We’re gaining some valuable insight from our clients who we are acting for following the Daybrook Dental scandal when a whistleblower caught disgraced dentist Mr Desmond D’Mello ignoring important infection control procedures; putting lives potentially at risk.
Our clients are seeking compensation for the worry and stress caused, and they are all former patients of Mr D’Mello, dubbed by the media as the ‘Dirty Dentist’, and they have had their say on their experiences with him.
The common theme is that the practice was often very busy, and patients often felt that appointments were rushed. This could be a key insight in to exactly why D’Mello decided to turn his back on patient safety and cut corners in ignoring infection control protocols. Allegations ranged from a failure to wash his hands between patients, reusing gloves between patients, and using dental equipment that was either not sterilised, or poorly sterilised.
There is of course never an excuse for putting patients safety at risk – but the media reports of D’Mello living a lavish lifestyle where he was earning £1,000 a day, coupled with our clients confirming that the practice was often rushed and busy, perhaps explains why infection control procedures were ignored. Perhaps Mr D’Mello put profits before patients.
But in addition to the insight about what it was like as a former patient of the ‘Dirty Dentist’ we have also been told about the chaos the surgery was in when Mr Desmond D’Mello was suspended by the General Dental Council. Patients were not offered any explanation when D’Mello mysteriously disappeared in June this year. Patient appointments were being cancelled without any reason offered whatsoever.
Of course, we know now why this had happened; Mr D’Mello had been struck off pending further investigation, and the surgery was seemingly shying away from explaining to their patients exactly why D’Mello had suddenly stopped practising.
The NHS recall was only announced this November – some five months after D’Mello ceased working there!
Investigations have already revealed that there could be serious concerns when it comes to patient records due to allegations of poor record keeping. When D’Mello mysteriously stopped practising in June, there was a great deal of speculation amongst patients and the local community as to what was going on. Our clients report that they heard rumours that something was ‘wrong’ although details about exactly why he had disappeared from the surgery never properly emerged until the NHS recall.
But the clinic was described as being in ‘chaos‘ as patient appointments were cancelled and treatment that people had been desperately waiting for was setback. Some patients were left without the dental care they needed for months, and many were forced to go elsewhere.
As an offshoot to the practises of D’Mello that have given rise to the legal proceedings we are engaging in, if there are any patients who suffered unduly because of delayed treatment, there may be a dental negligence claim for this. Whether the delay that was caused by the disappearance of D’Mello led to prolonged suffering or further complications, you have the right to claim for personal injury compensation.
We’re urging all former patients of D’Mello to contact us 0800 634 7575 for legal advice as soon as possible as the wheels are turning when it comes to taking action against him. If you have suffered further due to a delay in treatment when he was struck off in June, you may have a claim for this as well.
