Negligence causes teenager’s severe hip injury- £900,000 in compensation

Lewis, now 24

Lewis suffered terribly after a hospital doctor failed to examine him correctly when the ball of his right hip came out the socket (slipped upper femoral epiphysis) when he was a teenager. Lewis was wrongly sent home, and as a result, the window of opportunity to operate successfully and ensure Lewis made a good recovery was missed. Lewis was left in a very poor condition and had to undergo numerous operations, including a full hip replacement aged 17. Lewis’ parents reached out to the specialist medical negligence solicitors at JMW for advice and he was later awarded £900,000 in compensation to help with his rehabilitation and care, and provide some financial security given that he will require further hip replacements in the future.

What happened

When Lewis was 14, the ball of his left hip came out of its socket. This was treated correctly with a pinning operation and Lewis made a good recovery. At the time, the surgeon warned Lewis and his family that he had an increased risk of the same thing happening to his right hip. Lewis’ parents asked whether the right hip could be pinned now as a preventative measure but the surgeon said that this was not his normal practice and that Lewis would be monitored in any event.

A few months after the operation on Lewis’ left hip, he had x-rays done on both hips and a follow-up appointment with the surgeon. The surgeon said that Lewis’ left hip was healing well, but the right hip x-ray was not very clear, and as he had found that there was some loss of internal movement in the hip joint, he would order an MRI scan.

The MRI scan was carried out a few weeks later and revealed early signs that the right hip ball was coming out of place. At this point there were no signs that the early slipped upper femoral epiphysis was causing damage to the hip joint. The surgeon was made aware of the findings but decided to keep monitoring Lewis rather than operate to pin the hip joint.

A month after the MRI scan, Lewis and his parents attended an appointment with a colleague of the surgeon to discuss the findings of the MRI scan. At no point were they told that there were signs of an early slip of the right hip. On the contrary, they were reassured that everything looked okay and that Lewis would continue to be monitored.

The surgeon next saw Lewis two months later when more x-rays were done. Lewis and his parents were informed that there was no evidence of a slip and that the risk of this occurring in the future was low.

Unfortunately for Lewis, the surgeon’s reassurance was misplaced, and a few months later his right hip fully slipped whilst he was at school, marking the start of a terrible ordeal. Lewis had been climbing stairs at the time and it was initially his right knee that gave way, leaving him in agonising pain. Lewis never considered that this was linked to his hip and that it may have slipped due to the surgeon’s previous assurances that all was well. Due to the pain he was in and it being his knee that had given way, Lewis believed that he had dislocated his knee.

Lewis was taken to hospital and told the doctor who examined him about his previous slipped left hip. The doctor focused entirely on Lewis’ knee and did not examine his hips, stating that had probably sustained soft tissue damage. The doctor did not order any x-rays and discharged Lewis with crutches and pain relief.

Hip replacement

Back at home Lewis continued to be in agony and had to change his sleeping arrangements and was unable to get himself to the toilet. All food and drink had to be brought to Lewis.

The morning after his return from hospital, Lewis was still no better and his mum rang the surgeon who had dealt with his hips previously. The surgeon said Lewis should come to his clinic first thing the next morning, where it was confirmed that his ball of his hip had completely come out of its socket. The 48-hour window for urgent surgery (which would give the best outcome) had been missed so Lewis was placed on a waiting list and put on hospital bed rest. Lewis had to lie completely flat for 11 days and was only allowed to lift his head when eating.

Once the surgery had been done, Lewis required 24-hour care from his family. Initially it seemed to have gone well, but after a few weeks his mum noticed that he was dragging his leg. Lewis was desperate to avoid going to hospital again, but his mum was concerned so made an appointment with the surgeon.

Sadly it was discovered that the screws in Lewis’ right hip had come loose and his hip bone may be starting to die due to a lack of blood flow, which would be investigated further. Lewis underwent further surgery a few weeks later and, after a seven-day hospital stay, was discharged with a metal frame attached to his leg with screws to keep it stable. Lewis again lost all his independence and required his parents to carry out all of his personal care needs for the next few months whilst the frame was in place. Unfortunately, once the frame was removed, Lewis’ hip was found to have deteriorated further and he was left with no option but to have a full hip replacement.

Lewis’ recovery from the hip replacement was slow and he required intense physiotherapy. He was left with a lot of pain, particularly in his back, due to the muscles wasting from the long periods he was forced to remain lying flat. Lewis’ education also suffered terribly due to the amount of time he spent in hospital and he was unable to sit his GCSEs and had difficulties with his As examinations due to being on intense pain medication.

JMW’s investigation

Lewis’ family was put in touch with the specialist medical negligence team and our experts listened to their story. Lewis and his parents were concerned that the severe injury to his hip could have been prevented as his medical team were aware that there was an increased risk of it slipping and he was being monitored with follow-up appointments and x-rays. They couldn’t understand why he had suffered such a traumatic ordeal when he was under the care of specialists.

One of JMW’s clinical negligence solicitors started by analysing Lewis’ medical records. We asked independent medical experts to look at the records and Lewis’ x-rays and scans to see if anything was amiss.

The experts discovered that there were early signs that Lewis’ hip was slipping but no action has been taken. They also looked at his hospital treatment after the incident on the stairs at school and found that this had been negligent in that the doctor had not considered there could be an issue with Lewis’ right hip, which was even more shocking given that they were aware of the history with the left him. A full examination should have been carried out, as well as x-rays, to investigate the cause of Lewis’ collapse, but this was not done.

After JMW gathered all the information and wrote to the hospital trust responsible for the doctors who made these mistakes, it made an early admission that Lewis’ care had been negligent and agreed that it should compensate Lewis for his pain and suffering, care needs, and the impact on his education and earning potential. Lewis needs further hip replacements in the future, so will require financial assistance for the time off work required for the time in hospital and recovery.

Compensation awarded

JMW was successful in securing compensation totalling £900,000 for Lewis and he now has enough money to achieve some financial security and get the help he needs. The compensation awarded covered the cost of the care Lewis needed during the period when his surgeries were carried out, adaptations his parents had to make to the family home, and also aids they had to purchase.

Further, the compensation provided for Lewis’ future requirements as he will need several revision hip replacement surgeries, physiotherapy, and care after each of those operations. As Lewis gets older he will also need aids, and adaptations to his living accommodation, to maintain his independence and his compensation provides the funds for these. Lastly, Lewis is also further back in his career than he would have been if it hadn’t been for the catastrophic impact of the negligence on his education so has lost out in his lifelong earning potential. The compensation has given him back the lost earnings he has suffered.

Madeleine Langmead, a specialist medical negligence solicitor at JMW, who obtained Lewis’ compensation, commented: