3:46pm Wednesday 20th February 2013
Clinical negligence lawyers at Swindon-based law firm Withy King have secured a £10k interim payment on behalf of a woman who sustained grade four pressure sores while in the care of hospitals.
They have secured an apology and an admission of liability from Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospital of North Staffordshire Foundation Trust for the pressure sores sustained by the 65-year-old woman while she was an in-patient between December 2008 and October 2009.
They also secured a £10k interim payment, which will go some way towards the specialist daily care required by the woman while other aspects of her case are being worked on.
Withy King is also looking to prove the hospital’s negligence led to the woman contracting Osteomyelitis, contractures and spasticity while in their care, which together with her acute pressure sores, have left her with additional injuries, in considerable pain and bedridden for 20 out of every 24 hours.
“This is an appalling case of sub-standard care over a prolonged period of time which bears testimony to the findings of the Mid Staffordshire Enquiry,” said Yolande Wase, a clinical negligence expert at Withy King who is dealing with the claim.
“My client was admitted to Mid Staffordshire hospital with a neurological condition. This meant she would have been paralysed from the middle of her spine down in any event.
“Although she would have always been a wheelchair user, she would have been able to enjoy a good quality of life had it not been for the hospitals’ negligence.
“Both Trusts have admitted that her sub-standard care at the hospitals led to grade four pressure sores, which in some places were open to the bone.
“As a result of these sores, my client has been largely bedbound since 2009 to protect her skin from further breakdown and is virtually a prisoner in her own home.
“We have yet to establish the value of her claim, but we will be looking for substantial damages, which take account of her on-going suffering and the expenses associated with her life-long care.”
Withy King hopes to settle the case by the end of the year, securing additional interim payments to meet the client’s on-going care, if required.
Withy King Trust Company is setting up a trust on the client’s behalf to ensure her benefits are protected and her payments are properly administered.
The client, who does not wish to be named, lives in the Lichfield area of Staffordshire.
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