Circumstances of accident
We acted on behalf of a client who suffered physical and psychological injuries resulting from a nerve injury sustained after insertion of a cannula into his wrist.
Our client attended hospital for a CT scan which required the insertion of a large bore cannula. There were several failed attempts by the nurses involved to insert the cannula into both antecubital fossa (the inside of the elbow joint) followed by a further attempt to insert the cannula into his wrist. During this final attempt, our client screamed in pain. Our client had sustained an injury to his radial nerve.
We pursued the Health Board responsible for the nursing staff, arguing that there had been a breach of duty of care in failing to comply with guidelines to cease cannulation where a patient expresses severe pain. Our allegation was informed by us having obtained an expert nursing report.
The Health Board responsible denied liability for what happened.
How we helped our client
We raised a Court action to ensure that our client was appropriately compensated.
Our client had pre-existing complex post traumatic stress disorder (c-PTSD). We obtained expert reports from consultants in neurology and psychiatry who respectively concluded that our client had developed functional neurological disorder (FND) and exacerbation of his c-PTSD. His pre-existing c-PTSD made our client susceptible to the development of FND. His symptoms included chronic ache and weakness in his wrist and burning and numbness in his thumb and fingers. Thankfully, our client’s FND was not permanent, and he did achieve resolution of those symptoms.
Settlement
The initial offer of settlement was £1,250. We were able to achieve damages worth over ten times the initial offer, in the sum of £15,000. The settlement acknowledged our client’s pain and suffering, both physically and psychologically, and covered the cost of future psychological therapy.
