Was the NHS Hospital negligent

[jazy1979]

Sorry i no its a bit long but any advise would be greatly appreciated

Ive never wanted to go down the route of suing the NHS they saved my son and if it was not for them he would not be here.
However when he was critically ill their where a number of incidences which i was not happy with.
First incidence my son was admitted to hospital at 2.30 am with suspected GBS meningitis and was in the treatment room till 7 am till whilst waiting for test results. During this time no medication was given to him.
He became so ill that they decided to transfer him to PICU.
Throughout these hours in the treatment room my son was lifeless, blue, grunting, swollen fontanel, blotchy, and had shallow breathing. At 7 am they had to bag him to assist his breathing and only then he was transfered to PICU and given treatment.
At 5pm they took him for a CAT scan(and he was gone for nearly 2 hours)when he came back he had a lump on his head the size of a golf ball the docs started accusing me and my family of dropping him or banging his head (which caused a lot of heart ache and accusations). in which they then came back saying they where satisfied it was not us. (i think it was a accident what happen down CAT scan the portable ventilators and machines where either side of his head).
The third issue was when he came off PICU my son started having strange one sided body movements which where lasting a few seconds i kept getting the doctor who was stood outside the room to come and check each time, and each time he came in the movements stopped only to start up again a minute later. After calling the doc in at least 5 times maybe more (over a twenty minute period)i told him he was not allowed to leave the room in which then it was diagnosed he was having partial seizures and then we found brain damage had occurred.

It is now that the front lobal brain damage is affecting my son daily in all aspects of his life that i have felt a need to look at this route and whether their failure to act contributed to the brain damage my son had

I am really sorry your son is suffering from brain damage after his illness. I cannot comprehend being in your position.

The injury to his head should be investigated and I would certainly begin by issuing a formal complaint asking for it to be investigated and let things lead on from there.

The stuff about the lump on his head does not seem to be relevant. The central question is whether the apparent lack of treatment from 2.30am to 7.30am contributed to your son's brain damage. You will need an expert medical opinion to answer that question.

Sorry - the stuff about the lump on his head is only relevant if that is how the brain damage was caused but that doesn't seem to be what you are saying.

You and your son have my sympathy, of course.

Another issue which happened 2 years later my son had started acting strangely we live 2 mins from a minor accident and injury department so we rushed him there ( his eyes had rolled to one side, his body had gone stiff, and he was unresponsive) they turned us away and told us to take him to the nearest A&E which is 20 mins away. We rushed to the car to take him there when he started having a seizure only then the nurses in the minor department let us in in and started treatment whilst waiting for a ambulance which transferred him to A&E his seizure lasted 45 mins

No i don't believe the damage occurred as a result of the lump i feel it may be due to the lack of treatment given from 2.30-7.00 am.
thanks for the advise

The link below may be of help. It described the procedure for making complaints about treatment under the NHS (Health care complaints procedure). I did some research on this a few years ago and unless the system has changed it is important you follow the steps described. most of the people I spoke to wanted nothing more than an admission that something had gone wrong with the procedures, and an apology.

www.avma.org.uk/data/files/nhs_complaints_england_2009.pdf

I'd say that you need to seek advice from a medical negligence solicitor.

You need to get a copy of the hospital records relating to the GBS incident in hospital when DS was a baby. This costs around £50 depending on the hospital. cant set up link as stupid computer is playing up! Google tho its quite easy.

The Scope website will also have details of medical negligence procedures.

You need to contact a solicitor dealing specifically with cases of hospital negligence. If they take the case they will get medical experts to look through the notes to see where mistakes were made.

The process will probably take years to resolve and be prepared for an exhausting battle, but it will give your son a more financially secure future.

fwiw As a nurse who has dealt with children with meningitis the first thing would be to administer wide spectrum antibiotics. Absolutely no question, it should never be delayed, even if it turns out not to be meningitis it wont do any harm. Was he on oxygen between 2.30-7.00? He should have been. The brain damage would probably be caused by the meningitis, but the site of the brain injury would indicate whether the lump on his head was responsible - I suspect not.

The nurses in minor injuries would not have had the facilities or drugs to cope with a child who had fitted, though they should have oxygen. It would have been sensible for them to ring 999 - sounds odd but true!

www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/1309.aspx?categoryid=68&subcategoryid=160

Bingo

have you made a written complaint to the hospital? Once you have sent in a complaint it is then investigated and hospital records are searched.. all nurses involved have to write a written statement and you will get a response from the hospital. this may help to answer some of your questions

Try contacting PALS, who you can reach through your local hospital switchboard. They can support you in this.

Dear Jazy1979,
Sorry to read about your son's experiences and recent ill health!
I know of a good firm of solicitors who specialise in Medical Negligence claims called Gregory Abrams Davidson. I used them for my will and for some conveyancing recently.
I'm sure they work on a no win no fee basis and maybe you should give them a call?
They have offices in London and I think Liverpool or Manchester and maybe other places but I can't say for sure. Their website is www.gadllp.co.uk and their tel number is 020 8209 0166.
My solicitor there Charles Rumke, who my family have used for years, told me that you should ask for Amy Bennett who works on personal injury claims and med negligence department. Hope that helps and I hope your son is ok and makes a speedy recovery!
xJo