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Compensation for ankle injury following operation

Graysons’ medical negligence solicitor, Heather Smith, has won £90,000 for a client who suffered injury when undergoing an operation.

ankle injury

Heather Smith

Heather’s client had an operation on her ankle following a fracture.  Initially the woman’s symptoms were tolerable following the surgery, but over time these became problematic and so MRI and CT scans were performed.

The scans showed that bones were not fusing correctly and that there was minor degenerative change in the ankle joint. Further surgery was planned and took place.  Unfortunately, during the second operation, the client sustained a further injury when the power saw being used damaged another bone in the foot.

Heather pursues hospital following ankle injury

Heather took up the case and pursued the hospital trust for alleged negligence.

Heather sought expert evidence from a specialist in pain management and a consultant orthopaedic surgeon.  The latter was critical of the second surgery, in particular that surgeons had not taken steps to protect other bones in the foot when there was a clearly foreseeable risk present when using a power saw.

The hospital trust denied liability in full. Initially it was the trust’s position that the damage sustained was not due to the power saw during the operation, but was the result of degenerative change.

Heather issued court proceedings.  The hospital trust then admitted that the damage was caused by the saw during surgery, but that there was no onus on the surgeon to protect the other bones and that the accident was the result of a recognised complication.

Negotiations for compensation begin

Before the case went to court, the hospital trust offered a settlement of £32,500, which was rejected by Heather’s client. It then made a further offer of £40,000.

Initially, the client thought she would accept the last offer, as, although it would be considered an under settlement of her claim, she was worried about travelling to see the hospital trust’s experts as she knew this would cause her pain and suffering.  Heather strongly encouraged her client to persevere with her claim and, after many conversations, was able to reassure her that she would be able do what was required with support and encouragement from Heather.

Heather made a counter offer to the hospital trust, which then decided to forego its right to rely on expert evidence in relation to breach of duty and causation. Whilst this significantly reduced Heather’s client’s litigation risk, Heather was mindful that there were still risks relating the value of the claim.

As the claim proceeded, trial dates were set, and Heather and her client were preparing for a joint meeting of the pain management experts.

Heather settles claim for medical negligence

The hospital trust’s position was that the claim was to be robustly defended, but pressure was mounting, particularly as it was not able to rely on expert evidence for breach of duty and causation. Heather brought these risks to the attention of the hospital trust and she considered applying for a judgement on liability. However, before any further steps could be taken, the hospital trust made a further offer of £90,000 and this offer was accepted.

If you have suffered due to inadequate care by a medical professional, and think you may be entitled to compensation, please contact our experts and we will arrange a free of charge meeting in which we can discuss your case.  You can also find out more on our website about how to claim compensation if you have suffered medical negligence.

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