A WOMAN is taking legal action against a hospital trust after enduring months of agony because surgeons left a three centimetre pin in her little toe.

Janice Wayman, 49, from Ferryhill, County Durham, had what should have been routine surgery at Darlington Memorial Hospital in March last year, to straighten her toes as a result of osteoarthritis.

The operation involved inserting a number of pins into her foot, which was then put in plaster for five weeks.

The plaster and pins were removed in April leaving Mrs Wayman in excruciating pain and struggling to walk, but she was told this was normal.

Then in August – more than four months after all the pins should have been removed – she found something sharp at the end of her little toe and discovered a pin, which had started to work its way free.

Now she has instructed clinical negligence lawyer Stephen Winn, from the law firm Irwin Mitchell, to investigate a claim against County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust.

Mrs Wayman said she returned to her job as a housing association business development manager shortly after the surgery, but struggled every day.

She said: “I also had a wedding to attend in Las Vegas in June last year. I had to wear one pair of sandals for the whole holiday as I could not fit my swollen foot into any other shoes. The pain in my foot ruined the holiday.”

“By August, I was getting pain in my little toe, like I had an ingrown toenail. I cut my toenail to then discover a piece of metal protruding from my toe.”

Mr Winn, representing Mrs Wayman, said: “The normal recovery time for this relatively simple procedure is three to four months, however, Janice suffered unnecessarily for five months.”

A spokesman for County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust said: “This case is subject to an active legal claim so it is not appropriate to comment.”