Compensation recovered for delayed diagnosis and treatment of finger injury

Jonathan Herbert, specialist clinical negligence lawyer, acting for the claimant recovered damages of £45,000 to compensate her for avoidable deterioration of a fracture to the middle joint of her non dominant index finger.

Miss E suffered an injury to the index finger of her non dominant hand.  She attended the A&E department at Maidstone Hospital where a stable fracture was diagnosed with basic treatment being provided.  Miss E went on to suffer permanent impairment of function and pain.

We were instructed to bring a claim for compensation and did so on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis.

Advice was taken from a consultant hand surgeon.  He advised that the fracture was in fact unstable from the outset and that Miss E should have been referred to the fracture clinic.  Had Miss E been referred to the fracture clinic, stabilising treatment would have been provided that would resulted in a return to near normal function.  Instead, the fracture displaced resulting in Miss E suffering a permanently compromised finger with associated partial loss of hand function due to loss of certain index finger abilities.

A letter of claim was sent to Maidstone Hospital.  They admitted the failure to refer Miss E to the fracture clinic resulted in permanent loss of function.  They apologised.

Thereafter settlement negotiations concluded with an award to compensate Miss E for her pain and suffering, past financial losses and the risk of future treatment and lost income.

This case study demonstrates the expertise of our Clinical Negligence team to handle cases involving treatment provided by A&E departments when a patient considers that they suffered personal injury as a consequence of treatment.

Jonathan Herbert is a specialist medical negligence lawyer.  If you would like to ask him a question about a potential case, or if you have a general query about any personal injury, contact him at Thomson Snell & Passmore solicitors on 01892 701226 in confidence.

Thomson Snell & Passmore has one of the largest and most experienced specialist medical negligence teams in Southern England including London.  Our team of experienced lawyers has expertise essential in this sensitive and often complex area of law.  Our clinical negligence team is ranked Number 1 in both the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners UK and we offer no win no fee agreements on the vast majority of our clinical negligence and personal injury cases.