£7,500 Settlement
On January 2016, Sophie was admitted to hospital due to a history of vomiting and diarrhoea. Sophie had a long history of leg ulcers. She remained in hospital for a few weeks before she was discharged.
Sophie continued to have her leg dressed for ulcers by the District Nurses. A week after being discharged, the District Nurse noted an ulcer at the top of Sophie’s lower back and an another on her right foot which had begun to destroy tissue cells on Sophie’s heel.
The pressure sore to Sophie’s right heel and lower back fully healed within two to three months of detection. The ulcer on Sophie’s leg, however, did not heal until sometime after.
A Tissue Viability Nurse (TVN), assisting Pryers with this case, advised that there were numerous failings in the care that Sophie received both by the District Nurses and during her admission at hospital. These included, failure to reposition Sophie in order to prevent subsequent ulcers and also to take risk assessments to assess Sophie’s risk of developing sores. At one stage, Sophie was left in a hospital trolley for over 10 hours, which was very narrow and difficult to reposition herself in.
It was advised by the TVN, that as a result of these failures, Sophie developed sores to her right heel and lower back which caused her pain and suffering for several months. The TVN advised that infection of the ulcers in January 2016 was also due to failure to use an antimicrobial dressing and redress the wound every day.
It was identified by the TVN that the leg ulcers were likely caused by pressure inside the veins, however, due to the failure to manage them correctly, they failed to heal within 3 to 6 months and recurred at least twice.
Pryers was able to negotiate a settlement for Sophie, allowing her and her family to move past the unfortunate negligence she suffered. The case was settled for £7,500.
