HOSPITAL bosses failed to diagnose and properly treat a police officer’s leg injury, meaning it had to be amputated, a legal document claims.

PC Miles Wilson from Bournemouth slipped on a low fence as he got out of a police car responding to an emergency call outside Southampton Magistrates Court, breaking his right leg in two places.

He was admitted to Southampton General Hospital for treatment but five days later his leg was amputated above the knee by surgeons who discovered his blood supply had been cut off and his tissues were dead.

The 38-year-old, who was a frontline officer in the city, has launched a legal battle against Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust claiming a minimum of £300,000 in damages.

He has managed to return to work, but only on light duties, and uses a prosthetic leg.

PC Wilson’s solicitors blame a catalogue of failings by medical staff. The firm, Russell Jones and Walker, claims hospital chiefs have admitted they were negligent in failing to conduct surgery within 12 hours.

A writ issued at the High Court says that on the night of the accident on November 19, 2009, PC Wilson was on an intravenous drip and was complaining of severe pains around his ankle and tingling in his foot.

By late the following night, his temperature was 38.1 degrees and he was sweaty and vomiting. He could not keep fluids down and was dehydrated, the writ says.

A specialist registrar failed to review him that night, it adds.

The results of a CT scan had not been seen and an MRI scan had not been done.

The legal document states that late on November 23, nurses asked that PC Wilson be reviewed by a specialist registrar because his foot was “dusky”. They in turn thought he may be suffering from an artery injury and thrombosis and the following morning it was agreed “surgical exploration” should take place – but it was delayed because theatre was full, it is claimed.

When the operation finally took place, PC Wilson’s leg was removed above the knee.

PC Wilson’s solicitors blame a “breach of duty” and say the hospital trust was negligent, failing PC Wilson from the emergency department onwards.

The writ says PC Wilson should have undergone surgery to repair the damaged artery the morning after he was admitted.

Solicitor Paul Sankey said: “This is a police officer who was acting in the public interest, taking risks with his own safety for the benefit of the public. Because he wasn’t treated properly he has ended up this way. It is something that should not have happened.”

He added: “The reality is that he has been left very disabled by a life-changing injury and he is trying hard to put his life back together.”

No one at the health trust was available for comment.