What was the case about?
Mrs B a 41 year old was diagnosed with a large cancerous lump in her left breast and underwent an operation to remove this.
At the start of the procedure, a “Hickman Line” (a fine hallow tube) was inserted into her neck in order for her to receive chemotherapy drugs in due course.
In April, Mrs B attended at the A&E Department of Good Hope Hospital complaining of shortness of breath and chest pain. Tests were carried out and it became apparent that a scan was required. However this did not happen and Mrs B was discharged from hospital without a scan and made to wait until May.
Once she had a scan it was confirmed that she had a large blood clot in her right pulmonary artery (artery that supplies blood to the heart). She was prescribed medication to thin her blood. However, this did not get rid of the blood clot and in July she was admitted to hospital for investigation of a fever that was most likely caused by areas of damage and infection in her right lung and was treated with antibiotics. She also underwent open-heart surgery to remove the blood clot in her heart.
Mrs B was due to undergo reconstructive breast surgery but this was delayed because of the problems that was experiencing. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy was also delayed.
What did we do and how did this benefit the client?
We helped investigate the claim and the hospital eventually admitted that there was a negligent failure on their part to identify that Mrs B was suffering from a blood clot on or before April and that if she had received appropriate treatment she could have avoided open-heart surgery. They also admitted that the “Hickman Line” had been incorrectly inserted into her neck thereby causing the clot. We were then able to help secure a payment to Mrs B. of £170,000.00 to settle the claim.. The Trust also sent a letter of apology to Mrs B indicating that they had changed their policy in relation to anyone attending hospital with a suspected blood clot.
If you have any queries about this case or for information on how to make a claim please contact Inez Brown, Associate in the Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence Department on 0121 212 7478 or email.