We advised our client in respect of a compensation claim against an ‘out of hours’ GP.
Our client was only 15 weeks old when she was seen in an out of hours centre in Northamptonshire. Her mother was worried she had been unwell for a few days. She was seen by a GP in the centre but the GP concluded it was nothing to worry about, advised her mother to give her Calpol and sent her home. Her family were reassured by the GP but by the next day her condition had worsened and she was rushed to hospital that afternoon. Sadly by that time her condition was very serious and the simple treatment which could have helped the day before was no longer enough. She suffered sepsis, multi-organ failure, brain damage, and was left severely disabled.
We took the case over from other solicitors and pursued the claim against the out of hours GP. Legal liability was robustly denied throughout. We gathered extensive witness and expert evidence and brought in a specialist barrister.
Tragically our client passed away during the course of her claim but her mother took the brave decision to continue the claim on her behalf and we managed to bring it to a successful conclusion. We secured a six-figure compensation sum. Compensation will never be enough for what our client and her family went through but it is at least some recognition that she had not received the level of care expected, which had life-changing consequences for her and her family.
The solicitor with conduct of the case was Ann Houghton.
