Medical Negligence?

mardybumbum

Ok, I have just read the charter again to make sure this thread is A ok.
But please feel free to move/edit/delete if it contravenes the charter in any way.

A relative (lets call him Barry) recently injured himself while carrying out maintenance on his boat.
Turns out he sliced through his flexor pollicis longus tendon and radial digital nerve.
He went straight to castlebar general and was seen by an doctor who carried out an examination.
Barry then voiced his concerns regarding the inabilty to flex his interphalangeal joint.
The doctor told him that "he was just worried and it would be grand".
So he took his advice and went off home.

A week passed before Barry went to see his GP to remove his stitches.
The GP noticed that Barry was still not able to flex his thumb properly and organised a consultation that evening with a surgeon in Galway.
The surgery was carried out that evening.
The surgeon described the castlebar fiasco as a "regrettable miss" and told my father that due to the week long delay, the tendon had receeded all the way down towards his wrist.
This of course led to a more invasive surgery than would have been needed If carried out in castlebar.
The consultant also mentioned that Barry will not regain sensation on the radial side of his thumb whereas there was a good chance he might have if the nerve was re-attached in castlebar.

So is this blatant negligence or a common mistake?
What should Barry do to voice his concerns?

sam34

nobody can offer an opinion on this to you here on this forum.
discussion with the doctors involved would be the best step.