Giles Mooney wins High Court Clinical Negligence Claim

On 18^th April 2018 Mr Justice Jay gave Judgment for the Claimant after the trial of Meynell v Croydon Health Service NHS Trust. Giles Mooney, representing the Claimant argued that the Trust had been negligent in failing to diagnose and treat the Claimant for acute appendicitis when he attended hospital. Instead the Defendant discharged the Claimant from hospital and told him to return the next day for diagnostic tests. Overnight the Claimant’s appendix perforated leading to peritonitis. It was agreed medical evidence that had an appendicectomy occurred on the day of his presentation at hospital the Claimant would have avoided peritonitis and the ensuing complications (open rather than keyhole surgery, infection and long term IBS).

On behalf of the Defendant it was argued that the Claimant presented with unusual symptoms for appendicitis and it was reasonable for the Defendant to doubt that the Claimant was suffering from appendicitis and hence referral to the “hot clinic” the following day was a reasonable response.

Despite the unusual presentation, the treating doctors and the Defendant’s expert conceded, under cross examination by Giles, that there was no other realistic diagnosis other than appendicitis in this case. This concession led to Mr Justice Jay finding in favour of the Claimant. The award for damages included a sum for loss of chance where the Claimant, an aircraft engineer, had missed an exam to qualify him to work on different types of airplane as a result of his injury.

Giles was instructed by Elizabeth O’Mahony at BL Claims.