LD v Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust
Sarah Pritchard successfully defended a surgical negligence claim in the High Court at Birmingham this week. The Claimant claimed 6 figure damages to compensate her for injuries she sustained following an open reduction and internal fixation of a fracture to her little toe. The claim was advanced on the basis that the Trust’s orthopaedic surgeons negligently failed to take a pre-operative x-ray, failed to continue conservative management of the fracture and continued with an operation when intra operatively it should have been apparent that the fixation was unnecessary. The Trust accepted that a pre-operative x ray should have been taken but robustly defended the rest of the claim on the basis that surgical intervention was indicated and that the procedure itself was carried out entirely properly. After 2 days of expert evidence (trial due to last 5 days) the Claimant discontinued her claim and paid the entirety of the Defendant’s costs.
