A former model who had a mastectomy after doctors over-estimated the size of a lump by nearly six times has been awarded £100,000 compensation.
Diane Chambers, 48, said she has been left permanently disfigured and unable to work after the ‘needless’ procedure.
She went into debt over mounting bills for further medical treatment and therapy, and even contemplated suicide after having her breast removed when she should have been offered a less invasive lumpectomy.
Diane Chambers said she has been left permanently disfigured and unable to work
An NHS consultant mistakenly overestimated the size of a potentially cancerous lump by nearly six times
Miss Chambers, from Derby, who was an Athena ‘poster girl’ in the 1990s, was about to have a breast lift operation in 2012 when doctors found a potentially cancerous 14mm lump. An NHS consultant mistakenly overestimated its size by nearly six times and she had the mastectomy.
A report later found medics had failed to give her an MRI scan, did not assess the size of the tumour, and said she could have had a lumpectomy.
Miss Chambers received a payout after Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust admitted failing to advise of alternative treatment and agreed to an out-of-court settlement.
Miss Chambers, from Derby, is a former model was an Athena ‘poster girl’ in the 1990s
‘The worst thing is the knock-on effects,’ she said. ‘As far as my relationships go, I don’t think I’ll ever have another.
She spent two years with just one breast but was unable to work due to extreme pain in her arm and shoulder
‘I’m nearly 50 and living with my parents. I have scars, no feeling, and ugly odd-shaped body parts now. I just want to be able to sit in a room with the consultant who failed me and ask her why she did it. But I haven’t had any answers.’
She spent two years with just one breast before having a procedure which involved stretching her skin with a balloon to create a replacement breast. But she said she was left with asymmetrical breasts and unable to work due to extreme pain in her arm and shoulder.
She said that in 2015 she separated from her partner because of the stress of the operation and arguments about money. She also lost her job as an administrator.
The NHS trust denied Miss Chambers had ‘an unsatisfactory outcome from surgery’ although it admitted ‘a negligent failure to advise the claimant of the alternatives to mastectomy’.