M R Law has successfully recovered damages on behalf of a man who woke up in hospital in a pool of blood after nursing staff had failed to remove or reconnect a catheter to his arm.

He had attended hospital for what should have been a routine operation to his toe but he remained in hospital overnight for observations. Whilst in the process of being moved from one ward to another, nursing staff neglected to remove the catheter placed in his arm during the operation and then failed to reconnect it when he arrived on the ward where he was due to remain overnight leaving blood to flow from his arm through the unconnected tubing.

In the early hours of the morning, the man woke to find his sheets covered in blood. He urgently called for help and eventually the nurses were able to stem the bleeding but not before he had lost a considerable amount of blood, causing him complications and considerable distress at what might have happened had the bleeding not stopped.

After leaving hospital, the traumatic events continued to impact upon our client and caused him much concern at the thought of undergoing future surgical procedures.

Tracy Brimelow of the Medical Negligence team at M R Law who dealt with the case comments: “Whilst fortunately the standard of nursing for patients in hospital remains extremely high and we have nothing but praise for the excellent care usually provided, sadly on this occasion the care our client received whilst in hospital was clearly inadequate.”

The nursing staff lacked the knowledge and awareness that they should have done something with the unattached tubing coming from their patient’s arm. “The blood loss the client experienced caused him complications with his recovery, nightmares and a reluctance to attend hospital in the future,” continues Brimelow.

The blood loss the client experienced caused him complications with his recovery, nightmares and a reluctance to attend hospital in the future. ~Tracy Brimelow

Initially the hospital denied responsibility for the incident causing an unnecessary delay, but eventually M R Law were able to secure a satisfactory offer of settlement for their client.