Birmingham Surgeon suspended after branding of initials found on patients liver

BIRMINGHAM, U.K. - Jan. 7, 2014 - PRLog -- A Redditch surgeon working at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham has been suspended after allegedly branding his initials onto a patients liver during surgery.

Dr Simon Bramhall, 48, has worked at the QE Hospital for over ten years, and has also worked at the University of Birmingham and a number of other hospitals in the Midlands.

The initials ‘SB’ were spotted by a colleague of Dr. Bramhall during a routine surgery on the patient.

Asim Khan (http://www.themag.org/birmingham-surgeon-suspended-branding-found-patients-liver-2/www.themag.org/contact-us/), a Trainee Solicitor for the Medical Accident Group (http://www.themag.org/birmingham-surgeon-suspended-branding-found-patients-liver-2/www.themag.org), said “Understandably, this news raises a lot of questions and patients of Mr Bramhill will want to be reassured that that this is not part of a wider problem affecting their own treatment. MAG deal with a number of claims for compensation for medical negligence involving surgery; I would urge any patient concerned about treatment provided by Mr Bramhall to seek legal advice on their options.”

The branding was most likely done by using a beam of argon gas, which is normally used for sealing vessels. Experts have said although the gas does leave superficial burns, it does not usually cause harm to the patient.

One insider said: “If this is true, it is quite astonishing to think that someone may have done this, especially someone as experienced as Mr Bramhall.

“I’m hoping this is just a mistake, I don’t know what would possess someone to do that to another human being. What gives a person the right to do that to another? It could have happened hundreds of times, who knows. It was just luck that this incident was brought to light.”

A spokesman from University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust said: “Following an allegation of misconduct, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust has suspended a surgeon while an internal investigation is completed.”

Fears have now arisen that hundreds of other transplant patients could have had the same thing done to them.

Have you suffered because of a surgical mistake?
The Medical Accident Group (http://www.themag.org/) is a team of Solicitors dedicated to medical negligence and severe injury claims. Comment now or contact (http://www.themag.org/contact-us/) the Medical Accident Group on 0800 050 1668 for more information.