M v North Bristol NHS Trust (2008)
R v Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust
CPS v NHH NHS Trust
M v North Bristol NHS Trust (2008)
Withy King acted for M, who received £200,000 following negligent spinal decompression surgery in February 2004, when M was 58 years old. M suffered from Cauda Equina Syndrome, leading to incontinence, ongoing back pain, impotence and foot drop.
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R v Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust
The Claimant was 84 years of age as at the date of the negligence, and 88 years of age as at the date of settlement.
The Claimant underwent spinal surgery at Salisbury District Hospital in April 2005. It was alleged that surgery should not have been carried out in the first place, as the Claimant’s neurological condition was not deteriorating and that therefore his treating doctors should have waited to see what was going to happen as a sudden deterioration in the medical condition was unlikely. Furthermore, the risks and benefits of the surgery were not explained fully to the Claimant, the surgery itself was not carried out completely, subsequently a collar was fitted to the Claimant which caused a significant deterioration in his neurological condition with a subsequent delay in further surgery such that the Claimant was left almost completely paralysed from the neck down with only slight movement in one of his arms and hands. The Claimant was therefore wheelchair bound for the remainder of his life.
The claim was eventually settled in December 2008, just before the Claimant unfortunately died. The settlement was worth £470,000 made up of approximately £155,000 compensation for pain, suffering and affects upon everyday life, £170,000 for the Claimant’s financial losses including the past and future costs of care and loss of earnings as a District Councillor, plus a guarantee that £110,000 would be paid to the Local Authority if they were successful in reclaiming the past costs of care they had provided to the Claimant and guaranteeing approximately £35,000 per annum for the ongoing costs of care if the Local Authority were to withdraw their care from the Claimant in the future in whole or in part.
This claim was handled by Paul Rumley, Partner and Head of the Swindon/Marlborough Clinical Negligence Department.
CPS v NHH NHS Trust
Orthopaedic Spinal Surgery negligence – alleged failure to achieve adequate decompression following L4/L5 prolapse, leading to neuropathic bladder and chronic pain syndrome – ‘assault’ on ward leading to psychological injuries
Background
The Claimant suffers from Klinefelter’s Syndrome, and was born with a progressive radial ulnar synostosis of both arms. He also has a prior history of epilepsy. He left school with no qualifications, and was carrying out unpaid casual manual labour for his stepfather at the time of the accident that led to this litigation.
In December 1993, the Claimant suffered an L4/L5 disc prolapse while lifting a heavy pot in his parents’ garden. Although he complained of urinary symptoms in February/March 1994 to his General Practitioners, no onward referral for an orthopaedic opinion was arranged, merely a physiotherapy referral.
Eventually in April 1994, a Physiotherapist recommended an orthopaedic referral, and on 3rd May 1994 the Claimant was admitted to the Defendant General Hospital suffering from a moderate central L4/L5 disc prolapse that was indenting the theca, and causing pain and urinary problems, although there was no documented loss of perineal sensation.
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