Irwin Mitchell’s Medical Negligence team secured £150,000 in compensation for our client after her hand infection was diagnosed late causing her serious and permanent injuries.

Visits to A&E

Lorraine Gregory, 64, began to experience tingling in her dominant hand and also had pain in her wrist. Over several weeks her wrist became red and swollen, becoming increasingly painful. Mrs Gregory attended her GP on several occasions but due to her worsening condition, she then decided to go to Accident and Emergency (A&E).

Whilst she was at the hospital, no x-rays or blood tests were performed to rule out a serious problem. Mrs Gregory was reassured that her symptoms were probably due to a sprained wrist and she was told to see her GP with any further problems.

Mrs Gregory returned to A&E the following morning due to agonising pain in her hand and wrist. She was again told that she had suffered a wrist sprain and was discharged with strong painkillers and told to visit her GP for follow-up.

Diagnosis

A few days later Mrs Gregory visited her GP where her doctor suspected that she had an infection and referred her for blood tests. The results of these indicated that Mrs Gregory was suffering from a very serious infection and was immediately referred back to the hospital. She underwent several operations on her hand to remove infected tissue and clean the wound. Mrs Gregory’s surgeon stated that this was one of the worst hand infections he had seen in some time.

Almost three years on from the correct diagnosis, Mrs Gregory has been left with severe hand injuries. Despite physiotherapy, her hand remains stiff and clawed meaning that she is unable to pick up small objects. Before her injuries, Mrs Gregory worked in a supermarket but has been left unable to fulfil her role and was made redundant on medical grounds.

Substantial compensation

Medical negligence solicitor Anna Vroobel, under the supervision of Anne Kavanagh, secured £150,000 in compensation for Mrs Gregory. Money was awarded to compensate Mrs Gregory’s loss of income and will also be able to assist with care in the future.

In relation to the case, Anna said: “Mrs Gregory is now only able to use her dominant hand to a small extent and this makes her day-to-day life very difficult. We instructed an occupational therapist to look at what could be done to assist Mrs Gregory and several recommendations were made, such as employing a cleaner and adapting Mrs Gregory’s home.

“Mrs Gregory also finds it difficult to drive so we spoke to a driving adaptation service about this. The service recommended purchasing an automatic car with certain specifications to help Mrs Gregory regain her independence. The compensation will enable these expert recommendations to be put in place to get Mrs Gregory back to the position she was in before the negligence.

“The infection should have been diagnosed at a much earlier point and the hospital’s failures have led to Mrs Gregory suffering permanent and life-changing injuries. Although we are unable to turn the clock back, I am pleased that the significant sum secured for Mrs Gregory will go a long way towards helping her in the future.”

Mrs Gregory said: “I want to thank Irwin Mitchell, especially Anna Vroobel, for working so hard for me to get a substantial settlement.”

If you or a loved one has suffered due to a delayed or misdiagnosed medical condition, our medical negligence solicitors could help you claim compensation. See our Medical Misdiagnosis Claims page for more information.

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