We acted for a client (now aged 65) who was unhappy with treatment which he received at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon during December 2009. Briefly, he fractured his right ankle in an accident at work during November 2009. He was treated for this injury at the hospital and required surgery when some metalwork was fitted to help fix the fracture. He was then discharged home.
He re-attended the hospital during December 2009, complaining of pain, a swollen ankle and an inability to weight-bear. It was our case that the hospital should have considered that he was suffering from a deep seated infection in his ankle and, if this had been treated in December 2009, it would have eradicated the infection. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen and the infection was not diagnosed and treated by the hospital until the end of January 2010. Antibiotics were commenced at this time but, unfortunately for our client, he was given a very high dosage of Gentamicin for a 4-week period (which we say was far too long) and this mistake resulted in induced hearing loss in both his ears.
As a consequence of this sub-standard care, our client is now left with additional pain in his right ankle, a significant reduction in his mobility and an unnecessary hearing loss in both ears. He had been unable to return to work and he had planned to work beyond retirement age so there was a claim for loss of earnings.
A formal letter of claim was sent to the Hospital Trust but in their response, they denied any liability. Proceedings had to be issued at Court and in their Defence, they reconsidered their position and accepted liability. Their solicitors made an early offer to settle our client’s claim for £100,000 which we advised him to reject. We continued with our negotiations and we were eventually able to achieve a much improved settlement for him.
S. J. Edney solicitors obtained compensation of £175,000 for this client in 2013