Settlement for student following delayed diagnosis of appendicitis

Our client, who was a university student, went to the A&E department of his local hospital early one morning, complaining of vomiting and severe abdominal pain.

He was diagnosed with gastroenteritis from possible food poisoning. After monitoring for an hour or so, he was discharged home. He was given an anti-emetic to prevent vomiting and told to keep his fluid intake up.

He returned to A&E in the early hours of the next morning because he was unable to sleep due to ongoing of vomiting and pain, which had now moved to the lower right side of his abdomen.

A different hospital doctor also diagnosed him with gastroenteritis and told him to continue with the medicine that had been prescribed the day before. He was again discharged home.

Our client went back to hospital two days later, when he was finally seen by a consultant surgeon, who confirmed a diagnosis of appendicitis and possible peritonitis.

He condition was now so severe that he needed open surgery rather keyhole surgery to remove his appendix. During surgery, our client was found to have abscesses on his small intestine, his colon had stuck to his small intestine, and he had an infection in all four quadrants of his bowel. This was all caused by his inflamed appendix rupturing (or bursting) from not receiving treatment sooner.

He was discharged from hospital around a week later. Unfortunately, he developed a post-operative infection for which he required further treatment at hospital.

Sadly, our client ended up having to take a year out from university due to his gradual and difficult recovery.

Our client sought legal advice and instructed Sumit Morjaria, a specialist solicitor in the medical negligence team at Fletchers, to pursue a claim against the NHS hospital trust for failing to diagnose his appendicitis when he presented at A&E on two earlier occasions.

Liability was admitted and the claim was settled out of court for a five-figure sum of compensation, which included damages for pain and suffering, the costs of care and assistance required, as well as the costs of future surgical treatment on a private basis.