§ PUBLISHED JUDGMENT · 2016

ABC v Barts Health NHS Trust

[2016] EWHC 500 (QB)·High Court (Queen's Bench Division)·11 March 2016

The Trust admitted it negligently failed to diagnose the claimant's torn aorta for 20 days, but disputed that this caused his later stroke; the claimant accepted a £50,000 offer just before trial, months after it had expired. This ruling decides who pays the legal costs, applying the normal rules so the claimant pays the defendant's costs for the period after the offer lapsed.

Outcome

Settlement approved

Sum stated in judgment

£50,000

Claim type

Clinical Negligence

Decided

Settlement approved by the court

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§ WHAT HAPPENED

The facts, in brief.

Defendant: Barts Health NHS Trust (Whipps Cross Hospital) · this trust’s claims data

Injury: Aortic dissection not diagnosed for 20 days; admitted to have caused additional vascular surgery; a later stroke was disputed and never decided

Specialty: Vascular / cardiothoracic surgery · England

§ WHAT THE COURT SAID

In the judgment’s own words.

“To my mind, there is nothing unjust about making the usual order in the circumstances of this case, accepting as I do, the thrust of the Claimant's submissions on this issue.”

The money

Settlement of £50,000 (inclusive of a £25,000 interim payment) accepted shortly before trial and approved by the court; the claim had been pleaded at over £1 million. This judgment decides the costs consequences of the late acceptance.

§ WHY IT MATTERS

What this case shows.

Accepting a settlement offer late can cost a claimant heavily in legal costs even when negligence is admitted. A missed aortic dissection was accepted as negligent, but the disputed stroke was never proved.

About clinical negligence claims →

§ MORE CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE JUDGMENTS

Claimant succeeded£550,000

Alexander v HCA International Limited & Anor

[2026] EWHC 1284 (KB)·2026·Liability decided at trial

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.

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.

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.

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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