Walsall hospital 'failed' man with HIV by delaying surgery

The 48-year-old from Walsall had been due to have prostate surgery at Walsall Manor Hospital but it was postponed at the last minute

A hospital that unnecessarily delayed a man's surgery because he had HIV failed in his care, an ombudsman said.

The patient, 48 from Walsall, had been due to undergo prostate surgery at the town's Manor Hospital in March 2020.

His surgery was scheduled to be the first of the day but it was delayed because of his HIV positive status.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has now concluded Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust had acted inappropriately.

The patient, who was about to undergo the surgery when he learned of the delay, told the PHSO: "I felt anxious, humiliated, and upset."

'Surgery stressful enough'

Hospital officials claimed his HIV status had compelled the delay because of the level of cleaning and infection control that was required following his surgery, in order to minimise the risk to others.

But no additional cleaning should have been necessary, the ombudsman said.

The man, who has been HIV positive since 2007, said: "I expected awareness about HIV and infection control to be better in the NHS.

"Having surgery is stressful enough, but being told as I was literally at the theatre doors that it was postponed due to my HIV status just made it much worse."

The policy of placing a patient at the end of an operating list usually relates to patients with a high-risk bacterial infection and should not be applied to a person who has HIV and is receiving treatment, the PHSO said.

It found that although the trust has now made some changes since this happened, they had not done enough to make sure the same mistake did not re-occur.

It said the trust should apologise to the patient and create an action plan to stop this happening again. The Trust has complied with these recommendations, it said.

'Lack of HIV education'

The patient said: "I never wanted any financial compensation, and I haven't asked for any. I just want to make sure this doesn't happen again.

"The stigma and lack of education, especially among health professionals, about HIV has got to change."

Rob Behrens, of PHSO, said: "Moving the man's surgery at the last minute because he had HIV, is not acceptable.

"A person with HIV deserves the same level of care and treatment as anyone else. The Trust's actions were out-dated and simply wrong, which led to a distressing experience for him."

The National AIDS Trust, which has been supporting the patient, wrote to the hospital trust to share concerns that putting patients with HIV to the end of their daily operating lists could be discriminatory.

Deborah Gold, chief executive of the trust, said: "This case shows how HIV stigma can get in the way of respectful, non-discriminatory care for people living with HIV."