Chapman v Mid & South Essex NHS Foundation Trust
[2023] EWHC 1290 (KB)·2023·Liability decided at trial
A woman with long-standing back pain saw a pain consultant in 2009 and 2010 who did not order an updated MRI or examine her neurologically; a thoracic disc prolapse went undiagnosed until she became paraplegic in 2017. The court held the consultant negligent and that timely surgery would have given a full neurological recovery, but found the A&E nurse practitioner in 2017 was not at fault.
Failing to re-image or examine a patient whose back pain has changed can amount to negligence years before the catastrophic outcome. Each clinician's conduct is judged separately.