Hudgell Solicitors secured damages of £40,000 for a woman who was left in pain and discomfort – and needed further surgery – following a substandard operation to fix her broken hip.
Screws used to fix the fracture were not in the correct position and, as the woman was told she could weight bear soon after an operation, they moved and rubbed together, leading to constant pain and discomfort.
The fixings were damaged to such an extent that they then needed to be removed the following year – something which would have been avoided had they been in the right position and had there been appropriate post-surgery advice and management.
Medical experts consulted as part of the case advised that the woman may now need a full hip replacement in the future.
The Legal Case
We alleged that the Hospital Trust had breached its duty of care, firstly in the standard of surgery performed due to the positioning of the screws, and also in the post-operation management and care.
The Trust admitted breach of duty of care in relation to the position of the metal work accepted that this led to the need for our client to undergo further surgery.
The Trust made an initial offer to settle for £35,000;following negotiations between its legal representatives and Solicitor Emma Cawthorne, of our medical negligence claims team, an increased settlement offer of £40,000 was made and accepted.
Hudgell Solicitors Comment
Solicitor Emma Cawthorne said: “There were two key failings in this case. Firstly, the operation to fix our client’s hip was not to the expected standard in terms of the positioning of the screws.
“Then, to compound this, our client was advised that she would be able to weight bear on the hip soon after. This should not have been the case, and had there been a number of x-rays carried out after the operation, the issue would have been identified and possibly resolved.
“At the very least she should have been advised to undergo a period of protected weight bearing to allow time for the fracture fragments to consolidate and unite. The Trust should have carried out a series of x-rays until the fracture showed signs of healing before she was allowed to fully weight bear.
“Hopefully measures will now be taken to ensure that the same mistakes are not repeated.We were pleased to be able to secure a good settlement for our client which we hope will go some way towards helping her move on and put this behind her .”
