Award for failure to diagnose cornual pregnancy.

Kim Daniells of the CNCI team at Harrowells has successfully concluded a claim against an NHS Trust arising from negligent failure to diagnose and treat a cornual pregnancy. The Trust admitted failings in care early in correspondence and offered the Claimant £5000 in settlement of the claim at that stage. The Defendants argued that the Claimant would have required surgery even if the cornual pregnancy had been identified sooner but conceded that she would have been spared the uterine rupture and collapse that she suffered prior to diagnosis.

The Claimant, who had previously suffered ectopic pregnancies and had repeatedly attended hospital in the weeks prior to her collapse, was deeply traumatised by her experiences. The Claimant accepted that she would have needed surgery in any event and did not seek to argue that the delay in diagnosis and treatment had impacted upon her fertility. However, the Claimant's psychological trauma impacted upon her ability to work, and also upon her relationships with family members. The Claimant had sought and undergone counselling.

A psychiatric assessment resulted in a diagnosis of PTSD, made recommendations for further treatment and gave a guarded prognosis. A Limitation amnesty was agreed between the parties to allow negotiations to continue and the Claimant accepted an offer of in excess of £23,000 plus legal costs in settlement of her claim. The settlement included an amount to cover the cost of further, specialist psychological counselling.