A patient who fractured her neck in an accident is suing a hospital after it failed to X-ray it properly.

Patricia Griffiths has launched a legal battle in the High Court for £300,000 saying she has been in constant pain ever since the incident.

Mrs Griffiths, 65, of Prince William Close, Findon Valley, Worthing, says her life has changed beyond recognition as a result of her injuries.

A High Court writ says Mrs Griffiths was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge in the early hours of November 20, 2005. She had fallen on stairs and a CT scan showed she had fractured a vertebra in her neck.

X-rays were taken to find out if the fracture was stable but did not show up all of the vertebrae and Mrs Griffiths was discharged from hospital after two days with a follow up visit scheduled for three months later.

She was readmitted to hospital two months later with a dislocated vertebra and partial dislocation of two others.

She had to have surgery to decompress a nerve root and fuse three vertebrae.

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, has admitted breach of duty in Mrs Griffiths’ treatment but the two sides are thought unable to agree how much compensation should be awarded.

The trust admitted in June this year it was in breach of duty by failing to examine the X-rays, or examining inadequate X-rays and performing incomplete X-rays.

Despite surgery and pain killing injections, Mrs Griffiths says she remains significantly disabled and in constant pain from her neck and right arm.

Her right thumb is numb and she cannot lift anything except the lightest of objects with her right hand.

Mrs Griffiths has suffered considerable loss of amenity and will need future long-term care and assistance, according to the writ.

She accuses the hospital of negligently failing to discharge her without ensuring that her neck was stable.