Injury claim news
25/08/2011

Woman confined to hospital for 30 months wins compensation

A 47-year-old woman from Newcastle has been awarded £500,000 in medical negligence compensation after a nurse failed to diagnose an infection.

The infection, which first developed in September 2005, went unnoticed by a home-visiting district nurse and by May 2006 it was so bad that the woman was left in a delirious state, suffering severe shaking and vomiting. Her personal injuries were so serious that an ambulance crew was forced to break down the door in order to get her into her home and take her to hospital.

It was revealed that the infection, which started in deep pressure sores on the woman's buttocks, had spread to her thigh and pelvis and the woman was then confined to her hospital bed at the Royal Victoria Infirmary for 30 months.

During this time the claimant had to undergo surgery to remove part of her femur after the infection's spread.

The woman, who was born with spina bifida and has been wheelchair-bound her whole life, described her time in hospital as ‘soul destroying' and ‘worse than being in prison'.

In an out-of-court settlement, the NHS North of Tyne has made a pay-out of £500,000 in medical negligence compensation to the woman after admitting liability.