A HOTELIER faces having his foot amputated after an allegation of misdiagnosis at Dorset County Hospital.

David Knight, from Weymouth, is now seeking compensation from the crisis-hit Dorchester hospital.

He claims that he now faces an uncertain future following the failure to diagnose a condition known as Charcot foot.

He claims that when he first attended the hospital there did not appear to be enough staff to cope and that hygiene was well below standard.

Mr Knight, 57, is now reliant on crutches to get around and is likely to have to undergo further surgery and possibly amputation of his right foot. He claims that if the condition had been diagnosed correctly he would not have suffered the health problems and possible surgery he now faces.

Mr Knight, said: “I only wish that the treatment I received in 2007 was as good as I have been getting recently in 2009 from the Diabetic Clinic.

“It has been brilliant. I had no idea what to expect in 2007 when I attended with my problem foot. If the treatment had been up to the standard it is now, then I would not be in the position I now find myself in.

“What did strike me back in 2007 was the lack of nursing staff and the ones that were there were rushed off their feet, although surprisingly there seemed to be a lot of administration staff around.

“The nurses didn’t have time to care for patients and the ward was well below standard in the cleanliness stakes.”

Mr Knight’s claim is being brought by clinical negligence specialist Tom Cook at solicitors Kester Cunningham John.

He said: “Mr Knight began seeking medical advice for problems relating to his feet back in 2002, the same year as he was diagnosed with diabetes.

“He had problems first with a swollen toe, then with increasingly troublesome ulcers. His more serious symptoms emerged in January 2007, when he was sent by his GP to the Dorset County Hospital. “In early February he attended a podiatry clinic at his GP’s surgery where the nurse told him she believed he had a Charcot foot, and referred him to the diabetic foot clinic at the hospital the following day.

“When he attended the clinic, the nurse’s diagnosis was contradicted rather than confirmed. “This was the start of over two months of delay prior to proper diagnosis, during which time the condition of the foot deteriorated substantially.

“Had the hospital confirmed in early February or even March that Mr Knight had Charcot foot, he could have been treated appropriately and would, in the opinion of our experts, have a usable foot and substantially less pain.

“By bringing this claim Mr Knight hopes to obtain sufficient compensation to enable him to have a similar quality of life to the one he would have had if he had been diagnosed and treated earlier and not lost the use of his foot. “He also hopes the claim will prompt the hospital to improve its procedures so that others don’t find themselves in the same position.”

A spokesperson for Dorset County Hospital said: “This is an ongoing legal claim and therefore we cannot make any comment about the case at this time.”