’Hannah’, 28

A GP’s failure to suspect an ectopic pregnancy and refer ‘Hannah’ for urgent further investigations, resulted in her having to have her right fallopian tube removed.

Madeleine Langmead, an associate in JMW’s clinical negligence team, helped Hannah secure a settlement of £20,000 to help her recovery and financial losses.

What happened

Hannah started to experience abdominal pains, which at times were so severe she felt she was going to faint. So, she contacted her GP and was seen the same afternoon.

Her GP examined her and suspected a UTI so prescribed oral antibiotics. There was no discussion about whether or not Hannah could be pregnant, or whether anything other than a UTI could be causing her symptoms.

Hannah took her prescribed dose of antibiotics and tried to manage her pain with over-the-counter painkillers. However, later that month, Hannah woke up in the middle of the night and found that she had bled and that her bed was covered in blood. Alongside this, her abdominal pains had become severe again. That evening, she attended A&E where she was taken to the Major Injuries Unit and examined by a doctor. She was informed at this stage that she was pregnant, and that the potential diagnosis was either an ectopic pregnancy, a UTI, or a miscarriage. Hannah was discharged home because it was too late for her to be scanned, and was booked in to be scanned the following day.

At home, Hannah’s pain worsened so she called the unit at the hospital and was told that a plan had already been formulated, and that she had to wait for her scan the following day. When this scan was performed the next day, Hannah was informed that she had an ectopic pregnancy, and that this would need to be managed with surgery. During the surgery, her right fallopian tube was removed as it had ruptured.

Subsequent events

Hannah was discharged the following morning. She did not receive any follow-up appointments or conversations as to what had happened, and she was not sure how this might impact her fertility. She experienced a lot of bleeding in the fortnight afterwards, as well as abdominal pains.

She struggled to return to work, as she found it emotionally difficult to be around children after losing a pregnancy. She is also left with abdominal scaring which she is self-conscious about.

JMW’s Investigation

Hannah contacted JMW’s clinical negligence team as she was concerned that if she had been assessed appropriately when she first attended the GP following her abdominal pains, then she would have avoided surgery, and her ectopic pregnancy could have been managed less invasively.

Associate solicitor, Madeleine Langmead, took on the case and was able to establish a number of failures in Hannah’s medical treatment. As Hannah gave such a clear picture of her symptoms to the GP, medical experts appointed by Madeleine advised that an ectopic pregnancy should have been on the GP’s list of possible diagnoses for her pain, and said that the GP was negligent in not offering Hannah a pregnancy test.

Furthermore, she should have been referred to the early pregnancy unit for an ultrasound scan within 48 hours. The scan would have shown that Hannah’s uterus was empty, so she would have been diagnosed with a “pregnancy of unknown location”. According to our experts, 48 hours after this diagnosis, Kimberley would have been offered a drug called Methotrexate to treat this, which would have avoided the need for surgery altogether.

Hannah is left with one viable fallopian tube and abdominal scars which has knocked her confidence.

Settlement secured

Madeleine was able to secure a settlement of £20,000 for Hannah. This takes into account the financial loss Hannah suffered as a result of the medical negligence and will help cover further therapy in order to address the psychological symptoms she suffered as a result of the avoidable surgery.