§ PUBLISHED JUDGMENT · 2023

Parsons v Isle of Wight NHS Trust

[2023] EWHC 3115 (KB)·High Court (King's Bench Division)·5 December 2023

Before bowel cancer surgery, anaesthetists made three failed epidural attempts while the patient was awake and then seven more after putting her under anaesthetic, one of which pierced her spinal cord. Ritchie J held the anaesthetist should have obtained her informed consent before the unconscious attempts and offered alternatives, and that this failure caused the injury.

Outcome

Claimant succeeded

Sum stated in judgment

£1,300,000

Claim type

Anaesthetic Negligence

Decided

Liability decided at trial

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§ WHAT HAPPENED

The facts, in brief.

Defendant: Isle of Wight NHS Trust · this trust’s claims data

Injury: Spinal cord injury at T11/T12 with haematoma to L3 caused during repeated epidural attempts; reduced right leg power, pain, paraesthesia and bladder sensation loss

Specialty: Anaesthetics · England

§ WHAT THE COURT SAID

In the judgment’s own words.

“Judgment shall be entered for the Claimant. The agreed damages are £1.3 million.”

The money

Quantum agreed between the parties at £1.3 million subject to liability ([5]); the judge found 100% of the agreed damages were caused by the lack of consent ([112]).

§ WHY IT MATTERS

What this case shows.

Consent is not a one-off: when a procedure changes course (here, moving to unconscious epidural attempts), the patient must be told of the options and risks again. The full agreed £1.3m followed from that single consent failure.

About anaesthetic negligence claims →

§ MORE ANAESTHETIC NEGLIGENCE JUDGMENTS

Claim failed

Callum Joe Guest v Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

[2026] EWHC 704 (KB)·2026·Liability decided at trial

During long spinal surgery for scoliosis and chest wall deformity the claimant deteriorated, arrested while being turned over, and was left with severe sight loss. He alleged the anaesthetist negligently failed to treat a raised potassium reading, but the judge found that reading was spurious and the arrest was caused by a pulmonary embolism, so the claim failed.

Even after a devastating complication a claim fails if the court finds the true cause was a non-negligent event, so proving the mechanism of injury is often the decisive issue.

All anaesthetic 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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