Portsmouth lady against the
MoD
In the High Court in London today, Mr Justice
Foskett handed down judgment in the case brought by a 42-year-old
lady from Portsmouth, Mrs Grannia East (neé Bailey) for medical
negligence against the Ministry of Defence. She sustained
severe brain damage following treatment for gallstones.
As a result of her injuries, Mrs East is now
confined to a wheelchair. She needs care for all her daily
activities and her memory and understanding are very badly
affected.
In September 2000, Mrs East became unwell and
she had tests at Haslar Hospital for a suspected liver
problem. She was referred to Group Captain Mark Watkins, a
surgeon, who on 11 January 2001 undertook an ERCP procedure on her,
a treatment for gallstones, which caused severe bleeding.
Mrs East’s case was that she should have been
given proper medical support with intravenous fluids and she should
have had an urgent operation to stop the bleeding and unblock her
gallbladder ducts. If these had been done, her condition
would not have deteriorated so severely, leading to the subsequent
events. Her kidneys went into failure and she had
inflammation of the pancreas, a serious condition knows as
pancreatitis.
On 14 January 2001, she was transferred to the
ITU at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, under the NHS.
The medical team then undertook a PTC procedure to look for the
blockage, but doing this they tore her liver causing massive
bleeding. She had to have emergency surgery lasting many
hours and the family were told she had a 50% chance of
survival. By 24 January 2001, she was taken off the
ventilator but she was still on dialysis for kidney failure and her
condition appeared to be improving.
On 26 January 2001, the ITU team transferred
Mrs East to the renal unit at St Mary’s Hospital, Portsmouth.
That night she suffered a cardiac arrest when she fell asleep, was
resuscitated but the collapse in her circulation meant she
sustained severe brain damage.
The family’s solicitor, Mr John White, from
specialist law firm Blake Lapthorn Tarlo Lyons said: “Mrs
East has now won her claim and established that the treatment in
the hospital run by the Ministry of Defence was negligent and led
to her sustaining severe and permanent brain damage. The
Court will now assess the level of damages to meet Mrs East’s
future needs for care, therapies and for specially adapted
accommodation, a figure which is likely to exceed £2 million.”
Mr East said, on hearing the judgment: “This
means I now know whatever happens to me in the future that Grannia
(who is known to us in the family as Gerry) will still get the care
that she needs. I have asked my solicitors to put in place
arrangements so that there will always be funding in place to care
for her.”
For further information please contact Alison McClure in the
Clinical Negligence team on 023 8085 7345 or email alison.mcclure@bllaw.co.uk
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