£7,500.00 Compensation for Orthopaedic Negligence
Morrish Solicitors’ team of specialist medical negligence solicitors have successfully secured £7,500.00 compensation for Claimant who suffered a breach of duty of care in January 2018 and a 6-month delay in referring the Claimant to the Vascular Surgery Department for assessment and treatment.
Orthopaedic Negligence Claim
In July 2017 the Claimant complained of right hip pain and an x-ray demonstrated mild osteoarthritis of the hip joints. He attended physiotherapy regularly over a period of a year, local anaesthetic steroid injections into his hip and underwent various exercise programmes but his symptoms did not improve.
The Claimant’s symptoms were aggravated on walking, gardening or undertaking household activities and relived with rest. The Claimant was frustrated by his lack of progress.
In January 2018 the Claimant was reviewed by a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon. The Claimant’s walking was limited to 50-60 yards and he reported that his symptoms were worse than ever. On examination, the Claimant was very tender over the lateral thigh. The glute med insertion was injected with local anaesthetic and steroid. The Consultant suspected that the Claimant had a gluteus medius tendinopathy and was hopeful that the injection would help with his symptoms.
The Claimant was reviewed again in Clinic in February 2018 and was noted to still be troubled by his right lateral thigh pain and was very disappointed by the lack of improvement. He was referred for an MRI of his right hip which was subsequently reported as normal.
In May 2018 the Claimant was reviewed by the Consultant in clinic. He continued to complain bitterly of right thigh pain. The Claimant was referred for another injection.
In July 2018 the Claimant was reviewed by the Consultant again in clinic. On examination he was found to have no pulses present in his right leg. The right leg blanched on elevation and became dusky when lowered. The Claimant was referred for a vascular opinion.
In November 2018 the Claimant was seen by a Consultant Vascular Surgeon. The Claimant gave a history of cramp like pain in the leg muscles brought on by exercise and relieved by rest. On examination, femoral, popliteal and posterior tibial and dorsalis pedis pulses were found to be absent in both legs. Doppler ultrasound examination recorded reduced monophasic arterial blood flow signals in the distal arteries at the ankle. It was recommended that the Claimant should be started on Clopidogrel as an ante-platelet agent and an MR angiogram was requested.
The MR angiogram was reported as showing occlusion of the right common iliac artery with significant disease and narrowing of the right external iliac and superficial femoral arteries. On the left side, significant narrowing was present in the common and external iliac arteries and in the superficial femoral artery in the thigh.
The Claimant was subsequently listed for a balloon angioplasty+/- stent insertion procedure which took place in March 2019.
The Claimant went on to have successful stent insertions to correct the right common iliac occlusion and left common iliac narrowing together with balloon angioplasties to improve external iliac disease on both sides. Blood flow down the groins was noted to be much improved after completion of the procedure but it was noted that a separate surgical endarterectomy would be needed to treat the right common femoral artery narrowing which was not suitable for angioplasty or stenting.
The Claimant was re-admitted to hospital and underwent an uneventful right common femoral endarterectomy and vein patch in May 2019.
At a further out-patient follow-up appointment in July 2019 the Claimant was noted to have seen a dramatic improvement in his previous symptoms.
Our Investigation
Expert evidence was obtained from a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon in respect of breach of duty and a Consultant Vascular Surgeon in respect of causation, condition and prognosis.
Our Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon was of the view that that the failure to examine the peripheral pulses or document peripheral pulses and the failure to perform or document a peripheral vascular examination or a peripheral neurological examination in January and May 2018 fell below a reasonable standard of care.
Our Consultant Vascular Surgeon was of the opinion that the Claimant was known to have risk factors for arterial disease and had it been considered that his right leg symptoms might be related to underlying arterial disease, clinical examination findings would have been sufficient to justify a referral for vascular surgery assessment.
Had such a referral been made, on the balance of probabilities, arterial imaging carried out would have revealed a very similar distribution and severity of arterial occlusion or narrowing to that seen in December 2018. The Claimant would have undergone earlier but identical investigation and earlier but identical treatment to that which he received following referral made in July 2018.
As a result of the Defendant’s negligence, the Claimant suffered unnecessary and avoidable right thigh pain for a prolonged period of 6 months and underwent 2 unnecessary steroid injections.
In view of the supportive expert evidence, a Letter of Claim was sent to the Defendant.
In the Letter of Response, the Defendant’s admission of liability was limited to an 8 week delay (May – July 2018) in referring the Claimant to Vascular Surgery for assessment and treatment, during which he suffered unnecessary symptoms of right leg pain and an avoidable anaesthetic injection.
Orthopaedic Negligence Claim Settlement
Further input was sought from our Consultant Orthopaedic Expert who maintained his opinion that there was a breach of duty of care in January 2018 and therefore a 6 months delay in referring the Claimant to the Vascular Surgery Department for assessment and treatment.
The parties engaged in settlement negotiations and the matter settled for £7,500.00.
Medical Negligence Solicitors Bradford & Yorkshire
Morrish Solicitors in a long-established law firm based in West Yorkshire. We have an experienced team of medical negligence solicitors in Bradford providing expert and support to victims of medical negligence in the region and nationally.
If you or a loved one have suffered due to medical negligence please contact our team of medical negligence specialists on 033 3344 9600.
