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.
Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Cases recalled by Southport & Formby District Hospital
Wednesday, 27 October 2010 14:26 | 
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Over 500 eye examinations of diabetic patients are being reviewed after concerns about two members of staff at the Southport & Formby District Hospital. The screening for diabetic retinopathy was carried out at Southport & Formby District Hospital between April 2009 and July 2010.
The condition, a diabetes complication which damages the retina over time, can lead to blindness if not treated early.
The screening examination involves photographing the back of a patient’s eye and grading the images on a scale of 0 (no evidence of diabetic retinopathy) to 3.
It was during the period of performance monitoring that concerns were raised about two members of staff and they were taken off grading duties “in the interest of patient’s safety” the Trust said.
The two members of staff will return to their regular duties after receiving training to remedy the concerns raised in the performance test, the Trust said.
Please note that a helpline has been set up for any patient with concerns, the number is 01704 704070.
Rachel Donovan, Medical Negligence Solicitor, for John Pickering and Partners LLP said “the team at John Pickering and Partners urge anyone with concerns to urgently contact the helpline. If they have any legal concerns thereafter, they should then contact one of our clinical negligence specialist solicitors to discuss these further”.
If you want to talk to a specialist solicitor about this or any related matter please contact Rachel Donovan at our Liverpool office (don@johnpickering.co.uk), Claire Horton at our Manchester office (hort@johnpickering.co.uk), or Ruth Davies at our Halifax office (rd@johnpickering.co.uk) .
ABOUT JOHN PICKERING AND PARTNERS LLP
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 adjudicator 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 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.