On 25 May 2001, Samuel attended the Accident and Emergency Department at his
local hospital. He was then aged 22 having just completed a
university degree in Physics. He was complaining of a severe
headache which caused him to vomit.
He was examined by a nurse and admitted to hospital. After
a further examination by the SHO (Senior House Officer), he was
prescribed pain killers and later sickness pills. At
3.45am it was recorded that Samuel was discharged from the
hospital.
In fact, he was still in hospital because his neurological
condition was deteriorating. He was incontinent and drifting
in and out of consciousness. His father, who was by his
bedside requested that a CT scan be carried out at about
5.20am.
Samuel continued to deteriorate. A CT scan was not in fact
carried out until 11:18, by which time his condition had
worsened very significantly.
The CT showed a colloid cyst and he was urgently referred to a
neuro-surgery hospital for surgery. Sadly he died the
following day.
Paul McNeil pursued an accident and emergency negligence claim on behalf
of Samuel's parents.
Paul alleged that Samuel's death was avoidable. The
A&E clinicians at the hospital
had failed to recognise the severity of his symptoms,
his deteriorating level of consciousness and failed to perform
an urgent CT scan.
We argued that if the CT scan had been performed a diagnosis
would have been made earlier and surgery performed so as to remove
the cyst before significant brain damage
had occurred.
The claim was strongly contested by the hospital even though
their own internal investigation had criticised the care that
Samuel received.
After negotiations the claim was settled for £40,000, payable
jointly to Samuel's parents. The case was funded on
Legal Aid.
For further information or if you have an accident and emergency negligence
claim, call Paul
McNeil
on 020 7861 4019 or email paul.mcneil@ffw.com
You can discuss your accident and emergency
negligence claim with any member of our
medical negligence team on
freephone 0800 358 3848, email personalinjury@ffw.com
or complete our short enquiry form.