A 65-year-old diabetic man turned to his union, Unite, for legal support when a delayed diagnosis, after he developed a severe infection, left him with a long-term disability.
Adrian Reemer, from Rainham in East London, was referred for an overnight hospital stay after suffering from a foot ulcer when he was initially referred for an overnight hospital stay and was sent home with oral antibiotics. After attending a clinic the week after, no follow-up appointments were arranged - but the issue continued to persist.
Mr Reemer suffered deliriousness and even had trouble standing, but despite raising this with his GP, he was not offered further treatment.
Eventually, with the antibiotics having no impact and the infection getting worse, he was referred to Kings College Hospital in London by his podiatrist. The infection had, by then, become so severe that he had a tennis ball-sized hole in his foot, which he says that medical staff at the hospital described as if his bones were “breaking apart and falling out like matchsticks”.
Mr Reemer was kept as an inpatient, put on intravenous antibiotics for two weeks, and whilst he has made progress since his discharge, the impact of the medical negligence has had a long-lasting impact on the life of the father-of-two.
Mr Reemer said: “I was terrified at the prospect of losing my foot. I kept raising concerns that the oral antibiotics weren’t doing enough but no one would listen to me. If my podiatrist had not referred me, I could have lost my foot.
“I find myself actively avoiding anything that might cause pain in my foot. I have always enjoyed being active, for example taking our dog out for long walks, but that is no longer possible.”
He turned to Unite the union and Thompsons Solicitors for support in making a legal claim. The legal specialists argued – with evidence from medical experts - that had the ulcer been treated appropriately when it was first spotted, it would have healed within eight weeks. Instead, it was left to spread to the point that he required more invasive treatment, which has only been partially successful.
He continued: “I’m really pleased that my Unite the union membership allowed me to get the support I needed from Thompsons Solicitors. Everything went smoothly throughout the claim and I was pleased to get this settlement and start to move on with my life.”
Michael Danby of Thompsons Solicitors’ London office, added: “This is a clear example of the serious consequences of clinical negligence. If Adrian’s concerns had been listened to from the offset, then the health complications that developed could have been avoided.
“The clinical failures have changed our client’s life forever. We are just proud that as Adrian came to us through his union, he not only accessed our specialist advice, but got 100% of his compensation without any deduction, something that no non-union law firm can offer.”