§ PUBLISHED JUDGMENT · 2026

Alexander v HCA International Limited & Anor

[2026] EWHC 1284 (KB)·High Court (King's Bench Division)·29 May 2026

A patient developed life-threatening pancreatitis after a gallstone-removal ERCP. The judge found the consultant never prescribed or instructed the standard preventive diclofenac suppository, so it was not given, and entered judgment for £550,000 against him.

Outcome

Claimant succeeded

Sum stated in judgment

£550,000

Claim type

Clinical Negligence

Decided

Liability decided at trial

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§ WHAT HAPPENED

The facts, in brief.

Defendant: HCA International Limited (private hospital); Dr David Reffitt (gastroenterologist)

Injury: Severe acute necrotising pancreatitis after ERCP, with months in hospital, multiple operations, an ileostomy, diabetes and chronic diarrhoea

Specialty: Gastroenterology / endoscopy · England

§ WHAT THE COURT SAID

In the judgment’s own words.

“There be judgment for the Claimant against the Second Defendant in the sum of £550,000.”
[2026] EWHC 1284 (KB) at [326] · read the full judgment

The money

Quantum agreed at £550,000 subject to liability; judgment for that sum against the gastroenterologist only, claim against the hospital dismissed.

§ WHY IT MATTERS

What this case shows.

Failing to give a recognised prophylactic drug before a procedure can be negligent even in private care. The prescribing doctor, not the hospital, carried the liability here.

About clinical negligence claims →

§ MORE CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE JUDGMENTS

Claim failed

O'Brien v Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Trust

[2022] EWHC 2735 (KB)·2022·Liability decided at trial

A man with end-stage kidney failure was given a single 400mg gentamicin dose for a chest infection and suffered permanent balance and hearing damage. His sister's claim failed because the judge accepted that a high dose was a reasonable choice for a worsening infection with sepsis risk, despite his renal impairment.

A drug dose that causes known side-effects is not automatically negligent if it was a reasonable clinical judgement in the circumstances. Departing from a hospital guideline is not itself proof of negligence.

Claimant succeeded

Plan v El-Amir & Anor

[2020] EWHC 2902 (QB)·2020·Liability decided at trial

A 79-year-old with macular degeneration was persuaded to have an intraocular lens implant in her better eye without proper informed consent, then developed raised eye pressure that the surgeon left untreated for five weeks. Stacey J found the surgeon negligent both in consenting and in delaying laser treatment, causing total blindness in that eye.

Private eye surgeons must obtain genuinely informed consent and act promptly on post-operative complications. A delay that materially contributes to permanent damage is enough for liability even if some harm had already occurred.

Claim failed

Barrett v Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

[2015] EWHC 2627 (QB)·2015·Liability decided at trial

A diabetic electrician's eye pressure rose to 40-56 mmHg in the days after retinal surgery and was managed with drugs rather than urgent further surgery. The judge held that continuing medical treatment was a logical clinical judgment supported by a responsible body of eye surgeons and dismissed the claim, including the late-raised consent argument.

Choosing medical management over urgent surgery is not negligent if a responsible body of specialists would have done the same. A Montgomery-style consent argument will fail if the patient would have followed the specialists' recommendation anyway.

All clinical 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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