The Medical Defence Union paid out nearly £9million in damages and legal costs to compensate patients harmed as a result of spinal surgery in the independent sector over a recent ten-year period.
The MDU's analysis of 255 claims from orthopaedic surgeons' independent practice, published in the latest Independent Practitioner* magazine, revealed that spinal surgery was the most expensive category of settled orthopaedic claims and the most common, comprising nearly a quarter of the total (22 per cent). Claims from knee surgery such as joint replacements and arthroscopies (to inspect problems inside a joint) were almost as common with 55 cases.
The MDU highlighted the importance of performing simple manual identification checks and ensuring the operation site is properly marked to help ensure procedures are carried out on the correct side, site or level as wrong site incidents were found to be a particular problem in spinal and knee surgery.
