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.
Early diagnosis of strokes improves outcome
Friday, 01 May 2009 00:00 | 
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John Pickering and Partners LLP have recently been instructed by a woman in her 40’s who suffered a stroke. She attended her local Accident & Emergency Hospital with classic symptoms of having a stroke, severe headache, sickness, dizziness, slurring of words but was turned away.
A recent case has been publicised for a woman who suffered a stroke 5 years ago. A Court in her claim has ruled that a stroke could have been prevented if she had been referred to hospital by her GP early enough.
Strokes are rare in young persons but long term affects can be improved if referred early enough.
Extensive TV advertising about the classic symptoms of a stroke by the Government has made the public much more aware of the early signs of a stroke and what to do.
The National Audit has found this month that 1 in 4 stroke victims are still not receiving the best treatment despite overall improvements in care.
The Audit carried out by the Royal College of Physicians, covers hospitals in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and was previously carried out in 2006.
Stroke is the third most common cause of death in the UK and an estimated £150,000 people suffer a stroke in Britain per annum.
Joe Korner, Director of Communications at the Stroke Association said: “really encouraging improvements are being made in Stroke Care. But .. also reveals areas where a lot of work is needed for stroke services to reach the quality mark set out in the National Stroke Strategy.
Ruth Davies, Partner at John Pickering and Partners LLP says: it is essential that symptoms are identified early on if a person is suffering from a stroke and a brain scan is undertaken to improve survival rates and the outcome for these patients.
Ruth Davies
John Pickering and Partners LLP
20 Clare Road
Halifax
HX1 2HX
Tele: 01422 345535
Fax: 01422 438500
Email: rd@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. She continues to practice as an independent funding ajudicator for the Legal Services Commission and acts on a pro-bona basis for the AvMA helpline.
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.