Sumner v Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust & Anor
[2015] EWHC 293 (QB)·2015·Liability and damages decided at trial
A 68-year-old woman fell downstairs and broke her neck; the fracture was wrongly judged stable and she was got up and moving before surgery on 5 January 2011. Andrews J found her permanent paralysis was caused by the failure to operate and stabilise the spine by 29 December 2010.
Misjudging whether a spinal fracture is stable can turn a recoverable injury into permanent paralysis. The court decided causation by tracing when her neurology got worse relative to when she was mobilised.