We recovered £125,000 on the morning of trial in an
accident and emergency negligence claim
against Ealing General Hospital. Richard
Earle secured the claim for Kelly for their failure to
diagnose a blood clot.
On 23 March 1999, Kelly, aged 35, attended the A&E Department at Ealing General Hospital
following the sudden onset of a tingling sensation in her left arm.
The veins in her arm had also become very prominent.
Kelly was seen and examined by an SHO in A&E who
concluded that Kelly had a musculoskeletal problem and advised
Brufen and rest.
In fact, Kelly was suffering from axillary vein thrombosis
probably attributable to an oral contraceptive.
The following day, Kelly described her signs and symptoms to a
physiotherapist who diagnosed a blood clot and not a trapped
nerve.
Kelly consulted her GP who diagnosed an axillary vein thrombosis
and referred her back to Ealing General Hospital. After a delay of
several hours she was admitted and anticoagulant therapy
commenced.
Kelly was seen by a vascular surgeon on 7 September 1999 and he
advised intravenous thrombolysis of a blockage of the left axillary
vein followed by resection (i.e. removal) of her first left rib to
prevent recurrence of the thrombosis.
He carried out the operation under general anaesthetic on 30
September 1999. However, instead of removing Kelly’s first rib he
removed her second rib in error.
The first rib was therefore removed by way of a second operation
later that day.
The surgery led to recurrent pain in the left pectoral muscles
and recurrent aches and pains over the left posterior neck and
shoulder muscles along with discomfort on the left shoulder and
back, decreased sweating in the left axilla, a 5.5cm scar on the
left axilla and restricted upper left chest function.
Richard Earle was instructed to
pursue a vascular surgery negligence and
accident and emergency negligence claim
against Ealing General Hospital.
Proceedings were issued on 18 March 2002 supported by a positive
report from a consultant surgeon. He was critical of the failure in
the A&E Department to make the correct
diagnosis and contended the delayed diagnosis had a marked effect
on her loss of respiratory function.
In addition, the expert was highly critical of the decision to
undertake surgery at all and critical of the wrong rib being
removed and that a second operation took place when Kelly was not
in a position to provide informed consent.
Richard Earle listed the case for
trial on 6 March 2006. Following discussions between the surgeons
(instructed by both parties), the defendant maintained its stance
that the surgery was carried out appropriately and it was not
unreasonable to mistakenly remove the second for the first rib.
On the morning of the trial the defendant made an offer of
£75,000. Following negotiations at the Court door the case was
settled for £125,000. The case was taken with the benefit of
Legal Aid.
For further information or if you have an accident and emergency negligence claim, call
Richard Earle on
020 7861 4041 or email richard.earle@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.