'Dad went in hospital for a knee operation and never came home'

A MAN who went into hospital for a routine knee operation died after his wound became severely infected.

Michael Lachanudis, 62, went into septic shock and suffered a fatal heart attack after the knee replacement.

Now, his daughter Michelle Martin wants to raise awareness of the dangers of minor hospital procedures following her father's death.

She said: "My dad went into hospital for a routine operation and died as a result.

"It was absolutely horrific and even worse for my sister, who was on holiday at the time.

"Dad was trying to get his life back together after losing my mum to cancer.

"His knee had been causing him problems for some time and, as he was only 62, he decided to get it sorted out."

Mr Lachanudis, who lived in Gilberdyke, went to Goole and District Hospital to have a knee replacement.

A few days after the operation, he experienced pain, swelling and a raised temperature.

He had septicaemia staphylococcus aureus in his blood, a common infective organism in knee replacements, which resulted in him going into septic shock.

A few days later, he developed acute renal failure and was transferred to Scunthorpe's intensive care unit.

The replacement knee was removed, but Mr Lachanudis had a heart attack and died soon after.

Michelle said: "One of the most upsetting things was the hospital tried to discharge my dad a couple of days before he was transferred to intensive care at Scunthorpe.

"It was only after I pointed out he was confused and vomiting that there was a discussion between the staff and it was decided that he would be kept in for one more night.

"If I hadn't spoken out, he would have been sent home."

Mr Lachanudis died in April 2008.

In October 2011, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, paid an out-of-court settlement to his family.

His family say they now want to speak out to highlight the dangers of routine operations.

Michelle said: "We wouldn't want this to happen to anyone else.

"Following a recent Panorama report about high death rates in hospitals in our area, I am now very keen to raise awareness of this case.

"It was an awful time for us and, by speaking out, we hope to make other people aware of the risk of surgery and the potential for basic mistakes by hospital staff."

Solicitor Natalie Hider, of Williamson's, said: "We argued successfully and rightly that if his care had been reasonable, he would have survived.

"Wound infections are a recognised complication of any type of surgery, therefore medical staff should have been aware of the symptoms.

"Unfortunately, in Mr Lachanudis's case, those symptoms were not properly addressed, which led to the needless loss of his life.

"This was a clear case where the hospital staff were negligent in their failure to diagnose and treat Mr Lachanudis."

Wendy Booth, director of clinical and quality assurance at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "I can confirm the trust has settled a claim for damages in relation to the death of Michael Lachanudis in 2008.

"We would like to offer our condolences to the family for their loss."