Clinical Negligence Case Studies

Andrew

When she was 33 weeks into her pregancy with Andrew, his mother suffered a sudden increase in her blood pressure. This was a dangerous situation and she should have been admitted to hospital at once. There was a delay of four days in admitting her and by the time she reached hospital, Andrew was in a very poor condition and had to be delivered at once, even though the pregnancy was several weeks short of full term.

Soon after he was delivered he suffered fits and was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. He was severely disabled. We pursued a claim for damages on Andrew’s behalf, arguing that his disability was caused by the delay in admitting his mother to hospital after her blood pressure increased.

The NHS argued that Andrew’s disability was the unavoidable result of his prematurity and that nobody had been at fault. We pursued the matter to trial and obtained a settlement for Andrew, comprising a seven figure lump sum award of damages and the agreement of the NHS to make annual payments rising to £80,000 per year (present value) for life to cover his recurring care and therapy needs.

We also challenged Andrew’s local authority over its provision for his education and community care. We obtained a court order requiring social services to provide a proper assessment and care plan as well as succeeding in a tribunal appeal for funding for him to attend a special school as a weekly boarder.

Sarah

Both of Sarah’s hips were dislocated at birth. This should have been spotted and treated before she reached her second birthday. Unfortunately the diagnosis was missed by her family doctor and later missed again by a surgeon. Not until she was five years old did she receive treatment and although that was successful, the delay meant that her hips would fail and require replacement by the time she reached the age of 40.

Had the dislocations been identified and treated before her second birthday, the need for replacement surgery would have been deferred until much later in her life, with a consequennt reduction in the number of subsequent revision procedures required.

With our help, Sarah claimed damages and although her claims were strongly resisted, she received awards compensating her for her injury.

Rose

Rose underwent abdominal surgery in an NHS hospital. Although the surgery achieved its intended outcome, Rose received inadequate pre-operative antibiotics and was left with a severe wound infection which proved very difficult to treat and adversely affected her physical and mental health.

She underwent several further operations. The infection caused permanent damage to her abdominal wall. Her claim for damages was resisted by the NHS trust but after we commenced court proceedings on Rose’s behalf, the trust agreed to settle and after negotiations, her claim settled with an award of £72,000 damages.

To find out more about our clinical negligence services, please contact us.