Big payout likely for brain damage victim, Caren Paterson, 999 services ignored
‘High-risk’ address woman made to wait for help
Published: 8th April, 2011
by TOM FOOT
A MEDICAL researcher from Archway who suffered brain damage after waiting almost two hours for an ambulance is in line for a multi-million-pound compensation payout.
More than three years after Caren Paterson, a talented King’s College university student, collapsed and later suffered a cardiac arrest in her flat in Hargrave Road, the London Ambulance Service (LAS) have finally admitted liability.
They refused to go to 33-year-old Caren’s home until they had police back-up because the block of flats she lived in had been designated as a “high-risk address”.
While no police cars were available on that day in October 2007, there was an ambulance sitting just 100 yards away from her home. It took 102 minutes for one to arrive and take her to the Whittington Hospital. But by then her brain had been starved of oxygen.
She now lives in a brain injury clinic in Leeds and needs round-the-clock care.
The LAS have acknowledged a number of failings following an investigation and are now negotiating compensation.
Ms Paterson’s solicitor, John Davis, of the legal firm Irwin Mitchell, said he was unable to discuss what the figure may be.
“It will be a substantial sum,” he said. “She needs round-the-clock care for the rest of her life, and is expected to live a normal lifespan. She has a lot of life left to live.
“There is no criticism of the paramedics in the ambulance. In fact the report into the incident shows that they behaved in an exemplary fashion.”
In a similar case settled in 2009, Christina Malcolm was awarded £4million after medical staff in Durham failed to spot a brain haemorrhage.
In a statement, Caren’s mother Eleanor said: “The thought of an ambulance crew sitting waiting while my daughter lay in her flat as her condition went from serious to life-threatening is still shocking.
“We welcome the admission of liability as a significant step towards ensuring Caren will continue to receive the care, treatment and specialist attention she will need for the rest of her life. But nothing will return our daughter to the way we knew her.”
A confidential Serious Incident Report into the guidelines and red tape that caused the life-threatening delay, seen by the Tribune, recommended an “urgent review” of all cases on the high-risk register and that a new form for high-risk addresses be introduced.
The report added: “There should no longer be a default assumption that crews cannot enter an address that is on the high-risk register. A common sense approach should be adopted. The final decision on whether or not to enter a high-risk address without police assistance, should be left with the ambulance crew.”
Mr Davis, who is in negotiations with the LAS about negotiating a lifelong care plan for Caren, said: “It has been acknowledged that the way the high-risk address register was operated needed to be ‘radically overhauled’ – we endorse any review and improvement to this system which was clearly at the heart of the failings of the case.”
An LAS spokeswoman said: “We would like again to offer our sincere apologies to Caren Paterson and to her family. We carried out a detailed investigation into the circumstances of the incident and we have accepted liability for the shortcomings in the care that was provided.
“Ms Paterson is to bring a claim for compensation against the service and we hope that the legal representatives can now work together to find a resolution.”