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The General Medical Council (GMC) has suspended a vascular surgeon named Nayef El-Barghouty from his role at Scarborough Hopsital for 12 months. He was found to have been responsible for a man bleeding to death and a woman having to breathe through a tube for the rest of her life.

Last year, it was revealed that Scarborough Hospital had the highest death rates in Britain for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) operations, which are regarded as a benchmark for standards of vascular surgery. 29% of patients having AAA procedures between 2006 and 2008 didn’t survive, whilst the national average was just 4%. Once this was made public, the Scarborough and North-East Yorkshire NHS Trust withdrew these operations – all of which were performed by Barghouty and one other surgeon at Scarborough Hospital.

The GMC found that Barghouty was guilty of botching 2 operations and lying to an inquest. In 2008, he carried out what would normally have been a routine operation to remove the thyroid gland of a 42-year-old woman, but, hurrying his way through the procedure, he cut through both of her vocal cords. A tracheotomy was needed so she could breathe, and she has had to re-learn the process of speech.

The other operation was to remove a blood clot from the leg of an 82-year-old man in 2009. Having mistakenly tied off an artery and left a swab inside the patient’s leg, Barghouty had to take him back into the operating theatre twice on the same day. During the third operation, he sliced through a major artery, causing the patient to bleed to death on the operating table.

The GMC imposed the maximum possible sentence on Barghouty, and expressed satisfaction that this would send out a clear message to patients and doctors regarding the clinical standards that are expected. The families involved were represented by a no win no fee medical negligence expert, who described the errors as “woeful”. Barghouty’s suspension was welcomed, but he also lent his weight to calls for patients to be given access to individual surgeons’ records so that they have visibility over their experienced levels and any complications that have occurred with their previous patients.

If you have been injured or made ill whilst at hospital, discuss your rights with a no win no fee medical negligence expert.

Ataxic cerebral palsy accounts for five to ten percent of all cases of cerebral palsy. In this form of cerebral palsy, there is damage to a part of the brain called the cerebellum that helps maintain balance and coordination. When the cerebellum is damaged, it can result in poor muscle tone or hypotonia, difficulty maintaining balance and a normal gait, tremors, disorders of depth perception and an inability to control the range and motion of voluntary movements. As a result, children with ataxic cerebral palsy often demonstrate a wide-based, unsteady gait.

They may also have intention tremors that are tremors that occur while attempting voluntary movements. Voluntary movements are typically clumsy and difficult to perform; finer movements, such as writing, are most severely affected. Coarser movements such as reaching for objects may also be difficult due to altered depth perception. Rapid, involuntary side-to-side movements of the eyeballs, or nystagmus, may also be present. Children with ataxic cerebral palsy may also suffer from several other conditions, such as seizures, mental retardation, and visual and hearing defects.

Poor muscle tone, abnormal posture or movements and a delay in achieving the normal developmental milestones of infancy may raise the suspicion of ataxic cerebral palsy. A physician makes a diagnosis of cerebral palsy by combining a careful physical examination of the patient with findings from imaging methods, such as CT scans and MRIs. These findings are collectively used to determine whether the brain is developing normally or not.

Unfortunately, there is no cure for ataxic cerebral palsy. The disease can however be treated. There are people who think that ataxic cerebral palsy was caused because of a doctor’s error. In this case, it is definitely advisable to seek the counsel of an expert cerebral palsy lawyer. The lawyer must perform an investigation to gather all the information surrounding the ataxic cerebral palsy incident to first see if a strong case exists.

Ataxic cerebral palsy tends to become progressively worse as the patient ages. An experimental treatment called chronic cerebella stimulation places electrodes on the surface of the cerebellum. It is thought that stimulation of cerebella nerves through these electrodes may improve balance and muscle tone. However, results have been mixed so far. Again, if you are confused or have questions about causes and treatments of this disease, seek legal advice.

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