Family seeks compensation after child’s misdiagnosis
A family is seeking compensation for clinical negligence, after their teenage daughter was misdiagnosed with swine flu.
It was later found out that the girl in fact was suffering from meningitis. The girl aged 17-years-old, spent five weeks in hospital, but is now at home.
Initially the girl was diagnosed with swine flu over the phone and also after she was visited by an out-of-hours doctor. She was then taken into Chesterfield Royal Hospital, where she was treated for the condition.
The A-level student was discharged but her condition deteriorated and she returned the following day. It was only at this point that doctors diagnosed meningitis and admitted her to critical care.
The girl said: "My head was so bad and I was throwing up violently. I knew there was something seriously wrong with me - I didn't think it was swine flu. I'm angry about how I was treated.
"I'm feeling better but my knees and legs are still quite weak. I'm lucky I haven't lost any limbs."
The family has lodged complaints with Derbyshire Health United, which runs the county's out-of-hours service, East Midlands Ambulance Service, and Chesterfield Royal Hospital, and has appointed a solicitor to pursue a claim for clinical negligence.
Lucky daughter
The girl's mother, said: "My daughter shouldn't have suffered like that. She's lucky to come out of it."
She said her daughter's concentration, memory and speech had been affected, adding: "We hope she'll pick up a bit more because she's back at home now around her family and friends."
A spokesman for Chesterfield Royal Hospital said the girl's symptoms had been fully consistent with the swine flu diagnosis and she had responded well to treatment.
She added: "Knowing what we know now, she was in fact suffering from the early effects of pneumococcal meningitis.
"We have been informed that a claim for clinical negligence will be brought, but we feel the treatment and advice given to her was appropriate given her 'clinical picture' at the time."
William Jones, Chief Executive of Derbyshire Health United said: "Derbyshire Health United is always concerned to hear about any dissatisfaction with any aspect of the services we provide. All complaints are taken very seriously and are rigorously investigated.
"We are unable to discuss individual cases but we will co-operate fully with any requests from the family for a meeting to discuss the complaint."
Medical negligence claims up 22%
Recent reports have shown that compensation claims, being made from the NHS to patients, have risen from £661 million during 2007/8 to £807 million this year - a drastic increase of 22 per cent.
In a report on the NHS Litigation Authority's accounts, Stephen Walker, the chief executive said that the increase was not an indication of deteriorating standards in the National Health Service.
Mr Walker said: "This year saw an increase in the number of claims settling in the £100,000-500,000 range, resolution of over 100 catastrophic injury cases held back pending final agreements on how to apply the Thompstone ruling to periodical payments, significant numbers of settlements involving conditional fee arrangements and, as ever, judicial inflation running at well in excess of RPI."
He added: "Further, in keeping with our imperative to free resources to members, we rebated £70 million against our call for contributions for 2008-09, a decision entirely correct at the time, but optimistic with the benefit of hindsight."
In its submission to the Jackson review the NHSLA claimed that partners at claimant firms were charging £804 per hour in conditional fee cases, four times as much as their colleagues in defendant firms.
The authority said that claimant legal costs had risen from £95 million per annum to around £130 million, more than twice the amount of defence costs.
Updated on 26/08/2009