Our Serious Injury team secured £150,000 in compensation for a solider who needed multiple operations and a screw fixation on his wrist after doctors failed to diagnose his fracture properly.
In late 2012 our client, M, was on tour in Afghanistan. He fell over and stretched out his hand to break the fall, landing heavily on his wrist. He was seen at the military hospital in Kabul, where they performed a series of x-rays and a CT scan.
The orthopaedic surgeon at the military hospital diagnosed a scaphoid fracture and put the soldier’s wrist in a cast. He advised that M should return to the UK for further assessment, to determine the full extent of the injury and whether or not he was fit to continue on the tour.
M returned home and was referred to the Frimley Park hospital. Here, another x-ray was taken – however, they failed to remove his cast, so the results were not as accurate as they should have been.
Ten days later he was seen in the fracture clinic by the Registrar. After an examination of his hand and the poor quality x-rays that had already been taken, the doctor concluded there was no injury to the bone itself and removed M’s cast.
He was referred to physiotherapy but this was so painful he was forced to stop. This time he was referred to a different hospital in Germany, where a full assessment was properly carried out.
They sent him for an MRI scan as a matter of urgency, and this scan confirmed what the surgeon in Kabul had first diagnosed – M had a scaphoid fracture.
By this point, the damage was worse than it might have been if a proper examination had taken place when he was back from Afghanistan. A screw fixation was inserted into his wrist which he would have been unlikely to need if the full extent of the damage was diagnosed in time.
We secured £150,000 for M, who continues to experience pain and decreased movement in his wrist. Given the nature of his job, this physical damage is significant: the compensation accounts for his lost earnings both now and in the future as a result of his injury.
M was represented by Catherine Michel, a Serious Injury solicitor based in our London office. She said of the case:
“We’re very pleased to have secured this settlement for M, who could have been spared a lot of unnecessary pain and long-term damage if his injury had been properly treated from the start. We hope this compensation will allow him to move forward with his life and will make up for the effect on his earnings because the right examinations were not performed to an acceptable standard.”
If you’ve suffered a serious injury, our expert lawyers could help. Visit our Serious Injury page for more information – we have offices across the country and the first consultation is always free.
Alternatively, fill out our contact form and one of the team will get back to you.
Back to Client Stories
