A mother-of-one from west Wiltshire was forced to give up her hobbies overnight after a botched operation at the Royal United Hospital in Bath.

Karena McAlister, from Melksham, was left in chronic pain after a surgical incision following an operation to remove an ovarian cyst split open due to not being properly stitched together.

Karena, then aged 46, underwent surgery to remove her ovaries at the RUH in February 2017. However, her operation wound was not closed properly – leading to the stitches allegedly unravelling.

Despite heavy bleeding, the now-52-year-old was discharged, but continued blood loss and sickness meant she was rushed back to A&E at the hospital the following morning.

Wiltshire Times: Karena McAlister was left with heavy bleeding following surgery at the RUH in Bath after a failure properly stitch a surgical incision. Karena McAlister was left with heavy bleeding following surgery at the RUH in Bath after a failure properly stitch a surgical incision. (Image: Karena McAlister)

She underwent a second, emergency operation to re-stitch the surgical incision, which caused adhesions and has left her with lifelong chronic pain.

The failings triggered the hospital to investigate but the subsequent report contained multiple factual errors – despite photo evidence showing the contrary.

Ms McAlister approached Lime Solicitors for help getting an apology and with the law firm’s support, she has now settled her medical negligence claim against Royal United Bath NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital.

Ms McAlister said: “When I was discharged initially, the pain every time I moved was like a bread knife cutting through my lower left-hand side as if my insides were being ripped apart. Every moment felt like torture.

“It’s been a very long journey and I’m still not fully accepting of the way my life has changed and the years negligent surgery took away from me. I was very active beforehand – I used to go wakeboarding, cycling, swimming and running, but it all stopped overnight.

“Even simple things like hanging the washing out, changing the bedding and vacuuming – I can’t do them anymore due to the pain.

“The day after my second surgery, I was told there’d be an investigation but when I saw the outcome was entirely incorrect, offensive and full of lies, all I wanted was an apology – not because the surgery had gone wrong, but because they had lied through an investigation I hadn’t asked for.

“They said the bleeding I suffered was light but, by sheer coincidence, I had photos that showed otherwise. Without those images, I wouldn’t be in the position I am in today."

Wiltshire Times: Karena McAlister has been suffering from chronic pain since the surgery at the RUH in 2017.Karena McAlister has been suffering from chronic pain since the surgery at the RUH in 2017. (Image: Karena McAlister)

Three days after her operation, Ms McAlister was assessed as being fit for discharge. Her partner of 12 years, Gary Harvey, arrived at 2pm to take her home but upon seeing Ms McAlister, asked medics for the wound to be looked at due to heavy bleeding.

Four hours later, a nurse removed the dressing and said she would find someone to assess it. However, despite Mr Harvey repeatedly asking for the surgical incision to be re-dressed, Ms McAlister was left with an exposed wound for more than two hours, before being discharged at 9.30pm.

Mr Harvey said: “The ward let Karena down; the care she received was dreadful. They should never have discharged her so late at night when she was still bleeding and in pain.

“I’ll always blame myself for agreeing to take her home. She was in agony and it was obvious the stitching had come undone – you only needed to look at the wound."

Wiltshire Times: Karena McAlister is now unable to enjoy many of the hobbies that she previously did.Karena McAlister is now unable to enjoy many of the hobbies that she previously did. (Image: Karena McAlister)

A consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist instructed by Lime Solicitors to assess the standard of surgery relied on documents within her medical records and found the knot was tied insufficiently, which likely allowed it to unravel.

The trust denied liability, suggesting the ‘knot snapped’. After the settlement, the trust subsequently provided Ms McAlister with a letter of apology.

A RUH spokesperson said: “We are very sorry that the care that Ms McAlister received fell below the high standards we set ourselves.

“We take our responsibilities to the people we care for very seriously. We have investigated what went wrong and have taken steps to reduce the chance of this unfortunate complication of surgery occurring again.”