Case studies

We recently settled a claim for an elderly gentleman who suffered a delay in diagnosis of an Achillies injury after medical professionals in A&E at Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust negligently advised that no serious injury had been sustained.

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.

We have acted in a number of cases where administrative errors and oversights have resulted in delays in diagnosing and treating patients, some with tragic consequences. In one case, a client attended his GP with a suspected malignant melanoma. His test results were subsequently misfiled.

Our client had suffered from pain in her left knee for a number of years. Following an investigation, she was told she needed to have a total knee replacement (TKR).

Our client broke her leg during a charity parachute jump. The fracture did not unite properly and her treating surgeons decided a bone graft was needed. Unfortunately, they neglected to identify an infection in the wound that was diagnosed only when our client experienced severe pain because of growing pressure inside her plaster.

Our medical negligence solicitors acted on behalf of a young man who injured his wrist falling onto his out-stretched hand. He presented to A&E in pain; was x-rayed and told that there was no sign of a fracture. He was not told to come back if the pain continued.

Our client underwent ACL reconstruction to repair damage to the ligament. This involves creating a tunnel through the femur (thigh bone) and tibia (one of the two bones in the lower leg). A graft is then taken from the hamstring, inserted into the tunnel and secured.

We have recently settled a case against a private orthopaedic surgeon for inappropriate and technically unacceptable knee surgery. Our client is in her 60s and had suffered intermittent knee pain for several years. The surgeon had advised against operating. She then had two isolated episodes of immobilising pain and sought his advice. Without further investigations or examination, he told her she needed a partial knee replacement which he performed a couple of months later.

Our client, a professional footballer, fractured his leg in the course of a match. He was taken to hospital and underwent surgery to fix the fracture. However, this was negligently performed.

Our client from Torbay twisted his knee on an Italian skiing holiday. He sought local medical advice and was told that he had almost certainly damaged his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). He was advised to allow ten days for the knee to settle before having an MRI scan to assess the extent of the damage.

Our medical negligence solicitors recovered damages of £400,000 for a client who developed compartment syndrome in hospital following a fall and a leg fracture.

Knee replacement surgery has developed significantly and become much more widespread in recent years, but requires highly specialised surgical expertise.