Hospital failed to diagnose rugby player’s injury

A 25-year-old man has been awarded £12,000 compensation after doctors failed to diagnose a fracture in his scaphoid, a small bone between the hand and wrist.

A 25-year-old man has been awarded £12,000 compensation after doctors failed to diagnose a fracture in his scaphoid, a small bone between the hand and wrist.

The man had suffered injuries to his left hand and wrist while playing rugby. His GP referred him to the accident and emergency ward at his local hospital. Staff took radiographs of his wrists and decided there was no fracture.

They discharged him and told him to move and exercise his fingers. He was in pain for the next six weeks before going back to A&E. This time staff took an x-ray of his wrist and detected the fracture to the scaphoid.

It was nearly two months later before he had an operation to repair the fracture. However, his wound then became infected and he was prescribed antibiotics.

He later undertook a course of physiotherapy and finally, nine months after he was injured, his wrist was fully healed.

He brought an action against the hospital saying staff had been negligent in failing to diagnose the fracture on his first visit when it was visible on the x-ray. He suffered pain for six weeks that could have been avoided.

He said that if his wrist had been in plaster from the outset, it would have healed without the need for an operation.

The hospital admitted liability and the man was awarded £12,000 in an out-of-court settlement for his pain, suffering and loss of amenity, as well as his travel expenses and loss of earnings.

David Kerry, Senior Partner and Head of the Medical Negligence Department said: “We often associate clinical negligence claims with life-altering events but as this case shows, even relatively minor injuries can cause considerable suffering and discomfort. In such cases, it is only right that those who’ve been affected by clinical negligence should be properly compensated.”

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