A PATIENT has told of his fury after his foot was set at the wrong angle in surgery to correct a broken leg.

Michael Loftus, 24, of Rockcliffe Street, Blackburn, shattered part of his fibula and tibia when he fall down a flight of steps in town.

He underwent surgery at the Royal Blackburn Hospital the next day, eventually needing a general anaesthetic because of the pain.

But he woke to discover he was still in agony – and his right foot had been re-set 10 degrees to the right.

And he is angry that he remains in hospital waiting for surgery to rectify the error 12 days after the initial operation.

Hospital bosses have launched an investigation into the 'mistake'.

Mr Loftus said: “They were going to send me home because they didn't even realise there was something wrong with it at first.

“You can see it straight away. It's slanted to the right hand side.

“It's painful around my ankle. It's just a shambles.”

Stephen Loftus, 25, visited his brother in hospital and said he was there when staff realised what was wrong.

Michael, who works as a mechanic, it was two days later that medics decided they needed to re-set the foot.

He said: “A consultant seeing a guy in the opposite bed to me came in and he said 'your foot is twisted to the side. It doesn't look right', so he sent me for a scan.

“He said it needed to be put back straight, but since then I have been on the waiting list three times for surgery and each time it has been cancelled.

"They said other fractures had come in.

“It's been nearly two weeks and I've been nil by mouth three times now, not eating ready for an operation.

“I want to get back to work but this is slowing down my recovery.”

The Lancashire Telegraph's health expert Dr Tom Smith said it was an 'unacceptable' mistake.

He said: “I've never known of this before. When you are putting a leg back together you are very careful to get it in exactly the right alignment.

“The normal thing is for the bone to be broken again and reset.

“Judging by what this looks like, this is really unacceptable.

“If it's stuck like that in order to turn his foot straight he would have to turn his knee and internally rotate his hip, which would eventually damage his hip joint.”

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust said Mr Loftus was undergoing surgery to correct the mistake as the Lancashire Telegraph went to print.

A hospitals trust spokesman said the problem with Mr Loftus' foot was not identified until last Thursday, and that the first opportunity it could have been operated on was Friday, September 17.

She said Mr Loftus had not yet made an official complaint to the hospital, but confirmed the matter was under investigation and said until then the trust could not comment further.

She said: “The original mistake and what has happened since is still under investigation.”