Does my mam have any sort of case here against the hospital?

TheStook

Okay so basically a few days ago my mother was extremely sick and her face and body swelled up to the point where she genuinely looked ridiculous, she was in so much pain she was crawling so she went to emergency doc who advised her to go to hospital as she had high levels of protein and blood in her urine. Doctor was concerned about a cyst bursting. Naas triage nurse told my mam that her face looked normal to them even though she kept telling them it was swollen. They did ct scan to rule out stones, mam told me she told two nurses that she was worried about the swelling and the nurse told her the doctor said it was fine. She stayed the night there and the next morning mams face was clearly worse and they sent her home telling her it was a virus. Back to emergency doc on sunday morning told her it was kidney infection because of urine. Mam felt monday something was wrong as she normally weighs 9st 6 and she now weighed 10st10.. her local doc told her her protein and blood in urine was through the roof and told her he believed it was Nephrotic Syndrome. She now received a call to go to hospital in Dublin asap.

My mam mentioned the blood and protein in her urine to the doctors at the hospital and the doctor told her she had "nothing to worry about, at all".

So this Nephrotic Syndrome seems pretty serious atm and if my mam hadnt of went to the doctors after the hospital gave her the all clear I dont even want to know bad it could have gotten for her.

My mam just wants to write a letter of complaint but Im thinking she has the right to do more, if not to ensure that this sort of negligence never happens again at naas hospital. Thoughts?

dutopia

You really need to speak to a solicitor and get proper legal advice.

GaeilgeGrind12

Hi TheStook,

Firstly I'm very sorry to hear what happened to your mother. Just my 2 cents on the situation, which is my opinion and not legal advice - typically medical negligence litigation is long and costly. The hospital/HSE defend every claim to the last, which can make the process difficult and as I have said time consuming. A lot of claims will be contingent on long-term pain and suffering. I see that you have said that your Mothers GP thankfully spotted the issue in time (if your mother hadn't have gone to her GP subsequently, then perhaps a medical negligence claim would be viable). Letters of complaint/claims of negligence against doctors are reviewed by the Medical Council (which should she wish to file a complaint she will find the appropriate documentation).

As I have said, I'm sorry to hear about your mothers situation, but personally I wouldn't rush into a med neg claim without further thought/legal advice.

TheStook

GaeilgeGrind12 wrote: »

Hi TheStook,

Firstly I'm very sorry to hear what happened to your mother. Just my 2 cents on the situation, which is my opinion and not legal advice - typically medical negligence litigation is long and costly. The hospital/HSE defend every claim to the last, which can make the process difficult and as I have said time consuming. A lot of claims will be contingent on long-term pain and suffering. I see that you have said that your Mothers GP thankfully spotted the issue in time (if your mother hadn't have gone to her GP subsequently, then perhaps a medical negligence claim would be viable). Letters of complaint/claims of negligence against doctors are reviewed by the Medical Council (which should she wish to file a complaint she will find the appropriate documentation).

As I have said, I'm sorry to hear about your mothers situation, but personally I wouldn't rush into a med neg claim without further thought/legal advice.

Thanks thats very kind of you, We'll contact a solicitor anyway but Im assuming a letter of complaint will have to do, better catching it early and have no case than not catching it and having a case.