NHS surgeon is sacked for performing controversial bowel mesh operations that left dozens of patients in severe pain

Posted On:   26 June 2019

Bristol, UK – 26th June, 2019: A surgeon who performed controversial bowel mesh surgery on dozens of patients which left many in severe pain has finally been dismissed.Bristol, UK – 26th June, 2019: A surgeon who performed controversial bowel mesh surgery on dozens of patients which left many in severe pain has finally been dismissed.

Tony Dixon pioneered the use of artificial mesh to lift prolapsed bowels, often caused by childbirth - with some of his surgeries dating as far back as the early 2000s.

But Mr Dixon was suspended by North Bristol NHS Trust in 2017 after an 18-month investigation found that many patients were left in pain and even disabled after the pelvic floor surgery.

And the Trust confirmed yesterday (Tues) that the colorectal surgeon has been dismissed 'following the conclusion of an employment investigation'.

A spokesman for North Bristol NHS Trust said: 'Mr Dixon had been excluded since 2017.

'A separate General Medical Council investigation is ongoing and Mr Dixon continues to have interim conditions placed on his practice.

'A separate clinical review of colorectal pelvic floor procedures carried out at Southmead Hospital is ongoing.' 

In March, the Trust told 57 Southmead Hospital patients, many treated by Mr Dixon, that they should have been offered alternative treatment first.

And one patient whose life has been damaged by the mesh surgery is Avril Bleaken, 41, whose mesh surgery in 2013 resulted in her needing 15cm of her bowel removed.

Just six weeks after her mesh surgery with Mr Dixon, Ms Bleaken, from Bristol, experienced excruciating pain and sickness.

She was rushed to hospital in an ambulance, where a scan revealed that mesh had become wrapped around her bowel.

Ms Bleaken needed emergency surgery which saw 15cm of her bowel removed - and still suffers from serious health complications almost five years on from her mesh surgery.

She says she cannot plan days out with her young family because the symptoms of her mesh injury are so unpredictable.

Ms Bleaken said: 'I would never have agreed to the procedure if I knew what I know now.

'Mr Dixon made out the procedure was very simple, I was never made aware of any potential side-effects.

'I felt like a guinea pig when I found out that a 'new' type of mesh had been used on me, I wasn't even aware that there was more than one type of mesh.

'It is incredibly daunting to think of the medical issues that may still arise in the future.'  

Another patient, Paula Goss, 49, from South Gloucestershire told the BBC earlier this year: 'I'm disabled in many ways because of it. After five years, I'm still having all the issues.

'It's not just the physical pain that you have, it's your mental pain, because you're living with it daily.

'You're having to try and get through each day thinking that you're okay. It's a struggle.'

Ms Bleaken and Ms Goss are some of the 90 patients affected by mesh surgery at Southmead and Frenchay hospitals in Bristol who are being represented by medical negligence specialists from Thompsons Solicitors. 

Madeleine Pinschof of Thompsons Solicitors said: 'On behalf of our clients, we are pleased the NHS has finally made this decision.

'Yet again, private healthcare providers are behind the curve when they claim they're providing high-quality medical services.

'They should, at the very least, be matching the NHS if not leading from the front.

'It is not surprising to us, or our clients, Mr Dixon has been dismissed.

'The only surprising thing is how long it has taken just one of his employers to wake up to what our clients have been saying for years.

'Hundreds of people have been injured by him and he has already been barred from performing certain procedures, such as STARR and rectopexy.

'The private sector's failure to act, yet again, suggests it continues to value its profits over patients' safety.

'It's time for the private care sectors to be governed under the same standards of health and safety as the NHS, regardless of where a patient is treated.

'We will continue to campaign for this until it is achieved.'

North Bristol NHS Trust said their decision is 'subject to appeal by Mr Dixon'. 

The surgeon has declined to comment.

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7182887/NHS-surgeon-sacked-performing-bowel-mesh-operations.html