Brain injury claim against Oxford University Hospitals involving blocked feeding tube

Will Jones successfully concluded a negligence case, 18 months after instruction, against Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for a 57-year-old woman was left severely brain injured after medical staff failed to notice her post-operative NJ/NG tube was not aspirating properly.

Mrs B was found unconscious in her hospital room shortly after surgery to remove a pancreatic tumour in June 2017. She had suffered a hypoxic brain injury.

Mrs B was left in a private room in the Churchill Hospital after surgery where nurses failed to notice that the tube was not working properly, despite repeated vomiting and continual complaints of feeling nauseous. She eventually fell unconscious and suffered hypoxic brain injury. She remained in a locked-in state in intensive care for more than two weeks.

She then spent more than four months at the Oxford Centre for Enablement (OCE) undergoing intense neuro-rehabilitation. She was eventually released home but, despite some progress, has been left with significant neurological deficit meaning her husband had to give up his job to care for her full-time.

Before her injuries, Mrs B worked full-time as a hairdresser and counsellor. She is no longer able to work and requires constant support in order to mobilise. She can no longer walk her dog or tend to her allotment and cannot go out into the garden due to the risk of falling.

With the family having lost two incomes as a result of the negligence Will secured a significant interim payment in May 2018 to allow Mrs B to remain in the family home and pay for much-needed rehabilitation.

The case settled in November 2019 for £2.4m.

Mrs B does physiotherapy every day and has recently started hydrotherapy. The hope is that ongoing rehabilitation will help her to regain some independence and more of her previous quality of life.

Contact us

For further information about nursing negligence claims and clinical negligence claims, please call Will Jones on 03304606822 or email will.jones@fieldfisher.com.

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