a gallbladder operation and now lives with a range of long-term issues following the surgical errors.
The mother-of-two explained how she is “practically housebound” since having the operation and is unable to enjoy life as she once did.
The Medical Practitioners Service (MPTS) panel found Mr Valero “put patients at unwarranted risk of harm” but felt he has now received the training and supervision to ensure further errors are now highly unlikely to occur.
Erika Denton, medical director at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, apologised to the two patients who experienced serious injuries and complications and said:
"We fully investigated the incidents at the time and commissioned the Royal College of Surgeons (RSC) to review what happened, which resulted in a number of changes to strengthen our surgery processes. Mr Valero has expressed his profound sorrow and apologises for the errors that occurred during these two laparoscopic cholecystectomies."
Helen Budge, senior solicitor in our clinical negligence team, said:
"Keyhole gallbladder removal is often viewed as a routine operation, but the injuries suffered by Mr Tooth and Ms Wilson show how things can go badly wrong, with life changing consequences for patients, when surgeons are not properly trained and supervised.
If a surgeon hasn’t undertaken the operation with appropriate skill and care, even a minor surgical error can have a devastating impact on a patient’s life."
Helen is a Senior Solicitor within the Clinical Negligence team here at Potter Rees Dolan. Should you have any queries about the topics in this article or any other aspect of Clinical Negligence and wish to speak to Helen or any other member of the team, please contact us on 0800 027 2557 or contact Helen directly.
An injury to your bowel during surgery can lead to serious and even life-threatening complications. If you have sustained an injury in this way, you may be entitled to claim bowel surgery clinical negligence compensation. Read more about bowel surgery clinical negligence and how we can help on our dedicated page which you can find here.