Case settled against Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust for negligent care provided by Miss Jayne Cockburn

We have recently settled a claim against Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust after our client received negligent treatment from consultant gynaecologist, Miss Jayne Cockburn in 2008.

Our client was referred to Miss Jayne Cockburn at Frimley Park Hospital after complaining of minor stress incontinence. Miss Cockburn was very quick to recommend to our client that a tension-free vaginal tape-obturator (TVT-O) be fitted and an endometrial ablation for her heavy periods would be performed at the same time.

Despite undergoing the procedure, our client did not have any relief from her urinary symptoms. She also experienced extreme discomfort during sexual intercourse which she had not experienced prior to the procedure.

Six years later, our client received a letter from Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust inviting her to come back to the hospital to discuss the care that she had received from Miss Cockburn as part of an internal investigation into the care she had provided her patients. She was informed during this meeting that Miss Cockburn had initially wrongly positioned the TVT-O and it was nowhere near where it should have been placed. 

Our client was required to undergo revision surgery which took place six years after the tape had been fitted. Thankfully, the revision surgery was successful and she no longer suffers from the symptoms that she was experiencing following the negligent surgery.

As part of our investigations into our client's clinical negligence claim, it was also found that Miss Cockburn had failed to obtain our client's informed consent to the procedure and to advise her of a number of potential risks associated with the procedure. She also failed to advise our client of the option of conservative management which is likely to have resolved her limited urinary symptoms.

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust admitted liability in the claim and acknowledged that there had been a failure to by Miss Cockburn to advise our client of the risks associated with the transvaginal tape operation; a failure to offer her conservative management; and that she had negligently and incorrectly positioned the tape during the procedure.

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