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Sepsis, also known as blood poisoning, can be life threatening and is a serious illness for which treatment should be immediately sought, to avoid fatal consequences. Sepsis is brought about where the immune system ‘over reacts’ to an infection which triggers the sepsis, such as meningitis or pneumonia, and begins to damage the body’s organs by going into overdrive to fight the same off. 
 
The symptoms of sepsis can be mistaken as they often display similar to those of similar, less serious illnesses, such as the flu and chest infections. NHS advice states that sepsis can be particularly hard to spot in children, as they can have difficulty communicating. 

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This was the case for one young girl, Harper Aitken aged three, who sadly passed away due to symptoms of sepsis being mistaken for a stomach bug, by healthcare professionals. Harper began to display symptoms including a rash, temperature and sore throat. It was at this point that alarm bells started ringing for her mother, Lori. Fearing Harper may be suffering from meningitis, she took her daughter to hospital where her symptoms were dismissed as a stomach bug. Lori was told that before bringing Harper back to the hospital, if her symptoms were to persist, she should consult the advice of her GP in the first instance. The following day, despite Lori’s frantic panic as her daughter’s lips were turning blue, this advice was maintained and Harper was taken to her GP. It was a this point the urgency of Harper’s condition was recognised and she was rushed to hospital, after collapsing at the surgery. The rash, which had originally been dismissed, was now developing further with a red rash on the young girl’s back, and had now turned black on her face and arm. It was now obvious and apparent that Harper was in real danger. She was put into an induced coma whilst professionals desperately tried to save her. Sadly, two hours later, she was tragically pronounced dead. 
 
It seems that the dismissal of the rash was the crucial turning point here, however, whilst the intricacies of the matter are important, the first port of call for our medical negligence solicitors in Preston would be to address the duty of care principle, in relation to a potential claim. 
 
With such tragic and sensitive issues, as above, arising from cases of medical negligence, our solicitors in Preston understand that a claim for medical negligence may be the last thing on potential claimant’s minds. If, however, you believe you have been subject to negligence by healthcare professionals, and the same has resulted in an injury/loss to you, then our expert medical negligence solicitors should be first on your list in helping compensating you for the same. 
 
When pursuing a claim for medical negligence, our solicitors in Preston would look firstly to whether there was a duty of care owed, which has been subsequently breached, allowing basis for a civil action of medical negligence
 
The duty of care principle was established many years ago within the famous case of Donoghue & Stephenson, of 1932. In this case, Lord Aitkin concluded that this duty consists of a "general duty to take reasonable care to avoid foreseeable injury”. 
 
For our solicitors in Preston, this duty of care underpins the whole basis of pursuing a claim for medical negligence, and whether there is a viable claim to be made. When assessing a potential claim, our solicitors who deal with medical negligence look to three main concepts when assessing, on the balance of probabilities, there is a likely prospect of success: 
 
1. That there was a duty of care owed; 
2. That duty has been breached; 
3. The injury/harm suffered came as a direct result of the breach. 
 
The above is an example of how our solicitors in Preston would analyse any potential claim for medical negligence. If satisfied that a breach of duty has occurred, our medical negligence solicitors in Preston would then pursue the claim for compensation. Our solicitors in Preston seek compensation in the aim to return the injured party to the position they were in before the incident.` 
 
If, therefore, you have been a victim of a medical negligence, contact our solicitors in Preston today and our team of expert medical negligence solicitors will be on hand to assist you. Get in touch today at enquiries@mglegal.co.uk
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