Patient of gynaecologist who was struck off has been denied justice

EDITOR—Roach has reported on the government inquiry into the serious malpractice of Rodney Ledward, a consultant gynaecologist in Kent who was struck off the medical register.1 In his news article Roach cited four cases that he presumably thought were of a particularly scandalous nature. One of these concerned a patient of mine, who was forced to agree to sterilisation as a condition of termination of pregnancy. In addition, she had to pay Rodney Ledward £430, although the operation was carried out from an NHS bed at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford. Her uterus was perforated during the termination, although repaired during the sterilisation procedure.

Her “sympathetic response” from the trust said it was just as well she had had the second procedure so that the damage from the first could be repaired. She was encouraged to apply to a firm of solicitors to discuss the possibility of recompense, only to be told that she would have to spend more money on litigation with little realistic hope of getting any back. Her request to be included in the joint action to be organised by the police has been ignored. She has not received one penny of compensation, either from the NHS or from Mr Ledward, despite the huge sum spent on the prosecutions and the inquiry.

As a nation we seem to be incapable of providing the most elementary justice for those who have been wronged in this disgraceful affair.