Tasmanian man says he’s suffered years of pain due to a negligent hernia operation
“He treated me like wham bam thank you ma’am and kick you out the door.” A Tasmanian man says he’s the victim of medical negligence that has left him suffering through years of pain. HIS STORY >>
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IT WAS a simple hernia that required simple day surgery to fix.
But when Lewisham man Ray Dodkins came to after the operation, he discovered he hadn’t been fixed at all.
In fact, the 78-year-old was about to embark upon a crippling nightmare that has continued to this day.
It was 2014 when Mr Dodkins slipped in his backyard, suffering a right femoral hernia in his right groin.
He was put on the waiting list for an operation, with a consultation during June 2015 with a surgeon who he said “did a soft finger dance across my abdomen and said ‘okay, I’ll see you Thursday’”.
When Mr Dodkins woke up after surgery the following week, he said he was in excruciating pain.
“I woke up with an intense burning in the left area of my abdomen and there was a distinct raised lump of about 30mm high on my left hand side,” he said.
“I went ashen grey with the pain.
“I complained to the nurses about the pain. They said ‘you can’t have a pain in the left hand side, you’ve had an operation on the right hand side’.”
Mr Dodkins claimed he was discharged without pain relief, later discovering mesh had been inserted across his central groin area, with the right femoral hernia not treated at all.
“It was a real nightmare,” he said.
“I couldn’t walk without extensive pain for five weeks.
“He treated me like wham bam thank you ma’am and kick you out the door.”
In an incredible amount of pain, Mr Dodkins called the hospital for help until he was admitted to the Royal Hobart Hospital for assessment.
Eventually, another surgeon discovered he’d had mesh inserted in his groin.
In early 2016, that surgeon repaired Mr Dodkins’ hernia, but decided not to remove the mesh as it had become too ingrown in his abdominal wall.
While Mr Dodkins’ pain has reduced to some extent, he still takes medication for nerve agitation.
He lodged a complaint with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and the Medical Board of Australia, which investigated but took “no further regulatory action” after finding the doctor’s “surgery and care to be appropriate”.
“From our perspective, the matter is now closed,” AHPRA told him in a letter from April 2018.
Mr Dodkins went to the Ombudsman for help, with a finding in July 2019 that Mr Dodkins’ complaint had been “misinterpreted”.
However, it said it could not override a decision by the Board.
Mr Dodkins feels like his suffering has been ignored and that other patients of the surgeon could also be at risk.
AHPRA and the Ombudsman have been contacted for comment.
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