March 17th, 2009
A woman who alleges that she almost died after a surgical swab was left inside her is claiming thousands of pounds in compensation from the NHS trust she holds responsible.
Angela Watson went into hospital in Surrey to give birth to her daughter in March 2006 and was given a surgical cut known as an episiotomy to assist her, the Metro reports.
However, her condition began to deteriorate shortly afterwards and she developed tissue poisoning, following which her major organs shut down.
Ms Watson claims that the swab which had been left inside her was not discovered for two days and that she needed 28 operations to repair the damage caused.
She is now unable to have children and is suing Kingston Hospital NHS Trust for £300,000 in damages, as well as yearly payments to cover her disabilities.
The trust said it is investigating the claims.
There are grounds for a medical negligence claim when it can be shown that a practitioner has not exercised what is considered to be the normal standard of care and skill in their job.
Tags: Damages, Disabilities, Episiotomy, Hospital Nhs Trust, Job, Kingston Hospital Nhs Trust, Medical Negligence Claim, Metro, Organs, Surrey, Swab, Watson, Woman
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September 24th, 2008
A woman who launched legal action after her son was prescribed the wrong medicine has been awarded £1,400 in compensation.
Joshua Donnelly, three, needs to take the anticonvulsant medicine Topamax for his epilepsy, the Evening Gazette reports.
However, after he had been taking the medicine for several days, he became unwell and had to be taken to hospital.
His mother Shirley Holt, 45, noticed after breaking a capsule up that there seemed to be too much powder and it emerged that the pharmacist at Harry Hill chemist in Billingham had mixed up his usual 15mg capsules with 50mg ones.
Although Joshua has now fully recovered, Ms Holt took legal action against the chemist and won a payout, although the firm did not admit liability.
Commenting on the episode, Ms Holt said: "If I hadn’t noticed when I did, who knows what would have happened? It is scary. I am very angry over it. I will never go back into his shop again."
Clinical negligence occurs when a professional in the health service provides care that is deemed to be below standard and this causes physical injury, death or distress.
Tags: Chemist, Clinical Negligence, Donnelly, Epilepsy, Evening Gazette, Hadn, Health Service, Injury Death, Joshua, Medical Claim, Medical Negligence Claim, Medicine, Pharmacist, Shirley Holt, Topamax, Woman, Wrong Medicine
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