Sunday, October 20, 2013

20th October 2013 [Blog No. 37]

Hello again, it’s me, Peggy

Orthopaedic Surgeon Mr John King wrote to my GP (Dr Gita Haldar) in a letter dated 26 June 1997 advising her that he had examined me. I had made a private appointment myself to see Mr King at his Clinic on 24th June 1997 at the Independent Hospital in London, with my Right knee problem.

In a letter to Irwin Mitchell solicitors dated 27 March 1992 Dr Gita Haldar had confirmed to my solicitor that she had referred me to Orthopaedic Surgeon Mr John King in London but this had been an outright lie. I allege that she had no intentions of referring me to Mr King and she sent me on a roundabout tour of consultants in this area who, of course, was aware of the then pending litigation against Mr Majumdar and who either refused the referrals and/or refused me treatment.

Mr King had advised my GP that I should have an MRI scan on my Right knee because he believed the diagnosis had not been properly made. He also advised that I should undergo a thermograph test.

Nothing happened so I contacted Dr Haldar asking for a copy of her letter of response to Mr King at the Independent Hospital in London. See copy of Dr Haldar’s undated letter below. Albeit the GP Practice agreed to fund the exploratory investigations themselves it does not mention my main problem, the problem with my knee.

My husband checked with Mr King’s secretary and she confirmed Mr King not having received any letter, so I contacted the GP Practice again over the matter. See copy of a further letter to Mr King dated 7th October 1997. This time the letter was sent to Mr King by Fax via Mr Wiles, the Practice Funding Manager, and copied onto us.

There had been some confusion regarding me having the MRI scan done in London. It looked as if they were trying to wriggle-out of doing an MRI so I booked an MRI Scan to be done nearer to home, at the Claremont Hospital in Sheffield. It was undertaken on 24 February 1998 and I was responsible for the costs of the scan myself and if I recollect correctly it cost me over £900.00.


I had undergone the Thermal Imaging Test at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London on 7th November 1997. According to the report made by Mr Ernest Cooke the only area giving rise to any concern was an area just above the Right knee to a point just below the knee. It was obviously the presence of the bony lesion giving to the rise in temperature seen in the Thermal imaging.

I had asked Mr Ernest Cooke’s secretary on several occasions to ask Mr Cooke explain to me his findings from the Thermal Imaging but he refused, and allegedly he eventually went off work ill so I could not see him. Another stitch-up by the medics in their back-covering culture?

The bony lesion as seen in x-rays of my Right knee in 1991 and onward was eventually removed from my Right knee in November 2002 by Mr Bickerstaff at the Thornbury Hospital in Sheffield, which was paid for by the NHS, after the intervention of the Rt. Hon Mr Kevin J Barron MP, our Local MP.

The next escapade with Mr John King was when I had attended the appointment made to see him in his Clinic on 21st May 1998 at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. He didn’t turn up for the appointment, and I could not for the life of me think why not.

Because it had been a special appointment to see Mr King himself I refused to see anyone else and I was eventually reimbursed for my travelling expenses. See copy of my letter dated 26th May 1998 to Chief Executive Mr Ray Petts.


A further appointment was made for me to see Mr King on 28th May 1998 and this time he did turn up. See copy of my letter to Mr King dated 29th May 1998. He was not the same man we saw at the first consultation; he was quite arrogant in his tone and advised me that he was referring me back to my GP. As my husband and I were leaving Mr King sarcastically said; “it’s no good Mrs Barnes, you will have to learn to walk on your hands”!  Meaning before anyone would offer me treatment. I will not reiterate here what can be found by reading the copy letters below.




I was at that time pursuing a case against Mr Charles Gillott the Solicitor at the firm of Irwin Mitchell solicitors in Sheffield, for an alleged mishandling of my original claim against Mr Majumdar, the orthopaedic surgeon who had removed the patella (knee cap) from my Right knee in August 1987 and left me crippled.

It was becoming obvious that it was actually the result of Majumdar leaving the bony lesion in my knee during the operation he performed on my knee in August 1987 that had ultimately resulted in my ongoing disability. Unfortunately, I had also discovered after the event that Mr Majumdar did medico-legal reports for Irwin Mitchell Solicitors and I allege that Mr Gillott should have refused to take on my case against Majumdar due to an obvious conflict of interests.

It just so happened that I had lodged a complaint with the Law Society, and solicitor Nigel Anderson (also a Deputy Coroner) had been instructed by the Law Society as the Panellist Solicitor to investigate Irwin Mitchell solicitors regarding my case.

Apparently, Mr Anderson knowing Mr King was now treating my knee problem had written to Mr King asking him the way forward with my knee treatment. We did not consider this to have been a wise move on Mr Anderson’s part because Mr King was treating me and it was obvious from past experiences that in Mr Anderson so-doing would cause an adverse reaction from Mr King, and as it turned out this was the case in my case here.   See copy of letter dated 1st April 1998 from Mr Anderson to Mr King at the Independent Hospital in London. I reckon they were making a fool out of me yet again by preventing me obtaining treatment from Mr King, and it had obviously worked!!



I am also copying again here for ease of reference a copy extract taken from Nigel Andersons report to the OSS dated 10 November 1998 where on the second page he refers to doctors who have seen Mrs Banes not being interested in treating her and being found to have been hostile towards her when they became aware of a claim being made against a colleague of theirs.



This true story continues …….

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