Case studies

We settled a claim on behalf of the estate of an elderly lady who suffered a stroke after her anticoagulant treatment was not recommenced following surgery.

Our elderly care specialists secured a settlement for the family of a woman in her 80s who suffered a series of avoidable injuries while under hospital care.

Acting upon personal recommendation from a leading medical negligence barrister, our client instructed us to investigate a claim relating to the death of her husband after he suffered a head injury at home.

We were approached by the family of Mr Thomas who died aged 81 in July 2009. He was attended at home in Esher, Surrey, by an ambulance crew to take him to hospital. Whilst being transferred to the ambulance, Mr Thomas was physically dropped and struck his head on a step.

In this case, we successfully pursued a claim for the widower of a lady whose GP failed to recognise the signs and symptoms that should have led him to diagnose unstable angina or acute myocardial infarction (MI).

Our client had long-standing hip degeneration and eventually was told she needed a total hip replacement. She had the operation at St Richard’s Hospital in Worthing, East Sussex and initially seemed to be recovering well. However, after her discharge from hospital, she found her pain was increasing and her mobility getting worse. The wound was infected and investigations revealed she had acquired an MRSA infection whilst in hospital at the site of the surgery in her hip.

Our client, a woman in her 60s, accidentally cut herself preparing food at home. She went to her local hospital, Ellesmere Port Hospital, where she was seen in the dressings clinic and told by the nurse that the injury would heal itself. She went back in five days and the wound was checked and the dressing changed. She was reassured the injury would heal and discharged.

In this case, an elderly patient in hospital with a known bowel obstruction collapsed.

We agreed settlement of a claim against Frimley Park Hospital for negligent care that led our client to develop numerous pressure sores during a series of admissions over several years.

We advised on a claim against Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust after our client’s father had developed pressure sores while in hospital following a fall. There were various issues concerning the nursing care that he received.

We recently settled a claim arising out of the death of an elderly lady as a result of a head injury sustained due to an avoidable hospital fall.

This case involved a claim against The Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust for a client whose husband died following a fall in hospital. The trust repeatedly failed to adequately carry out falls risk assessments.