Hospital payout after Covid-19 patient suffered stroke

A hospital trust has agreed a six-figure settlement with a woman who suffered a stroke after a catheter was mistakenly inserted into an artery instead of a vein while she was being treated for Covid-19.

The woman, who was 32 at the time, had been admitted to Whiston Hospital on Merseyside suffering from breathing problems.

The woman said the incident had significantly affected her independence and quality of life and had left her with impaired vision and weakness.

A Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust representative said the trust was "sincerely sorry" over the mistake, which happened in February 2021.

An investigation by the trust found a central venous line had been incorrectly placed in an artery rather than the jugular vein.

This meant noradrenaline, an emergency medication used to treat dangerously low blood pressure, had been delivered directly to blood vessels supplying the brain instead of the major vessels leading to the heart.

The mistake went undetected for four days before scans revealed multiple areas of reduced blood supply in the left side of the woman's brain.

The mother-of-one spent more than two months on an acute stroke ward before being transferred to a specialist rehabilitation unit.

The woman, now 37, said she continued to suffer lasting effects, including impaired vision, weakness in her right leg, memory problems and difficulties with concentration and multitasking.

The case was resolved through an out-of-court settlement.

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: "We are sincerely sorry for what this patient and her family have experienced and for the distress this has caused.

"The Trust fully investigated the incident at the time, and the learning identified has since been taken forward to further strengthen clinical practice."

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