Here at Pryers solicitors in York we have completed a medical negligence claim on behalf of a client and won her £2,000. The case involved a client who, in the course of the birth of her first child, had an epidural (for pain relief) that pierced the dura in the spine and led to leakage of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF). This was a recognised complication of the epidural but the mistake was made by the hospital staff failing to recognise that the client’s ongoing headaches were as a result of the leakage and to carry out blood patching. The mistake was compounded by the community midwives failing to refer her back to the Hospital to get it sorted out. It was only about a month later that the client was referred back to the hospital and the patching carried out to relieve the headaches. This allowed the client to start to enjoy tending to her new-arrival.
Successful claim after failure to carry out mammogram
April 4th, 2010
Another successful clinical negligence claim was settled recently by Pryers solicitors in York for £10,000. A lady was awarded this amount of money to compensate her for the Defendant hospital’s failure to carry out a mammogram and further scans. This led to a delay in diagnosing a breast tumour, though did not have a significant effect on her prognosis. The damages represented the unnecessary pain and suffering caused by the delay in treatment.
Private firm fired by NHS following clinical negligence death
November 9th, 2009
The death of a patient due to clinical negligence has led the NHS to terminate the contract of the private firm who provided the doctor.
Take Care Now hired Daniel Ubani to work in Cambridgeshire for the NHS.
But on his first shift as a UK locum, he killed patient David Gray with a painkiller overdose, reports the Guardian.
Ubani, a German national, was convicted in his home country of causing death by negligence in an incident which occurred in 2008.
He had flown in to take up his new post the day before and Ubani said that he had been "too tired" when he administered the drug, which was ten times more than the normal recommended dose.
The clinical negligence case led to an internal NHS investigation into Take Care Now.
It carried out 20 unannounced inspection visits and has declared that its dissatisfaction and concern with the overall performance of Take Care Now had led to a formal remedial notice being issued to the company.
Compensation from Cardiff hospital after baby is born brain dead
October 13th, 2009
An NHS trust has paid a substantial sum in compensation to a couple whose baby died due to errors during his birth.
Johanne Rees went into a ward at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff when her waters broke at 18 weeks in 2005, but medics managed to stave off the birth until 32 weeks.
However, when the patient began to go into labour, the doctor who checked her said it was simply stomach ache and advised her to go to the toilet.
Ms Rees said she was screaming in agony and knew she needed an emergency caesarean, but was not taken for one for another two-and-a-half hours.
By the time he was delivered, baby Arun was brain dead. Ms Rees and her partner Krishna Govekar made the decision to switch off his life support on November 29th 2005.
Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust admitted liability and has now agreed to pay the couple £650,000 in compensation.
Earlier this month, a patient lodged a complaint with the Health Service Ombudsman alleging that delays in getting her to hospital led to her baby being stillborn.
Woman dies in hospital after ‘gross failures’
October 12th, 2009
A man is seeking compensation from an NHS trust after his wife died due to a series of hospital blunders.
Claire Joel, 28, was admitted to Medway Maritime Hospital in October last year so that she could give birth to her daughter, Kent News reports.
However, she experienced difficulties and staff did not react quickly enough, failing to administer antibiotics and delaying her emergency Cesarean. Ms Joel died from an infection five days after giving birth to her child.
The coroner’s statement said: "[There were] gross failures to provide the basic treatment and care that her medical condition required and she died from natural causes contributed to by neglect."
Her husband Mark said he is to pursue a compensation claim against Medway NHS Trust.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that patient Toni Dinan is seeking compensation from Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare NHS Trust, alleging that failures in her care led to her baby being stillborn. 
