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.
Friday, 27 November 2009 00:00 | 
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The parents of a one year old girl born with Cerebral Palsy claim it was due to the negligence of the NHS hospital.
Vicky Higgins and Jimmy Hanson allege that the North Devon District Hospital caused undue delays to the delivery of their daughter Ruby, which ended up lasting 30 hours.
Ms Higgins said “She has cerebral palsy for life, she might not be able to work or do normal things, so the money is going to help her."
The hospital carried out an investigation into the incident and found that there were delays in the delivery. They also admitted that the doctor in charge of the delivery had failed to recognise the “deteriorating situation”.
Ruby’s parents are now seeking compensation for the illness caused by the mistakes.
Legal advisors estimate that the lifetime of care which Ruby will need because of her Cerebral Palsy will amount to around £5 million.
Independent medical experts have now been called upon to determine whether the failures of the hospital have in fact caused the illness from which Ruby now suffers.
Mike Roberts, the Trust’s medical director states “we’ve always been open and honest about what happened”
The legal representatives of the family are calling for a swift conclusion to the case in order so that Ruby may finally be afforded the care she deserves.
Nicola Smith
John Pickering and Partners LLP
20 Clare Road
Halifax
HX1 2HX
Tele: 01422 345535
Fax: 01422 438500
E mail: ns@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.