Doctors, surgeons, nurses, and all health workers charged with the care of those who are ill or injured have a duty to ensure that the procedures and medicines they practice and provide are safe and adequate.
Medical Negligence: the term itself is straight forward; for example medical staff failing to sufficiently examine and diagnose a patient or administering the wrong treatment.
So it’s never nice to hear about a serious medical negligence case that has resulted in the death of a young boy; particularly when it could have been prevented.
BBC has reported of a coroners rule criticising Darlington Memorial Hospital for the treatment of the young boy who was sent home and refused antibiotics as the staff failed to spot the early signs of meningitis.
Sadly, the young boy thereafter suffered a horrific seizure and slipped in to a coma from which he never recovered. The young boy was reportedly in a lot of pain on his initial visit to the hospital before he was seemingly prematurely discharged. The coroner’s report ruled that the young boy died of “natural causes to which a delay in giving antibiotic treatment for meningitis may have contributed“.
The inquest also heard that there were no medical notes and no medical examination of the boy took place, complete with inadequate discharge documentation.
The case appears that health staff did not adequately examine or treat the young boy, and the family are subsequently taking legal action, stating “He was denied the most basic of medical care and denied human compassion.”
Amongst the varied types of personal injury claims we as specialists in the field pursue, medical negligence cases are one of the more complex; and often the injury consequences are more severe.
Hospital trusts and health staff are bound by legislation to ensure that they do not fail in their duty of care to their patients.
If you have been injured as a result of medical negligence, we strongly advise you seek expert legal advice to discuss your options.
Legal action often results in procedural changes to ensure there are no repeat cases or similar incidents. The lessons here, particularly in cases as serious as this, are lessons that need to be learnt.
