Medical professionals failed to regularly check Shaun’s blood pressure during spinal surgery. He now has mobility issues that’ll only get worse. Our medical negligence solicitors helped him secure compensation to pay for the care he’ll now need.
What happened to Shaun?
Aged 60, Shaun had a discectomy to remove damaged parts of a disc in his spine. The surgery was being performed at Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The medical professionals performing the operation were aware that Shaun was a hypertensive patient. This meant he was vulnerable to ischaemic damage (the cutting off or restriction of blood to organs and tissues) caused by hypotension. Because of this, it was important Shaun’s blood pressure was checked every five minutes.
During the operation, there were three blood pressure readings taken. These were at 12:00, 12:05, and 12:20. The records indicated that induction of anaesthesia took place at around 11:35 to 11:40 and that Shaun was in recovery at 12:40.
The timings showed his operation lasted longer than 20 minutes, meaning Shaun’s blood pressure wasn’t monitored for 40 minutes.
The failure to correctly monitor Shaun’s blood pressure exposed him to a significant period of hypotension. This disrupted the blood to his spinal cord and put the spinal cord at risk of damage.
Shaun had an ischaemic episode affecting the terminal spinal cord. He now has spinal tissue damage and has issues he didn’t have before, including:
- Left lower limb distal weakness
- Lower limb sensory disturbance involving all modalities, together with neuropathic pain
- Impaired balance
- Bladder disturbance
- Bowel disturbance.
How has this impacted Shaun’s life?
As well as the issues detailed above, Shaun now needs to use a wheelchair or scooter when outside his home. Sadly, it’s likely that Shaun will require a wheelchair indoors too. Whenever he leaves the house, he always has somebody with him.
When Shaun’s at home, he can move around short distances while using furniture to balance himself. Shaun finds using the stairs difficult, so he’s had a stairlift installed in his home to support his needs in the interim period.
Shaun’s mobility will continue to deteriorate as he gets older, which will result in his care and mobility needs increasing over time.
He did have a pre-existing disability, and he received financial support. However, with his new spinal cord injuries, his needs have changed dramatically.
How did Irwin Mitchell help Shaun?
Shaun came to our medical negligence team to investigate the negligence by the medical professionals during his time at Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Sinead Rollinson-Hayes worked with Shaun to help him understand what went wrong, why it went wrong, and help him access the right support.
When we approached the NHS Trust, they admitted some aspects of allegations of negligence raised in a Letter of Response and that Shaun had suffered from a spinal stroke which caused him significant injury. However, it was up to us to prove the extent of his injuries.
Both parties then obtained their own independent expert evidence to assess the extent of Shaun’s injuries. To do this promptly, Sinead started court proceedings and started to exchange expert opinions with the Trust. Following this we arranged a Joint Settlement Meeting with the Trust. We were able to settle Shaun’s claim in this meeting and avoid the need to go to court for a full trial.
The Trust agreed to pay Shaun a significant settlement that’ll be put towards his care needs. This’ll make sure his care needs are met going forward, and he can live as independently as possible.
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