Sarah Huntbach and Mohammed Abdullah recently settled a case involving a young child who suffered this experience.
Summary
Our client, Master M, was born with a congenital abnormality of his urinary tract. This was picked up within a few weeks of his birth and he was followed up by the hospital for the first four years of his life.
When Master M was nearly five, there were indications of bladder dysfunction, specifically an increase in retained urine. No action was taken by the hospital at this point. Symptoms continued, and later that year the hospital carried out further investigations, which confirmed abnormal bladder function, but, again, resulted in no action being taken. The hospital then failed to follow up with Master M for a further period of around two years.
Unfortunately, now at the age of 12, Master M has had to have surgery to remove one of his kidneys. He will have a supra pubic catheter fitted all with the long-term aim that the preserved kidney will survive without further damage.
Our role
We were approached by Master M’s father who was concerned with the hospital’s failure to follow up with his son’s condition, and the impact this may have had on his son’s long-term health. We obtained medical records and could see that indeed he had been lost to follow-up.
We made an early approach to the hospital trust with a request to admit liability, which the hospital did and provided an apology. We were then able to concentrate on investigating what damage the lack of follow up and monitoring had caused, and more importantly for our client, an opinion on his long-term prognosis.
Outcomes
The Defendant Trust made an acceptable offer to settle the claim out of court for the sum of £40,000. As Master M is a minor, Court approval of the settlement was needed, which was subsequently obtained at a Hearing in May 2018.
We worked with Master M and his family to fully understand their needs and were able to secure an initial one-off payment to cover the cost of a pilgrimage for Master M, and also a PC to assist with his studies. The remaining compensation has been deposited into the Court Funds Office account, to be held on trust until Master M reaches the age of majority. It will provide him with some financial security, particularly with future medical treatment costs.
Further Information
For any questions relating to this case, please contact Sarah Huntbach, Senior Associate, and Mohammad Abdullah, Solicitor, who both acted on behalf of Master M in the case.
