Tony Dixon, a consultant colorectal surgeon from Bristol is being investigated after alleged claims from dozens of patients that surgical procedures carried out involving mesh left them in severe pain, with serious medical complications.
Mr Tony Dixon, who practiced at NHS Southmead hospital in Bristol and the private Spire Bristol hospital, has currently been suspended from performing surgical procedures, pending an investigation.
Patients say that they were “rushed into” invasive mesh implant surgery by Mr Dixon, who specialises in procedures such as mesh rectopexy and Stapled Transanal Resection of the Rectum (STARR) operations.
Thompsons Solicitors is representing clients a number of clients, one of these is Avril Bleaken.
41-year-old, Avril, from Bristol, travelled to Spire Bristol Hospital in November 2013 to undergo keyhole mesh surgery by Mr Dixon, in order to correct a bowel prolapse.
She said that a day before her six-week review, she was rushed to hospital in an ambulance after experiencing “excruciating pain and sickness.”
Avril underwent emergency surgery after a scan revealed that mesh had become wrapped around her bowel.
As a result, she had to take a period of leave from work to recover and required assistance in relation to daily tasks such as house-work and personal care.
Whilst recovering from the emergency procedure, Mr Tony Dixon remarked to Avril that she was “one of the unfortunate ones”, which she said will stay with her for “the rest of my life.”
The 41-year-old said: “I am still suffering from health implications due to this procedure, my bowel will never fully recover.
“Mr Dixon made the operation seem very straightforward and I thought that there weren’t any other options. I wasn’t warned of any possible complications or future damages, other than the normal risks that come with any type of surgery – there was certainly nothing specific about mesh. If I knew then what I know now, I would never have had the operation.”
These patients were not sufficiently warned, among other things that we consider they should have been, of the possible complications and have all been left in worse pain after undergoing the surgical procedures.Madeleine Pinschof Senior medical negligence solicitor
Avril instructed Thompsons Solicitors to pursue a medical negligence claim on her behalf after hearing of the support they could provide from the original BBC Inside Out West documentary in October last year.
Thompsons Solicitors is acting on behalf of over 80 patients, including three men, to pursue medical negligence claims against Mr Dixon.
Madeleine Pinschof, a senior medical negligence solicitor at Thompsons Solicitors said: “The fact that both males and females have been impacted is significant, as there is a tendency for mesh procedures to be perceived as a women-only issue.
“These patients were not sufficiently warned, among other things that we consider they should have been, of the possible complications and have all been left in worse pain after undergoing the surgical procedures.”
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