Man sues Fremantle Hospital, GP for medical negligence after post-surgery infection leads to amputation

A man is suing Fremantle Hospital after his leg was amputated at the knee because doctors allegedly failed to recognise his ankle had become severely infected after surgery. A writ filed in the Supreme Court of Western Australia revealed 48-year-old Brett Hurley allegedly languished on the elective surgery wait-list for almost two years waiting for corrective surgery on his right ankle. The surgery was to fix a prior ankle fusion procedure in 2020, which had left his heel at an angle. Mr Hurley is now suing both the South Metropolitan Health Service and his GP Hugh Connolly for medical negligence, alleging they failed to recognise signs of infection during his post-operative care. A review at Fremantle Hospital a week after the corrective surgery allegedly recorded Mr Hurley’s ankle was swollen with “some maceration to the lower part of the outer wound” — meaning his skin tissue had begun to soften and break down. Some stitches were removed but the “inner lower wound and outer wound sutures were left intact”, according to the writ. Three days later on June 6, 2022, Mr Hurley returned to the hospital to have the rest of his stitches removed, where it was noted the “wound has healed well” but its edges were allegedly not “entirely closed”. About two-and-a-half weeks later he saw Dr Connolly in Mandurah for pain in his right foot, who allegedly noted he had low blood pressure and his wound was weeping. At his six-week post-operative review at Fremantle Hospital on July 6, a week after seeing his GP, notes allege the wound had begun to come apart along the suture line. The writ alleges Mr Hurley was sent away with antimicrobial wound dressings and instructions to change them every three to four days before another review in a fortnight. Two days later Mr Hurley’s right foot allegedly began to swell and became increasingly red and painful. The following morning, July 9, he attended the Peel Health Campus emergency department where doctors diagnosed him with sepsis, allegedly the result of the infected wound and ensuing cellulitis — a painful bacterial skin infection. Mr Hurley then allegedly went into septic shock and had to be resuscitated before being transferred to Fiona Stanley Hospital for urgent surgery. Pathology results later allegedly revealed both Strep C and Golden staph infections, and on July 11 Mr Hurley was told his right leg needed to be amputated below the knee. He is alleging “personal injury, loss and damage suffered by him as a result of negligence . . . in the provision of medical and nursing treatment, advice, care and treatment . . . (and) mismanagement of the plaintiff’s care” following his surgery on May 26, 2022. “As a result of such negligence and/or breach of contract, it is alleged that the plaintiff has suffered from physical and psychological injuries,” the court documents claimed. SMHS and Dr Connolly have 10 days to respond to the writ after being served.