It's not OK my toddler was left with a huge scar after doctors at Alder Hey had mishap in surgery with blade

One-year-old Troy Bedson, from Crewe, was sent to Liverpool's Alder Hey Children's Hospital in February after experiencing a burn from hot tea spilled on his arm.

Mum Talisha Brookshaw, 21, was told that Troy would need a skin graft on 17 February, during which they would take skin from his leg to graft to his arm, ensuring minimal scarring.

But after the operation was over, she was told that a mistake had occurred - and the operating team had made an accidental cut across Troy's thigh after an error with a blade.

Talisha says she was led to believe the cut was "just a nick," but after the bandages were removed at a follow-up appointment, she saw the full wound - a deep cut that stretched the width of her son's leg.

"Troy had a burn on his arm from a cup of tea, and we had to go to Leighton Hospital," said Talisha.

"They sent us to Alder Hey, and we stayed about three nights. We had to go back on the morning of 17 February, and that's when they decided he needed a skin graft.

"They took skin off his leg to put on his arm, and during that skin graft, they did a big slice across his leg - that wasn’t supposed to happen at all.

"They were meant to shave a very thin piece of skin off his leg, but they’ve sliced it and gone into his leg.

"He’s got a scar there now, and he was meant to come out of that skin graft with no scars - it wasn’t meant to happen at all.

"When they first came back and relayed that information to me, it just sounded like they’d nicked him a little with the blade.

"I didn’t see the scar until a week after, because by the time he’d come out, it was all bandaged up. I thought it would be a little nick, but it was quite a big cut.

"It wasn’t clear what had happened until I went back and they told me a bit more. The staff didn't say much at first, they just said it would take a few more days to heal.

"I got someone to come over and tell me a bit more about what actually happened during the surgery. Two consultants and the surgeons had put the blade in the completely wrong way and sliced his leg.

"I saw how big that scar was, and I just thought that wasn’t okay at all."

Talisha says that hospital staff minimised the injury, and believes they avoided telling her the full details of the incident.

She says her family have not received an appropriate apology, and says she is still unclear exactly how the mistake happened or how many stitches her son had to receive as a result.

"They weren’t very informative," Talisha said.

"I felt like I didn’t know exactly what happened until more than a week later and the explanation seemed very quick.

"Nobody who actually did it came back after the surgery and apologised or explained more in depth.

"When it first happened, they relayed that the team were sorry, and it was an accident.

Talisha has since attempted to make a Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) complaint, but says the complaint was cancelled in order for the hospital to do their own internal review.

While Troy is recovering well, Talisha believes she was kept in the dark in regards to the mistake, and hopes to receive a full explanation.

"I thought the person who actually made the mistake would have come and apologised," she said.

"Maybe that’s not what they do, but I would have wanted to do that.

"I didn’t even know how many stitches he needed – I still don’t know. Nobody told me how many stitches he had, only that they were dissolvable ones.

"I wish they’d given me an in depth explanation and told me exactly what happened."

A spokesperson for the hospital said it was not able to comment on individual patients.