Mother, 41, left with ‘extreme’ scarring


A mother-of-one has been left with ‘extreme’ scarring on her face after she claims a surgeon performed an operation she hadn’t agreed to.

Tammie Stanley, 41, suffered third degree burns all over her body when she was trapped in a mobile home fire when she was eight weeks old.

During her lifetime, she has undergone more than 40 operations at numerous hospitals to patch her skin.

But in what she thought was her last ever operation in July 2014, a surgeon decided to give her a skin graft on her face without receiving her consent.

She claims the procedure conducted at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, has caused her to be housebound.

The trust that runs the hospital has since apologised for ‘some aspects’ of her treatment and have awarded her a five-figure payout. 

Tammie Stanley suffered third degree burns when she was a baby. In what she thought was her final operation, surgeons performed a skin graft without her consent which left her with ‘extreme’ scarring, she claims (pictured after the botched operation)

Ms Stanley, from Witney, said: ‘This was supposed to be my last surgery – I was going to get this done and that was it because I had dealt with my scars.

‘Growing up with burns scars you just get on with life. I wasn’t brought up sheltered away and I was always one of those people who didn’t notice people staring, I was very confident – the life and soul.

‘But the operation left me with more scarring at both corners of my mouth and completely changed how my face looked.’ 

She added: ‘Having these scars that were not there before brought it all back for me and brought it home that I did have scars.

‘I felt too uncomfortable to leave the house unless I was with my partner and I had to quit my job because I couldn’t face people who knew me from before the surgery.

‘I couldn’t bear to look at myself in the mirror and experienced severe depression and panic attacks because I felt so self-conscious. Even two years on, my face still feels weird.

She also claims the procedure at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, has caused her to be housebound (pictured in 2011, before having surgery to tighten skin around her mouth)

Ms Stanley said: ‘The scars are ugly. It is horrible and nasty, and more extreme than the scarring I had previously’

‘The scars are ugly. It is horrible and nasty, and more extreme than the scarring I had previously. 

‘It’s not scarring I can cover up – they’re on my face and you can’t hide them.’ 

Doctors referred her to the John Radcliffe Hospital for what she thought was her final operation to improve the tightness around her mouth in January 2014.

They recommended she had a z-plasty release – a plastic surgery technique used to improve the appearance of scars.

Just seven months later she underwent the procedure, but surgeons stumbled across a problem.

During the operation, they encountered scar tissue around her mouth – meaning the planned surgery couldn’t be performed.

The surgeon then instead decided to take a skin graft from her neck to cover up the scarring – despite not having agreed to this. 

This created a new three and a half inch-long scar on her neck, an area not affected by the burns.

Ms Stanley, who lives with her partner John Bishop, 46, said: ‘If the correct surgery had been done there would still have been scars, but they would have been easy to hide with makeup’ (pictured together before having the surgery)

The surgeon instead decided to take a skin graft from her neck to cover up the scarring – despite Ms Stanley not having agreed to this. This created a new three-and-a-half inch scar on her neck (left and right), an area not affected by the burns

After bringing the claim against the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital she had surgery at, she received a five figure payout in an out of court settlement. 

Ms Stanley, who lives with her partner John Bishop, 46, said: ‘If the correct surgery had been done there would still have been scars, but they would have been easy to hide with makeup.

‘I’ve had z-plasty surgery before, so I know what it is meant to look like afterwards.

‘I didn’t want skin grafts on my face, and having them was something which was completely out of my control while I was unconscious.

WHAT IS A Z-PLASTY?

A z-plasty is used by surgeons to reduce the tightness of scars, making them it more comfortable and less conspicuous.

It may also be used to change the position of a scar and by reducing tightness – allowing healing to improve. 

It is performed by raising two adjacent skin flaps and transposing them (putting each flap where the other one was).

Dermabrasion and laser surgery can also be used to blur the edges of the scar and minimise surface irregularities.

Source: NHS 

‘Now I feel like a weight has now been lifted and my self-esteem is improving slowly. 

‘If it wasn’t for the support of John, who went through the ordeal with me, my confidence would still be affected.’

She added that she has relied on the NHS for all of her life, but after her experience she is sceptical about having further surgery.  

The trust admitted surgeons had failed to consider, recommend or discuss with her alternative procedures which might have been more suitable than skin grafts and would have given a different cosmetic outcome.

A spokesman for Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: ‘This has been an extremely difficult experience for Miss Stanley.

‘The Trust wishes to apologise for some aspects of her treatment which were not conducted to a satisfactory standard.

‘We extend our apologies for pain and distress that this has caused her.’

Amy Kirk, a lawyer at Fletchers Solicitors, said: ‘The trust formally accepted responsibility for not gaining consent from Tammie for the skin graft procedure and admitted causing additional scarring to her face and neck, numbness and altered sensation.

‘They failed to consider other surgical techniques which could have helped improve Tammie’s tightening around her mouth and scarring, rather than make it worse.

‘We hope the compensation goes some way in helping Tammie to rebuild her life.’  

The trust that runs the hospital has since apologised for ‘some aspects’ of her treatment and have awarded her a five-figure payout