Case studies

We advised a client on a claim for delays in the diagnosis and treatment of her appendicitis at St Helier’s Hospital in Surrey. She was admitted to the hospital with severe pain in the right iliac fossa, vomiting and a high temperature and was placed under the care of the surgical team.

We settled a claim against the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust for its failure to counsel a patient about the risks of sustaining further perineal trauma after developing a third degree anal sphincter tear during her first delivery which required surgical repair, following which she had a number of complications.

We settled a claim against Yeovil District Hospital for the mismanagement of diabetes which led to the death of an elderly lady. Her family instructed us because they were concerned that her diabetes had been poorly managed and that she would not have died if it had been appropriately managed.

We agreed the settlement of a claim against St Mary’s Hospital, Isle of Wight, for the alleged failure to appropriately advise our client of 'red flag' symptoms of cauda equina syndrome when she was discharged from A&E.

We have recently settled a claim against Northwick Park Hospital for the alleged failure to appropriately diagnose and treat our client’s shoulder dislocation during his A&E attendance, causing a delay in treatment and avoidable nerve damage.

We are running a large number of clinical negligence claims against Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey relating to care provided by one of its former consultants, obstetrician and gynaecologist Jayne Cockburn. This latest claim formed part of an informal group action our team is pursing against the trust involving Miss Cockburn. She practised at Frimley Park Hospital until 2011 before officially resigning in December 2014 after it emerged that a number of her former patients had been recalled for review in July 2014 following a look-back exercise carried out by the trust. Nearly half of the patients who were contacted were advised by the doctors carrying out the review that the treatment provided by Miss Cockburn was ‘unnecessary’ and that ‘significant harm’ had been caused as a result.

We have recently settled a claim for substantial damages against Western Sussex Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust following its failure to act on signs and symptoms of fracture to our client's foot.

We have settled a claim against James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for a missed diagnosis of skin cancer which led to a client’s premature death.

We have recently settled a claim for a client who received NHS treatment at Nuffield Health, Brentwood Hospital, during which a nerve block was administered to the wrong side of his neck. As a result, he experienced years of numbness, pain and unpleasant pins and needles.

We settled a claim against a dermatologist for delayed diagnosis of the genetic condition Muir-Torre syndrome (MTS) which subsequently led to delayed diagnosis of bowel cancer.

We investigated a case relating to an elderly woman’s delayed diagnosis of lung cancer, from which sadly she died, on behalf of her husband. She attended Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital with a severe and persistent cough and was given a chest X-ray which was reported as normal. Subsequent consideration of the X-ray demonstrated that it in fact showed an area of abnormality and extra density behind the heart and therefore warranted further investigation. Those treating her thought that our client’s wife had an ENT related problem and referred her to an ENT physician, who was unable to find anything of concern and discharged her from his clinic. Her health continued to decline and she underwent a second chest X-ray two months later. Following this X-ray, lung cancer was diagnosed but it was too late to offer anything other than palliative care.

We have settled a claim against Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust for a husband who pursued a claim on behalf of the estate of his late wife. She had received negligent treatment from gynaecologist, Jayne Cockburn, and, as a result, had to undergo numerous unnecessary invasive operations causing her a great deal of pain and suffering.