A grieving husband is considering legal action after his wife was left in so much pain following a botched operation she wanted to end her life.
Sheila Beer went to Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin for a routine hip replacement, hoping it would give her a new lease of life.
But her husband, Peter, claims the locum surgeon “butchered” her leg – leaving her in agony, and unable to walk without help.
Mr Beer said his wife’s pain became so excruciating that she considered “going to Switzerland”, where she would be legally free to take her own life.
The great-grandmother’s misery was compounded when it later emerged that she had been suffering from throat cancer at the time – which Mr Beer claims was never detected during appointments at Dr Gray’s.
Mrs Beer, who was from Forres, died from the disease earlier this year aged 71.
Now her husband of 51 years is considering taking legal action against NHS Grampian, in the hope of preventing other families from going through a similar ordeal.
Last night, the health board said they had not been contacted by Mrs Beer’s family, but would investigate the matter fully if a complaint was received.
It is understood the resident surgeon had been off when the hip operation was scheduled, prompting health chiefs to organise for a locum to carry out the procedure.
But Mr Beer claims that when the local surgeon later saw X-rays of his wife’s leg, he “put his head in his hands and cried”.
The 75-year-old said Mrs Beer’s femoral nerve was injured by the locum “twisting” her body into awkward angles during the procedure.
“Instead of making the normal incision to operate on the hip bone, he made a smaller one,” Mr Beer said.
“That meant he had to bend my wife’s body to different angles, and he severely damaged her femoral nerve.
“She couldn’t really walk again after that, she could only just about manage 10 minutes on crutches if she was going in a straight line.
“Although my wife was struggling for a while after the procedure, it was only seven months later that we learned what had happened to her.”
The resident surgeon who would normally have carried out the procedure was off work at the time, in June 2014, but subsequently met up with the couple.
Mr Beer added: “When we showed him the X-rays he put his head in his hands and cried, that was when we knew it was something really nasty.
“To make things worse, nobody at Dr Gray’s noticed that my wife had developed throat cancer, and she died 19 months after that operation.
“My wife went into that operation excited at the thought of having a new life after having her hip fixed, what happened was one disaster after another.”
An NHS Grampian spokeswoman said rules on patient confidentiality prevented the group from going into detail on Mrs Beer’s ordeal.
She said: “We are sorry to hear about Mrs Beer’s experience and send our condolences to her husband and wider family on her death earlier this year.
“According to our records the family have not contacted our feedback service regarding this matter.
“We would strongly encourage them to do so, detailing all their concerns, and we will investigate fully.
“Strict rules on patient confidentiality prevent us from commenting on this case specifically.
“However, in general terms locums are recruited via specialist agencies.
“We have robust procedures in place to ensure all locum and agency staff are recruited to the same high standards as our permanent staff.”
Mr and Mrs Beer lived in Forres at the time of the operation, but as Mrs Beer’s condition worsened they moved to Warwickshire to be near their children.
Mrs Beer died on January 24, leaving behind three sons, 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
