Anyone know anything about medical negligence claims and where to start?

[alabasterangel]

just wondered if anyone had any experience on these matts.

My grandma who is otherwise fit and healthy, in her mid 70's, had a fall in the garden about 12 weeks ago. She thought she had just bumped her back but 24 hours later the paid was ramping up so she went to a&e. They took xrays and a consultant spoke to her and told her nothing was wrong. Gave her some pain killers, sent her home.

4 weeks later and the pain is still just as bad, she hadn't bee able to leave the house, or eat properly. We insisted she went back to hospital where they again told her nothing was wrong but no further investigations were done. She was told she had probably pinched a nerve or badly bruised herself. She was put on morphine and sent home again and given physio exercises to do to get mobile.

Another 4 weeks on and again, no respite. She is now depressed from it all, lost lots of weight, cancelled an overseas holiday (at a loss), and was getting desperate. So she paid for a private consultation at a well known osteopathic hospital. The consultant had sent for the initial xrays and saw them before she arrived. When she went in he told her she was lucky not to be a paraplegic - she had fractured her spine and they had totally missed it.

She was immediately admitted to the hospital and has had to have major surgery to strengthen the spine as it has not healed correctly - rods and plates in her back. The recovery looks like it is going to be long and arduous, and she has already been through weeks of I'll health before hand which will hinder her progress.

Of course personally I am furious, but very emotionally involved. I just wondered if this sounded like a medical negligence issue. Apart from anything else whoever got it so wrong needs to be stopped from making more mistakes. It could have been so much worse. What if she hadn't have been lucky enough to have been able to afford the £200 consultants fee? Many can't I know.

And if it is a medical negligence case, what do we do to get the ball rolling?

Thanks

[mumblechum1]

I'm not a med neg lawyer but used to do some many years ago, and in those days the first thing was to get hold of her medical notes then arrange for the client to be seen by an independent expert who would assess the client with the aid of the notes and give an opinion. If the opinion was that there was a case, proceedings would be issued and proceeded through court (often taking a couple of years or more). The defendants have the right to have the client/patient assessed by their own expert who often had a different viewpoint, and ultimately the court would decide whether the client was entitled to compensation for loss of earnings, pain and distress, expenses (eg holiday etc) and award compensation.

That was in the days of public funding (legal aid) being relatively easy to get, and before the ambulance chasing firms who advertise on daytime TV came to the forefront with no win no fee deals.

[wonkylegs]

Can I add a note of caution here - what do you want to gain from this process? Think about the benefits of bringing this kind of action - it won't necessarily be a particularly pleasant process and the main beneficiary will be lawyers nobody else.
You can make complaints about medical process without suing - this has the benefit of bringing about change without reducing the funds available which could otherwise be used to treat another needy patient.
It could be that there is no blame, and it's an unfortunate incident that fortunately has been dealt with. fractures are not always immediately obvious even some serious ones (due to the way they lie or are x-rayed) and severe bruising can cause as much or even more pain so isn't a unlikely diagnosis. I bruised my kneecap and it took 2 years to heal , I've also fractured my shoulder awkwardly and that was x-rayed 3 times before it was visible (I've even seen the films so I know how difficult it was for them)
Review your mums records, and try to objectively look at what you want out of the process before jumping down the medical negligence route.

[alabasterangel]

Totally not about money. We just want to make sure the right people are aware we feel this was negligent and need to get some clarity on whether this is best done legally I.e. Through a solicitor, or something we do ourselves directly to the party we feel is negligent (that particular hospital). I think considering what she has been through what we would be aiming to get would be some answers and a formal apology?

[wonkylegs]

Sorry if that sounds flippant but there are lawyers out there who will take your case even if there is little benefit to you as it'll mean fees to them alot advise on the bases that hospitals will settle if the legal costs to fight an action are too high - this is of no benefit if you are concerned about improving standards
It only benefits those who are more interested in the cash (and I'm not saying this is you as you sound like you have genuine concerns) but I do know of a case where a lady sued a dr / hospital with this very hope so she could go on holiday (she was blatant about the fact) unfortunately for her the hospital decided to stand it's ground and fight it. It felt that the previous position encouraged claims so they used her claim as an example.

[wonkylegs]

Sorry cross posted - if that's the case look down the hospital and PALs complaint route. Consider copying all correspondence to the hospital trusts chief exec as this tends to get the best response.

[wonkylegs]

I've made a complaint before and managed to get a fairly satisfactory outcome quite quickly You can PM if you want further detail - can't chat now as lunch break is coming to an end but really happy to point you in the right direction if I can

[mumblechum1]

Agree PALs is your best option if your gran isn't bothered about monetary gain (which could take years to come through)