A woman who is planning legal action against her former consultant obstetrician over an alleged botched operation at a Westcountry hospital has spoken of her "devastation."
Consultant obstetrician Kenneth Jones was one of the medical team who helped deliver Samantha and David Cameron's daughter at The Royal Cornwall Hospital, Treliske, Truro two years ago.
Mr Jones, known as "Rob" is being investigated over the care and treatment he gave patients – Mrs Cameron is not one of them.
Some 1,574 women he treated over the last two-and-half years have been contacted by hospital managers after a colleague raised concerns over how he worked.
Mother-of-three Claire Hill, 35, of Par near St Austell was under his care.
In October 2010 he reportedly carried out a microwave ablation laser procedure to remove the lining of her womb because of heavy bleeding.
Eight months later, it was said that he performed the procedure for a second time but this time stopped after finding a hole in the lining of the uterus.
The discovery led to Mrs Hill reportedly having a hysterectomy under general anaesthetic.
She alleges the perforation could have been caused by the doctor during the first attempt and is suing RCHT for negligence.
To correct the damage Mrs Hill says she had three more operations under general anaesthetic over an 18-month period.
As well as suffering severe pain after the hysterectomy she says she was left with chronic fatigue, anxiety and depression.
Mrs Hill said: "I would urge any women who have suffered as I have to come forward immediately so we can make sure this never happens again."
Mrs Hill complained to the hospital who wrote to her stating the perforation "...was most probably caused due to thinning at the time of the microwave ablation previously performed in October 2010."
Mr Jones left the hospital in May this year and is retired.
Mike Bird is partner and head of Foot Anstey solicitors' specialist clinical negligence team in Truro, who are advising Mrs Hill. He said: "We understand this was a standard procedure for a relatively routine problem. It seems that the perforation was caused during this procedure and that the need for a hysterectomy and the bladder damage followed from that perforation."
