More than 200 women were injured when a fraudulent surgeon performed unnecessary operations on them, an NHS investigation found.
Some women have been left with life-changing physical problems or are unable to work, while many have also suffered trauma and severe psychological damage as a result.
A total of 203 women Anthony Dixon performed between 2007 and 2017 were injured, according to a review of the NHS Trust in North Bristol (NBT). Dixon, who for many years was Britain’s most influential pelvic surgeon, worked for both the trust and the city’s private Spire Hospital.
In 2017, NBT launched a review of Dixon’s performance and removed it after dozens of women he underwent procedures complained of experiencing horrific consequences, including uncontrollable pain and incontinence. The Guardian revealed in late 2017 that 100 women were suing him for medical negligence. Some cases have been settled since then, but dozens continue.
NBT fired Dixon in 2019 and he is currently banned from training in the United Kingdom.
During the examination, 378 women were withdrawn and asked to disclose their relationship with Dixon. All underwent a procedure called laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy (LVMR), in which a plastic mesh is inserted to repair weakened tissue in the pelvic floor.
Documents presented to the NBT board on Thursday told board members that the investigation was over. “The Trust has informed 203 NHS patients that although their LVMR surgery was performed satisfactorily, they should have been offered alternative treatments before having surgery. “We have identified these patients as having suffered ‘harm’ as a result,” it said.
Anthony Dixon does not currently have a license to practice surgery. Photo: NHS
The trust set up a clinical advisory group of experts to assess what happened to each of the 378 women. Of the 218 women operated on by Dixon at Southmid Hospital, 110 were found to be injured. Among 169 other NHS patients who underwent LVMR at Spire Hospital, 93 were injured.
Another 175 women he treated in both facilities were not injured, and there are nine other cases in which the clinical advisory group has been unable to reach a conclusion.
Luke Trevor, a medical negligence lawyer for Irwin Mitchell, one of the companies representing Dixon’s victims, said: “For many years, patients have had serious concerns about whether the procedures they underwent were appropriate. Unfortunately, the trust’s own findings have already justified these fears.
“This latest information is extremely worrying and has caused a lot of suffering for our clients, many of whom continue to experience physical and psychological problems after the operation.
The outcome of the investigation was first announced by the BBC’s Western health correspondent Matthew Hill. The trust summed up its findings in a five-page update that included 157 pages of documents its board was due to discuss on Thursday. NBT did not warn the media that it was finally publishing details of a large probe to be completed in almost five years.
Annette Whiting, 62, from Bristol, one of those to whom Dixon performed the LVMR, told the BBC: “I felt raped. Beyond angry, more upset.
“It simply came to our notice then. Your body hurts, you have to run to the toilet, you have no control over it. ”
Confidence said that for 203 patients, “harm is defined as undergoing surgery that may not be necessary, where other less invasive options may be offered, even when the LVMR procedure is performed according to the appropriate clinical standard. . ”
NBT said it was “extremely sorry” for the suffering Dixon caused by doing LVMR.
A spokesman for the General Medical Council, which regulates the medical profession, confirmed that Dixon does not currently have a license to practice medicine “pending [the] conclusion of fitness for investigation ‘.
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