What to do about Failure to Recognise Meningitis

A failure to recognise meningitis symptoms for 48 hours after the birth of my daughter has left her with brain damage. Can I claim compensation from the hospital for medical negligence?

Meningitis can be treated effectively in most cases if the symptoms are diagnosed promptly and quick treatment is provided; however a failure to recognise meningitis can lead to serious and permanent injuries or even death. Children are most at risk of developing meningitis immediately after birth up until the age of 8 months. Failure to spot the signs of meningitis can be devastating and can leave a child with permanent brain damage.

In this instance, since meningitis appears to have been contracted in hospital under the care of qualified doctors and nurses, at face value it appears that you could be eligible to claim compensation to cover the injuries that your child has suffered. Classic symptoms of meningitis may not be present in babies; however an attentive doctor or nurse should be aware of the risks of meningitis, and should also have noticed that your daughter was distressed or pain - with the consequence that they would have arranged for tests to be conducted.

If the hospital admits that there was a delay in starting antibiotic treatment - and earlier treatment would have avoided the brain damage - then you could have a case for claiming failure to recognise meningitis compensation. A medical negligence solicitor would be able to assess your case, and would access your daughter´s medical records to determine with the assistance of a specialist medical professional whether the failure to diagnose meningitis was due to inattentiveness of doctors, medical procedure errors or negligence in their duty of care.

Expert doctors would be consulted and presented with the symptoms and circumstances during those 48 hours, and would decide whether the failure to recognise meningitis was acceptable given the nature of the symptoms. They will also present evidence as to whether any competent doctor should have spotted the signs earlier and started treatment. As with all failed diagnoses, there could be a number of mitigating factors which would make such a diagnosis unreasonable to expect.

Without a thorough investigation of your case, it is not possible to determine whether the failure to recognise meningitis can be classed as negligence of the hospital or doctors. Should it be proven that on the balance of probabilities that the failure to recognise meningitis was due to negligence, and that the negligence caused the injuries, you will be eligible to claim medical negligence compensation.