Circumstances of accident
We acted on behalf of a client who suffered permanent hand function disability of 4% due to delayed diagnosis of a divided tendon.
Our client fell on glass, lacerating his palm, and attended A&E. The treating doctors failed to consider the possibility of a tendon injury. If he had been treated properly, he would have been referred to a hand surgeon and the tendon would have been surgically repaired. By the time our client attended with a hand surgeon, some months later, it was unfortunately too late for surgical repair of the tendon.
The Health Board responsible for our client’s treating doctors denied liability for what happened.
How we helped our client
We raised a Court action to ensure that our client was appropriately compensated.
We obtained an expert report from an A&E expert who concluded that our client’s treating doctors had breached their duties of care by failing to notice various red flags indicative of tendon injury at the initial attendance and by failing to refer our client to a hand surgeon.
We obtained an expert from a hand surgeon who concluded that our client had restricted movement in one finger, reduction in dexterity and strength when gripping, and a permanent hand function disability of 4%.
Settlement
The initial offer of settlement was £1,250. We were able to achieve damages worth four times the initial offer, in the sum of £5,000. This provided appropriate compensation for our client’s past and future physical restrictions.
