A 35-year-old foreign national went back to his own country for a wedding. Unfortunately, a fight broke out, and he was punched in the right eye, sustaining pain and significant bruising.

He went to a local hospital and had X-rays taken of the area around his eye.

Three days later, he returned to his local General Practitioner and told him he had been X-rayed in his own country and everything was fine. The GP recorded that he had sustained a blow to the eye with significant bruising, but that the X-rays were clear.

Three weeks later, the foreign national returned to the general practice complaining that, now that the swelling had gone down, he felt that his cheek was flat on the right-hand side and he had intermittent blurring of vision. The GP sent him to hospital for X-rays, which revealed fractures of the cheekbone and zygomatic arch beside the eye, which had now healed out of position.

A case was brought against the GP, which was settled out of court.

The difficulty here was the practitioner accepted the patient’s reassurance that X-rays had been taken in another country and did not show any abnormality. The eye was grossly swollen and tender when he visited the GP, who should have immediately referred it to hospital, as the GP had no documentation confirming a radiological report from another jurisdiction.

The GP has to act on the clinical signs as seen if they do not have the backup of the relevant specialists.

MDU figures for 2022 show that fewer than one in six actions in medical negligence actually succeed, with the vast majority failing on the grounds of causation. It must be remembered that subsequence is not the same as consequence.

Initial screening is, therefore, essential to manage client expectations at an early stage. This avoids unnecessary effort and costs for all concerned. Too many cases are taken to court with no chance of success. This is stressful for both the client and their legal adviser, and indeed for the medical personnel involved.

For fast and effective screening of all potential medical negligence cases, contact Peyton Medico Legal Services now on +44 (0)28 87724177 or email [email protected]