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.

Experience of Accident and Emergency cases are wide and varied but include:

1. Failure to diagnose, manage and treat a fracture
2. Failure to diagnose meningitis
3. Failure to diagnose an operable brain tumour

The correct treatment in these cases would have avoided serious injury or death.

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.

For 2 years the Claimant lived with the deformity until she was able to undergo a complicated femoral bone lengthening salvage surgery which required her to wear an external full leg fixator for 9 months. She suffered pin infections.  Unfortunately, the regenerating bone subsequently re-fractured and the fixator  had to be re-applied for a further period of time.  She suffered from scarring which she would not have otherwise have had and felt embarrassed and shy about the appearance of the leg, leading to psychological distress.

Supportive evidence was served for the Claimant from an orthopaedic surgeon, a consultant plastic surgeon who commented about scarring and from a psychiatrist who commented about the psychological distress.

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 requirement for the leg lengthening surgery, which otherwise would have been unnecessary.

Claire Horton
Old Exchange Buildings
St Ann's Passage
29/31 King Street
Manchester, M2 6BE

Tele: 0161 834 1251
Fax: 0161 834 1505

T v Aintree Hospitals NHS Trust

The claimant  had an accident whilst representing Merseyside in a hurdle event. Later that day he attended A&E at Fazakerly Hopsital and was examined by a senior house offer and sent for an X-ray.

The X-ray was reported as normal and he was sent home. The next day he went back with pain and continued swelling and he was told that a consultant radiologist had looked at the X-ray and again it was reported as normal.

The pain and swelling did not resolve, and over the next 3 months he went back to the hospital on 3 further occasions, each time being reassured that there was nothing wrong.

After 3 months the ankle was re-xrayed and the missed fracture was spotted immediately. The X-ray revealed that the claimant  had suffered a very obvious, displaced fracture to the ankle bone which had gone on to non-union.

The claimant  required surgery under general anaesthetic to unite the ankle fracture using part of his own hip bone.

This case was investigated by obtaining independent medical evidence and it was concluded that there was a failure to :

• Consider the pain and swelling of the ankle
• Obtain appropriate views of the ankle
• Identify the fracture on the x-rays taken
• Immobilise the ankle in plaster and provide appropriate treatment

From the medical evidence it was established that had the correct medical treatment been provided in the form of immobilisation within 2 weeks of the injury, there would have been an 80% chance of union of the fracture without the need for surgery.

The case settled for £20,000 which included damages for pain and suffering, a operation under general anaesthetic and care that  was provided by the claimant’s parents.

Further information:

Rachel Donovan
John Pickering and Partners LLP
19 Castle Street
Liverpool
L2 4SX

Freephone:    0808 144 0958
Fax:                0151 258 1262
E-mail:           don@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.