Compensation obtained after hospital fails to treat neck fractures

Julie Crossley, a medical negligence specialist at Ashtons Legal, has obtained a settlement in a claim brought by the estate of an elderly lady who suffered unnecessary pain and distress in her final days.

Mrs W, who suffered from dementia, was living in a care home when she suffered a fall. She was taken to hospital and underwent a CT scan. She was discharged the following day without her results being reported on and suffered another fall the same afternoon, as a result of which she had cuts to her face.

She was taken back to the hospital and underwent further scans before being transferred to a specialist unit for treatment to her face, and then taken back once again to her care home.

Two days later the scan results reached her GP and it became apparent that the hospital had missed and failed to treat neck fractures. She was then treated for the fractures with a neck brace.

Julie comments: “Sadly, Mrs W died shortly after this series of events. While the failure to diagnose her neck fractures didn’t contribute directly to her death, her final fall and subsequent trips to two hospitals could have been avoided if she had been diagnosed and treated correctly at the outset.”