London and South East law firm Penningtons Solicitors LLP has settled a claim for over £350,000 against the Royal Berkshire NHS Trust arising from the negligent treatment given to a schoolgirl with a knee injury which resulted in permanent damage to her lower leg.
The girl, who was 13 years old at the time of the accident in 1999, suffered a dislocated knee following an injury during netball practice. She was taken by ambulance to the Royal Berkshire Hospital where the dislocation was identified by staff in the A&E department, who referred her to the orthopaedic team. This team relocated her knee but did not recognise and act on the known risk that in doing so, the blood supply to the lower leg might be disrupted. Staff negligently failed to monitor the blood supply to the lower leg properly and to involve a vascular team in the girl's care. Had they done this, they should have recognised that the blood supply to her lower leg was disrupted when her knee was relocated and arranged her urgent referral to a vascular team to repair and restore the damaged blood supply.
Instead, the disruption to the blood supply was not identified for over 12 hours and the patient was only then referred for vascular treatment, which took a further four hours. The delayed diagnosis of Compartment Syndrome resulted in the death of three of the four muscle compartments in the girl's lower leg, which had to be removed. She underwent numerous operations in the months that followed and is left with permanent mobility problems, restricting her walking distance to just 100 m, and severe scarring to her leg. This has significantly impacted on her day to day living in aspects such as her ability to use public transport and carry items, and also more significantly is going to make it harder for her to achieve her ambition to work as a professional stage manager. She is likely to need increasing domestic support and assistance with age.
The case was disputed in full from the outset but part way through the court timetable, the defendants finally admitted negligence in the patient's management and that the delay in treatment had been critical. They continued to stall, however, in terms of progressing matters and negotiations for settlement concluded only a few weeks before a High Court trial was due to start on 27 April 2009.
The case was conducted by Philippa Luscombe, a partner in Penningtons' clinical negligence and personal injury team, assisted by Andrew Clayton.