Paul McNeil pursued a claim for a
49-year-old solicitor whose GP failed to diagnose a serious
infection which went on to cause septicaemia, toxic shock syndrome
and required admission to the Intensive Care Unit. The claim was
settled against the GP for £1.2 million.
Mark’s GP visited him at home and diagnosed acute gastritis and
bizarrely a possible peptic ulcer.
He prescribed painkillers, antacids and told Mark to call the
NHS out-of-hours service if his condition worsened (this was
disputed).
Mark’s then partner received a call out of the blue from the GP
that day. He said he wished to prescribe an anti-sickness drug and
said that he would see Mark again the following day. This indicated
to us that the GP belatedly recognised that Mark was seriously
ill.
Mark deteriorated overnight and his son found him very poorly
the following morning. His then partner called the GP who arranged
for Mark to be admitted to Southampton General Hospital (but to the
wrong ward).
Later, it was discovered that Mark was suffering from toxic
shock syndrome and septicaemia. This caused multi organ failure and
Mark nearly died. He was in intensive care for nearly three
weeks.
Mark’s recovery was slow and he was unable to practice as a
solicitor for more than a year.
We pursued a medical negligence claim against Mark’s GP.
Paul McNeil argued that Mark should have been referred to
hospital urgently when first seen by his GP with suspected
pneumonia or septicaemia. In addition, Mark’s symptoms did not
match the symptoms of peptic ulcer disease.
Liability was never admitted but we were able to negotiate a
settlement of £1.2 million for Mark.
The claim was funded on a no win, no
fee basis.