A liver transplant patient died after a hospital ‘never event’ in which a nasal gastric feeding tube was wrongly inserted into his lung.
Retired civil engineer Charles Ward died at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital two days after the nasogastric tube was fitted in January 2012.
Staff nurse Gavin Kelly who misplaced the tube told an Exeter inquest yesterday:”I had no reason to believe it was in the wrong place at the time.”
He said 62 year old Mr Ward ‘coughed and spluttered’ when the tube was inserted and the nurse said:”It is not a pleasant procedure.”
Mr Ward, of Dawlish Warren, Devon, had been fed for six hours by the tube when he collapsed in his bed at 4am.
A crash team was called and he was taken into intensive care where he died a day later.
The Devon coroner Dr Elizabeth Earland was told that since Mr Ward’s death, procedures had been changed at the hospital.
A second nurse, Paul Jenkins, told the inquest that Mr Ward had slumped on his bed on his side and was fighting for breath.
He said when the tube was inserted, Mr Ward ‘coughed and spluttered several times’ as he tried to get his breath back.
He added that Mr Ward had been ‘a bit agitated’ but there ‘was no mention of the tube being in the wrong place’.
Nurse Jenkins said Okement ward at the hospital was ‘always busy’ and staff had been dealing with a couple of falls and some confused patients but he said ‘we were not rushed off our feet’.
A medical expert Dr Jason Payne-James, a consultant forensic physician, said:”I do not believe these actions constitute gross negligence.”
But the coroner heard that the feed tube used on Mr Ward was withdrawn after his death and a new model is used which a tip which is easier to see on an X ray.
Solicitor Julie Ford, for the hospital Trust said the incident was ‘an unintended consequence of an intended action’.
The coroner recorded a narrative verdict and said Mr Ward died from chemical pneumonitis caused by the liquid feed going into his lung because of the naso gastric tube being wrongly positioned.
An acid PH test was carried out incorrectly by the staff nurse which should have indicated the tube had been inserted into Mr Ward’s lung and not his stomach.
The inquest was told he suffered liver disease and was awaiting a liver transplant but he needed feeding up to make him fit enough for the surgery.
A spokesman from the hospital said:”The Trust has been in contact with Mr Ward’s family from the outset of our investigation into this incident to provide as much support and information as possible.
“The Trust takes any incident of this nature – known as a Never Event - extremely seriously and although they are very rare, they are acted on immediately, fully investigated and lessons identified so that the risks of them happening in future are minimised.”
Em Wilkinson-Brice, Chief Nurse and Chief Operating Officer at the RD&E, said: “Providing safe care to patients is our top priority and our clinical teams work to exceptionally high standards. It is important that staff feel comfortable in reporting any incidents and that we learn from them.”
This article is courtesy from Exeter Express and Echo.
Regularly updated blog featuring news, articles and information relating to clinical/medical negligence.
Monday, 31 March 2014
Friday, 28 March 2014
When to put in a clinical negligence claim
The majority of the time, when we visit the doctor when we are ill, they are able to accurately diagnose our condition and treat us appropriately. This either alleviates or stops our suffering, and we are able to get on with our day-to-day lives.
Sometimes however, medical professionals can either misdiagnose an illness or treat it incorrectly, causing the situation to get worse. This can also add to the stress of being ill.
In 2012, it was reported there were 14,171 medical negligence claims closed, which was 13% higher than 2011. Of those medical negligence claims, 63% resulted in claims being awarded to the individual, and on average took less than 16 months from the start of the claims process to the claim being awarded (NHS Litigation Authority 2012).
If you have been a victim of medical negligence, you can claim compensation for the pain and suffering that you have suffered as a result of the healthcare provider’s negligence. You can also claim for any out of pocket expenses you have incurred for example, lost earnings or prescription charges. If you have received negligent medical treatment, been mis-diagnosed or not treated appropriately, then you may be entitled to make a no win no fee claim for compensation.
Typical medical negligence claims include:
For example, if you attended A&E because you injured you ankle and the staff failed to diagnose a fracture, a report would be obtained from a consultant in accident and emergency medicine.
How long will the claim take?
This is very difficult if not impossible to anticipate. If you decide to embark on this process, you must be prepared that the claim can take a long time (the average claim takes 16 months). The claim will require the input of numerous individuals including your legal advisor, the defendant and other medical professionals.
This article is courtesy of the Lincolnite.
Sometimes however, medical professionals can either misdiagnose an illness or treat it incorrectly, causing the situation to get worse. This can also add to the stress of being ill.
In 2012, it was reported there were 14,171 medical negligence claims closed, which was 13% higher than 2011. Of those medical negligence claims, 63% resulted in claims being awarded to the individual, and on average took less than 16 months from the start of the claims process to the claim being awarded (NHS Litigation Authority 2012).
If you have been a victim of medical negligence, you can claim compensation for the pain and suffering that you have suffered as a result of the healthcare provider’s negligence. You can also claim for any out of pocket expenses you have incurred for example, lost earnings or prescription charges. If you have received negligent medical treatment, been mis-diagnosed or not treated appropriately, then you may be entitled to make a no win no fee claim for compensation.
Typical medical negligence claims include:
- Failure to diagnose
- Failure to treat
- Delay in treatment
- Incorrect or improper treatment
- Failure to gain a patients consent
For example, if you attended A&E because you injured you ankle and the staff failed to diagnose a fracture, a report would be obtained from a consultant in accident and emergency medicine.
How long will the claim take?
This is very difficult if not impossible to anticipate. If you decide to embark on this process, you must be prepared that the claim can take a long time (the average claim takes 16 months). The claim will require the input of numerous individuals including your legal advisor, the defendant and other medical professionals.
This article is courtesy of the Lincolnite.
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
3 year old suffered heart attack during a dental visit was given the MAXIMUM DOSE of sedatives and anesthesia
An adorable 3-year-old girl who suffered a heart attack during a dentist visit likely died because she was given the maximum dose of sedative drugs, according to an autopsy report.
Finley Puleo Boyle, of Kailua in Honolulu, Hawaii, probably died because of the sedatives and local anesthesia that were administered during her December dental procedure, Honolulu Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Christopher Happy concluded in his autopsy report. He classified the death as an accident.
The girl lapsed into a coma on December 3 in the office of Dr. Lilly Geyer at Island Dentistry for Children. She died on January 3. The office has since closed.
The autopsy report said the previously healthy girl had no signs of underlying heart problems or an allergic reaction to the array of sedatives and anesthetic she received in preparation for cavity fillings and root canals, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Friday.
The medical examiner noted her teeth were in good shape: 'the oral cavity has native dentition in good repair.'
The autopsy report said the previously healthy girl had no signs of underlying heart problems or an allergic reaction to the array of sedatives and anesthetic she received in preparation for cavity fillings and root canals, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Friday.
The medical examiner noted her teeth were in good shape: 'the oral cavity has native dentition in good repair.'
Finley received five drugs, according to the report, including Demerol, hydroxyzine and chlorohydrate. She was also given laughing gas and an injection of a local anesthetic, lidocaine with epinephrine.
'Immediately following the lidocaine injection, the decedent became unresponsive and went into cardiopulmonary arrest,' Happy said in his report.
Parents Ashley and Evan Boyle filed a negligence lawsuit while their only child was in a coma. Their attorney, Rick Fried, would not comment on the autopsy report.
Geyer's attorney, John Nishimoto, has called the allegations 'unproven' but declined to comment further because of the lawsuit. He didn't respond to the newspaper's requests for comment on the autopsy report Thursday.
Geyer was issued a license to practice dentistry in the state in July 2005, the Star-Advertiser has previously reported.
As of last December, there were no records of complaints against her or her practice on file with the Hawaii Department Of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, according to the newspaper.
Ms Boyle is being represented by attorney Richard Fried who called the maximum dosages of five different drugs 'grossly excessive'.
He cited the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry's standards which warned that young children should be monitored every five minutes and that an extra person should be there to help in case resuscitation is needed.
The procedure on December 3 broke both of those rules. Instead of checking Finley's oxygen levels every five minutes, records show she wasn't checked for 26 minutes which explains why the brain damage was so severe.
When the girl went into cardiac arrest, a doctor from another office had to be brought in to perform CPR - which Ms Boyle believes is the main reason her daughter fell into a coma.
Ms Boyle was left with the agonizing decision to not resuscitate her daughter, saying that although she held out hope that her daughter would recover she didn't want her to live in a vegetative state.
'Had it been initiated at the correct time, she'd be walking out of the hospital right now,' Boyle said.
Finley may not have even needed the fillings. Ms Boyle has been contacted by others mothers who got second opinions after visiting Dr Geyer and found out that her recommendations were 'either totally unnecessary or somewhat unnecessary' according to Fried.
Other mothers said their children had trouble walking for a few days after having work done by Dr Geyer.
Ms Boyle calls the botched procedure a 'massive tragedy' that she and her family 'will have to deal with for the rest of our lives.'
In January, new state rules took effect tightening oversight of dental sedation in Hawaii.
This article is courtesy of the Daily Mail.
Finley Puleo Boyle, of Kailua in Honolulu, Hawaii, probably died because of the sedatives and local anesthesia that were administered during her December dental procedure, Honolulu Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Christopher Happy concluded in his autopsy report. He classified the death as an accident.
The girl lapsed into a coma on December 3 in the office of Dr. Lilly Geyer at Island Dentistry for Children. She died on January 3. The office has since closed.
The autopsy report said the previously healthy girl had no signs of underlying heart problems or an allergic reaction to the array of sedatives and anesthetic she received in preparation for cavity fillings and root canals, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Friday.
The medical examiner noted her teeth were in good shape: 'the oral cavity has native dentition in good repair.'
The autopsy report said the previously healthy girl had no signs of underlying heart problems or an allergic reaction to the array of sedatives and anesthetic she received in preparation for cavity fillings and root canals, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Friday.
The medical examiner noted her teeth were in good shape: 'the oral cavity has native dentition in good repair.'
Finley received five drugs, according to the report, including Demerol, hydroxyzine and chlorohydrate. She was also given laughing gas and an injection of a local anesthetic, lidocaine with epinephrine.
'Immediately following the lidocaine injection, the decedent became unresponsive and went into cardiopulmonary arrest,' Happy said in his report.
Parents Ashley and Evan Boyle filed a negligence lawsuit while their only child was in a coma. Their attorney, Rick Fried, would not comment on the autopsy report.
Geyer's attorney, John Nishimoto, has called the allegations 'unproven' but declined to comment further because of the lawsuit. He didn't respond to the newspaper's requests for comment on the autopsy report Thursday.
Geyer was issued a license to practice dentistry in the state in July 2005, the Star-Advertiser has previously reported.
As of last December, there were no records of complaints against her or her practice on file with the Hawaii Department Of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, according to the newspaper.
Ms Boyle is being represented by attorney Richard Fried who called the maximum dosages of five different drugs 'grossly excessive'.
He cited the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry's standards which warned that young children should be monitored every five minutes and that an extra person should be there to help in case resuscitation is needed.
The procedure on December 3 broke both of those rules. Instead of checking Finley's oxygen levels every five minutes, records show she wasn't checked for 26 minutes which explains why the brain damage was so severe.
When the girl went into cardiac arrest, a doctor from another office had to be brought in to perform CPR - which Ms Boyle believes is the main reason her daughter fell into a coma.
Ms Boyle was left with the agonizing decision to not resuscitate her daughter, saying that although she held out hope that her daughter would recover she didn't want her to live in a vegetative state.
'Had it been initiated at the correct time, she'd be walking out of the hospital right now,' Boyle said.
Finley may not have even needed the fillings. Ms Boyle has been contacted by others mothers who got second opinions after visiting Dr Geyer and found out that her recommendations were 'either totally unnecessary or somewhat unnecessary' according to Fried.
Other mothers said their children had trouble walking for a few days after having work done by Dr Geyer.
Ms Boyle calls the botched procedure a 'massive tragedy' that she and her family 'will have to deal with for the rest of our lives.'
In January, new state rules took effect tightening oversight of dental sedation in Hawaii.
This article is courtesy of the Daily Mail.
Monday, 24 March 2014
Judge urges radical overhaul of clinical negligence cases
A High Court judge has called for a “radical overhaul” of the management of cases involving medical and clinical negligence.
Parents of catastrophically injured children regard the existing litigation process as “cruel and disadvantageous” and often feel “a huge sense of grievance”, Ms Justice Mary Irvine said. She “would empathise with that feeling” and the process did not give families money at the start when it was most needed.
She believed new protocols and rules of disclosure would lead to early resolution and early admission of liability when justified.
Recommendations in that regard had been with the Minister for Justice for “a very long period” and it was in his hands to introduce the necessary enabling legislation for a better system, the judge added.
She made the comments when the HSE asked to outline a number of matters arising from the judge’s criticism of the approach by the State Claims Agency in the recent case of Grace Orchard, an eight-year-old girl with cerebral palsy from Carrigaline, Co Cork. The child secured a €5.8 million settlement after suing the HSE over the handling and management of her birth at St Finbarr’s Maternity Hospital, Douglas, Cork, in February 2006.
Settlement
Liability was conceded last January, three years after the case was initiated, and the settlement was reached on the 12th day of a hearing to assess damages. At that time, Ms Justice Irvine said she regretted it had taken more than three years for the HSE to say it was culpable which seemed an “extraordinary length of time.”
Yesterday, Patrick Hanratty SC, for the HSE, said the State Claims Agency, as indemnifier in this case, had “significant concerns the court may be of the opinion it has a policy to deny liability as a tactic”. The biggest problem in this case was causation [of the child’s injuries] and there was a significant delay in receiving a specialist report, counsel said.
Conceded liability
After the HSE got that report on January 16th, 2014, it conceded liablilty and the Orchard side were immediately told liability was not an issue. Mr Hanratty said there was a concern the court “might have the view cumulatively that perhaps there is something amiss about the policy of admission of liability”.
Ms Justice Irvine said she finds “very difficult” her role trying to deal with parents in catastrophically injured cases. Most parents even at the time of settlement are unhappy with the amounts. It was natural for every parent to want the best for their children but this was allied to a sense of frustration with the litigation process.
The judge said she did not believe there was any policy in the HSE to withhold admission of liability. Many reports come late in the day and all of this made her of the view there was a need for “a radical overhaul” of how clinical negligence is managed.
Joseph Cuddigan, solicitor for the Orchard family, said it “beggars belief” the State Claims Agency would not have engaged a different expert and instead waited almost a year for the specialist report which led to the admission of liability last January. The family incurred “hefty bills” in standby fees for expert witnesses as a result of liability not being conceded at an early stage.
This article is courtesy of the Irish Times.
Parents of catastrophically injured children regard the existing litigation process as “cruel and disadvantageous” and often feel “a huge sense of grievance”, Ms Justice Mary Irvine said. She “would empathise with that feeling” and the process did not give families money at the start when it was most needed.
She believed new protocols and rules of disclosure would lead to early resolution and early admission of liability when justified.
Recommendations in that regard had been with the Minister for Justice for “a very long period” and it was in his hands to introduce the necessary enabling legislation for a better system, the judge added.
She made the comments when the HSE asked to outline a number of matters arising from the judge’s criticism of the approach by the State Claims Agency in the recent case of Grace Orchard, an eight-year-old girl with cerebral palsy from Carrigaline, Co Cork. The child secured a €5.8 million settlement after suing the HSE over the handling and management of her birth at St Finbarr’s Maternity Hospital, Douglas, Cork, in February 2006.
Settlement
Liability was conceded last January, three years after the case was initiated, and the settlement was reached on the 12th day of a hearing to assess damages. At that time, Ms Justice Irvine said she regretted it had taken more than three years for the HSE to say it was culpable which seemed an “extraordinary length of time.”
Yesterday, Patrick Hanratty SC, for the HSE, said the State Claims Agency, as indemnifier in this case, had “significant concerns the court may be of the opinion it has a policy to deny liability as a tactic”. The biggest problem in this case was causation [of the child’s injuries] and there was a significant delay in receiving a specialist report, counsel said.
Conceded liability
After the HSE got that report on January 16th, 2014, it conceded liablilty and the Orchard side were immediately told liability was not an issue. Mr Hanratty said there was a concern the court “might have the view cumulatively that perhaps there is something amiss about the policy of admission of liability”.
Ms Justice Irvine said she finds “very difficult” her role trying to deal with parents in catastrophically injured cases. Most parents even at the time of settlement are unhappy with the amounts. It was natural for every parent to want the best for their children but this was allied to a sense of frustration with the litigation process.
The judge said she did not believe there was any policy in the HSE to withhold admission of liability. Many reports come late in the day and all of this made her of the view there was a need for “a radical overhaul” of how clinical negligence is managed.
Joseph Cuddigan, solicitor for the Orchard family, said it “beggars belief” the State Claims Agency would not have engaged a different expert and instead waited almost a year for the specialist report which led to the admission of liability last January. The family incurred “hefty bills” in standby fees for expert witnesses as a result of liability not being conceded at an early stage.
This article is courtesy of the Irish Times.
Friday, 21 March 2014
Paramedic's failings led to girl's death
An inquest has heard that mother spent years blaming herself for the death of her seven-year-old daughter before discovering that the paramedic who treated her had been secretly sacked for medical negligence.
Lorna Eason had always believed she could have done more after her daughter, Bella, died at their home at Thorne, near Doncaster, from an asthma attack brought on by a cardiac arrest.
Six years after her death, a coroner ruled there was "a gross failure" to provide Bella with basic medical treatment." David Hirst reports.
This article is courtesy from ITV.
Lorna Eason had always believed she could have done more after her daughter, Bella, died at their home at Thorne, near Doncaster, from an asthma attack brought on by a cardiac arrest.
Six years after her death, a coroner ruled there was "a gross failure" to provide Bella with basic medical treatment." David Hirst reports.
This article is courtesy from ITV.
Thursday, 20 March 2014
NHS told to streamline 'complicated' complaints process
The complaints system for the NHS in England is "hopelessly complicated" and needs an overhaul, according to the patients' watchdog.
Healthwatch England says more than 70 organisations are involved in dealing with complaints about the NHS and social care.
It wants the process to be simplified to ensure patients get more support.
NHS England says it is committed to improving how complaints are handled and is piloting a new approach.
Several inquiries have highlighted failings in the complaints systems for health and social care, and the dangers of failing to heed patients' concerns.
Now Healthwatch England's review of the complaints system - based on public responses to its survey - has discovered there are up to 75 different types of organisation involved in the process.
Initially, health and care providers - including hospitals, GP practices and care homes - or their commissioning bodies can be challenged.
'Utterly bewildering'
Then there is a complex array of regulators, inspectorates, courts and committees that may get involved, meaning a single complaint can be passed between organisations.
"It's no wonder the public are left confused and frustrated. With so many organisations involved it's difficult to know where to start, let alone having the strength and persistence to navigate the system on your own”Anna BradleyChairwoman, Healthwatch England
If a patient is concerned about an unsafe discharge from hospital, for example, the complaint process might begin with the hospital or clinical commissioning group, before being escalated to the health service ombudsman if it cannot be resolved locally.
Alternatively, if there is a problem caused by failings in the social care system, the complaint might involve the care home provider - possibly a private company - the local authority responsible for overseeing provision and the local government ombudsman.
In cases of possible clinical negligence, the issue could go before the General Medical Council or General Nursing Council and might end up before the courts.
Healthwatch England says for patients the process is "utterly bewildering", and it wants a system where people raise a concern or make a complaint just once.
The watchdog says problems are being compounded by a lack of consistent and easy access to complaints support services.
'Significant change'
Its chairwoman, Anna Bradley, said: "It's no wonder the public are left confused and frustrated. With so many organisations involved it's difficult to know where to start, let alone having the strength and persistence to navigate the system on your own.
"There will need to be very significant change in the complaints system if it is to benefit from the intelligence and insight that complaints can offer and use it to drive real improvement for the people actually using services."
Julie Mellor, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman said: "We agree with Healthwatch that the current complaints system is too complex and we are working with the Department of Health, NHS England and regulators to help people better understand where they need to go when they want to raise a concern."
Jane Cummings, chief nursing officer for England, said: "Our single most important purpose is to look after patients with compassionate care. That means delivering the best possible patient experience to every single patient, every single time.
"As part of this we must listen, take seriously and respond promptly, responsibly and openly to any complaint we receive. Poor complaints handling is unacceptable."
She said NHS England was developing a new approach so that patients could have complaints resolved "simply and effectively", without having to negotiate a complex system.
'Take action'
The warning comes soon after a review of NHS complaints in Waleswas launched.
Health minister Mark Drakeford launched the 12-week review of the NHS complaints handling process in February to establish "what needs to improve".
It is being held as the current system, Putting Things Right, is almost three years old, the minister said.
In Scotland, there was a 13% rise in complaints against the NHS in 2012/13 compared to 2011/12.
This article is courtesy from the BBC.
Healthwatch England says more than 70 organisations are involved in dealing with complaints about the NHS and social care.
It wants the process to be simplified to ensure patients get more support.
NHS England says it is committed to improving how complaints are handled and is piloting a new approach.
Several inquiries have highlighted failings in the complaints systems for health and social care, and the dangers of failing to heed patients' concerns.
Now Healthwatch England's review of the complaints system - based on public responses to its survey - has discovered there are up to 75 different types of organisation involved in the process.
Initially, health and care providers - including hospitals, GP practices and care homes - or their commissioning bodies can be challenged.
'Utterly bewildering'
Then there is a complex array of regulators, inspectorates, courts and committees that may get involved, meaning a single complaint can be passed between organisations.
"It's no wonder the public are left confused and frustrated. With so many organisations involved it's difficult to know where to start, let alone having the strength and persistence to navigate the system on your own”Anna BradleyChairwoman, Healthwatch England
If a patient is concerned about an unsafe discharge from hospital, for example, the complaint process might begin with the hospital or clinical commissioning group, before being escalated to the health service ombudsman if it cannot be resolved locally.
Alternatively, if there is a problem caused by failings in the social care system, the complaint might involve the care home provider - possibly a private company - the local authority responsible for overseeing provision and the local government ombudsman.
In cases of possible clinical negligence, the issue could go before the General Medical Council or General Nursing Council and might end up before the courts.
Healthwatch England says for patients the process is "utterly bewildering", and it wants a system where people raise a concern or make a complaint just once.
The watchdog says problems are being compounded by a lack of consistent and easy access to complaints support services.
'Significant change'
Its chairwoman, Anna Bradley, said: "It's no wonder the public are left confused and frustrated. With so many organisations involved it's difficult to know where to start, let alone having the strength and persistence to navigate the system on your own.
"There will need to be very significant change in the complaints system if it is to benefit from the intelligence and insight that complaints can offer and use it to drive real improvement for the people actually using services."
Julie Mellor, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman said: "We agree with Healthwatch that the current complaints system is too complex and we are working with the Department of Health, NHS England and regulators to help people better understand where they need to go when they want to raise a concern."
Jane Cummings, chief nursing officer for England, said: "Our single most important purpose is to look after patients with compassionate care. That means delivering the best possible patient experience to every single patient, every single time.
"As part of this we must listen, take seriously and respond promptly, responsibly and openly to any complaint we receive. Poor complaints handling is unacceptable."
She said NHS England was developing a new approach so that patients could have complaints resolved "simply and effectively", without having to negotiate a complex system.
'Take action'
The warning comes soon after a review of NHS complaints in Waleswas launched.
Health minister Mark Drakeford launched the 12-week review of the NHS complaints handling process in February to establish "what needs to improve".
It is being held as the current system, Putting Things Right, is almost three years old, the minister said.
In Scotland, there was a 13% rise in complaints against the NHS in 2012/13 compared to 2011/12.
This article is courtesy from the BBC.
Monday, 17 March 2014
Italian doctors being sued after 'treating woman with cancer for months on the wrong breast'
A woman in Italy is reportedly suing her local hospital after she received four months of cancer treatment on the wrong breast.
The 40-year-old woman found a lump in her left breast, and was diagnosed with breast cancer at an oncological hospital in the northern town of Rimini, according to the local news outlet TGCOM24.
She began receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment, but after four months and her 22nd session noticed a burn mark on her healthy right breast.
After confronting her doctor, who reportedly confirmed she had indeed been treated on the wrong breast, the woman has now brought a case against the health authority for medical negligence, and is claiming €800,000 (£650,000).
According to her lawyer, Roberto Urbinati, the mistake has set back the patient’s chances of survival by “no less than 20 per cent”, in a case that is unprecedented in the country.
“It’s the first case in Italy of such an error,” he told TGCOM24.
“In the world, only in the United States in Pennsylvania, [has there been] a similar [case] to that at the Rimini hospital,” Mr Urbinati said.
The woman was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011. The investigating judge is still assessing the claim, and a hearing that was scheduled for last Tuesday has been postponed, The Local reported.
This article is courtesy from The Independent.
The 40-year-old woman found a lump in her left breast, and was diagnosed with breast cancer at an oncological hospital in the northern town of Rimini, according to the local news outlet TGCOM24.
She began receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment, but after four months and her 22nd session noticed a burn mark on her healthy right breast.
After confronting her doctor, who reportedly confirmed she had indeed been treated on the wrong breast, the woman has now brought a case against the health authority for medical negligence, and is claiming €800,000 (£650,000).
According to her lawyer, Roberto Urbinati, the mistake has set back the patient’s chances of survival by “no less than 20 per cent”, in a case that is unprecedented in the country.
“It’s the first case in Italy of such an error,” he told TGCOM24.
“In the world, only in the United States in Pennsylvania, [has there been] a similar [case] to that at the Rimini hospital,” Mr Urbinati said.
The woman was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011. The investigating judge is still assessing the claim, and a hearing that was scheduled for last Tuesday has been postponed, The Local reported.
This article is courtesy from The Independent.
Friday, 14 March 2014
Huge cost of hospital blunders as trust pays out £24.4m last year
Oxfordshire paid more for mistakes and blunders than any other hospital authority last year, as cases rocketed 1,000 per cent in under a decade.
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust paid out £24.4m in 2012/13, up from £2.3m in 2003/04, when figures were first published.
It means £113.7m has been paid out over the 10 years.
New trust claims rose from 15 in 2003/04 to 84 last year, though the latest claims are unlikely to yet be among the payouts and not all will get cash.
Major sums are often to cover lifelong care costs for children who suffer brain damage as a result of mistakes during birth.
The trust pays premiums to the NHS Litigation Authority which then pays settlements.
Trust premiums have more than doubled to £15.4m.
The trust was unable to say how many cases the payouts cover but said it is one of England’s biggest trusts and offers complex specialist care.
Last month, brain-damaged Louisa Ravouvou, 10, got £10m partly because John Radcliffe medics failed to spot bleeding on the brain before her birth.
In September, Sophie Collins, 22, got an undisclosed sum because doctors did not realise her bowel had ruptured after a car crash aged 11.
The East Oxford resident – who needs four support workers – was left brain damaged because her brain was starved of oxygen.
Oxford East Labour MP Andrew Smith said: “The staggering rise in medical negligence claims is a national phenomenon, driven in part by a more litigious culture and no-win, no-fee legal support.”
Yet he warned: “Whilst it is right that the victims of negligence have proper compensation, we have to be careful that this rising tide of claims doesn’t cross the line into penalising clinicians who are undertaking the more complex procedures with some inherent risk of going wrong.”
City solicitor Susan Jarvis, who heads Blake Lapthorn’s clinical negligence team, said about a third of her cases are for parents worried about care costs when they can no longer look after their child as an adult.
“Parents realise they are not going to be able to look after their offspring,” she said. “Looking after a baby is very different from looking after an adult.”
Dushka Kirtland is taking action with husband David against the trust to support brain-damaged son Paul, 30. They believe the damage resulted from an infection he caught at the John Radcliffe at his birth in May 1983.
The trust denies negligence.
Mrs Kirtland told the Oxford Mail: “We worry about what will happen for him when we will no longer be able to look after him.
“It did cross our minds before. We were so busy looking after him. It is only the fact that we have lost our parents and you suddenly realise we are next to shuttle off.”
Richard Money-Kyrle, a partner at Darbys solicitors, said of the rise: “Life expectancy is better for severely disabled children and the cost of care for severely disabled children is much more expensive.”
For example, stricter regulations mean more carers are now required to lift people, he said, while rising demand on hospitals increases risk.
No-win, no-fee deals were allowed from 2000 but solicitors can no longer get “success fees” from the NHS.
Mr Money-Kyrle said the “jury is out” on the impact of this. “It means that probably less low value, modest injury cases will be brought.”
Trust medical director Professor Edward Baker said the trust is one of biggest in the country and is a specialist centre for complex care.
He said: “Providing excellent, safe care for our patients is our top priority and, for the overwhelming majority of the one million patients we see every year at our four hospitals, we achieve this.”
Payouts had risen across England, he said, adding: “This is not a reflection of the quality or safety of our services.”
This article is courtesy from the Oxford Times.
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust paid out £24.4m in 2012/13, up from £2.3m in 2003/04, when figures were first published.
It means £113.7m has been paid out over the 10 years.
New trust claims rose from 15 in 2003/04 to 84 last year, though the latest claims are unlikely to yet be among the payouts and not all will get cash.
Major sums are often to cover lifelong care costs for children who suffer brain damage as a result of mistakes during birth.
The trust pays premiums to the NHS Litigation Authority which then pays settlements.
Trust premiums have more than doubled to £15.4m.
The trust was unable to say how many cases the payouts cover but said it is one of England’s biggest trusts and offers complex specialist care.
Last month, brain-damaged Louisa Ravouvou, 10, got £10m partly because John Radcliffe medics failed to spot bleeding on the brain before her birth.
In September, Sophie Collins, 22, got an undisclosed sum because doctors did not realise her bowel had ruptured after a car crash aged 11.
The East Oxford resident – who needs four support workers – was left brain damaged because her brain was starved of oxygen.
Oxford East Labour MP Andrew Smith said: “The staggering rise in medical negligence claims is a national phenomenon, driven in part by a more litigious culture and no-win, no-fee legal support.”
Yet he warned: “Whilst it is right that the victims of negligence have proper compensation, we have to be careful that this rising tide of claims doesn’t cross the line into penalising clinicians who are undertaking the more complex procedures with some inherent risk of going wrong.”
City solicitor Susan Jarvis, who heads Blake Lapthorn’s clinical negligence team, said about a third of her cases are for parents worried about care costs when they can no longer look after their child as an adult.
“Parents realise they are not going to be able to look after their offspring,” she said. “Looking after a baby is very different from looking after an adult.”
Dushka Kirtland is taking action with husband David against the trust to support brain-damaged son Paul, 30. They believe the damage resulted from an infection he caught at the John Radcliffe at his birth in May 1983.
The trust denies negligence.
Mrs Kirtland told the Oxford Mail: “We worry about what will happen for him when we will no longer be able to look after him.
“It did cross our minds before. We were so busy looking after him. It is only the fact that we have lost our parents and you suddenly realise we are next to shuttle off.”
Richard Money-Kyrle, a partner at Darbys solicitors, said of the rise: “Life expectancy is better for severely disabled children and the cost of care for severely disabled children is much more expensive.”
For example, stricter regulations mean more carers are now required to lift people, he said, while rising demand on hospitals increases risk.
No-win, no-fee deals were allowed from 2000 but solicitors can no longer get “success fees” from the NHS.
Mr Money-Kyrle said the “jury is out” on the impact of this. “It means that probably less low value, modest injury cases will be brought.”
Trust medical director Professor Edward Baker said the trust is one of biggest in the country and is a specialist centre for complex care.
He said: “Providing excellent, safe care for our patients is our top priority and, for the overwhelming majority of the one million patients we see every year at our four hospitals, we achieve this.”
Payouts had risen across England, he said, adding: “This is not a reflection of the quality or safety of our services.”
This article is courtesy from the Oxford Times.
Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Jack should have recovered from heart defect - but 'nearly died TWICE at scandal-hit hospital'
The mother of a 10-month-old baby claims he ended up brain damaged, epileptic and nearly died TWICE after bungles at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.
He was treated by the same surgeon as two other children who died within weeks of each other.
Jack Casey was born in May 2009, with a combination of four heart defects. Most sufferers of Tetralogy of Fallot recover fully.
But today at nearly five, Jack, of Bridgend, Wales, is the size of a two-year-old and can barely string a sentence together.
His mum, Rachel Puaca, 26, shares her harrowing pictures and account of how her son was treated.
She blames a break-up with her partner on the trail of traumas.
After two cancelled ops, Rachel and dad Chris Casey, 30, of Swansea, finally took their baby son into Ward 32 on 9 March 2010.
She told the Sunday People: “The cardiologist declared Jack fit for surgery so we signed the consent form.”
The same surgeon also treated Sean Turner, four, and Luke Jenkins, seven, of Cardiff.
Both died within three weeks of each other after surgery at Bristol.
Jack returned from theatre distressed with an epidural line attached which they claim should have been removed in theatre.
It was found he had a virus which should have ruled out the operation.
A junior doctor tried to drain fluid with a syringe and pierced his lung, collapsing it.
Jack then suffered life-threatening pneumothorax, with air trapped between his lungs. Two chest drains also had to be fitted.
Then Jack’s ventilation tube leaked fluid into his lung.
He got pneumonia after staff failed to change it in 24 hours. It is claimed they used the wrong-sized tube.
Rachel said: “Jack was dying in front of my eyes.”
Staff then pierced Jack’s gullet with a feeding tube. A consultant took Jack’s parents aside and told them he didn’t think he would make it and to say goodbye.
Then consultant James Frazer said Jack might be helped by a procedure which would give him a 60 per cent chance.
So he was helicoptered to London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, where a machine took over his lung and heart function.
After 16 days, he made no improvement and doctors again told Rachel to expect the worst.
But, miraculously, he came back from death a second time as his left lung began to heal. Jack then returned to Bristol’s intensive care unit.
But Rachel said: “He developed a fungal infection in his feeding tube and a blood clot.”
She says Mr Frazer told her he would be conducting an internal investigation into “the failings” but she has heard nothing since.
Jack went home on May 10 – two months after he was first admitted.
Since then he has suffered medical epilepsy, related to a brain injury, stunted growth after his pituitary gland was damaged, a weakened immune system and vastly delayed development.
Rachel – who is suing for medical negligence – said: “My son went into Bristol a bright, happy boy with heart problems, nothing else.
"He left it a shell of what he was.
“Mr Frazer said what happened should never have occurred. But his comment wasn’t in the minutes.”
A spokesperson for the trust said: “Jack’s parents raised concerns with the Trust about his care in 2010 and we responded.
“But unfortunately the family was not satisfied with our response and so we have subsequently met with them in an effort to respond to their concerns.
This article is courtesy from The Mirror.
He was treated by the same surgeon as two other children who died within weeks of each other.
Jack Casey was born in May 2009, with a combination of four heart defects. Most sufferers of Tetralogy of Fallot recover fully.
But today at nearly five, Jack, of Bridgend, Wales, is the size of a two-year-old and can barely string a sentence together.
His mum, Rachel Puaca, 26, shares her harrowing pictures and account of how her son was treated.
She blames a break-up with her partner on the trail of traumas.
After two cancelled ops, Rachel and dad Chris Casey, 30, of Swansea, finally took their baby son into Ward 32 on 9 March 2010.
She told the Sunday People: “The cardiologist declared Jack fit for surgery so we signed the consent form.”
The same surgeon also treated Sean Turner, four, and Luke Jenkins, seven, of Cardiff.
Both died within three weeks of each other after surgery at Bristol.
Jack returned from theatre distressed with an epidural line attached which they claim should have been removed in theatre.
It was found he had a virus which should have ruled out the operation.
A junior doctor tried to drain fluid with a syringe and pierced his lung, collapsing it.
Jack then suffered life-threatening pneumothorax, with air trapped between his lungs. Two chest drains also had to be fitted.
Then Jack’s ventilation tube leaked fluid into his lung.
He got pneumonia after staff failed to change it in 24 hours. It is claimed they used the wrong-sized tube.
Rachel said: “Jack was dying in front of my eyes.”
Staff then pierced Jack’s gullet with a feeding tube. A consultant took Jack’s parents aside and told them he didn’t think he would make it and to say goodbye.
Then consultant James Frazer said Jack might be helped by a procedure which would give him a 60 per cent chance.
So he was helicoptered to London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, where a machine took over his lung and heart function.
After 16 days, he made no improvement and doctors again told Rachel to expect the worst.
But, miraculously, he came back from death a second time as his left lung began to heal. Jack then returned to Bristol’s intensive care unit.
But Rachel said: “He developed a fungal infection in his feeding tube and a blood clot.”
She says Mr Frazer told her he would be conducting an internal investigation into “the failings” but she has heard nothing since.
Jack went home on May 10 – two months after he was first admitted.
Since then he has suffered medical epilepsy, related to a brain injury, stunted growth after his pituitary gland was damaged, a weakened immune system and vastly delayed development.
Rachel – who is suing for medical negligence – said: “My son went into Bristol a bright, happy boy with heart problems, nothing else.
"He left it a shell of what he was.
“Mr Frazer said what happened should never have occurred. But his comment wasn’t in the minutes.”
A spokesperson for the trust said: “Jack’s parents raised concerns with the Trust about his care in 2010 and we responded.
“But unfortunately the family was not satisfied with our response and so we have subsequently met with them in an effort to respond to their concerns.
This article is courtesy from The Mirror.
Monday, 10 March 2014
Lincolnshire hospitals paid out £7m last year for birthing negligence
Lincolnshire hospitals paid out more than £7.2 million last year in obstetrics and maternity compensation relating to medical negligence.
The figure has been obtained by The Lincolnite through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (ULHT).
Between January 1 and December 31, 2013, ULHT spent a total of £7,225,000 in relation to four cases.
The sum is paid out by the NHS Litigation Authority, and includes resolution to a case which originated several years ago.
Throughout the year, two of the four cases were made public through the courts.
One boy was awarded one of the highest settlements in NHS history after his birth at Lincoln County Hospital.
Aaron Crosby (9) from Lincoln was awarded £10 million in compensation, with a £3.25 million immediate payout, after his mother was given an overdose of a contraction stimulant, starving the baby of oxygen.
Aaron was left with brain damage, athetoid cerebral palsy and epilepsy.
He is wheelchair bound, cannot talk and cannot use any of his limbs. He requires 24-hour care.
ULHT admitted liability for the case and apologised to Aaron and his family.
The second reported case involved a teenage boy from Lincoln who suffered severe brain damage during his birth at Lincoln County Hospital. He was awarded an upfront sum of £2.65 million.
The boy, who was not named for legal reasons, suffered severe cerebral palsy due to being starved of oxygen while being born in the 1990s.
ULHT denied liability for the boy’s delivery, stating midwives worked “diligently”, but agreed to the multi-million settlement.
Compensation for the two other cases, which have not been disclosed, amounts to more than £1.3 million.
Addressing standards
Between April 2004 and October 2013, ULHT dealt with 162 clinical negligence claims in the obstetrics and maternity department.
The Trust said that it has received a recent uplift of 10 new midwives and that there are no current vacancies.
Across Lincolnshire, the birth to midwife ratio now stands at 1:28 – a figure just below the recognised benchmark of one midwife to 29.5 births.
A ULHT spokesperson said: “Our maternity and obstetrics departments follow National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines and have measures in place to manage clinical risks.
“As well as the new birthing pool at Lincoln County Hospital and the recruitment of additional midwives, we are in the process of developing an antenatal day care setting to reduce length of stay for antenatal patients, and we regularly review any incidents and share lessons learned.
“The Lincoln County Hospital is one of few units in the East Midlands that provide a 60 hour consultant presence on the labour ward.
“This is a national standard recommended by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. This ensures that a senior obstetrician is physically present during peak times of activity on the labour ward.
“The hospital has been providing a 7-day consultant presence even before it became a national requirement.
“Practices and guidelines regularly change, and we always ensure our practices are in line with national guidance,” the ULHT statement added.
This article is courtesy from The Lincolnite.
The figure has been obtained by The Lincolnite through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (ULHT).
Between January 1 and December 31, 2013, ULHT spent a total of £7,225,000 in relation to four cases.
The sum is paid out by the NHS Litigation Authority, and includes resolution to a case which originated several years ago.
Throughout the year, two of the four cases were made public through the courts.
One boy was awarded one of the highest settlements in NHS history after his birth at Lincoln County Hospital.
Aaron Crosby (9) from Lincoln was awarded £10 million in compensation, with a £3.25 million immediate payout, after his mother was given an overdose of a contraction stimulant, starving the baby of oxygen.
Aaron was left with brain damage, athetoid cerebral palsy and epilepsy.
He is wheelchair bound, cannot talk and cannot use any of his limbs. He requires 24-hour care.
ULHT admitted liability for the case and apologised to Aaron and his family.
The second reported case involved a teenage boy from Lincoln who suffered severe brain damage during his birth at Lincoln County Hospital. He was awarded an upfront sum of £2.65 million.
The boy, who was not named for legal reasons, suffered severe cerebral palsy due to being starved of oxygen while being born in the 1990s.
ULHT denied liability for the boy’s delivery, stating midwives worked “diligently”, but agreed to the multi-million settlement.
Compensation for the two other cases, which have not been disclosed, amounts to more than £1.3 million.
Addressing standards
Between April 2004 and October 2013, ULHT dealt with 162 clinical negligence claims in the obstetrics and maternity department.
The Trust said that it has received a recent uplift of 10 new midwives and that there are no current vacancies.
Across Lincolnshire, the birth to midwife ratio now stands at 1:28 – a figure just below the recognised benchmark of one midwife to 29.5 births.
A ULHT spokesperson said: “Our maternity and obstetrics departments follow National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines and have measures in place to manage clinical risks.
“As well as the new birthing pool at Lincoln County Hospital and the recruitment of additional midwives, we are in the process of developing an antenatal day care setting to reduce length of stay for antenatal patients, and we regularly review any incidents and share lessons learned.
“The Lincoln County Hospital is one of few units in the East Midlands that provide a 60 hour consultant presence on the labour ward.
“This is a national standard recommended by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. This ensures that a senior obstetrician is physically present during peak times of activity on the labour ward.
“The hospital has been providing a 7-day consultant presence even before it became a national requirement.
“Practices and guidelines regularly change, and we always ensure our practices are in line with national guidance,” the ULHT statement added.
This article is courtesy from The Lincolnite.
Friday, 7 March 2014
The hospital blunders that allowed a new mother to die
Rosida Etwaree loved being a mother, so when she became pregnant again in late 2009 — this time with twins — she was excited and looking forward to holding her new babies for the first time. Tragically, she never got the chance.
Mrs Etwaree died shortly after giving birth to two girls, Nabilah and Nuha, when a caesarean section she underwent at a south London hospital went disastrously wrong.
She was one of five mothers to die in childbirth at the Mayday Hospital, now called Croydon University Hospital, in 2010 — a victim of a catalogue of errors by medical staff.
In a further tragedy, Nabilah died of a heart condition just before her second birthday.
Now Mrs Etwaree’s widower, Ahamud, left looking after the couple’s five children, wants those responsible for his wife’s death to face the consequences.
“Rosida was a wonderful, devoted mother who loved her kids so much,” Mr Etwaree told The Telegraph. “Now I want to make sure whoever was responsible for her death is brought to justice, because I would never want anyone to suffer the way me and my family have done.”
Last week, he received an undisclosed sum in compensation after Croydon Health Services NHS Trust admitted liability for a series of failings in its treatment of Mrs Etwaree.
The Crown Prosecution Service is examining evidence, to consider manslaughter charges against the trust.
The other women who died shortly after giving birth at the Mayday in 2010 included Malgorzata Doniec, who suffered fatal bleeding on the brain, just weeks after giving birth. An inquest heard there were failings in her care, including missed opportunities to save her life.
Following the deaths, the hospital was put on a warning by the health regulator, the Care Quality Commission.
Speaking in detail for the first time about his wife’s case, Mr Etwaree said: “To be honest, when Rosida died, it seemed like a terrible tragedy at first. It was only when the police got in contact in January to say they were investigating possible manslaughter that I realised how serious it really was. Now I want to know exactly what happened.
“I want to be told the truth, because for all this time I’ve been kept in the dark.”
Mrs Etwaree, 45, had gone into hospital on June 23 2010, and had the twins following a caesarean section recommended by her consultant, both because of a heart condition in one of the babies and because Mrs Etwaree had raised blood pressure.
The babies were shown to her before being taken away for cleaning and monitoring.
“She was happy and she smiled to them, but she was too weak to hold them,” said Mr Etwaree, 42.
“I started to get worried. Other mums were being transferred out of the recovery room before Rosida, and she’d been in there longer.
“After three or four hours, she still wasn’t looking at all well, and by 6pm she was looking really distressed and in pain. She just wasn’t being monitored properly.
“I begged the doctors and nurses to help her, but they made me feel that I was panicking over nothing and that they had everything under control with the blood transfusions they had given her.”
At 7pm, Mrs Etwaree suffered the first of two cardiac arrests. Staff resuscitated her after the first, but the second, a short time later, was fatal.
“I just sat there in shock,” said Mr Etwaree. “It didn’t seem real. My first thought was how was I going to raise the children without their mother.
“Then, when I was led in to see her body and I hugged and kissed her, her forehead was cold. That was the moment I really knew she was gone.”
A post mortem examination found that the cardiac arrests had been triggered by prolonged and severe internal bleeding after the caesarean.
Mrs Etwaree’s case shocked even legal professionals familiar with cases of medical negligence.
Evidence commissioned by Mr Etwaree’s solicitors found that hospital staff:
Þ Failed accurately to record the extent of Mrs Etwaree’s loss of blood in the operating theatre or to adequately monitor her following surgery;
Þ Did not provide regular blood transfusions or identify the severity of her condition and return her to theatre for further investigations
Þ Failed to provide appropriate supervision and guidance to junior staff during and after the caesarean section.
In January, John Goulston, the chief executive of Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, wrote to Mr Etwaree to apologise and admitted that the death was “avoidable”.
Mr Etwaree described his wife as “the most devoted wife and mother possible”.
The couple, both from Mauritius, met in London in 1991, and married three years later.
“She always loved children,” said Mr Etwaree, speaking at the family’s home, barely half a mile from Croydon University Hospital.
The couple’s first child, Nadeem, born in 1995, is studying plumbing at college. He was followed by Nadia, now 16, Nadir, 12, and Nadil, 9.
“Rosida loved being a mum. She loved taking the children out, she loved dressing the girls up, she loved cooking for all of them. I wasn’t allowed near the kitchen,” said Mr Etwaree.
He used to have two jobs but now has been forced to give up work to devote himself to caring for the children.
“The last four years have been hard,” he admitted. “I’ve had to learn to cook, with the help of Rosida’s friends.
“There’d be times I’d only sleep a couple of hours a night before getting up again to prepare everyone for school. I had no option. I’ve had to step in for the children and learn to be both a mother and a father to them.
“The settlement money will help. But it won’t replace my children’s mum.”
This article is courtesy from The Telegraph.
Mrs Etwaree died shortly after giving birth to two girls, Nabilah and Nuha, when a caesarean section she underwent at a south London hospital went disastrously wrong.
She was one of five mothers to die in childbirth at the Mayday Hospital, now called Croydon University Hospital, in 2010 — a victim of a catalogue of errors by medical staff.
In a further tragedy, Nabilah died of a heart condition just before her second birthday.
Now Mrs Etwaree’s widower, Ahamud, left looking after the couple’s five children, wants those responsible for his wife’s death to face the consequences.
“Rosida was a wonderful, devoted mother who loved her kids so much,” Mr Etwaree told The Telegraph. “Now I want to make sure whoever was responsible for her death is brought to justice, because I would never want anyone to suffer the way me and my family have done.”
Last week, he received an undisclosed sum in compensation after Croydon Health Services NHS Trust admitted liability for a series of failings in its treatment of Mrs Etwaree.
The Crown Prosecution Service is examining evidence, to consider manslaughter charges against the trust.
The other women who died shortly after giving birth at the Mayday in 2010 included Malgorzata Doniec, who suffered fatal bleeding on the brain, just weeks after giving birth. An inquest heard there were failings in her care, including missed opportunities to save her life.
Following the deaths, the hospital was put on a warning by the health regulator, the Care Quality Commission.
Speaking in detail for the first time about his wife’s case, Mr Etwaree said: “To be honest, when Rosida died, it seemed like a terrible tragedy at first. It was only when the police got in contact in January to say they were investigating possible manslaughter that I realised how serious it really was. Now I want to know exactly what happened.
“I want to be told the truth, because for all this time I’ve been kept in the dark.”
Mrs Etwaree, 45, had gone into hospital on June 23 2010, and had the twins following a caesarean section recommended by her consultant, both because of a heart condition in one of the babies and because Mrs Etwaree had raised blood pressure.
The babies were shown to her before being taken away for cleaning and monitoring.
“She was happy and she smiled to them, but she was too weak to hold them,” said Mr Etwaree, 42.
“I started to get worried. Other mums were being transferred out of the recovery room before Rosida, and she’d been in there longer.
“After three or four hours, she still wasn’t looking at all well, and by 6pm she was looking really distressed and in pain. She just wasn’t being monitored properly.
“I begged the doctors and nurses to help her, but they made me feel that I was panicking over nothing and that they had everything under control with the blood transfusions they had given her.”
At 7pm, Mrs Etwaree suffered the first of two cardiac arrests. Staff resuscitated her after the first, but the second, a short time later, was fatal.
“I just sat there in shock,” said Mr Etwaree. “It didn’t seem real. My first thought was how was I going to raise the children without their mother.
“Then, when I was led in to see her body and I hugged and kissed her, her forehead was cold. That was the moment I really knew she was gone.”
A post mortem examination found that the cardiac arrests had been triggered by prolonged and severe internal bleeding after the caesarean.
Mrs Etwaree’s case shocked even legal professionals familiar with cases of medical negligence.
Evidence commissioned by Mr Etwaree’s solicitors found that hospital staff:
Þ Failed accurately to record the extent of Mrs Etwaree’s loss of blood in the operating theatre or to adequately monitor her following surgery;
Þ Did not provide regular blood transfusions or identify the severity of her condition and return her to theatre for further investigations
Þ Failed to provide appropriate supervision and guidance to junior staff during and after the caesarean section.
In January, John Goulston, the chief executive of Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, wrote to Mr Etwaree to apologise and admitted that the death was “avoidable”.
Mr Etwaree described his wife as “the most devoted wife and mother possible”.
The couple, both from Mauritius, met in London in 1991, and married three years later.
“She always loved children,” said Mr Etwaree, speaking at the family’s home, barely half a mile from Croydon University Hospital.
The couple’s first child, Nadeem, born in 1995, is studying plumbing at college. He was followed by Nadia, now 16, Nadir, 12, and Nadil, 9.
“Rosida loved being a mum. She loved taking the children out, she loved dressing the girls up, she loved cooking for all of them. I wasn’t allowed near the kitchen,” said Mr Etwaree.
He used to have two jobs but now has been forced to give up work to devote himself to caring for the children.
“The last four years have been hard,” he admitted. “I’ve had to learn to cook, with the help of Rosida’s friends.
“There’d be times I’d only sleep a couple of hours a night before getting up again to prepare everyone for school. I had no option. I’ve had to step in for the children and learn to be both a mother and a father to them.
“The settlement money will help. But it won’t replace my children’s mum.”
This article is courtesy from The Telegraph.
Wednesday, 5 March 2014
Trust pays £8m for negligence
The Western Health and Social Care Trust (WHSCT) has paid out more than £8m in settlements for medical negligence in the last five years.
Figures released in the Stormont Assembly reveal that between April 1 2008 and the end of March 2013, WHSCT settled more than 170 cases of clinical and social care negligence - at a cost of £8.21million.
In a statement of response to the ‘Journal’ in relation to the matter, a WHSCT spokeswoman said the Trust takes the “health and safety of our patients, clients and staff very seriously.
“Yet this is set against the context where no health and social care system can ever guarantee to be risk or error free.
“Where an error occurs it is important that the affected person is compensated for any harm or loss that they have suffered.”
The Trust is committed to maintaining the highest standards of care, the spokeswoman said.
“The Trust proactively manages health and social care risks and takes appropriate action to ensure that where learning is identified as a result of claims investigation, this is brought to the attention of relevant staff and appropriate action is taken to prevent recurrence.
“The Trust continues to make every effort to ensure the highest standards of care are provided to our patients and clients,” she said.
The figures, revealed in response to an Assembly question asked by SDLP MLA Colum Eastwood, reveal the settled negligence cases over the last five years cost a a total of £5.338million plus almost £3million in legal costs.
This article is courtesy from the Derry Journal.
Figures released in the Stormont Assembly reveal that between April 1 2008 and the end of March 2013, WHSCT settled more than 170 cases of clinical and social care negligence - at a cost of £8.21million.
In a statement of response to the ‘Journal’ in relation to the matter, a WHSCT spokeswoman said the Trust takes the “health and safety of our patients, clients and staff very seriously.
“Yet this is set against the context where no health and social care system can ever guarantee to be risk or error free.
“Where an error occurs it is important that the affected person is compensated for any harm or loss that they have suffered.”
The Trust is committed to maintaining the highest standards of care, the spokeswoman said.
“The Trust proactively manages health and social care risks and takes appropriate action to ensure that where learning is identified as a result of claims investigation, this is brought to the attention of relevant staff and appropriate action is taken to prevent recurrence.
“The Trust continues to make every effort to ensure the highest standards of care are provided to our patients and clients,” she said.
The figures, revealed in response to an Assembly question asked by SDLP MLA Colum Eastwood, reveal the settled negligence cases over the last five years cost a a total of £5.338million plus almost £3million in legal costs.
This article is courtesy from the Derry Journal.
Monday, 3 March 2014
Compensation over child hospital death
The parents of a child who died in hospital after undergoing an appendix operation are to receive £40,000 compensation, it has been announced.
Ray and Marie Ferguson reached an out of court settlement with the Western Health and Social Care Trust over the death of their daughter Raychel.
The nine-year-old died in June 2001, following her admission to Altnagelvin Hospital. She was administered a lethal dose of intravenous fluid after her appendix was removed.
Her death was investigated as part of the Hyponatraemia Inquiry, a condition which causes the brain cells to swell because of a low level of sodium in the bloodstream.
After her operation, Raychel was transferred to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children where she died hours later. Last year the Western Trust finally admitted liability and issued an unreserved apology to her family.
A medical negligence claim lodged at the High Court in Belfast was due to decide the level of damages to be awarded to Mr and Mrs Ferguson.
But Mr Justice Gillen was instead told that a settlement had been negotiated, with the family to receive £40,000 plus their legal costs.
Outside the court Mrs Ferguson stressed she was far from satisfied with the outcome, describing the compensation as "an insult".
Had the case gone to a hearing on the amount to be paid out, the family may not have got any more than the statutory limit of £11,800 to compensate the death of a child.
Mrs Ferguson insisted the law needs to change: "It's absolutely ridiculous. Some people would actually have got that (£11,800) for a whiplash claim.We are talking about the loss of a child. That's the most horrendous thing that can happen to anyone.
"The money is not going to bring my daughter, but it's just part of the legal system."
Raychel's death was one of five examined by the inquiry held in Banbridge, Co Down.
A report setting out its findings is awaited. Mrs Ferguson pledged that her family's legal battle may continue, with a possible further lawsuit against the Belfast Trust.
She confirmed: "It doesn't end here today. I'm going to fight on, and one of the things I'm going to fight for is the statutory amount (of compensation)."
This article is courtesy from U.TV.
Ray and Marie Ferguson reached an out of court settlement with the Western Health and Social Care Trust over the death of their daughter Raychel.
The nine-year-old died in June 2001, following her admission to Altnagelvin Hospital. She was administered a lethal dose of intravenous fluid after her appendix was removed.
Her death was investigated as part of the Hyponatraemia Inquiry, a condition which causes the brain cells to swell because of a low level of sodium in the bloodstream.
After her operation, Raychel was transferred to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children where she died hours later. Last year the Western Trust finally admitted liability and issued an unreserved apology to her family.
A medical negligence claim lodged at the High Court in Belfast was due to decide the level of damages to be awarded to Mr and Mrs Ferguson.
But Mr Justice Gillen was instead told that a settlement had been negotiated, with the family to receive £40,000 plus their legal costs.
Outside the court Mrs Ferguson stressed she was far from satisfied with the outcome, describing the compensation as "an insult".
Had the case gone to a hearing on the amount to be paid out, the family may not have got any more than the statutory limit of £11,800 to compensate the death of a child.
Mrs Ferguson insisted the law needs to change: "It's absolutely ridiculous. Some people would actually have got that (£11,800) for a whiplash claim.We are talking about the loss of a child. That's the most horrendous thing that can happen to anyone.
"The money is not going to bring my daughter, but it's just part of the legal system."
Raychel's death was one of five examined by the inquiry held in Banbridge, Co Down.
A report setting out its findings is awaited. Mrs Ferguson pledged that her family's legal battle may continue, with a possible further lawsuit against the Belfast Trust.
She confirmed: "It doesn't end here today. I'm going to fight on, and one of the things I'm going to fight for is the statutory amount (of compensation)."
This article is courtesy from U.TV.
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