Damages awarded against Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust following negligent knee surgery
In 2008, Mr Hall was close to completing his training to become a professional sailor. He began to suffer problems with his right knee and he was referred to the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth for a right Oxford medial unicompartmental knee replacement
The operation initially appeared to go well but Mr Hall began to suffer problems, particularly after his grandson jumped on his right knee in Christmas that year. This caused an abnormal protrusion on the anterolateral aspect of the right knee. Despite numerous complaints about loss of function and pain over the following months, Mr Hall was ignored by his surgeon. He suffered from significant mobility problems and pain and as a result was unable to start his new career as a professional sailor.
His numerous complaints went unanswered and eventually Mr Hall contacted the NHSLA personally. The NHSLA obtained their own report from a Consultant Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgeon in October 2012. The report concluded that the original surgery had not been performed to an acceptable standard, the tibial component had been undersized and there was a femoral mal-alignment in relation to the tibial component.
Furthermore, the reported indicated that Mr Hall's surgeon should have investigated Mr Hall's concerns. Had that examination taken place he would have found that Mr Hall had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and required further urgent treatment.
Mr Hall instructed Jonathan to investigate the damage that the delay caused. Jonathan obtained a report from an orthopaedic surgeon who reported that Mr Hall's right leg remains fundamentally unstable and painful. He suffers problems in his left knee which cannot be addressed until his right knee is fixed. If the ACL deficiency had been detected in April 2009, Mr Hall would have received an MRI followed by an urgent revision of the unicompartmental knee arthroplasty.
This would have saved Mr Hall 19 months of pain, instability and suffering. This delay has resulted in recurrent subluxation/dislocation of the meniscal polyethylene which has probably caused soft damage.
The NHSLA initially offered to settle the claim for a few thousand pounds. However, following his investigations and negotiations, Jonathan was able to reach an out of court settlement for a substantial sum for Mr Hall on 12 May 2014.
Mr Hall had this to say about Jonathan:
"I spent five years "pitching" my case to dozens of TV ad type lawyers, all in vain. Despite my very obvious injuries I was repeatedly told that I didn't have a good enough chance of success, told to get over it and move on or was simply ignored. Then I came across Mr Jonathan Zimmern. Jonathan was different from the start, wanting to meet and talk face to face rather than my having to answer a list of barely relevant, prepared and generic questions asked of me over the 'phone by a "Trained Legal Adviser" who was unable to answer my own questions. He was never too busy to answer his 'phone, nor was he invariably "in a meeting" if I had questions, not that I ever had many questions as I was continually updated on the rapid progress that was now being made, progress which saw the NHSLA almost scurrying to settle my claim and settle it very much to my satisfaction."
Some five or six years of feeling lost and ignored had been swept away in less than a year. Thank you Jonathan Zimmern.
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For further information about orthopaedic surgery negligence claims and clinical negligence claims, please call Jonathan Zimmern on 03304606779 or email jonathan.zimmern@fieldfisher.com.
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