A MECHANIC whose hand was crushed in a horrific work accident is suing the NHS after doctors sent him home with antibiotics.
Jamie Keefe, 26, was rushed to A&E after his right hand was mangled in a machine as he worked on a car’s brakes.
Doctors at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham cleaned the wound and sent Keefe on his way with antibiotics on December 11 2018.
But days later, the skin on Jamie’s hand started turning black with infection and he was rushed to the city’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Surgeons stepped in and managed to save his hand by cutting away the dead skin and grafting tissue from his thigh.
Since the dreadful accident Jamie, from Dudley, West Midlands, has almost completely lost feeling in his hand which has forced him to give up his dream job.
He believes if doctors had acted sooner and not sent him home, he would not have been forced to give up work.
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, which oversees Heartlands Hospital where Jamie was initially seen, has since admitted responsibility.
Devastated Jamie said: “Suffering the injury was absolutely horrendous but when I was sent home from hospital on the same day I was surprised.
“My hand remained in a really bad way and seemed to be getting worse. It got to the point where I knew I needed to get another opinion.
“I took myself to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and when doctors told me the extent of what needed to be done, I couldn’t believe it.”
He added: “I was angry that it took nearly a week to get the treatment that I needed.
“Nothing will change what I’ve been through, but I just hope that the NHS can learn lessons so that no one else faces the problems that I have.”
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