It has been estimated that up to 1,000 patients could be in a position to sue a Liverpool hospital due to having botched surgery there, in one of the UKs largest ever actions of its kind.
Mr Rowland practiced from Aintree, Fazakerley and Liverpool Women’s Hospital between 1993 and 2008, and was subsequently investigated by the GMC. The GMC raised a number of concerns about his performance; including misdiagnosis, and inappropriate procedures – some of which have left patients with ongoing symptoms.
A class action law suit has been issued against Liverpool Women’s Hospital involving patients treated by uro-gynaecologist George Rowland. Mr Rowland, a surgeon who specialised in treating women with incontinence, was not only accused of giving patients the wrong surgery, but also of performing it badly and not giving women adequate after-care.
He was suspended by the hospital in 2008 and is still banned from performing uro-gynaecological surgery.
Medical negligence lawyer Ian Cohen claimed that the list of patients that could potentially sue Mr Rowland stretched as far back as 1993, meaning that up to 1000 patients could be in line for compensation. So far only 350 former patients have come forward.
Usually, in this type of compensation claim, patients would have just three years to lodge a claim for medical negligence, but an agreement that was drawn up with the hospital after Mr Rowland’s suspension enables any patient that was treated by him at the Women’s Hospital to make a claim as long as they file it before 3 September.
Mr Cohen said that they had been contacted by more than 300 of Mr Rowland’s former patients.
Concerns about Mr Rowland were first raised in 2004, but he carried on performing surgery for four years before being suspended. In April, the Women’s Hospital contacted former patients and announced that it was to review work carried out by Rowland since 2001.
The report commissioned by the hospital into the management of Mr Rowland and his department criticised the NHS trust for not picking up on his mistakes earlier.
