We pursued a gynaecology negligence claim for Nina following
an unwanted hysterectomy. Nina will not be able to have any more
children. Mark Bowman,
senior associate in the
medical negligence department recovered
£80,000 compensation from King George Hospital, London within
a year of starting the claim.
Nina
fell pregnant in early 2009 and was was given a due date of
21 September. Her pregnancy was uncomplicated and on 25 September, four
days overdue, Nina referred
herself to the King George Hospital in London. She was discharged
home but attended again later in the day after feeling an increase
in her contractions.
Nina
was given an epidural and remained in labour until
approximately midnight, by which time she was fully dilated but her
baby's head was not advancing. Attempts were made to deliver the
baby by Ventouse (suction) but these were unsuccessful. Nina was advised that a Caesarean
Section was necessary.
Nina's
bladder was cut during the Caesarean Section and she
suffered massive blood loss. As a result of this injury Nina's uterus would not contract despite
the administration of syntocinon (a drug used to stimulate
the uterus and aid contractions). Nina gave birth to a healthy baby
girl.
A Bakri balloon was inserted to try to
manage the blood loss but there was a severe delay in obtaining blood
from the blood bank with some bags being lost within the hospital.
Nina continued to lose more
and more blood, and within 90 minutes of giving birth had lost over
3 litres of blood.
Over the course of the next few hours
Nina was not reviewed
sufficiently and continued to lose further
blood. Nina was
eventually admitted to to ITU (intensive treatment unit), five hours after
giving birth. She was very pale, agitated, very cold and
with a heart rate of over 150 beats per minute but no pulse in her
neck, arms and legs. She was still bleeding from her vagina.
Because of
her continual bleeding, Nina was transferred to the operating
theatre and a postpartum hysterectomy was performed. The operation took three hours.
After the operation,
Nina was transferred back to the
ITU and she spent a further ten days in hospital before being
discharged.
Nina
had been unable to see her baby daughter for the first three days
of her life, and was only able to see her for ten minutes per day
whilst in ITU. For the
first two months following her discharge, Nina was unable to care for her baby due
to her injuries. She was
practically unable to walk or lift.
Nina
started to suffer vivid flashbacks to her time in hospital and
her relationship with her partner was put under huge
stress. They had
previously planned on having at least two children but because of her
hysterectomy she will not be
able to have any more children.
Mark
Bowman was instructed to pursue a case for gynaecology negligence against the hospital for
the injuries that Nina suffered during the birth of her baby
girl.
Mark
obtained expert evidence on the care that Nina received from
a consultant anaesthetist and a consultant obstetrician. We also obtained reports of
Nina's current
condition, both mentally and
physically, and the risk of future problems from
a consultant
psychiatrist and consultant obstetrician.
We notified
the hospital of our intention to pursue a potential claim. The
hospital agreed to enter into settlement negotiations.
Following these
negotiations,
the hospital made an
offer of £80,000 which Nina
accepted.
Mark acted on a no
win no fee basis and Nina will receive the full £80,000
awarded as the hospital have
agreed to pay Nina's legal costs.
|
At the conclusion of the case Mark
Bowman said:
"£80,000 represents a very good settlement based on the
expert evidence obtained. This was a complex case and the expert
evidence suggested that it was very much "touch and go" as to
whether or not it would succeed.
"In spite of that, the defendants, relying on the
contents of their own internal investigation report, wished
to obtain a
prompt settlement, and given that this was in all parties best
interests, this was achieved."
|
|
After the claim was
settled Nina
said:
“We are both very grateful to Mark and very happy with
the way that we were looked after and kept informed throughout the
case. We can’t thank Mark enough”
|
For further information or if you have an
obstetrics
or gynaecology negligence compensation claim, call
Mark Bowman on 020 7861
4043 or email mark.bowman@ffw.com
You can discuss your
obstetrics 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.