Grandmother awarded £135,000 after Pinderfields failed to spot her broken leg

The NHS trust than runs Pinderfields Hospital has been forced to shell out £135,000 to a grandmother after they failed to diagnose her broken leg.
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Antoinette France was awarded the cash by Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust in an out of court settlement.

The mother-of-two was left in pain and unable to stand for more than a year after her fractured thigh bone was undiscovered, despite undergoing x-rays.

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It meant her home had to be fitted with aids and appliances to help with mobility issues and she was left feeling “trapped and isolated” and required counselling to cope.

Antoinette France has been given a substantial payout.Antoinette France has been given a substantial payout.
Antoinette France has been given a substantial payout.

Mrs France fell while out walking with her dog in January 2017, and was taken to A&E at Pinderfields Hospital.

She was 64 at the time and underwent a revision hip replacement shortly afterwards and was transferred to The Mid Yorkshire Trust's rehabilitation unit as an inpatient for physiotherapy.

However, she fell again while receiving treatment, fracturing her femur.

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An ambulance then took her back to Pinderfields where only her left knee was x-rayed and not her thigh bone and she was returned to the rehabilitation unit.

Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield.Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield.
Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield.

The following month, still in pain, another x-ray was taken, this time of the femur, but it was “negligently reported as showing no change,” according to medical experts consulted as part of her claim against the trust.

In March 2017 Mrs France was discharged and told to continue with her physiotherapy at home.

When the x-ray was later re-examined, it was evident Mrs France had suffered a fracture.

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The delay in diagnosis and treatment left Mrs France with pain in both hips and knees, one leg was shorter than the other and she limped.

The grandmother, who lived in Wakefield at the time, says after returning home from hospital she was forced to rehome her dog because she could not leave her upstairs flat.

She said: “I used to be a person who went on long walks, but I was left using crutches - even now I can’t walk far and have to use a wheelchair. It was disgusting the way I was treated.

“I came out of hospital incredibly depressed, I couldn’t drive, walk or get outside, I was housebound, a burden and felt like an old lady.

"I was in a very bad place, I felt life was over."

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Mrs France then employed the help of Hudgell Solicitors to take legal action against the trust, before the matter was settled out of court.

She said: “I wanted to know why I was treated the way I was, I kept telling people I was in pain but it was ignored, I felt like I was treated as a stupid person in their 60s.

"There was a catalogue of errors, there was mistake after mistake.

"I have had an apology from the trust and I’ve been told they are changing the way they do things."

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Elizabeth Maliakal, associate solicitor at Hudgell Solicitors, who supported Mrs France in bringing her claim against Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust successfully said: “The standard of treatment afforded to my client fell below an acceptable level.

“Surgery should have been carried out within 24 to 48 hours to repair the fracture and re-insert a new hip stem.

“The fracture would have healed, leg length inequality would have been restored and pain in the hips and knees would have been ameliorated and the recovery period would have been six to 12 weeks.

“However, surgery was not undertaken until over a year after the original injury.

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“During that time she needed a crutch to walk and a wheelchair to travel longer distances.

"She still has difficulty getting in and out of bed, into the shower and in and out of the car and she still requires assistance for personal care."

David Melia, director of nursing and quality, at the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We offer our sincere apologies and sympathy to Ms France. We appreciate that this has been a very distressing experience for her over a prolonged period.

“The trust undertook a complaint investigation in 2017 to find out what went wrong.

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"We recognised that errors occurred, and the treatment fell below the standard we aim to provide and to which Ms France was entitled.

"We are truly saddened to hear of the impact this has had on her.

"The trust is committed to providing the best care we can to our patients and making improvements when this falls short.

"We took on board the learnings from the investigation into Ms France’s complaint and introduced changes to our practices."