Clinical Negligence

Orthopaedics

Most medical negligence claims in this area relate to delay and failure to diagnose fractures. Sometimes, doctors will miss signs of a fracture and fail to X-ray the patient, or misinterpret the X-ray(s) correctly and miss serious injuries. 

Orthopaedic claims can also involve joint replacements such as hips and knees, like using the incorrect implant (prosthesis) or wrongly positioning it, resulting in joint failure or other problems requiring further surgery.

Setfords is here to assess your case and secure you compensation if it turns out your injuries are the result of clinical negligence. 

Cancer

When it comes to cancer clinical negligence cases, most claims in this area involve the delay and failure to diagnose cancer. The earlier a cancer is diagnosed, the better chance there is of treating it. Sometimes, however, the delay is so long that the disease spreads and the outlook for the patient is very poor.

In other cases the delay causes the need for more extensive surgery/treatment and damage to surrounding structures when a simple local excision (removal) is all that would have been necessary. Such instances may see patients entitled for compensation for the issues suffered. 

Our clinical negligence solicitors have experience handling cases involving damaging delays in diagnosis of breast cancer, oral cancer, prostate cancer, bowel cancer, lung cancer, spinal tumours, and brain tumours. We have also acted in cases where patients have been misdiagnosed with cancer or given the wrong cancer treatment resulting in serious health implications.

Accident and Emergency claims

The UK provides some of the best A&E care in the world, however, issues can still arise from A&E  negligence. For example, sometimes symptoms are misinterpreted and investigations aren’t carried out that would have revealed the underlying problem.

Here at Setfords, we have acted in cases involving missed: 

• Heart attacks
• Stroke
• Cancer
• Serious infections
• Meningitis
• Fractures
• Internal bleeding
• Head injuries (including brain haemorrhages)
• Appendicitis
• Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
• Pulmonary embolism (PE)

General practice

We rely on GPs as the first point of contact for our medical services. And, while they can treat many ailments, they are also required to identify conditions that require more specialist treatment and to ensure that patients are referred to the appropriate specialist teams. Sometimes, however, GPs miss key signs or symptoms and fail to refer the patient quickly enough or at all.

Setfords’ specialist clinical negligence solicitors have acted in cases of GP misdiagnosis and failures involving: 

• Prescription of the wrong medication
• Heart attacks
• Stroke
• Cancer
• Serious infections
• Meningitis
• Fractures
• Appendicitis
• Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) 
• Pulmonary embolism (PE)

Urology

Claims in this area often relate to the delay in diagnosis and treatment of various cancers, particularly prostate and bladder cancer. Such failures or delays can have devastating consequences resulting in the spread of disease, reduced survival, and other complications.

We have acted in cases of delayed diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer and BOO (bladder outflow obstruction), as well as instances of serious bladder damage caused by the failure to catheterise.

Spinal Injury

Spinal surgery can be performed by either a neurosurgeon or a specialist orthopaedic surgeon. Patients with unstable spines due to degenerative diseases or a traumatic injury may require the fusion of a number of vertebrae to prevent further damage and/or reduce pain. The delicate spinal cord runs through the centre of the vertebrae and can be easily damaged when the vertebrae are fractured or if one of the ‘discs’ (this is the cushioning material between the vertebrae) becomes enlarged.

Should a disc become enlarged or ‘prolapsed’, it can put pressure on the spinal cord causing neurological symptoms. If this condition is not detected and treated in time, it can result in permanent, devastating injury.

Setfords’ clinical negligence lawyers have extensive experience with cases involving delayed diagnosis and treatment of spinal fractures. We have also acted in cases of substandard spinal surgery resulting in severe neurological injuries.

Anaesthetics

The anaesthetist has an extremely important role during operations. He or she must safely administer a range of drugs and anaesthetic agents to patients, while also ensuring that the patient remains stable throughout the operation.

A spinal anaesthetic might be administered incorrectly, however, which is something that can result in damage to the spinal cord and have a devastating impact on the patient. In some cases, the anaesthetist may simply have not been paying attention and the patient arrests, resulting in loss of oxygen to the brain and serious harm to the patient. In other cases, the anaesthetic team may have positioned the patient incorrectly and/or the operation was longer than expected, causing nerve damage and permanent disability.

We have experience in various cases involving mismanagement of anaesthetic leading to severe brain and spinal injuries.

Brain Injury

The brain can be injured in many ways, and in extreme cases, such injuries can lead to physical and learning disabilities. Patients in these circumstances might suffer from speech, feeding and mobility problems. In other cases, the injury is more subtle but devastating because the injured person might suffer from personality change, memory loss and social problems.

Setfords’ specialist medical negligence solicitors have acted in a number of cases where there has been delay in diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours and subdural haematomas leading to disabling injuries.

Surgery

Most errors in surgery relate to a delay in identifying a serious condition or postoperative complication such as damage to other internal organs or nerves, infection, or bleeding.

Setfords’ medical negligence lawyers have experience dealing with the following surgery negligence cases:

• General surgery – Appendix, cholecystectomy
• Brain surgery –  Tumour, aneurysm, haemorrhage
• Neurosurgery – Spine, brachial plexus
• Colorectal surgery/gastrointestinal surgery – Colostomy, colitis, Crohn’s Disease, incontinence
• Gynaecological surgery – Hysterectomy, oophorectomy
• Urological surgery– Circumcision, prostate, TURP, incontinence, urostomy
• Orthopaedic surgery – ORIF, TKR, THR
• Cardiothoracic surgery – Heart/lung
• Podiatric surgery – Hallux valgus deformity, bunions
• Maxillofacial surgery – (facial fractures, surgical tooth extractions)
• Bariatric surgery – (gastric banding, gastric bypass)
• Vascular surgery – (compartment syndrome, DVT, amputation, diabetic limb)

Cerebral Palsy

This is a highly specialised area of litigation which involves medical experts and complicated evidence about the nature of the condition and whether it would have been avoided with better treatment. 

It is extremely important to ensure that cases of this complexity are dealt with experienced, specialist medical negligence solicitors. If you are concerned about the circumstances surrounding the birth of yourself, your child or the child of someone close to you, get in contact as soon as possible

Other areas of specialism

Our expert solicitors can also help with a range of other clinical negligence cases, including but not limited to:

• Sepsis claims
• Traumatic birth compensation
• Pregnancy negligence claims
• Fatal medical negligence claims
• Misdiagnosis claims, including NHS misdiagnosis