An NHS hospital has come under fire after a woman was sent home after falling over in the street whilst intoxicated – only to be re-admitted in a coma the following day. Despite subsequent treatment, she suffered a brain injury and was left permanently disabled.
The woman’s lawyers launched proceedings against the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which had admitted negligence in failing to admit her to the hospital for overnight observation in the aftermath of her fall. The Trust, however, denied that negligence on its part had caused the woman’s injuries.
The facts of the case emerged at the High Court as a judge considered whether the Trust should be permitted to withdraw a formal offer to settle the woman’s claim for £325,000. He directed that, unless the Trust swiftly produced evidence and a full explanation for its wish to go back on the offer, judgment should be entered in the woman’s favour for that sum.