Samantha Critchley
Alison was admitted to hospital suffering from diabetic
ketoacidosis. A central line for the administration if medication
and fluids was placed in the wrong position.
This was not recognised and as a result, Alison did not receive
the necessary input of medication and her condition deteriorated.
By the time the doctors realised the mistake, she had been admitted
to intensive care.
Complications included an MRSA infection. At one point Alison
was in a coma and it was felt she would not survive. Happily she
did survive but was left with a number of significant
disabilities.
Alison's injuries included a generalised and focal injury to her
brain, resulting in cognitive and behavioural difficulties, damage
to her lungs, a psychiatric injury and a serious disability causing
clawing of the fingers on her dominant hand.
Samantha Critchley
acted for Alison and she secured a formal admission of breach of
duty in February 2006. Court proceedings were served in December
2006 and expert evidence was obtained from experts spanning
seven different areas of medicine.
Judgment was entered in Alison’s favour in
April 2007. The case was complicated by the fact that she had a
number of underlying health problems including diabetes, rheumatoid
arthritis and back pain, for which she was already in receipt of
Disability Living Allowance.
This made quantifying the claim very
difficult. The hospital’s starting offer in November 2006 had been
£40,000. Following negotiation, the sum of £150,000 was secured on
Alison’s behalf.
In addition, the hospital agreed to pay all of
the legal costs. The award enabled Alison to move home to be nearer
her family, which was her main goal throughout the course of the
litigation. The case was funded by Legal
Aid.
After the settlement Alison’s parents
said:
“We would like to thank you for all the hard
work that you and your team have done in obtaining such a wonderful
result for Alison.
"She is over the moon at the prospect of
coming back to Bournemouth to live and so are we”
For further information or if you have
a diabetic negligence
claim please call Samantha
Critchley on 020 7861 4263 or email samantha.critchley@ffw.com
You can discuss your diabetic 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.