Hospital cauda equina syndrome errors devastate woman’s life - £1M in compensation

‘Simone’, 54

‘Simone’s’ life was devastated when she lost almost all of her mobility after a hospital made appalling mistakes in the treatment of serious spinal injury known as cauda equina syndrome. She now relies on a wheelchair outdoors and has no control over her own bladder or bowel due to the permanent nerve damage she sustained. Nothing could put this right; however, Simone now has the means to cope financially with her condition after JMW secured her £1 million in compensation.

What happened?

Before the catastrophic events that unfolded, Simone held a managerial job role that required her to be on her feet all day. She had had some back pain, but this had resolved itself and had been managed with pain killers and physiotherapy. The following year, the pain returned and became very severe.

The pain wasn’t getting any better and Simone noticed pain extending down her left leg. Simone called NHS 111 for advice and was told to go to the out of hours GP service After being seen by a doctor, Simone was diagnosed with sciatica and she was given a pain relieving injection. Simone went home and went to bed. The medication had little effect and that night Simone’s left buttock and part of her leg became numb.

Throughout the next day, Simone’s symptoms persisted, and she also began to notice pain, numbness and a burning sensation, mainly down her left leg with pain in her right leg and numbness of her back passage. When she needed to go to the to the toilet she had to be supported by her partner and found that urine would leak down her leg. She had not opened her bowels for a few days but put this down to the pain medication. Simone stayed in bed for the next few hours and by the next afternoon her partner called NHS 111 again. Simone was told she needed to go to hospital within the hour and her and her partner made their way there.

Delays

Later that year Georgina’s baby was born and the day after the birth her back pain returned and was When she arrived, Simone had a scan of her bladder and then waited four hours to be seen by a doctor, who carried out a full physical examination. The doctor said they needed to get a second opinion from a doctor in orthopaedics, but Simone was not seen by this doctor until the early hours of the following morning, a full eight hours after she had arrived at hospital despite having significant red flag signs for cauda equina syndrome. The orthopaedic doctor examined Simone again and another bladder scan was done, which showed she was retaining a lot of urine. This bladder retention was a clear symptom of cauda equina syndrome that required emergency surgery.

Simone was admitted to hospital in the early hours of the morning and was taken for an MRI scan in working hours, however her pain was so excruciating she was unable to lie still and had to be taken back to the ward without the scan being completed. Back on the ward, Simone was given diazepam and was able to cope with lying still for the MRI scan that afternoon. The scan revealed one of Simone’s spinal cord discs in the lower region had slipped out of place and was compressing and damaging the cauda equina nerves at the base of her spine. The cauda equina nerves control bowel, bladder, and sexual function, as well as sensation and power in the saddle area, legs, and feet. Simone was finally diagnosed with cauda equina syndrome but, despite the critical nature of her condition, surgery was not carried out until later that day.

Due to the amount of time that had passed since her admission the surgery was unsuccessful in treating Simone’s cauda equina syndrome and it is now a permanent condition that she has to live with. After the operation Simone found she could only walk while being held up by her partner and was no longer able to control her own bladder and bowel. She had to use a wheelchair, learn how to catheterise herself to empty her bladder and nurses had to visit her at home to empty her bowel manually. Simone found this extremely dehumanising and upsetting.

Surgery was attempted again a month later but this too failed to improve any of Simone’s symptoms, and her poor physical condition caused her to fall into a deep depression.

JMW’s investigation

Simone and her partner felt something had gone badly wrong with her care for such a poor outcome to have occurred despite help being sought on numerous occasions. At the time they did not know exactly where the fault lay but felt strongly that something could have bene done to prevent such a serious injury. After searching online, they came across JMW’s specialist cauda equina team and Simone’s case was taken on by solicitor Nicholas Young, who has dealt with many similar cases.

Nicholas conducted a thorough review of Simone’s medical records and found there were several areas of concern. After requesting reports on the records from the best independent medical experts working within the field of cauda equina syndrome care, the case Nicholas built focused on the delay to carrying out the MRI scan and emergency surgery after being sent to hospital by NHS 111. If Simone had been treated correctly and had her MRI scan, diagnosis, and surgery in a timely manner, she would have made a full recovery.

The expert evidence and case put together by Nicholas was very strong but, despite this, the hospital trust denied delaying Simone’s MRI scan and surgery was negligent. The hospital trust also denied that if its doctors had done the right thing Simone would have made a full recovery. Despite this denial, the trust could not ignore the evidence, and Nicholas was able to ensure negotiations about compensating Simone were started.

Compensation awarded

During the negotiations, an agreement was reached that Simone should be compensated for the impact the negligence had had on her life and the financial cost of coping with her condition. This included compensating her for her lost earnings given she could no longer work, funding the purchase of a single-storey house, and all the equipment and aids that she required to remain as independent as possible. A final settlement of £1 million was agreed to cover the cost of everything Simone needed, which will taking away some of her financial concerns and improve her quality of life drastically.

Nicholas Young, a solicitor at JMW specialising in spinal injuries caused by medical negligence, said