£95,000 claimed for clinical negligence case in Bradford
David received £95,000 in compensation from the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust when the hospital failed to deactivate his Artificial Urethral Sphincter (AUS) prior to surgery for a right femoral popliteal bypass graft.
David attended hospital for a right femoral popliteal bypass graft. He required deactivation of his AUS prior to the bypass surgery. The device had been in place for a number of years following a prostatectomy. The deactivation of the AUS and a catheter insertion prior to the bypass surgery was negligently carried out. He subsequently underwent an attempt to reinsert another AUS but unfortunately this failed.
As a direct result of the negligent treatment by the hospital David was left with a long-term suprapubic catheter that causes significant discomfort and regular incontinence requiring the use of incontinence pads. The catheter requires changing every two months and he has undergone a number of unnecessary medical procedures and suffered recurrent urinary tract infections. As a result of the infections he was placed on prophylactic antibiotics and underwent botulinum toxin injections.
David sought help from Longden Walker & Renney and spoke with our solicitor, Jonathan Crawford. Upon receipt of David’s instructions, investigations began to establish the circumstances giving rise to his allegations of clinical negligence. After establishing the background of the case from David his medical records were obtained.
On receipt of the request for medical records The Hospital Trust responded with admissions of liability for the negligent treatment of David. They admitted that the catheter insertion had damaged his urethra and if the AUS had been properly deactivated, this would not have occurred. He would have only required a brief period of catheterisation.
On review of the medical records Jonathan thought that the admissions made by the Trust should potentially have gone further. A medical report was then obtained from an expert Consultant Urological Surgeon.
In his report the expert confirmed that David’s AUS was not properly deactivated before inserting the urethral catheter. He advised that the failure to do so was negligent and would have inevitably led to the erosion of the AUS, which indeed proved to be the case. It was the expert’s view that prior to the surgery, the AUS was working effectively and that a further replacement device would have been easily performed if there had not been erosion of the original AUS.
The expert was of the view that as a result of the negligence David underwent a number of cystoscopies, catheter changes, two urethrotomies, an attempted insertion of a new AUS which had to be abandoned and the removal of the eroded AUS device. He suffered continued discomfort with the suprapubic catheter and associated bladder spasms which required the treatment of botulinum toxin injections. David was troubled by regular incontinence despite the oral medication he was on. The expert advised that David would need to have a regular suprapubic catheter change every couple of months and may well be troubled with urinary tract infections, the Claimant was already being prescribed prophylactic antibiotics to avoid these, and each infection would individually require medication with the risk of hospitalisation.
The Hospital Trust put forward an offer to settle the claim in the sum of £30,000. Jonathan advised David that this was nowhere near the full valuation of his claim. A Letter of Claim was then sent to the Hospital Trust on 5th February 2020 the Hospital Trust responded by making further admissions as to effects of the negligence on David.
Following a period of negotiations, the Defendant Trust put forward an offer in the sum of £95,000. The Trust’s offer was carefully considered and relayed to David and after discussion, the offer was accepted.
If, like David, you have suffered an injury due to negligent surgery, it is important that you obtain expert legal advice as soon as possible. You can contact our Clinical Negligence team by emailing law@longdens.co.uk or calling 0191 5666 500.
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