£12,500 settlement for man whose xrays were not interpreted correctly

Posted 29/04/2013

Ben Ward, a clinical negligence specialist at Ashtons Legal, has obtained £12,500 compensation for a man who had suffered serious injuries to his hand and wrist which were not treated correctly by his local hospital. 

Mr A injured his wrist and hand when a wall he was dismantling collapsed, and masonry fell on him. The hospital took x-rays and treated the injury as though it was just a fairly straightforward fracture. In fact the fracture had also caused Mr A to suffer nerve damage within his wrist but this wasn’t diagnosed and treated for almost a fortnight. As a result Mr A suffered sharp shooting pains in his wrist, palm and fingers and had altered sensations in his hand. These injuries lasted for approximately 18 months with steady improvement. He has had to give up his career in masonry although expert evidence showed this was due to the seriousness of the injury itself and not the delay in treatment.Ben Ward comments: “If Mr A’s x-ray results had been interpreted correctly on the day of the accident, and his hand had been treated appropriately immediately, we believe that the nerve damage would have been avoided.  Unfortunately we see too many cases where either a delay in diagnosis or a misdiagnosis of symptoms results in lasting damage to an individual which could have been avoided with prompt diagnosis and action.”