Who is Dr Angamuthu Arunkalaivanan?
The Dr Angamuthu Arunkalaivanan Patient Recall involves Consultant Uro-gynaecologist Mr Angamuthu Shenbagavalli Arunkalaivanan. He currently does not have a license to practise. This means that he is currently unable to practise as a doctor in the UK.
He was based at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital and privately for BMI Healthcare at the Edgbaston Hospital and the Priory Hospital in the West Midlands. He specialisted in Obstetrics and gynaecology.
In 2013 Mr Arunkalaivanan was referred to the GMC, the regulatory body for medical practitioners in the UK, for an allegedly inappropriate breast examination. The GMC cleared Mr Arunkalaivanan.
Patient recall
The Dr Angamuthu Arunkalaivanan Patient Recall has been issued by Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital. Dr Angamuthu Arunkalaivanan Patient Recall involves patients who underwent surgery with Mr Arunkalaivanan. Of concern is why it has taken so long to recall patients and why the hospital allowed Dr Arunkalaivanan to continue to use synthetic mesh to repair pelvic organ prolapses despite having banned its use.
Hospitals have signed up to under the government’s ‘Sign up to Safety’ initiative meaning that patient safety is at the top of the NHS agenda. When the hospital banned the use of mesh it should have removed them from the hospital to prevent them being used. Other hospitals have banned its use but some continue to offer it as a treatment.
The Dr Angamuthu Arunkalaivanan Patient Recall will check whether patients received reasonable treatment, including whether their surgery was appropriate and properly undertaken. They will also check whether patients undergoing this surgery were provided with all the necessary information to make an informed decision about the procedure.
Banned Synthetic Mesh for Pelvic Organ Prolapse
In January 2009 Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital NHS Trust banned the use of mesh as first surgical treatment for treatment of pelvic organ prolapse (‘POP’) following concerns about patient safety.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) raised concerns with the long term effectiveness of this type of treatment and set out the treatment choices for treating prolapse. It recommends non-invasive treatment first. Despite the Trust’s decision Mr Arunkalaivanan continued to perform this type of operation. There is very little information on the long-term benefits and complications of using synthetic mesh.
The complications of using synthetic mesh can be significant and include:
- Post-operative pain or irritation
- Recurrent prolapse
- Inability to have sexual relations
- Mesh erosion & perforation – when the mesh pushes through the vaginal wall.
- Infections or abnormal discharge
- Incontinenc
- Fistula – an abnormal passage between two organs, which can cause an infection or discharge
Have you been contacted in the Dr Angamuthu Arunkalaivanan Patient Recall?
If you have been contacted by the Dr Angamuthu Arunkalaivanan Patient Recall then please get in touch. If you are unsure who your surgeon was but were treated at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital then get in touch.
We have been contacted by a number of patients who have this procedure both here and in other hospitals. We are investigating these allegations and assisting ladies with their claims.
The Dr Angamuthu Arunkalaivanan Patient Recall is of great concern to patients both at this hospital and elsewhere.
Call us for advice and support on 0845 676 9228 or email Dr Victoria Handley at vhandley@handleylaw.co.uk