The Work We Do
Examples of the compensation claims our personal injury solicitors tackle on a daily basis
Here we have collected some recent examples of the variety of work done by the Ashton Morton Slack Personal Injury team. We hope this provides a valuable insight into the real cases that the Personal Injury team handles and a better understanding of the people behind them.
£66,000 compenstion awarded to client for failure to diagnose post-operative bleeding.
“The hospital failed to diagnose that the pain and swelling following a femoral hernia repair operation was due to internal bleeding. Our client received £66,000 compensation to cover his pain and suffering, the need for further surgery and his loss of earnings.”
John Hodgson
Head of Medical Law and Clinical Negligence
£77,000 claim awarded to client for failure to diagnose cancer
“The Hospital failed to diagnose on biopsy that a melanoma on the client’s shoulder was malignant, resulting in delayed treatment. He received £75,000 to compensate him for the more radical surgery required as a result of the delay, the more extensive scarring and the side effects of drug treatment.”
John Hodgson
Head of Medical Law and Clinical Negligence
£40,000 compensation claim awarded to client for failure to diagnose unstable angina
“The Hospital failed to diagnose unstable angina when the client attended Accident & Emergency complaining of chest pain and breathlessness. He was discharged without any treatment or follow up and suffered a heart attack a week later. Had the correct diagnosis been made, appropriate treatment would have prevented the heart attack. Our client received £40,000 compensation for his pain and suffering, hospitalisation and loss of earnings.”
John Hodgson
Head of Medical Law and Clinical Negligence
£300,000 claim awarded to client for failure to diagnose hydrocephalus
“The client received £300,000 compensation for the delay in diagnosing hydrocephalus as a child until he was 7 years old, when he began to exhibit neurological symptoms. As a result, he suffered from avoidable learning difficulties, an increased risk of hospitalisation for shunt complications and the inability to pursue his preferred choice of career.”
John Hodgson
Head of Medical Law and Clinical Negligence
£155,000 compensation claim awarded to client for optician’s failure to diagnosis glaucoma
"Our client’s opticians failed to diagnose glaucoma during a routine eye test; with the result that treatment was delayed by 18 months resulting in permanent deterioration of vision in both eyes. He received a settlement of £155,000 to compensate him for his loss of vision and consequentially the reduced earning capacity.”
John Hodgson
Head of Medical Law and Clinical Negligence
£455,000 compensation awarded to a client who was given an overdose of radiotherapy.
“Our client was a woman in her 60’s who was given an overdose during routine radiotherapy treatment for cervical cancer. She was awarded £455,000 compensation for the consequential injuries to her bowel and bladder and for the cost of care and adaptations to her house.”
John Hodgson
Head of Medical Law and Clinical Negligence
£125,000 compensation awarded to client for mismanagement of hip replacement surgery.
“Our client suffered sciatic nerve damage causing permanent foot drop as a result of a negligently performed total hip replacement operation. A settlement of £125,000 was achieved to compensate her for her pain, suffering and loss of amenity, her loss of earning capacity and rehabilitation and transport costs.”
John Hodgson
Head of Medical Law and Clinical Negligence
£150,000 compnsation claim awarded to Client for optician’s failure to diagnosis glaucoma
"The client’s opticians failed to diagnose glaucoma during a routine eye test, with the result that treatment was delayed by 18 months resulting in permanent deterioration of vision in both eyes. He received a settlement of £150,000 to compensate him for his loss of vision and consequentially reduced earning capacity”
John Hodgson
Head of Medical Law and Clinical Negligence
£110,000 awarded to client who was not fully informed of the risks of surgery on a broken leg.
'The client was awarded £110,000 compensation for the failure to warn of the high risk of knee pain following closed nailing of a leg fracture. The compensation was awarded in the light of the patient’s occupation as a miner and the failure to give him the option of external fixation, which carries no risk of knee pain. As a result, he was unable to return to work as a miner because of continuing and permanent knee pain and instead had to take a sedentary job at a lower wage.”
John Hodgson
Head of Medical Law and Clinical Negligence
Increased award leads to matchmaking offer
"We acted for a client who was claiming compensation in respect of her ex-husband who had died as a result of chest disease. She had transferred the work to us from another firm of solicitors because she was dissatisfied with their service.
After reviewing the file we managed to get her a bereavement award of approximately £10,000 that had been missed by the other solicitors. We also managed to successfully dispute her husband's smoking history, exaggerated by the defendants, which resulted in the offer increasing by about £2,000.
In total Ashton Morton Slack recovered around £30,000 for her. She even offered to match me up with her grandson but I politely declined."
Ashley Knight
Chest Diseases Team
Making dreams come true
“Our client was so pleased with the compensation that the firm obtained on his behalf that he wrote to tell me how he was now able to take his wife back to Paris where they had first fallen in love. At least that was the plan, before his wife reminded him that the money would be better spent giving their granddaughter financial support through University.
So the client asked me directly “Is it better to fulfil my own modest dreams or to help others achieve theirs? You are the best person to answer this as this is what you do constantly each day.”
Steve Westwood
Litigation Executive
Sound advice on patience
“Insurers were trying to discount one of my Vibration White Finger claims and the client was about to accept the reduced amount. I managed to dispute this decision and convince the Insurers that a full compensation award was necessary. The Insurers have now accepted that no discount is to be deducted and our client will receive his full compensation.
If he had accepted the reduction, which he was thinking about doing, he would have lost around £2,000. However I managed to convince him to wait to see if we could turn around the decision – our client is glad he waited!”
Natalie Goodinson
Litigation Executive
Putting a family's life back together
“Our client was 16 years old at the time of the accident in 2003. He had just left school and started working at a garage, where he had been on day release from school during his final year. He was in line for a Modern Apprenticeship course when he was knocked off his moped by a car, badly breaking both his legs.
An operation was needed, and his legs were in metal frames for a number of months, severely limiting his mobility, during which time he received care and assistance from his mother. Unfortunately he is unlikely to be able to return to being a mechanic, but he is now in the process of receiving rehabilitation treatment and vocational assistance paid for by the third party insurers. Taking into account loss of earnings, his compensation claim is likely to be in the region of £50,000.”
Simon Marshall
Road Traffic Accident Team
Fighting for future compensation
“We acted for a client whose case was settled last year. He had asymptomatic pleural plaques and was at risk of other more serious conditions developing in the future and so we sought an order from the court that should he develop any of those conditions in the future, he should be entitled to return to court and seek additional damages.
The Defendant argued that in relation to two of those conditions, he should only be entitled to apply to court if he developed the conditions to the extent that they caused a "significant respiratory disability" as a result. We took the case to court on this issue and won so that the Claimant can now return to court if, in the future, he is simply diagnosed as having any of the relevant conditions.”
Isobel Lovett
Industrial Disease Solicitor
Challenging evidence increases award by over 100%
“Ashton Morton Slack acted for a client with a hairline elbow fracture. It was only a small one but a fracture nevertheless. The x-rays didn't show it but the expert was fairly confident she had one. The Insurers initially offered about £2,000, as they didn't think the fracture was confirmed. Our advice and questioning of the expert got her personal injury damages up to about £5,500 which got her total damages to around £8,000.”
Gareth Fisher
Road Traffic Accident Team
Solicitor proves her value in the claims process
“British Coal often deny liability based on no/minimal exposure to vibration which we have to contend in our claims for Vibration White Finger. One of our clients was initially denied a claim by the representatives of British Coal. Ashton Morton Slack had to provide British Coal with sufficient witness evidence that successfully overturned the denial and our client was awarded £24,679.31 as compensation.
The insurance industry often claim that lawyers are not needed in this sort of case and that the process would run more smoothly without our involvement. This case clearly illustrates that if that happened our clients would lose out.”
Anne Thomas
Litigation Executive
Persistence results in acceptance of responsibility
"Our client was involved in a road traffic accident with an agricultural vehicle on a narrow country lane. His vehicle sustained extensive damage and was subsequently written off. He also sustained a whiplash injury to his neck and back.
He instructed Ashton Morton Slack to pursue a claim against the other party, but when we wrote to the other drivers insurers they refused to accept any responsibility for the accident. There were no witnesses to the accident and after several months of negotiation we were still at loggerheads.
I decided to send a letter of complaint to them highlighting some minor discrepancies in their version of events. I also pointed out that their general lack of co-operation was only going to result in the matter proceeding to court when it was capable of being settled amicably. I expected them to only concede some of the liability for the incident. However, they reviewed their file and decided their driver was 100% at fault."
James Middleton-Taylor
Litigation Executive – Road Traffic Accident Team
Continuing to challenge on behalf of a client pays off
"Ashton Morton Slack acted for a client who was left with injuries following a road traffic accident. Once medical evidence was disclosed to the other side's insurance company they returned with an initial offer of £2000 that I advised our client to reject, as the prognosis for his injuries was that his symptoms would resolve within 2 years. The offer was rejected and I entered into further negotiations with the other side's insurance company. I discussed the medical evidence with the other side's insurance company and was successful in getting them to review the medical evidence again and settlement was finally agreed at £3500 for our client's injury claim. In addition the other side's insurance company were refusing to pay my client's uninsured losses in full, however once again I discussed at length the evidence that my client had to support his claim and was successful in obtaining settlement in full for him. In all this meant that my client recovered over £10,000 in compensation."
Azra Saddique
Litigation Executive – Road Traffic Accident Team
Saying thank you with flowers
"Our client was the subject of a hit and run accident and so a claim under the Untraced Agreement was submitted to the Motor Insurance Bureau. Medical evidence was submitted to them and after much delay an offer was forthcoming. Unfortunately, the offer was not suitable and it was rejected. After further negotiations Ashton Morton Slack finally secured settlement for my client in the sum of £4350.00 that included £1400.00 for the loss of her vehicle. The client was so pleased with the result that she sent me a bouquet of flowers to say thank you."
Azra Saddique
Litigation Executive – Road Traffic Accident Team
A recommendation to seek a medical re-examination produces a much-improved offer
"Our client attended a medical examination following a road traffic accident. The examination took place with an Orthopaedic Consultant who advised that my client was likely to recover within a time period of 12 months from the date of the accident. The insurers of the other party initially made an offer of settlement in the sum of £2000 that was rejected by my client on the basis that he continued to suffer pain in the neck and back some 18 months following the accident.
I wrote to the expert who clarified that this time scale was reasonable given the nature of the accident. Our client wished to rely upon this medical evidence however I strongly advised him to attend a re-examination in order to fully investigate his symptoms before considering settlement of his claim. He attended a re-examination and the second medical report highlighted that the accident had accelerated the onset of back pain by a period of 7 years. The medical report was disclosed to the insurers and I have currently negotiated an offer of £6000 that again has been rejected upon my advice and negotiation continues with the insurers of the other party."
Brett Fleming
Litigation Executive – Road Traffic Accident Team