£350,000 for injuries suffered as a result of failures to treat Streptococcus group A.
Our maternal injury team secured £350,000 for Strep A injuries following the delivery of child.
Following vaginal delivery her baby, she started to demonstrate signs of infection including a raised white cell count, low blood pressure, tachycardia (raised heart rate) and tachypnea (rapid breathing). Those treating her were under the impression she had a labial haematoma which required conservative management.
She continued to deteriorate and later the same day had a raised temperature and a further increased heart rate. Whilst her symptoms triggered a medical review, this was delayed for several hours and following review, she was deemed fit for discharge and was sent home the following day.
She was readmitted the following day by ambulance with increasing abdominal pain. Intravenous antibiotics were commenced and later that day she underwent lifesaving surgery including total hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. A microbiology report revealed the presence of Streptococcus group A.
A claim for negligence was brought against the hospital for the failure to have regard to our client’s evolving signs and symptoms of infection and delay in arranging a medical review. If the infection had been identified earlier and antibiotics provided, our client would have made a good recovery and would have avoided total hysterectomy, salpingo-oophorectomy, systemic sepsis and acute kidney injury. Our client’s recovery was instead prolonged, and she sustained post-traumatic stress disorder and required care and assistance both for her herself and for her children. As a result of the acute kidney injury, our client developed a stage 3a chronic kidney disease which is likely to cause her further symptoms and complications in the future.






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