The number of hospital mistakes deemed so serious they should never have happened has almost doubled in a single year.
There were 299 ‘never’ events in 2012/13, up from 163 in 2011/12, according to the Department of Health’s own figures.
Among 25 types of incidents are surgical instruments left in the body, operations on the wrong body part and fatal errors such as feeding tubes inserted into the lungs and patients given lethal doses of painkillers.
A list of these errors, by hospital, will be published so patients can see where the highest number occur.
NHS England – the organisation in charge of the health service – will release the data four times a year starting from next month.
There are 25 different types of ‘never events’ including surgery on the wrong body part, patients being given lethal doses of painkillers and mothers dying during caesareans.
Others include feeding tubes inserted into the lungs rather than the stomach and staff muddling up patients giving them the wrong treatment or operation.
But medical negligence lawyers believe that thousands of these mistakes occur each year but staff often try and cover them up in case patients try to sue.
NHS England could not explain why the numbers had increased so starkly and said another organisation had been responsible for collecting them in the past.
Mike Durkin, the body’s director of patient safety said: ‘NHS England intends to begin publishing more detailed data on never events on a more regular basis very soon, providing more frequent information on the numbers and kinds of never events that occur in the NHS as part of its wider commitment to transparency but also to stimulate more learning and preventative action in the NHS.
‘Every single never event is one too many and, as Don Berwick (the Government’s tsar on preventing harm) made clear in his recent report, we need to openly and publicly report and address safety problems, not so that people can lay blame inappropriately, but so that we can fully understand and therefore learn more from the safety problems that the NHS, like all healthcare systems, faces.’
One grieving relative described how nurses had mistakenly inserted a feeding tube into her mother’s lungs instead of her stomach.
Speaking anonymously, the victim said staff had also failed to carry out an x-ray to check it was in the right place.
In a recent interview with the BBC she said: ‘You feel guilty because when she [was] talking to us she kept saying she wanted to come out, and we kept saying, ‘You can’t come out, mum, until you get better,’
‘You feel angry after, because you think someone’s killed your mum. No, they probably didn’t do it on purpose but that’s how it feels. You feel that somebody’s killed her.’
Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: ‘These worrying figures reveal an NHS cutting too many corners and sailing dangerously close to the wind.
‘Ministers have been repeatedly warned that too many hospitals in England do not have enough staff to provide care. Their failure to act has left wards under-staffed and nurses over-stretched. That explains why so many nurses say they have considered resigning.
‘The warning signs of an NHS under intense pressure are growing day by day and David Cameron cannot continue to ignore them. He must act to halt the job losses and ensure all hospitals in England have enough staff on the wards to provide safe care.’
This article is courtesy from the Daily Mail.
Regularly updated blog featuring news, articles and information relating to clinical/medical negligence.
Monday, 7 October 2013
Sunday, 6 October 2013
Norfolk girl’s £4.5m compensation pay-out
A 10-year-old girl who suffered serious brain injuries from complications during her birth has won a £4.5m compensation payout.
Emily Dye, of Easton, developed cerebral palsy after her brain was starved of oxygen shortly before her delivery at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in 2003.
Despite denying responsiblity for her injuries, the NHS trust in charge of the hospital last year agreed to pay 70pc of her full damages claim.
And yesterday, Mr Justice Stuart-Smith – a judge at London’s High Court – approved a final, seven-figure, settlement, including a lump sum of £1.9m, which will help secure Emily’s future, paying tribute to her “devoted” family.
Emily’s legal team had claimed that medical staff failed to recognise her distress before she was delivered on April 13, 2003, with the delay leading to “short but acute” foetal asphyxia. Emily now suffers from cerebral palsy and learning difficulties and will need full-time care for the rest of her life.
Jane Mishcon, for Emily, said yesterday that any trial on liability would have been closely contested, with the girl’s legal team claiming that she would have escaped serious injury if she had been delivered just five minutes earlier.
The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust contended that, even if she could have been born earlier, the damage was already done.
Miss Mishcon said the final deal struck between the parties comprised a £1.9m lump sum, along with annual, index-linked and tax- free payments to cover the costs of Emily’s care for life.
The total payout was valued at £4,540,000.
Of that sum, Emily’s parents would receive £112,000 for their “10 years of devoted care”, Miss Mishcon added.
This article is courtesy from EDP 24.
Emily Dye, of Easton, developed cerebral palsy after her brain was starved of oxygen shortly before her delivery at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in 2003.
Despite denying responsiblity for her injuries, the NHS trust in charge of the hospital last year agreed to pay 70pc of her full damages claim.
And yesterday, Mr Justice Stuart-Smith – a judge at London’s High Court – approved a final, seven-figure, settlement, including a lump sum of £1.9m, which will help secure Emily’s future, paying tribute to her “devoted” family.
Emily’s legal team had claimed that medical staff failed to recognise her distress before she was delivered on April 13, 2003, with the delay leading to “short but acute” foetal asphyxia. Emily now suffers from cerebral palsy and learning difficulties and will need full-time care for the rest of her life.
Jane Mishcon, for Emily, said yesterday that any trial on liability would have been closely contested, with the girl’s legal team claiming that she would have escaped serious injury if she had been delivered just five minutes earlier.
The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust contended that, even if she could have been born earlier, the damage was already done.
Miss Mishcon said the final deal struck between the parties comprised a £1.9m lump sum, along with annual, index-linked and tax- free payments to cover the costs of Emily’s care for life.
The total payout was valued at £4,540,000.
Of that sum, Emily’s parents would receive £112,000 for their “10 years of devoted care”, Miss Mishcon added.
This article is courtesy from EDP 24.
Saturday, 5 October 2013
Patient successfully sues Bury dentist for £22,000 after treatment leaves her with chronic gum disease
A Bury woman has been awarded £22,000 in compensation after dental treatment led to chronic gum disease and tooth extractions.
Heidi Hofbauer, aged 52, successfully sued Dr David Broman from The Dental Practice in Knowsley Street after his failure to treat her gum disease led to bone loss, recurrent bouts of infection and the removal of three teeth.
She says she will also need to have six other teeth extracted in the future.
Mrs Hofbauer said she went to see Dr Broman in 2004 because a filling in a lower right tooth was chipped. He fixed the filling and later fitted a crown.
She returned that July with tenderness in the same tooth and was prescribed antibiotics.
“The antibiotics worked for a while but the pain would return more severe than before,” said Mrs Hofbauer.
Mrs Hofbauer went back to Dr Broman for regular check-ups between 2005 and 2008 and was prescribed antibiotics for further tooth infections.
She continued: “Dr Broman eventually told me the tooth he had treated in 2004 now needed to be extracted, which he did in October 2008. I had two more teeth removed on his advice in April and May 2009.”
The Dental Law Partnership (DLP) took on her case, and solicitor Heather Williams said: “Dr Broman failed to treat Heidi for the early signs of gum disease, which then led to severe consequences.”
Dr Broman, who did not admit liability said: “I am disappointed that the treatment fell short of what the patient expected on this occasion and I hope the settlement goes some way to resolving the matter.
“Although I will not comment publicly about individual cases due to patient confidentiality, I always strive to provide the best standard of care for all my patients.”
This article is courtesy from the Bury Times.
Heidi Hofbauer, aged 52, successfully sued Dr David Broman from The Dental Practice in Knowsley Street after his failure to treat her gum disease led to bone loss, recurrent bouts of infection and the removal of three teeth.
She says she will also need to have six other teeth extracted in the future.
Mrs Hofbauer said she went to see Dr Broman in 2004 because a filling in a lower right tooth was chipped. He fixed the filling and later fitted a crown.
She returned that July with tenderness in the same tooth and was prescribed antibiotics.
“The antibiotics worked for a while but the pain would return more severe than before,” said Mrs Hofbauer.
Mrs Hofbauer went back to Dr Broman for regular check-ups between 2005 and 2008 and was prescribed antibiotics for further tooth infections.
She continued: “Dr Broman eventually told me the tooth he had treated in 2004 now needed to be extracted, which he did in October 2008. I had two more teeth removed on his advice in April and May 2009.”
The Dental Law Partnership (DLP) took on her case, and solicitor Heather Williams said: “Dr Broman failed to treat Heidi for the early signs of gum disease, which then led to severe consequences.”
Dr Broman, who did not admit liability said: “I am disappointed that the treatment fell short of what the patient expected on this occasion and I hope the settlement goes some way to resolving the matter.
“Although I will not comment publicly about individual cases due to patient confidentiality, I always strive to provide the best standard of care for all my patients.”
This article is courtesy from the Bury Times.
Friday, 4 October 2013
Children left disabled by meningitis after GPs failed to diagnose them are paid £28m in compensation
Millions of pounds a year are being paid out in compensation for childhood meningitis cases missed by GPs, new figures have reveal.
Between 2008 and 2012, at least £28 million was given to families of children left permanently disabled as a result of GPs’ failure to diagnose the deadly infection, or refer suspected cases for emergency treatment.
The Medical Defence Union, which made the payments on behalf of doctors in its insurance scheme, issued the alarming statistics recently as a warning to members of the dangers of missing meningitis.
One case involved a sum of £2.5million following a failure to refer a four-year-old child to hospital by a GP working out of hours.
The child was later diagnosed with meningitis B and suffered severe disabilities, including the loss of a leg.
The MDU said it is not unusual for cases to settle for well in excess of £1m because of the cost of providing care for disabled patients for the rest of their lives.
Of the 17 claims it settled in the four year period, five involved out-of-hours consultations and two, home visits.
The mounting compensation bill has renewed pressure for the Department of Health to sanction the use of a new meningitis B vaccine, which was rejected in July by a panel of experts on the grounds that it was not cost-effective.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, made up infectious disease experts, ruled against the life-saving jab and said more research was needed to confirm it was worth the cost of giving it to all infants.
But meningitis charities last night said the soaring compensation pay-outs highlight the need for the vaccine to be introduced immediately.
‘We think this strengthens the argument for the vaccine to be introduced as soon as possible,’ said Linda Glennie, head of research and medical information at the Meningitis Research Foundation.
‘We know from our own research that 50 per cent of children with meningococcal disease are sent home the first time they see their GP.'
‘Yet these compensation payments are not included in the cost-effectiveness analysis on the vaccine.’
The Foundation says millions more have been paid out by NHS hospital trusts over the last decade for children and adults harmed by failure to spot meningitis.
It says that money came from funds that would otherwise have been spent on patient care.
In 2011, schoolgirl Lydia Cross won a £1.78m payout after losing both her legs as a baby when a GP refused to carry out a home visit, despite pleas from her parents Tony and Jodie Cross, from Braunton in Devon.
Lydia - now aged 12 - hopes to take part in the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, racing the 100 metres on blades similar to those made famous by South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius.
Dr Sharmala Moodley, deputy head of claims at the MDU, said: ‘Meningitis is thankfully a rare disease, meaning most GPs will only see one or two cases in a lifetime of practice.
‘But failure to diagnose it can have devastating consequences for patients, some of whom will suffer irreversible injuries such as brain damage, loss of limbs and organ damage.'
‘This is reflected in the high costs of compensation payments, especially where cases involve children who may need care for many years to come.’
She said GPs faced a major challenge because the early features of meningitis are often the same as those of minor viral illnesses.
A vaccine against the meningitis C strain, introduced more than a decade ago, is thought to have saved thousands of lives.
But the deadly B strain still strikes around 1,800 people a year, killing one in ten. The vast majority are children under five.
Tests suggest the vaccine, called Bexsero, is effective against 73 per cent of the different subtypes of meningitis B.
This article is courtesy from the Daily Mail.
Between 2008 and 2012, at least £28 million was given to families of children left permanently disabled as a result of GPs’ failure to diagnose the deadly infection, or refer suspected cases for emergency treatment.
The Medical Defence Union, which made the payments on behalf of doctors in its insurance scheme, issued the alarming statistics recently as a warning to members of the dangers of missing meningitis.
One case involved a sum of £2.5million following a failure to refer a four-year-old child to hospital by a GP working out of hours.
The child was later diagnosed with meningitis B and suffered severe disabilities, including the loss of a leg.
The MDU said it is not unusual for cases to settle for well in excess of £1m because of the cost of providing care for disabled patients for the rest of their lives.
Of the 17 claims it settled in the four year period, five involved out-of-hours consultations and two, home visits.
The mounting compensation bill has renewed pressure for the Department of Health to sanction the use of a new meningitis B vaccine, which was rejected in July by a panel of experts on the grounds that it was not cost-effective.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, made up infectious disease experts, ruled against the life-saving jab and said more research was needed to confirm it was worth the cost of giving it to all infants.
But meningitis charities last night said the soaring compensation pay-outs highlight the need for the vaccine to be introduced immediately.
‘We think this strengthens the argument for the vaccine to be introduced as soon as possible,’ said Linda Glennie, head of research and medical information at the Meningitis Research Foundation.
‘We know from our own research that 50 per cent of children with meningococcal disease are sent home the first time they see their GP.'
‘Yet these compensation payments are not included in the cost-effectiveness analysis on the vaccine.’
The Foundation says millions more have been paid out by NHS hospital trusts over the last decade for children and adults harmed by failure to spot meningitis.
It says that money came from funds that would otherwise have been spent on patient care.
In 2011, schoolgirl Lydia Cross won a £1.78m payout after losing both her legs as a baby when a GP refused to carry out a home visit, despite pleas from her parents Tony and Jodie Cross, from Braunton in Devon.
Lydia - now aged 12 - hopes to take part in the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, racing the 100 metres on blades similar to those made famous by South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius.
Dr Sharmala Moodley, deputy head of claims at the MDU, said: ‘Meningitis is thankfully a rare disease, meaning most GPs will only see one or two cases in a lifetime of practice.
‘But failure to diagnose it can have devastating consequences for patients, some of whom will suffer irreversible injuries such as brain damage, loss of limbs and organ damage.'
‘This is reflected in the high costs of compensation payments, especially where cases involve children who may need care for many years to come.’
She said GPs faced a major challenge because the early features of meningitis are often the same as those of minor viral illnesses.
A vaccine against the meningitis C strain, introduced more than a decade ago, is thought to have saved thousands of lives.
But the deadly B strain still strikes around 1,800 people a year, killing one in ten. The vast majority are children under five.
Tests suggest the vaccine, called Bexsero, is effective against 73 per cent of the different subtypes of meningitis B.
This article is courtesy from the Daily Mail.
Thursday, 3 October 2013
£3m payout for boy brain damaged at birth
A seven-year-old boy who suffered severe brain damage during his Caesarean birth at Homerton Hospital is to receive more than £3 million in damages.
Yiqun Zhang, who lives with his family near Oxford, has needed constant round-the-clock care since he was born at Homerton Hospital in February 2006.
Last year, a judge ruled that his injury, which has led to cerebral palsy, was caused by a doctor attempting to free the child’s head which had become deeply impacted in his mother’s pelvis.
Mr Justice Hickinbottom said he was satisfied that the manoeuvres used were “inappropriate, dangerous, negligent and hence in breach of duty”.
Lawyers for the boy and Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust have now agreed a settlement involving a lump sum of just over £3 million plus periodic payments rising to £225,000 a year.
The compensation package, which was approved at London’s High Court on Tuesday by Judge Patrick Moloney, will pay for care, housing, therapies and equipment for the rest of Yiqun’s life.
Alison Appelboam Meadows, of Penningtons Solicitors LLP, said later that no amount of money could ever give Yiqun the life he would have had if he had not suffered such serious injuries but now he would be able to maximise his potential.
This article is courtesy from London 24.
Yiqun Zhang, who lives with his family near Oxford, has needed constant round-the-clock care since he was born at Homerton Hospital in February 2006.
Last year, a judge ruled that his injury, which has led to cerebral palsy, was caused by a doctor attempting to free the child’s head which had become deeply impacted in his mother’s pelvis.
Mr Justice Hickinbottom said he was satisfied that the manoeuvres used were “inappropriate, dangerous, negligent and hence in breach of duty”.
Lawyers for the boy and Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust have now agreed a settlement involving a lump sum of just over £3 million plus periodic payments rising to £225,000 a year.
The compensation package, which was approved at London’s High Court on Tuesday by Judge Patrick Moloney, will pay for care, housing, therapies and equipment for the rest of Yiqun’s life.
Alison Appelboam Meadows, of Penningtons Solicitors LLP, said later that no amount of money could ever give Yiqun the life he would have had if he had not suffered such serious injuries but now he would be able to maximise his potential.
This article is courtesy from London 24.
Wednesday, 2 October 2013
Narcoleptic schoolgirl who falls asleep 30 times a day because of swine flu vaccine hopes to be given £120,000 payout
A Scottish schoolgirl who developed narcolepsy after having the swine flu vaccine is hoping to receive a £120,000 compensation payout from the government.Chloe Glasson, 14, from Fife falls asleep without warning between 25 and 30 times a day.Chloe had the Pandemrix jab in November 2009 and started suffering the symptoms of narcolepsy just four months later.
Campaigners believe she is one of dozens of youngsters across the UK who developed the condition after having the vaccine. The government recently admitted for the first time that the injections can trigger narcolepsy in some cases. It is believed ministers will announce on Friday that tests are to begin on sufferers to see if they qualify for compensation.
Chloe's case is so severe that her family, from Kirkcaldy, are convinced the government will be forced to pay compensation. Chloe said: ‘What hurts the most is when people see me in public and I'm starting to fall asleep and they look at me as if I'm drunk or have been taking drugs. ‘I am no different to anyone else in that I have still got feelings and I can see the way they are looking at me.
‘I have still got hopes and dreams. I want to be a drama teacher when I'm older but I've really just got to take every day as it comes.’
Chloe says she also suffers mood swings and disturbing dreams as a result of her condition. She said: ‘The emotions I feel are so extreme, I can go from being really happy and chatty to really annoyed to really upset in a few seconds and all it takes is one little thing to set it off. ‘The dreams I have when I'm asleep are really vivid, I can feel the pain in the dream and sometimes it even feels like someone is touching me, it's really terrifying.’
Chloe has already to drop two subjects at school because she cannot keep up with the workload. She said: ‘When I go into auto pilot behaviour I don't really remember anything that happens, and luckily I've never been really hurt.’
Chloe, who was officially diagnosed with narcolepsy and catalepsy in December last year, added: ‘It can happen at any time. ‘Like standing up or sitting down. I've really been lucky that I've not hurt myself falling asleep while standing up and I ask myself everyday how I've managed. ‘At school I'll be sitting at my desk and this wave of tiredness takes over. Then you're eyes start to roll and droop and that's when you know what's about to happen. You just go out.
‘It’s like a rollercoaster of emotions sometimes and at first it was really embarrassing. ‘No one really got what was going on so they would kind of laugh about it. Even the teachers joined in at first. I've been reduced to tears so many times.’ Chloe’s mother, Rebecca, said: ‘It's just frustrating that it's taken them this long to admit there is a link. ‘Almost everyone involved knew that was the case and we're just trying to prove it. You just start to blame yourself.’
She added: ‘Chloe had to get the vaccine because she is asthmatic but now she's left with this condition for the rest of her life.
‘The scariest moment so far was when Chloe went missing for over two hours. She was meant to meet my mum in town but went into an automatic behaviour state and disappeared. ‘We were all frantic with worry and I had to call the police.’ Ms Glasson said the falling asleep was not even the biggest problem.
Chloe now also suffers from the debilitating muscle condition cataplexy.
Ms Glasson said: ‘Her cataplexy means she can collapse at any time and there is so many day to day things that we take for granted that she can't do.
‘No bubble bath, no swimming and she can't even use public transport on her own. She fell asleep on a bus once and ended up miles away.
‘For us it’s not just about the compensation, it’s about making Chloe's life better. We want people to realise what she's dealing with and to help make her feel more accepted. ‘Chloe is a really, really bright kid and she loves drama and art but it’s really unfair that she has had to drop two subjects. ‘It's been life changing for Chloe and the rest of the family.’
The UK Government recently admitted that the Pandemrix jab could be to blame in certain cases of narcolepsy. Families will get £120,000 through the Vaccine Damage Payments Scheme if they can prove 'severe' disability.
It is thought that for every 55,000 children who were given the injection, one has developed narcolepsy. Researchers, who published their findings in the British Medical Journal, studied 75 children with narcolepsy and found that 11 of these had received the vaccine before their symptoms began. Since 2011 it has not been given to people under the age of 20 because of the risk of narcolepsy. The UK Health Protection Agency has found that giving the jab to young children increases their chance of developing narcolepsy by 14 times.
Narcolepsy affects the brain's ability to regulate the normal sleep-wake cycle, causing excessive sleepiness throughout the day.
The long term neurological condition can cause sleep attacks, daytime sleepiness and, in some cases, cataplexy. There is no cure for narcolepsy but medication is available to help manage the symptoms, which cause side effects such as nausea, hallucinations and headaches. A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions confirmed they had written to four families previously rejected for compensation inviting them to reapply. Saying individual cases could not be discussed, he added: ‘The Vaccine Damage Payments Scheme provides support in the very rare cases where someone becomes severely disabled as a result of a vaccination. ‘Decisions on vaccine damage payments claims take into account the individual circumstances of each case and the latest available accepted medical evidence.
‘DWP has looked at some vaccine damage payments cases again in light of new information regarding swine flu and narcolepsy provided by the Department for Health. ‘Once this new information was taken into account it was decided, on balance of probability, in some cases that causation was proved.’
This article is courtesy from the Daily Mail.
Tuesday, 1 October 2013
NHS £400k payout for pregnant woman's death
The family of a woman who died from an ectopic pregnancy after she was twice sent home from hospital is to receive £400,000 damages from the NHS.
Rebecca Ben-Nejma, 28, attended Maidstone Hospital on two successive days complaining of abdominal pains.
On the first occasion she was sent home with painkillers and told to return on the Monday morning.
But by the next day she was vomiting and in a state of distress, so returned to the hospital with her husband, Walid.
She was examined by a junior doctor who consulted with a registrar and concluded she might be suffering from gastroenteritis.
The lethal complication in her pregnancy, in which the embryo implants itself outside the womb, was not diagnosed and again she was sent home.
The mother-of-two from Maidstone collapsed days later in front of her husband and teenage daughter Charlotte, and attempts by paramedics to resuscitate her were unsuccessful.
Her family, including her husband and her mother, Marion Mitchell from Rochester, launched legal proceedings against Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust following Mrs Ben-Nejma's death in December 2010.
The Trust admitted liability and apologised and Judge David Higgins at London’s High Court approved the six-figure compensation settlement, which includes a sum of £251,897 to be apportioned between Mrs Ben-Nejma's children Charlotte, 15, and Bailey, four.
The trust has also agreed to pay the family's legal costs.
Simon Cripland, the family’s lawyer, said Mrs Ben-Nejma's sudden death meant Bailey had to live with his grandmother during the week while his father worked nights.
The trust's solicitor, Harsha Shah, said: "I would just like to take this opportunity on behalf of the trust to reiterate our apologies to the family.
"It is an extremely sad case and the trust hopes the settlement can give the family some comfort, although we appreciate that nothing can bring back the loss they have suffered."
This article is courtesy from The Telegraph.
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