£28,750 Settlement for Appendicitis Misdiagnosis

A boy from Weston-super-Mare has won £28,750 in compensation after doctors failed to diagnose acute appendicitis when he attended Bristol Children’s Hospital in 2005.

Thomas Roberts, who was aged 11 at the time, was taken to the hospital by his grandmother because he was suffering stomach pains that were gradually getting worse. She asked the medical staff whether it was possible that Thomas had appendicitis, but was told that he did not. Doctors diagnosed a urinary tract infection and gastroenteritis. Thomas was eventually given painkillers and discharged.

By the next day, Thomas’s condition had deteriorated and he was admitted to Weston General Hospital with a burst appendix. Unfortunately, there were complications following surgery and the wound became infected. This meant that he had to undergo two further operations and was admitted to hospital as an emergency case on six occasions.

Through his mother, Thomas brought a personal injury claim against the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust on the ground that he would not have had to endure the follow-up operations and hospital admissions had he been correctly diagnosed in the first instance.

The Trust did not accept liability for the injury but settled the claim out of court.