‘Hospital blunder will cost me a leg’

Wheelchair-bound Shirley Barber, 60, of Edward Street, Dunstable, has been admitted to the L&D more than 20 times and left in crippling agony since an initial operation to reconstruct her ankle in October 2009.

And such is the damage to Ms Barber’s leg that surgeons will now have to amputate below the knee.

She told the Gazette: “It doesn’t look like a foot any more. My leg is huge, it looks more like a flipper.

“I wouldn’t let the L&D cut a loaf of bread now.

“They’ve ruined my life. It’s like something out of a horror story.”

Ms Barber was in pain while walking prior to the operation but is now unable to walk on the leg at all.

Following the initial surgery, Ms Barber had a plaster cast fitted to the leg but was in so much discomfort that it had to be removed.

She said: “I was crying in pain. One of the nurses took the plaster off and there was something blue under the skin.

“They pulled it out and it was a 10 inch piece of blue thread.”

She had three plasters fitted in all, despite being in constant pain, and was told that the only alternative was a “space age boot” which unfortunately she was unsuitable for due to her size.

Ms Barber was admitted to Aston Lodge care home in Ashton Road to recover, but soon discharged herself.

And her problems did not end there. Almost a year after her first operation, Ms Barber went under the knife again in September 2010.

“That just made it worse,” she said.

“In all I had two rods fitted in my leg and they were both the wrong size. The second one has to be removed as it’s broken in half.

“Because of the way it’s been done I can’t keep my leg.

“The first time the surgeons opened up my foot I think they saw it was too far gone and were out of their depth.

“Now I can’t even visit my family as I can’t walk, I’m constantly in a wheelchair.”

Despite her less than glowing opinion of the L&D, Ms Barber still praised the hospital’s nursing staff.

She said: “By and large the nurses were wonderful.

“They do try very, very hard. Half the trouble is that they have got a lot of Alzheimer’s patients and the like to deal with on the normal wards and they are very short-staffed.”

She now faces further surgery, this time at another hospital.

Ms Barber has since written a letter of complaint to the L&D and sought legal advice.

A spokesperson for the Luton & Dunstable Hospital said yesterday: “We can confirm that the L&D has received a letter of complaint from Shirley Barber which is being dealt with. It would be inappropriate for the hospital to comment further until the investigation is complete.”