Settlement in missed cervical cancer claim against Somerset hospitals | Fieldfisher
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Case Study

Settlement in missed cervical cancer claim against Somerset hospitals

A woman with long, straight dark brown hair is smiling at the camera. She is wearing a black short-sleeve shirt and stands in front of a window with a blurry cityscape background.
Christina Gardiner
A woman with long light brown hair stands facing the camera, wearing a dark blue long-sleeve dress. She smiles slightly. The background shows an out-of-focus cityscape with trees and buildings.
Marlena Mistak
 
A hospital patient in a blue gown lies in a bed, partially covered by a white blanket. The patient's hand is visible, resting on the blanket, with a pulse oximeter clipped to one of their fingers.

Christina Gardiner and Marlena Mistak secured a six figure settlement for Rebecca* who developed cervical cancer after two smear tests were incorrectly reported.

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust and Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust admitted that there were a series of errors and missed opportunities in Rebecca's care.

Rebecca, a mother of two, has been left with permanent side effects from the extensive cancer treatment, which included a hysterectomy and chemoradiotherapy. 

The Trusts admitted that smear tests taken in 2010 and 2013 were incorrectly reported as negative when they showed abnormal features. If the samples had been correctly reported, then Rebecca would have been referred for a colposcopy and the abnormal cells would have been removed before cancer developed.

It was further admitted that there was an additional failure in 2017 which led to poor surgical management and the missed opportunity to accurately stage Rebecca's tumour before to treatment, which meant the cancer spread.

The Trusts admitted liability in full and apologised that the care provided was not as it should have been. 

Christina and Marlena obtained supportive expert evidence to determine Rebecca's condition and prognosis. They concluded that with appropriate treatment Rebecca would not have developed cancer and therefore would not have required hysterectomy, chemoradiotherapy or laparotomy to remove an ovarian mass. 

Rebecca also suffered PTSD because of the negligence. Due to the lasting physical and psychiatric injuries she was forced to leave the job that she had worked in for many years. Rebecca struggles daily with anxiety and depression due to the negligence and is on medication for her mental health. She experiences extreme fatigue and incontinence, which makes doing things outside the home a challenge. 

Rebecca's diagnosis and treatment has also had a huge impact on her family and her husband suffered anxiety and depression because of it. She says it is a "bitter pill to swallow" knowing that her "horrible ordeal" and invasive treatment could have been avoided. 

Christina and Marlena secured a sum of £750,000 in a settlement meeting. Jo Moore, barrister at 1 Crown Office Row assisted on the claim throughout and Rory Badenoch, barrister at 1 Crown Office Row, was instructed to represent Rebecca at the final settlement meeting.

Rebecca said: "Thank you so much for all your support and hard work on my claim.  It has made such a massive difference to my life.  It’s a relief to know that I have funds should I require any future treatment."

Contact us

For further information about cancer misdiagnosis claims or medical negligence claims, please call Christina Gardiner on 03304606746 or email christina.gardiner@fieldfisher.com or call Marlena Mistak on 03304606795 or email marlena.mistak@fieldfisher.com.

Alternatively

All enquiries are completely free of charge and we will investigate all funding options for you including no win no fee. Find out more about no win no fee claims.

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Cervical Cancer Misdiagnosis Claims