§ PUBLISHED JUDGMENT · 2022

Matthew Riley v Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust

[2022] EWHC 2417 (KB)·High Court (King's Bench Division), Manchester District Registry·13 September 2022

A 20-year-old motorcyclist with leg fractures developed compartment syndrome which the trust admitted it treated too late, so his right leg had to be amputated below the knee. Liability was admitted and the court assessed damages at £4,676,442 covering lifelong prosthetics, care, adapted housing and lost earnings.

Outcome

Claimant succeeded

Sum stated in judgment

£4,676,442

Claim type

Orthopaedic Negligence

Decided

Damages assessed at trial

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§ WHAT HAPPENED

The facts, in brief.

Defendant: Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust

Injury: Delayed treatment of compartment syndrome in the right lower leg after motorcycle-accident fractures, leading to a below-knee amputation on 21 August 2015

Specialty: Orthopaedic trauma surgery · England

§ WHAT THE COURT SAID

In the judgment’s own words.

“The Defendant has admitted a breach of duty in respect of the treatment the Claimant received at Salford Royal, and has further admitted that if appropriate treatment had been given an amputation would have been avoided.”

The money

Lump sum total of £4,676,442 set out at [130]: PSLA £120,000, interest £8,748, past losses £323,426, future earnings £769,100, pension £27,403, care and case management £980,557, surgeries £45,230, therapies £92,198, transport £308,990, prosthetics £737,466, aids and equipment £160,887, accommodation £983,313, holidays £113,879, shopping £5,245. No periodical payments mentioned.

§ WHY IT MATTERS

What this case shows.

Where a hospital admits that quicker treatment of compartment syndrome would have saved a limb, the case becomes about valuing lifelong needs, and prosthetics, accommodation and care can each run to six or seven figures for a young claimant.

About orthopaedic negligence claims →

§ MORE ORTHOPAEDIC NEGLIGENCE JUDGMENTS

Claimant succeeded£2.85M

Chocken v Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

[2020] EWHC 3269 (QB)·2020·Appeal decision

After a 10-hour facial reconstruction the claimant developed compartment syndrome in both legs in intensive care and was left with permanent damage; the trust settled 70 days before trial for a £2.85 million lump sum plus annual payments of £48,000 rising to £85,000. This later judgment dealt only with the lawyers' success fee and dismissed the claimant's appeal on that point.

Compartment syndrome arising from post-operative monitoring failures can attract multi-million-pound settlements with periodical payments for lifelong care, although this figure comes from a costs judgment rather than a damages judgment.

All orthopaedic negligence judgments →

Contains information licensed under the Open Justice - Licence v2.0. Judgments from Find Case Law, The National Archives. Summaries are ours; amounts only where printed in the judgment.

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