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.
Nervous Shock/Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
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Patients who have experienced clinical injury can develop psychological, as well as physical trauma. A claim can be pursued for this. The law also allows some close relatives to bring a claim for psychological trauma caused by witnessing at first hand the death through negligence of a loved one.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (which is commonly referred to by as PTSD) is a severe anxiety disorder which can develop after exposure to any event which results from psychological trauma.
PTSD is a less frequent and longer lasting consequence of psychological trauma than the more frequently seen acute stress response. People who suffer from PTSD may have symptoms including re-experiencing the original trauma via flashback or nightmares, avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and difficulties such as in falling or staying asleep, anger and hyper-vigilance. Such symptoms which last over a long period of time and which significantly impair social, occupational or other areas of function are categorised as a formal psychiatric condition. Claims may be brought in relation to this where it is caused by clinical negligence.
A claim for PTSD is often included in cases where psychological, as well as physical injury, have resulted from clinical negligence. This firm regularly includes a claim for compensation for PTSD in claims that are brought where the medical evidence supports this. Also, a claim may be brought where a close relative witnesses at first hand the death of a loved one through clinical negligence and an example of such a claim is listed below.
The person claiming must have suffered a recognised psychiatric illness which was reasonably foreseeable due to a negligent act. Most often, this is post traumatic stress disorder and/or pathological grief.
Primary and secondary victims
For primary victims the law requires no more than foreseeability of injury and the resultant psychiatric injury, as supported by a psychiatrist or a psychologist.
By contrast, the secondary victim (i.e. those who are themselves not in danger but witnessed danger to others) the law is more strict, requiring a close relationship with the person in danger and a close proximity in time and place to the incident.
To succeed in a secondary victim case, the Claimant must satisfy the layered proximity test and prove:-
- That psychiatric harm to a Claimant of reasonable fortitude was reasonably foreseeable;
- There was a close tie of love and affection between the Claimant and the primary victim;
- The claim was proximate in time and space to the incident or the immediate aftermath;
- The harm was triggered by the sudden appreciation of a horrifying event;
- The Claimant experienced the event through their own unaided senses.
Case reports
Son who helps dying father obtains compensation
Darren was just 11 years old when his father collapsed at home. Bravely, he assisted his mother helping his father to the floor so that his mother could try and resuscitate him.
On arriving at hospital, Darren was told that his father had died. He was devastated and subsequently diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Darren and his family felt let down by the hospital since his father had attended Accident and Emergency with dizzy spells but had simply been discharged. The hospital should have done further investigations.
Claire Horton, specialist clinical negligence solicitor took on the case on behalf of the family. The family were keen to ensure that such a case of medical negligence was not repeated. They instructed Claire because of her expertise in medical negligence claims against hospitals.
She was able to secure a settlement of £14,500 for Darren for his claim and an acknowledgment that the hospital were at fault.
Darren said: “your service has been excellent throughout. Thank you for everything you have done regarding my case and helping me close a difficult chapter in my life. Your service has been excellent throughout”.
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.
If you would like to speak to the solicitor who settled this case please contact Claire Horton on freephone 0808 144 0957 or at our Manchester office telephone number on 0161 834 1251 or email: hort@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.