Jim, 25

A man has been awarded £10,000 compensation after his tendon was negligently treated by health professionals.

Jim sustained a deep cut to his right thumb when a glass broke in his hand. He attended A&E where it was noted that there was reduced movement of the thumb, but this was put down to the result of pain. The doctor told Jim that there was no evidence of tendon injury and the wound was cleaned and closed with glue and steri-strips.

The wound healed but as the movement in the thumb failed to improve Jim returned to A&E a month later. He was diagnosed with a flexor tendon injury and underwent a first-stage operation to repair the tendon a few weeks later. The second stage of the repair took place after a further three months and he required a third operation about six months later to free adhesions.

The claim

It was acknowledged by the hospital that Jim should have been referred to a consultant follow-up clinic to check for tendon injury. Many doctors working in A&E are very junior and it is expected that sometimes they will miss things. This is not usually considered negligent, but failing to refer for a more senior opinion is.
If the tendon injury had been picked up initially a one-stage tendon repair would have been carried out within 7-10 days and Jim would have regained full movement in his thumb. As it is his thumb is stiff and contracted with reduced function.

Compensation awarded

After negotiations undertaken by one of JMW’s expert solicitors, Jim received £10,000 in compensation.