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Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery - British Volume, Vol 91-B, Issue 2, 151-156.
doi: 10.1302/0301-620X.91B2.21567  
Copyright © 2009 by British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery
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Medical negligence in orthopaedic surgery

A REVIEW OF 130 CONSECUTIVE MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE REPORTS

S. Gidwani, FRCS(Trauma & Orth), Hand Surgery Fellow Upper Limb Unit1; S. M. R. Zaidi, BSc, MBBS, Specialty Trainee2; and M. D. Bircher, FRCS, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon3

1 Department of Orthopaedics Princess Alexandra Hospital, Ipswich Road, Woolloongabba, Queensland 4102, Australia.
2 Department of Orthopaedics Royal Hospital Haslar, Haslar Road, Gosport PO12 2AA, UK.
3 Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics St George’s Hospital, Blackshaw Road, London SW17 0QT, UK.

Correspondence should be sent to Mr S. Gidwani; e-mail: samgidwani{at}yahoo.com

Payments by the NHS Litigation Authority continue to rise each year, and reflect an increase in successful claims for negligence against NHS Trusts. Information about the reasons for which Trusts are sued in the field of trauma and orthopaedic surgery is scarce.

We analysed 130 consecutive cases of alleged clinical negligence in which the senior author had been requested to act as an expert witness between 2004 and 2006, and received information on the outcome of 97 concluded cases from the relevant solicitors. None of the 97 cases proceeded to a court hearing. Overall, 55% of cases were abandoned by the claimants’ solicitors, and the remaining 45% were settled out of court. The cases were settled for sums ranging from £4500 to £2.7 million, the median settlement being £45 000. The cases that were settled out of court were usually the result of delay in treatment or diagnosis, or because of substandard surgical technique.






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Registered charity no: 209299     Print ISSN: 0301-620X
Hip, Knee, Trauma, Upper limb, Foot & Ankle, Paediatrics, Oncology, Spine, Arthroplasty, General