T -v- Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Trust

The Claimant was taken to the Accident & Emergency Department at Calderdale Royal Infirmary after being knocked down by a car and was diagnosed as having an unstable short spiral fracture of the right femur.  Her leg was placed in a splint which had to be re-applied because it was the wrong size.  She was admitted to the children’s ward of the hospital.  She remained in hospital but there was a failure to monitor the healing process of her leg in the splint, to the extent that poor union of the femur was achieved and her leg was bent when the bone was healed and had a boney protruberance. The bowing of the leg also entailed shortening of the femur and consequently the leg itself.

For 2 years the Claimant lived with the deformity until she was able to undergo a complicated femoral bone lengthening salvage surgery which required her to wear an external full leg fixator for 9 months. She suffered pin infections.  Unfortunately, the regenerating bone subsequently re-fractured and the fixator  had to be re-applied for a further period of time.  She suffered from scarring which she would not have otherwise have had and felt embarrassed and shy about the appearance of the leg, leading to psychological distress.

Supportive evidence was served for the Claimant from an orthopaedic surgeon, a consultant plastic surgeon who commented about scarring and from a psychiatrist who commented about the psychological distress.

The case settled for £28,000.00 which included damages for care provided to the Claimant by her parents, the cost of some reconstructive surgery on her scarring and damages for her psychological distress, as well as for the leg injuries overall and for the requirement for the leg lengthening surgery, which otherwise would have been unnecessary.

Claire Horton
Old Exchange Buildings
St Ann's Passage
29/31 King Street
Manchester, M2 6BE

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