I took on the NHS big wigs .... and won!

[ShelleyHarris1981]

Hi all,

For those who ever read my first post about how a senior midwife had overdosed me with 100units of insulin as opposed to 10 this is just a little follow up.

when it happened I was a Legal Secretary and my then firm advised me to sue the Trust for loss of earnings and distress.

I was 20 weeks pregnant when it happened and I was signed off work straight away as basically I was a nervous wreck after it happened.

by the time I was ready to think about it, I had been made redundant as the firm no longer existed.

So I telephoned a few places to see if they would help me with my claim.

They all said was a small claim so couldn't really help.

Then a Solicitor from a local Firm advised me to bring the claim myself as I was articulate enough to do so and he didn't think I would get anymore than £300 - £500. Of which half would go to him.

So for last 6 months I have been communicating with the NHS Trust big lawyers, fighting my own corner, doing all my own research about how they let me down and what codes were broken etc etc.

last week they wrote to me and offered to settle for £1,000.

yes, to most people its not a massive amount, but to me, its fantastic.

this was never about big money, it was about them realising how badly their medical error had affected me.

I just wanted to share as I feel so proud of what I achieved when lawyers told me I didn't stand a chance of getting anything.

I feel like Erin Brocko whats-her-name lol!!!

And hopefully because of the changes the Trust made after what happened to me, no other mum to be will ever find herself in HDU because midwives dont know how to do basic things like draw insulin into a vial.

Shelley x

 

[Squire Fulwood]

ridge

 

[Dillinger]

Well done!

Taking the NHS to task when it lets us down is not anti-NHS it is in fact the only way you can make things improve. We are not in a situation of 'My NHS Right or Wrong.' If we don't go after them for stupid mistakes they make then we allow them to behave like they did in Mid Staffs.

So, congratulations to you.

Best

Dillinger

 

[ShelleyHarris1981]

thank you.

for diabetic mums now who are admitted into hospital straight away the diabetic ward is informed and advice given to the team treating the mum to be on what needs to happen with her.

there were so many errors that led to my overdose, major ones that could have cost me alot.

i felt like i was on a mission so future mums weren't in HDU like i was hooked up to machines, with fears of losing the baby we so desperately wanted after losing 2 prior.

i lost more money in wages than the £1,000 awarded BUT it will go towards a holiday for my little family, and a special treat for my 5 year old daughter who still panics when she knows I have a hospital appointment in case 'mommy gets poorly again'

I was 15 minutes away from going into a coma, and to think I thanked the Senior Nurse after she taught me my first injection, 10 minutes later I was in HDU slipping into unconsciousness whilst they were trying to force feed me chocolates and sandwiches galore.

i wont ever forget the fear I felt, but I will make sure I make some good memories with what I have been awarded.

 

[noblehead]

I don't think the money matters Shelley it's the fact that they admitted they were negligent which is important, it must have all been quite an ordeal for you and I do jope it hasn't left too many scars.

 

[ShelleyHarris1981]

that was it exactly - even when I had the report it was like o well she was admitted on a weekend the ward was busy - the fact they didn't know how to draw or administer insulin was a sideline thought to them, i didn't want excuses i wanted a sorry.

finally after a year and a half i feel i have got this now.

i still have the odd bad dream about it and for a while i went through of a phase of not wanting to inject but i feel i can turn a positive corner now

 

[iHs]

Shelly

Was the mistake made by using bolus insulin instead of twice daily stuff? Seems a bit of a drastic mistake made as there's a big difference between 10u and 100u. Were you using twice daily insulins when you were admitted?

 

[ShelleyHarris1981]

Hi, no let me explain, on the Thursday i was diagnosed as having GD (at that point), Friday i had a meeting with diabetic midwife, my keytones were high, she warned me if they rose over weekend i would be admitted.

On the Saturday I was indeed admitted and I was started on a sliding scale.

Some tests were run and on the Sunday morning the Consultant came to see me to explain he believed I was actually Type 1 and I would be taken off sliding scale and I would that afternoon at the same time be taught how to inject - and we would start with 10units with my lunch and then monitor me to see what happened BG wise.

So at 1pm two Senior Nurses attended on me, and taught me (although it was later admitted neither knew where to inject / what 10u were and had no real knowledge of how to treat a diabetic mum to be, had simply agreed to do it, as someone had too).

within a few minutes of them going the alarms were ringing on ward, I was being told to get on the bed and I was off to HDU where I was greeted by nurses and Doctors and they began to reverse the overdose.

The Snr Nurse realised as soon as she got back into the nurses area they hadn't understood notes and instead of 10u they had drawn 100u.

I spent all day and night monitored every 15 mins. My fingers were red raw from testing, I had vomit all over my clothes but no one changed me as I was hooked up to drips.

The following day was my 20 week scan and I attended this still stinking of vomit and weak and upset over what had happened.

its the main reason we decided not to have further children as I couldn't cope with maybe having to go back in again!!

hope that explains it a bit better

 

[Ali H]

What a terrible time you had, 100 units, wowie. They were very lucky you weren't even more poorly from that sort of dose. Poor you. I am glad that you won and hope you enjoy your holiday.

Ali

 

[ShelleyHarris1981]

What a terrible time you had, 100 units, wowie. They were very lucky you weren't even more poorly from that sort of dose. Poor you. I am glad that you won and hope you enjoy your holiday.

[/]
Thank you. x

 

[petsnponies]

Hiya,

Well done on winning your case and most importantly raising awareness. What they did was completely negligent and Im glad that they have acknowledged it.

I myself recently had a birth debriefing (2 years after the event as it took me so long to feel strong enough to pull them up on their mistakes). During my labour I was put on the sliding scale and kept at a steady 2.5 for 12 hours! By the time it came to push my baby out (I had a horrible shoulder dystocia birth) I was passing in and out of consciousness.

It felt good to let them know all the things that upset me and to know that they would review their practices and hopefully review how they deal with sliding scales.

 

[shellysexbomb]

Amazing! Well done to you for having the courage to fight for acknowledgement........inspirational

 

[Scandichic]

Hi, no let me explain, on the Thursday i was diagnosed as having GD (at that point), Friday i had a meeting with diabetic midwife, my keytones were high, she warned me if they rose over weekend i would be admitted.

On the Saturday I was indeed admitted and I was started on a sliding scale.

Some tests were run and on the Sunday morning the Consultant came to see me to explain he believed I was actually Type 1 and I would be taken off sliding scale and I would that afternoon at the same time be taught how to inject - and we would start with 10units with my lunch and then monitor me to see what happened BG wise.

So at 1pm two Senior Nurses attended on me, and taught me (although it was later admitted neither knew where to inject / what 10u were and had no real knowledge of how to treat a diabetic mum to be, had simply agreed to do it, as someone had too).

within a few minutes of them going the alarms were ringing on ward, I was being told to get on the bed and I was off to HDU where I was greeted by nurses and Doctors and they began to reverse the overdose.

The Snr Nurse realised as soon as she got back into the nurses area they hadn't understood notes and instead of 10u they had drawn 100u.

I spent all day and night monitored every 15 mins. My fingers were red raw from testing, I had vomit all over my clothes but no one changed me as I was hooked up to drips.

The following day was my 20 week scan and I attended this still stinking of vomit and weak and upset over what had happened.

its the main reason we decided not to have further children as I couldn't cope with maybe having to go back in again!!

hope that explains it a bit better

Please don't let this put you off having anymore children! It was horrific but you pulled through! My first daughter was premi - 29 weeks and I was so ill that I was taken straight to intensive care and no one knew whether I was going to make it for 3 days but i did. We had another one 2 and a bit years later and although I had preeclampsia she was born at 37 weeks. Best decision we made! Unless prior to this experience you only wanted one anyway! Just saying, don't let it put you off if you want more! Glad you're ok and you won! Take care x

 

[izzzi]

Well done Shelley,
What a remarkable thing you have done.

 

[ShelleyHarris1981]

Hiya,

Well done on winning your case and most importantly raising awareness. What they did was completely negligent and Im glad that they have acknowledged it.

I myself recently had a birth debriefing (2 years after the event as it took me so long to feel strong enough to pull them up on their mistakes). During my labour I was put on the sliding scale and kept at a steady 2.5 for 12 hours! By the time it came to push my baby out (I had a horrible shoulder dystocia birth) I was passing in and out of consciousness.

It felt good to let them know all the things that upset me and to know that they would review their practices and hopefully review how they deal with sliding scales.

well done on going to them though, no matter when, and putting your point across. It sounded horrific xx

 

[ShelleyHarris1981]

Please don't let this put you off having anymore children! It was horrific but you pulled through! My first daughter was premi - 29 weeks and I was so ill that I was taken straight to intensive care and no one knew whether I was going to make it for 3 days but i did. We had another one 2 and a bit years later and although I had preeclampsia she was born at 37 weeks. Best decision we made! Unless prior to this experience you only wanted one anyway! Just saying, don't let it put you off if you want more! Glad you're ok and you won! Take care x

Hi, no we have a little girl Autumn who is 5.

before George we had two pretty horrific m/c's so we just decided to see this as a sign our family was complete xx

 

[ShelleyHarris1981]

Well done Shelley,
What a remarkable thing you have done.

Izzzi, thank you so much xx

 

[ShelleyHarris1981]

Amazing! Well done to you for having the courage to fight for acknowledgement........inspirational

wow, thank you so much, that's a lovely thing to say xx

 

[tomvonc]

Wow 100u, You are very lucky. I'm very suprised as 100u is a massive dose, and certainly unusual, that the midwife didn't double check.
Well done anyway!

 

[ShelleyHarris1981]

Wow 100u, You are very lucky. I'm very suprised as 100u is a massive dose, and certainly unusual, that the midwife didn't double check.
Well done anyway!

yes, I know, that's why I did what I did. i know how lucky I was, and only because she realised, and admitted, her mistake immediately. As youwill see from my post the point was the Snr Nurse didn't know how big a dose she was even giving. From speaking to my friend who is a Nurse I was told I was 15 mns max away from going into a coma.

that's why straight away I never let it lay, at every stage of the enquiry I was there, even when late on in my pregnancy, fighting for changes for diabetic mums being admitted into Hospital.

I may have been one little voice but no way did I want anyone going through this again if I could help it!