What now - any advice?

John and Chris,

Thank you for your comments. Firstly let's look at my situation. I received a response from the hospital saying they "do not offer compensation." Fine as all claims are now directed to NHS Resolution. I was told to outline what went wrong and why I am claiming for compensation despite the fact that the hospital is aware of what went wrong. They have not given me a formal apology for its error, leaving the onus on me to do all the work to sue them. In other words, they have put me in an unfair position in spite of the fact they are aware they are at fault.

 Secondly, no one from the hospital advised me to take AS because they said my cancer was too high to be left alone. This, of course, turned out to be untrue because they gave me another man's biopsy results. Had I got my own results, I would have opted for AS, which is currently being advocated by NICE - see https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7010331/Men-spared-chemotherapy-NHS-adopts-active-surveillance-prostate-cancer-patients.html

Thirdly, because of the hospital's balls-up, I am being lumbered with forking out money for the service of a solicitor. I am being put under stress and disruption and inconvenience is creeping into my life. All these because the NHS does not give a damn when dealing with me.

 I have made a decision not to go through the NHS Litigation system and I have decided to go through the court of law because I do not have any confidence in the impartiality of the NHS. That is my situation and I am determined to pursue it my way.

Regards

Rafael

He who lives, loves and knows what it means to die - Jiddu Krishnamurti 

Edited by member 27 May 2019 at 17:33  | Reason: Correction.

There are ways one employ the services of a solicitor. 1 - Pay by the hour. 2 - No win, no fee. In the case of 1, it is very expensive and inconvenient. As for 2, they will want the maximum 25% of what I get. Question is - will I be able to claim back the 25% for the solicitors win fee? Hmmm, I am going to raise this question. You  can see the situation the hospital has caused me and yet they just shrug their shoulders.

As for the amount of compensation, it is a well known fact that if you ask for a silly amount such as £5m, you have a good chance of getting £1m. The question here for me is why aim low? The system may have set amount of compensation for loss of certain parts but it is there to be challenged by adding other factors such as loss of money due to legal fees, loss of quality time due to making the claim, stress, inconvenient disruption to flow of life, frustration at loss of normal sexual activities, loss of erection and ejaculation, wife's stress and disappointment, feelings of being deceived, and the list goes on. The NHS has to recognise that my claim is not centred on the loss of just a prostate gland.

I am not making it a pushover for the hospital.

Regards

Rafael

He who lives, loves and knows what it means to die  - Jiddu Krishnamurti

I thought I'd update the group on my progress so far.

1. I had to use SAR again to obtain my pre-op assessment results which took place exactly 17 days before my operation. The copy of results came to me after just a week. My PSA before the operation was 3.74! Why didn't urology note that and raise the alarm as the PSA is incompatible with the biopsy results which indicated high cancer risk? This is another failure on the part of the hospital.

2. I engaged a firm of solicitors and I have agreed to use that company. Initially I was going to pay them privately but they explained to me it is best to take on a no win, no fee contract. When I pointed out that the 25% success fee would eat into whatever compensation I would get, they agreed that it would. I was pleasantly surprised when they said they would charge me a success fee - fixed at 0%! All I may have to do is to pay an insurance premium to cover any costs/losses. I do not have to pay anything until the conclusion of my case. I am feeling I have got the right company and an excellent deal.

3. I had my PSA results last week - 17 months after my operation. It read <0.1. This is what I expected. I shall be requesting my hospital to discharge me from further unnecessary visits, restricting my PSA tests to only.once annually.

4. For all your interest, my solicitor informed me that there was a similar case to mine which occurred In 2012. The patient was given wrong biopsy results and opted.for RP.  The error was discovered after his operation. The patient sued the hospital. Almost 2 years later in 2014, he was awarded £70,000 in out of court settlement. I now get a picture of my situation. Let's see how I go from there...

Regards

Rafael

He who lives, loves and knows what it means to die  - Jiddu Krishnamurti

Edited by member 17 Jul 2019 at 18:13  | Reason: Spelling correction

Good luck Rafael. 

Best of luck!

Cheers, John

Hi. It is not about my legal proceedings and if anyone is interested, the solicitor is still working on it.

I would like to ask if anyone on this PCUK site has experienced similar problem to what I have now. Last week I was prescribed Alprostadil 3mg/mg cream. I was recommended to apply it twice a week. I had a box of 4 applications and I was told to get further supplies via prescription from my GP. I took my prescription to my pharmacist. I was told his supplier does not do them. Then I went to another pharmacist and was also told that their supplier does not do them. I wonder if anyone does provide Alprostadil cream???

I have made an app to see GP next Monday (that is how long it takes). Would Tesco or Boots pharmacies have them? My main question is - is there any restriction on the cream?

Regards

Rafael

He who lives, loves and knows what it means to die - Jiddu Krishnamurti.

Edited by member 08 Oct 2019 at 17:36  | Reason: Spelling correction

Alprostadil is in short supply (Caverinject, Muse, Vitaros).

Alprostadil is a vasodilator which should give you an erection, even without nerves or arousal, and it will last until the drug disperses. Is that what was intended, maybe for penile rehabilitation?

The cream is also known as Vitaros. It is applied to the glans (or sometimes into the urethra opening). It doesn't generate particularly good erections, often not good enough for penetration, but maybe OK for masturbation. The reason is the alprostadil mainly goes into the corpus spongiosum surrounding the ureathra, rather than the main erectile body, the corpus cavernosa. The corpus spongiosum becomes erect to protect the urethra from being squashed flat during ejaculation, and also swells the glans during stimulation. It's a separate blood system from the corpus cavernosa, the main penile erectile bodies, although some will diffuse into the corpus cavernosa.

Even supposing you can get it, you may have to fight with your GP to get more than 4 per month. That's the max they should supply for sex, but you should explain you haven't been prescribed it for sex (at least, that's what I'm presuming), but for penile health, although I must admit I haven't heard of it being prescribed for this before.

Edited by member 08 Oct 2019 at 19:25  | Reason: Not specified

I went back to my pharmacist to recover the prescription form only to find he had posted it off with a pile of other people's prescriptions. I asked if he was going to get paid for not supplying me with Alprostadil cream and he was not pleased with my question, telling me to go back to my GP to sort out the prescription problem.

I finally tried the dose of Alprostadil two days ago and I found the application's plunger hard to control and the cream appeared to be quite thick while I was struggling to open the entrance of the urethra with the other hand. I got my wife to operate the plunger while I controlled the  urethra opening. After 10 mins, I felt a sensation and got an erection which I describe to have a rigidity level of between 3 and 4 out of 5. Not brilliant, but good enough for a first go. I am seeing my GP on Thursday to sort out the prescription issues. As I understand it, a pack of 4 costs the NHS £50-65 and that may be the reason for its scarcity.

On the legal proceedings side, a Letter of Claim has been send off the the NHS Trust and they have been given 14 days to respond. The ball is rolling...

Regards

Rafael

He who lives, loves and knows what it means to die - Jiddu Krishnamurti 

I have finally obtained the Alprostadil cream via Boots the Chemist! Persistence has paid off.

As for my legal proceedings against the NHS Trust, my solicitor received a letter from them asking about my income and benefits!! What a cheek... I am suing them for beach of duty and care, medical negligence and failure of due diligence - and they ask about my earnings!!

My solicitor assured me that the request is normal so that the Trust can assess my financial loss but my loss is physical and I am also affected in many psychological and traumatic ways, nothing to do with money. I am giving the letter a good think before responding.

Sigh...

Rafael

He who lives, loves and knows what it means to die  - Jiddu Krishnamurti