Boyes Turner’s CES claims lawyers have secured a compensation settlement of £1.33m for a client with cauda equina syndrome (CES). Our client suffers from leg pain and hypersensitivity, impaired bowel and urinary function, and depression. His emerging signs of CES should have led to immediate referral to hospital for an MRI scan and surgical decompression, but were not recognised by the out-of-hours GP, who failed to examine him. This led to a delay in his surgical treatment, resulting in permanent disability.
You can read more about our client’s cauda equina red flag symptoms and the delays in his treatment here.
We helped our client pursue his claim for compensation against the out-of-hours GP who had failed to examine our client and refer him to hospital for emergency review of his red flag signs of cauda equina and surgical decompression treatment. The claim was made on the basis that the GP’s negligent delay in making the referral led to a critical 24 hour delay in our client’s surgical treatment which contributed to his permanent disability.
The GP admitted that he had failed to examine our client or provide safety-netting advice (telling the patient what important symptoms to look out for and how to seek urgent medical advice). The doctor denied that his negligence had delayed our client’s surgical decompression, or that our client’s disability was caused by his negligent treatment.
Following these admissions, we entered into negotiations with the doctor’s legal team and agreed a 70% liability settlement which avoided a trial on the disputed causation of our client’s disability and guaranteed substantial compensation for our client. We obtained a £70,000 interim (advance) payment to help our client meet his immediate needs for bathroom adaptations and specialist equipment whilst we gathered the necessary evidence to assess our client’s long-term needs and value his claim. We then met with the defendant doctor’s legal team and negotiated a £1,330,000 settlement which will meet our client’s ongoing needs and enable him to move into suitably adapted accommodation.
If you have suffered disability from cauda equina syndrome (CES) or spinal injury as a result of medical negligence, you can talk to one of our solicitors, free and confidentially, to find out more about making a claim by contacting us at [email protected].
