O'Connor v The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

O'Connor v The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

The trial judge was entitled, on the balance of probabilities and the totality of the evidence, to find that the claimant’s femoral nerve injury was caused by negligent surgical trauma during dissection, and to reject alternative explanations such as anaesthetic injury; the refusal to allow additional expert evidence was a proper exercise of case management discretion.

Parties
Claimant/respondent: Tracey O'Connor; Defendant/appellant: The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
03 December 2015
Procedural Posture
Civil Appeal (medical Negligence) / Appeal From Trial Judgment on Liability
Outcome
Appeal dismissed
Legal Topics
Clinical Negligence, Causation, Expert Evidence, Res Ipsa Loquitur, Appellate Review
Medical Negligence Tort Law Clinical Negligence Causation Expert Evidence Res Ipsa Loquitur Appellate Review

Case Brief

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Parties

Tracey O'Connor

Claimant/respondent

The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

Defendant/appellant

Procedural Posture

Civil Appeal (medical Negligence) / Appeal From Trial Judgment on Liability

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the trial judge erred in refusing to allow additional expert evidence
  2. 2 Whether the trial judge erred in finding that the surgeon negligently injured the claimant’s femoral nerve during dissection

Ratio Decidendi

The trial judge was entitled, on the balance of probabilities and the totality of the evidence, to find that the claimant’s femoral nerve injury was caused by negligent surgical trauma during dissection, and to reject alternative explanations such as anaesthetic injury; the refusal to allow additional expert evidence was a proper exercise of case management discretion.

Court Disposition

Appeal dismissed

Orders

  • Judgment for the claimant/respondent is upheld
  • No order as to quantum, as not appealed