Mediation secures settlement following amputation due to delay in treatment

Our client had a history of peripheral artery disease and Type 2 diabetes. After suffering a painful ulcer on his right foot he went to the A&E Department of his local hospital for treatment. He was prescribed painkillers and antibiotics and sent home.

Unfortunately, the ulcer on his foot did not improve. Four weeks later our client went back to his GP who referred him to the Diabetic Foot Clinic at the hospital. At the appointment he was examined but was not referred to a vascular surgeon for specialist treatment.

Shortly after the appointment our client’s fourth toe become gangrenous and he was finally referred to the vascular team at the hospital. He received treatment from this team over the next three months, but the treatment proved unsuccessful and by this time it was too late to save his leg. He had no choice but to undergo a below-knee amputation of his right leg.

The client sought legal advice from Sumit Morjaria, a specialist solicitor in Fletchers’ medical negligence team. Sumit was instructed to pursue a claim for the delay in the hospital referring the client to the vascular surgery team for timely treatment. If the client had been referred urgently and received timely treatment it would have saved his right foot which would have subsequently saved his right leg.

Supportive evidence was obtained from medical experts in emergency care, diabetology and vascular surgery. The hospital initially denied all liability before eventually admitting there had been negligent delay in referring the client for specialist treatment. However, the hospital continued to deny that the amputation of the client’s right leg would have been avoided.

In an attempt to achieve a settlement for our client without the need to go to court, we invited the hospital’s representatives to attend a mediation meeting. Mediation is an informal, voluntary and confidential process in which a trained neutral person called a mediator helps the parties resolve their dispute. A mediator’s role is not to take sides but he or she will often help to test the strength of each side’s position and explore solutions.

Sumit represented and supported our client and his family at the mediation meeting. We secured a six-figure settlement for our client at the mediation meeting which avoided the need to go to a trial.