Women 'need answers' in Derby gynaecology investigation

The woman said Daniel Hay told her to take medication for years when it should only have been used for a maximum of eight weeks

A woman who claims her marriage was wrecked by a drug prescribed by a consultant gynaecologist, who is under investigation, said she wants answers.

The patient said she took the drug given to her by Daniel Hay for three years, when it should have been used for a maximum of eight weeks.

Nearly 400 women who were treated by the doctor are being contacted as part of a review into his care.

The trust Mr Hay worked for said they must "learn from what happened".

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The 51-year-old woman, from Derby, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) she gave consent for a hysterectomy in 2013 but "had no information at all" and was not presented with alternatives, pros and cons or given an explanation of her condition.

Following the procedure, infected blood clots were found where the womb had been and she said she was prescribed medication by Mr Hay and told to keep taking it.

She took it for about three years and during this time, she said she experienced drastic changes to her personality, which alienated her from her family and friends, and led to divorce after 19 years of happy marriage.

At a hospital check-up, three years after the hysterectomy, she was told the medication was strictly for post-op recovery that should only have been taken for six to eight weeks.

It comes as an investigation found major concern that 50 women "are likely to have been harmed" by Mr Hay.

An interim report also identified "some concern" over a further 69.

Another woman said the option to have another baby was taken away without informed consent when she had a total hysterectomy

The woman was put on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) tablets and after those "traumatic" years, she has remarried her partner and reconnected with friends and family.

She said: "It would be nice to have some answers and some clarity, for me and my husband.

"He [Mr Hay] does need to own what he did, it did affect peoples' lives."

'Terrified'

The scope of the investigation is currently confined to between 2015 and 2018, but Mr Hay was working for University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Trust years before that, and some are asking if his work was of the required standard then.

Another woman said after coming out of surgery in 2007, at the age of 42, she was "shocked" to learn she had had a total hysterectomy as Mr Hay had not specified what type she was having.

She said the option to have another baby, which she had discussed with her husband, had been taken away without informed consent.

The mother-of-two said: "I am now absolutely terrified of hospitals. It shouldn't have been allowed to happen, you just put all your trust in someone, you trust your doctor.

"I am fortunate that I have got children but there are other women who haven't got any.

"The hospital should accept that it goes back a lot further.

"I just want answers and to know why I had the operation and what was wrong with me."

Dr Magnus Harrison, executive medical director at the trust, said they "had not delivered the right standard of care that we strive to and I am absolutely devastated for those people".

"We have to assure ourselves that the governance processes we've changed and we've put in place now are appropriate but we also have to look back to learn from what happened," he said.

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