Compensation paid to woman after misdiagnosis claim
23 Aug 2010
A woman has been paid clinical negligence compensation after
lodging a
misdiagnosis claim against an NHS hospital.
Elizabeth Kane, 31, was admitted to St Helier Hospital in December
2007 in order to have her first child, the Sutton Guardian
reports.
She had to have stitches after baby Ethan was born and medical
staff used swabs to put inside her body to stem the bleeding.
However, the patient claims that they did not count the number of
swabs they used and therefore failed to notice their mistake when
one was left in her body.
Ms Kane began to suffer from headaches and sickness in the days
after she was released from hospital and complained several times
over the next two weeks that something was not right.
"They said I had an infection and gave me antibiotics," the patient
commented.
It was only when Ms Kane was in the bath 13 days after her child's
birth that she realised what was wrong and went back to hospital to
inform doctors.
Since her ordeal, the victim has been suffering from
post-traumatic stress disorder and was
house-bound for six months.
She took legal action against Epsom and St Helier Hospital Trust
and this month, an out-of-court settlement has been agreed.
Olivia Lawson, a partner at Hodge Jones & Allen and a
specialist in clinical negligence compensation claims, commented:
"We have dealt with several cases of foreign bodies. It is an
extremely distressing type of injury and we are happy to provide
advice to anyone who may have been affected in similar
circumstances.
"In the case of medical instruments being left inside a patient, it
must be proven that they were the result of an operation or
treatment at the hospital in question and, as such, should be
retained."
