Pamela, a woman in her 40s

The case study relates to a case settled by Sally Leonards, a partner specialising in spinal injuries in the JMW clinical negligence team, for a mother-of-one who was left with permanent spinal cord damage due to poor communication between two hospitals that delayed urgently needed treatment. 

“Pamela” was later diagnosed with cauda equina syndrome as a direct result of the mistakes that were made and suffers with weakness, nerve pain and numbness in her legs and saddle area. Walking is difficult for her and she relies on crutches and she also has bladder and bowel dysfunction. She is virtually housebound. Working is now impossible for Pamela, meaning she had to give up her management job, and she also finds looking after her young child challenging. 

The fall-out of Pamela’s ordeal has taken a huge toll on her. Whilst nothing could fully make up for this, after her case was taken on by JMW, she was awarded a compensation settlement of £1.2 million to enable her to achieve some financial security and purchase a house suitable for her disabilities.

What negligent treatment occurred?

When Pamela awoke in the early hours of the morning with severe back pain and found that she couldn’t walk, she arranged for someone to care for her child and called an ambulance. Pamela was taken to her local district hospital and monitored over the course of the day before being referred to the orthopaedic team in the early hours of the following morning. 

An MR scan was carried out later that evening which showed that a disc in Pamela’s spinal cord had slipped out of place and was putting pressure on the nerves at the base of her spine and causing damage. . 

A call was made to the regional specialist spinal hospital for advice about what needed to happen with Pamela’s care. However the district hospital doctors failed to explain all the findings of the MRI scan and the full results of their physical examination of Pamela. 

The specialist hospital advised that she did not need to be transferred for surgery and would be seen in clinic at a later date.

In actual fact, Pamela should have been transferred straight away for emergency surgery as she had the initial signs of cauda equina syndrome and it was negligent for this not to have been done. If the correct information had been communicated to the specialist hospital, Pamela would have had the surgery and made a good recovery. 

Pamela had her follow up  appointment three months later at the specialist spinal hospital and she had a further MRI scan. This revealed the damage to her spinal cord had worsened and a decision was made to operate. However by now it was too later for Pamela to make a good recovery and she developed permanent cauda equina syndrome. 

JMW’s investigation

Pamela contacted the cauda equina specialist solicitors at JMW for advice and her case was taken on by Sally Leonards. Sally asked independent medical experts who work in the field of spinal injuries to examine the case and provide their opinion. The experts agreed both the district and specialist spinal hospital had failed to communicate the urgency of Pamela’s condition and ensure she was transferred promptly for surgery. Sally built a strong claim against the hospitals which led to them admitting negligence and agreeing to compensate Pamela. Sally then negotiated a compensation settlement for Pamela of £1.2 million, after investigating and obtaining evidence on her loss of earnings, pain and suffering and the type of house she required.