Man forced to change career after under-investigation surgeon inserts wrong size replacement bone

Lee Bruce, 46, was injured after tripping on the pavement outside his Sunderland home while playing with his daughter. Although he went to A&E at Sunderland Royal Hospital, he was not given an X-ray – but it later transpired his elbow was fractured in three places.

He underwent radial head replacement surgery, performed to restore function and stability to the elbow joint, with Leslie Irwin, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon and hand and wrist specialist, who has practiced at the NHS hospital since the 1990s. Mr Irwin, who also saw patients at Spire Washington Hospital, has since been banned by the private healthcare provider following “concerns” being raised around his work.

But since his operation, in August 2018, Lee has experienced significantly reduced mobility in his wrist and has developed arthritis and nerve damage.

While he thought this was just “bad luck” and a possible risk of having surgery, it has since transpired that the radial head replacement inserted by Mr Irwin was too big, causing a mismatch in bone lengths at the wrist, and leading to the issues he now lives with.

Lee, who experiences ongoing pain, has been forced to give up his role at work, moving into operating machinery instead, due to the movement problems in his wrist. He also cannot play five-a-side football and golf as he used to.

He has been told he can undergo further surgery to attempt to correct the issue – but is understandably wary of having another operation after his initial experience.

“The problems I now have in my wrist mean I have to compensate for so many things I would ordinarily have just taken for granted. Aside from the fact I’ve had to change job, I struggle even with things like turning the key in the door. Since the operation, things that I’ve done all my life with my right hand, I’ve had to adapt and do with my left,” says Lee.

“The way it has been explained to me is that the oversized radial head has made everything in my arm shift, and the impact has been in my wrist. I have been told I should consider further surgery, but that the nature of the operation means they won’t know the extent of it until they’re actually in there.

“I don’t know how much time I’ll need to take off work, and that’s a massive consideration. And knowing what I know now, I am of course very wary of having another operation, after what happened the first time.

“The pain has been really bad. I was on tramadol for the best part of two years, but thankfully managed to get myself off it, although I still have to take over-the-counter painkillers regularly. The operation has affected many aspects of my life, but I didn’t think of it as anything other than bad luck until I saw the publicity around Mr Irwin. It has been a shock, but clearly I am not alone.”

Lawyers at Slater and Gordon are dealing with dozens of cases against Mr Irwin, and have spent several months already investigating allegations against him.

“What should have been a straightforward operation has left Lee with long‑term pain, arthritis and severely reduced movement. The impact on his daily life has been significant, he has even had to change his job, yet he has continued to push on to support his family as best he can,” says Natasha Charlesworth, specialist clinical negligence lawyer who is representing Lee.

“The realisation that something has gone badly wrong, and that many other concerns have been raised over this surgeon’s work, has clearly been a shock to him – but he has done the right thing in coming forward to find support in establishing what exactly went wrong and why.

“This is of course an alarming situation for former patients of Mr Irwin, and we have had a significant number of people coming forward already. To anyone else who has concerns over the care they have received, we would urge them to come forward - we are committed to supporting as many people as possible in finding out what went so wrong in their care.”