Man suffers ‘severe burns’ following cancer treatment at Royal Marsden

A hospital in Sutton has apologized to a man after he suffered severe burns during cancer treatment.

John* was being treated for myeloma, a type of blood cancer, for which he was admitted to the Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton.

He was there to receive a stem cell transplant and hemofiltration – a process during which a patient’s blood is run through a machine to remove waste and water.

In preparation for hemofiltration, blood-thinning therapy was started, which saw John with soft, flexible tubes in his veins.

To keep his calcium level steady, John was given calcium chloride – a drug that can be potentially dangerous if it leaks out of the blood vessel and into the surrounding tissue (extravasation).

The medication is normally given into a large blood vessel and any sign of bleeding should be responded to quickly.

However, calcium chloride was administered through a smaller vein in John’s right hand.

He initially reported a stabbing pain, but the infusion was continued.

Over the next few hours, John continued to complain to his nurses about the pain in his hand, along with redness, heat, and swelling.

Despite these complaints, no action was taken in response and the infusion continued.

A while later, the skin on John’s hand began to peel, and the redness and swelling began to spread to his wrist.

His hand also felt extremely stiff and he struggled to bend his fingers.

John alerted his team of nurses again and they agreed there was a problem.

It was obvious that John was suffering from extravasation – calcium chloride was leaking from the blood vessel into the surrounding tissue.

The nurses stopped the infusion and started the treatment.

John had already suffered a severe chemical burn from the calcium chloride leak, destroying the underlying structures in his right hand.

Royal Marsden apologized to John, saying “We would like to sincerely apologize for the poor care John received.

“The trust is extremely sorry that this has happened.”

Despite some initial improvements, the hand remained significantly impaired.

John continues to experience reduced strength and dexterity in his hand and suffers from numbness and pain.

He tries to be as independent as possible, but still needs help from friends and family.

John’s hobbies and activities were also limited, including his ability to enjoy golf and music.

His daily activities continue to be severely affected and there has been a negative impact on John’s mental health.

The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust carried out an investigation and found that there were some problems with the care they were providing.

These problems caused an injury that could have been prevented.

Problems included using the wrong equipment, not following proper procedures, and improperly checking the patient’s skin.

John instructed solicitor Michael Roberts of Leigh Day to investigate a potential clinical negligence claim.

The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust was invited to admit liability early, but its response was delayed, leading to further investigations.

A number of changes to hospital practice, as well as updates to local policies and guidelines, have been made to prevent this from happening again.

Michael Roberts said: “We are delighted that the matter was able to be resolved amicably between the parties in the end, but this was an extremely unfortunate and serious injury that should never have occurred.

“I hope the Trust has now learned important lessons from this event so that it never happens again.

“Above all else, I sincerely hope that the settlement will allow John to focus on his recovery and live life to the fullest in the future.”

John said: “While I was initially surprised at how long the whole process took, it was a testament to all the painstaking and diligent work that went into it, confirmed by the excellent end result and settlement.”

*This is not the person’s real name