Botched circumcision left Barrow man unable to have sex

The circumcision was carried out at Furness General Hospital by Kavinder Madhra after the patient had been experiencing difficulties urinating.

The man, who was 54 at the time, had initially been told he would undergo the more minor ‘dorsal slit’ procedure but he said that just before he was wheeled into theatre Mr Madhra told him he would carry out a full circumcision.

Too much skin was removed during the operation in October 2012 and the man was left suffering from ‘extremely buried penis’ where the penis is covered by excess skin.

It has prevented him from being able to have sex with his wife and unable to direct the flow of urination.

As a result he has to press a bucket against himself when going to the toilet.

The man says it left him suicidal and almost caused the breakdown of his marriage.

After he launched legal action against the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust hospital bosses admitted too much skin had been removed during the procedure.

There was also an admission that the patient was not fully warned of the increased risks of suffering the injuries he did due to him being overweight at the time.

Independent medical experts, consulted as part of the legal case, said the operation should have been carried out alongside liposuction and skin-grafting.

“My life was ruined by this operation, it’s as simple as that,” the man said.

“After the operation I suffered an infection and when all the swelling had gone down I was pretty much left without a penis as it was buried in my body.

“I haven’t been able to go to the toilet normally since as I have no control when I go for a wee. It just shoots everywhere so I have to use a bucket.

“That has stopped me going out to restaurants or any days out as it is just so difficult and embarrassing.

“I’ve had experts come and see me and basically suggest that I wear a large nappy. I am not prepared to degrade myself any further by doing that.

“Before the operation I had a good sex life with my wife but that has been impossible since. That has been really difficult to handle.

“I basically go to bed unable to have any sexual activity with my wife. That has been taken from us and had a massive impact on our relationship.”

A consultant psychiatrist who assessed the man said he had been left ‘feeling humiliated’ and that ‘his manhood had been taken away from him’.

He said the impact on his life would have been ‘like that of a bereavement in terms struggling to adjust’.

The patient was advised to take legal advice by his GP and medical negligence solicitor Rachel O’Connor, a medical negligence specialist at law firm Hudgell Solicitors, negotiated the £125,000 settlement.

She said: “The problem my client faced initially was quite common in that he was finding it difficult to go to the toilet due to experiencing tightening of the foreskin, which was making it difficult to urinate.

“Given his weight and condition, it was the view of independent medical experts that we consulted that a circumcision should never have been carried out in isolation and the matter was further worsened by the surgeon removing too much skin during the operation.

“The impact on my client’s life has been huge. He says he has gone from a happy-go-lucky person who had a good social life to someone who admits he has been moody and angry and feeling trapped in his home.

“He has been left unable to have a sexual relationship with his wife and this has understandably caused much upset, frustration and worry and he suffered from depression as a result of what happened.

“He has had feelings of self-harm and suffered from nightmares and flashbacks.

“There was suggestion of him having reconstructive surgery, but he lost all trust in the medical profession as a result of what happened.”

The patient said he had been furious to read in The Mail that Mr Madhra had been allowed to continue treating patients despite five complaints being made against him by both patients and doctors in 2014.

In 2018 the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service imposed restrictions on Mr Madhra’s practice and he resigned nine days later.

Mr Madhra is currently subject to an ongoing hearing to decide if he is fit to practice.

Calls have been made by MPs in the area for a public inquiry into the Morecambe Bay trust’s urology department.

It comes after allegations were made by former consultant Peter Duffy in a whistle-blowing book Whistle in the Wind about three of his colleagues.

“I feel nothing but anger towards Mr Madhra and the hospital trust for what has happened to me and it has only added to that anger and frustration to read about these complaints which date back so many years,” the patient added.

“This sort of thing should not be happening to anybody. It has ruined my life and I wonder how many others have suffered too.”

“We can’t thank Rachel O’Connor at Hudgell Solicitors enough as she has been brilliant in the support she has provided to us. We have spoken regularly throughout the case, sometimes twice a week, and she always reassured us and said she’d do her best to get a good result, and get admissions from the trust.

“It is really important to have someone prepared to help you as she did.”

The trust’s medical director Shahedal Bari said: “I would like to say how sorry I am for the harm caused to this patient.

“I sincerely hope that this financial settlement will go some way towards compensating him for what has happened.

“Since this patient’s operation we’ve done a lot of work to improve our urology service. In 2016, we invited the Royal College of Surgeons to carry out a report into our Urology Department. We have invited an independent review of our service to make sure that we have made the necessary changes and that our service is as good as possible.”