Accident and Emergency
This is often the first point of contact a patient will have with the NHS due to an illness or after an injury. The staff who practise in emergency medicine have skills in prevention, diagnosis and management.
Case reports
T -v- Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Trust
The Claimant was taken to the Accident & Emergency Department at Calderdale Royal Infirmary after being knocked down by a car
and was diagnosed as having an unstable short spiral fracture of the right femur. Her leg was placed in a splint which had to be re-applied because it was the wrong size. She was admitted to the children’s ward of the hospital. She remained in hospital but there was a failure to monitor the healing process of her leg in the splint, to the extent that poor union of the femur was achieved and her leg was bent when the bone was healed and had a boney protruberance. The bowing of the leg also entailed shortening of the femur and consequently the leg itself.
The case settled for £28,000.00 which included damages for care provided to the Claimant by her parents, the cost of some reconstructive surgery on her scarring and damages for her psychological distress, as well as for the leg injuries overall and for the otherwise would have been unnecessary.
Forceps delivery not in theatre, delayed caesarean section;
Wednesday, 03 March 2010 00:00 | 
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Our client was born at Calderdale Hospital in Halifax in 2002. After enquiries and correspondence, Claire Horton, specialist clinical negligence solicitor, liability and causation in relation to her injuries (which are severe) has been admitted. Her injuries were caused by the application of the forceps which trapped the umbilical cord.
As the attempted delivery by forceps was made on the ward, not in theatre, and failed partly due to the wrong type of forceps being used, the serious deprivation of oxygen suffered by the baby caused by the trapped cord lasted for 22 minutes before transfer to and delivery in theatre by caesarean section could occur. We said that the wrong type of forceps were used and the attempt to deliver by forceps was bound to fail. In any event, the attempted delivery by forceps should not have been made away from the theatre where such attempts are usually made, and where it would have been possible to change over quickly to caesarean section when the attempt inevitably failed.
Our client now has severe cerebral palsy which affects all her limbs. She cannot swallow and is fed via tube. She is severely mentally disabled and has a very small head. She suffers from epilepsy. Her vision has been affected by the damage to her brain.
Our client will require substantial care and assistance throughout her life and work is now being carried out in the case to assess the total value of the compensation the hospital will have to pay. This may be the subject of a further Court hearing if it cannot be agreed, but in the interim the hospital have paid a substantial sum in damages so that a care regime can be set up. Our client has been given immense care by her family and in particular, her mother, who has looked after her in very difficult circumstances, owing to the extensive nature of her injuries.
This case was brought with the help of Legal Aid. The support of the Community Legal Services Commission was invaluable in helping pay for the medical evidence needed in this case.
Further information:
Claire Horton, Solicitor
John Pickering and Partners LLP
Old Exchange Buildings
St Ann’s Passage
29/31 King Street
Manchester M2 6B
Freephone: 0808 144 0957
Fax: 0161 834 1505
E-mail: hort@johnpickering.co.uk
Website: www.johnpickering.co.uk
Notes
John Pickering and Partners LLP
About Us
Our clients are people who have suffered injury as a result of a medical accident in the UK. We are clinical and medical negligence solicitors. We handle negligence claims against hospitals, GP’s and other medical practitioners for clients across the UK.
We try to obtain maximum amounts of compensation.
We are committed to providing public funding (previously known as Legal Aid) and have a franchise from the Community Legal Services Commission. This means that they have looked at the firm carefully and approved of the way we work. They consider that we are medical negligence claims specialists. They trust us to handle medical accident claims properly.
If you are not eligible for public funding, we can offer a Conditional Fee Agreement, also known as a ‘no win, no fee’ agreement with insurance. We shall check the best method of funding your claim.
All 3 of our offices (Liverpool, Manchester and Halifax) are accredited by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.
Claire Horton is an experienced clinical negligence solicitor who is based in our Manchester office. She continues to practice as an independent funding ajudicator for the Legal Services Commission and acts on a pro-bono basis for the AvMA helpline.
For further advice on medical negligence in Liverpool please also contact Rachel Donovan and for Halifax contact Ruth Davies, who are both experienced in the field of clinical negligence.
We provide free initial advice to people seeking information about a potential clinical negligence claim.
If you need advice about a clinical negligence claim, contact us now for information about making a claim for compensation.