Suing NHS experiences?

[Mumof1Moo]

Hi,

* long message incoming *

just seeing people’s past experiences with suing the NHS. I had a pretty bad experience at the end of September. Had an ectopic pregnancy, GP told me to phone my early pregnancy unit, which I did. Phoned them once, with pains and slight bleeding when I was 7/8 weeks pregnant. They said to take some painkillers as it sounded like implantation. (Pain went after this so was not concerned)

fast forward 1 week - the pain was so bad. I knew something was wrong. Phoned early pregnancy unit. Gave them all symptoms (which pointed towards ectopic). They offered me a scan the next afternoon. I was in so much pain at this point, I couldn’t get out of bed or walk so just accepted this and took some more painkillers. I ended up phoning them another 3 times that day as I was in so much agony. They continued to fob me off so went to a&e, again, gave them all my symptoms which pointed towards ectopic.

I was waiting in a&e for 10 hours before anything was done. I was even catheterised and mistaken for someone else. I was in so much pain so didn’t really realise what was going on until my mum who was with me asked them what on earth was going on. The nurse openly admitted she thought I was someone else and whipped the catheter out!! When I was eventually scanned and seen, they confirmed it was ectopic. My internal cavities were just filled with blood where the embryo had burst. I also contracted some sort of infection. They had to go under my c section scar to operate instead of key hole as they just couldn’t see anything. They had to remove a fallopian tube and an ovary. Now I feel this wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t fobbed off by early pregnancy and waited for hours in a&e.

now I’m only 24 and still getting over this, physically and mentally and have only just gone back to work after living off SSP for 6 weeks. I have complained to my trust and awaiting an outcome. My mum and brother are both NHS workers so I feel bad to sue, but they have said if I feel I should then to go for it. (They obviously won’t be involved with the process)

how long did it take you to get an outcome when you sued? Do you have any do’s and dont’s? I am thinking of going no win no fee? Given ectopic is life threatening I am inclined to sue.

just putting the feelers out at the moment.

thanks all

You need to go through complaints procedures, look up PALS for the hospital as a starting point. You could also request a meeting with a mw to go through your notes. However be prepared for funding out the delay may not have changed the outcome,

Thank you. Yes am awaiting a response from a complaint which should be coming back within the next month or so. I think I will wait to see what they come back with before I do anything

It takes years to sue the nhs, the reports you need from the specialists take months each time. My DH died nearly 4 years ago and we started before he died.

Check your house insurance, mine covered clinical negligence.

I know someone who has just had an ectopic and she had one of her fallopian tubes removed too. It can happen as part of the situation?

What bit of this story you actually suing for? What is it that you are looking for ? Money?

I think having that op is not abnormal in this situation, I had one a number of years back & I was luckily seen quite quickly but still lost fallopian tube & ovary.
I also sued the NHS for a failure to do with my eldest DD, it took years & you'll need a case that proves causation, that what happened was due to a failure & that it wouldn't have happened otherwise.
They didn't make it easy but I do know someone who recently had a problem with a baby due to a NHS mistake & they acknowledged that they'd made a mistake straight away & the child will have compensation for life (the child has brain damage due to their negligence).

I think it's difficult to sue, but I'd try Edneys solicitors or a firm like that to get a view. Be clear on what you want from them, is it because you'll be less likely to conceive in the future? And what can be done about that etc

Clinical negligence claims rumble on for years.
Did the delay in your treatment change the outcome?
Definitely ask to talk to someone about your treatment. See how you feel after that and once you have a response to your complaint.

I'm sorry you had such poor care.

It took four years from the date of deciding to instruct a solicitor to the NHS settling because they didn't want to go to court. This was about eight months after it happened. The NHS response to my complaint was a big fobbing off apology letter but I wanted to hear what they were going to do to ensure mistakes like that weren't made again. It was anger about the lack of engagement with the issues I was raising that spurred me onto a legal case.

It isn't just about outcome it's about experience of care, so the harm caused could be psychological/emotional as well. In your case you had a completely unnecessary medical procedure as well.

You don't need to go through PALS etc first. That's irrelevant to a legal case.

You don't need to go through PALS etc first. That's irrelevant to a legal case.

If the OP is planning to go to a no win no fee place, they may prefer to have a feel for the trust's response via the complaints process before deciding whether to take on the client.

OP I would start by making a formal complaint and also speak to AvMA, a charity which gives free advice to patients who believe they have been harmed by medical treatment.

In terms of any lawsuit the timescale tends to be years and financially any settlement in this case is unlikely to be high because an ectopic pregnancy often causes loss of the tube. It is more whether you feel the hospital has honestly reviewed your care and learned any appropriate lessons.

I’m afraid that is poor advice. An ectopic pregnancy can be life threatening whether caught early or late. The surgery the op had may have been the same at whatever point the ectopic was diagnosed. Obviously early diagnosis can be treated more conservatively but again, that depends on the site of implantation.
I think that the OP should seek legal advice, only then can she decide if it is worth moving forward.
The EPU will have made notes of the conversations she had with them which will have to be disclosed. At that point it will be possible to see if the advice or decisions made were negligent or not.
Legal action relies on the recorded conversations between the op and the EPU.
The op needs to write down her version, what she can recall, of those conversations asap.

Mistakes happen. But the complaints procedure is there for you to pursue this initially through PALS and then if you don’t get a full explanation then find a good solicitor.