Despite their best efforts, doctors inevitably make mistakes and it is only right that there should be financial recompense if such errors are negligent. In one case, a man won a multi-million-pound compensation package from the NHS after hospital medics failed to spot that he had a broken back.
The middle-aged man attended hospital after falling down a flight of stairs. The nature of his spinal injury was not initially identified by medics. That failure and the consequent delay in appropriate treatment has left him paralysed from the chest down. He is wheelchair dependent and in need of constant care.
Specialist solicitors launched proceedings on his behalf against the NHS trust that ran the hospital. A full admission of liability was forthcoming and, following negotiations, a settlement of the man’s claim worth £8.8 million was agreed. The facts of the case emerged as the High Court approved the settlement.