A woman claims she is ‘unable to do the simplest of things’ after NHS staff botched up a simple procedure to remove a contraceptive implant from her arm.
Megan O’Shea, 24, from Whitfield, said at one point a nurse used her entire little finger to try and grasp the implant, leaving her bleeding with ‘torn up’ skin.
Following the procedure, which took three hours, Ms O’Shea, a sales adviser, has issued a complaint against NHS Tayside, arguing the lasting damage makes her less able to do her job.
Ms O’Shea said: ‘I lost a lot of blood and my skin was torn up. I’m unable to use my left arm to do even the simplest of things.
‘I’ll never have this put in my arm again.’
Megan O’Shea claims she is ‘unable to do the simplest things’ after staff botched a procedure
She claims a nurse had her little finger in her arm trying to grasp the contraceptive implant
Ms O’Shea adds she was left bleeding with ‘torn up’ skin that affects her job as a sales adviser
‘She had her entire pinky in my arm’
Ms O’Shea said: ‘The nurse made a small incision close to my implant and began trying to push it out. While doing this, she moved it further up my arm.
‘She was worried by this, saying it’s never happened to her before, so she had to get a senior doctor to help. The doctor came in and started trying to get it out.
‘After 40 minutes and a lot of deep cutting into my arm, she managed to get the implant out. She then left the room for the other nurse to finish the stitching up.
‘I wasn’t convinced the whole rod came out and I was right – the implant had snapped during all the tugging and pulling.
She said: ‘The doctor suggested I come back another day, as she had another patient waiting. I quickly refused and said I wasn’t willing to leave with this in my arm.
‘By this point, the rest of the implant had moved up quite a bit from the original hole – so they made another hole.
‘Along with about four different tools being used, she also had her entire pinky in my arm trying to find the rest of the implant. Eventually, she managed to find it and remove it.’
Ms O’Shea has issued a complaint against NHS Tayside, arguing she suffered lasting damage
She says she was not warned of the risk and will never have the implant fitted again
‘I’m unable to use my left arm’
Ms O’Shea said: ‘I’ve been in a lot of pain and have been to my own doctors at Wallacetown Health Centre twice.
‘I lost a lot of blood and my skin was torn up. I’m unable to use my left arm to do even the simplest of things. I have also been prescribed pain relief.
‘Never once was I told that this sort of thing can happen. I’ll never have this put in my arm again.’
A spokeswoman for Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership said: ‘Due to patient confidentiality, we are unable to comment on matters relating to individual patients. We have received a complaint, which will be investigated.’