A woman who spent six days in intensive care after her GP failed to notice she had deep vein thrombosis (DVT) has been awarded a five-figure compensation fee.
Suzanne Badhams, 34, from Walsall, was admitted to Sandwell Hospital with a life-threatening pulmonary embolism in October 2006. Her solicitor said she had complained to Dr Alakshendra Kushwaha, a GP at Broadway Medical Centre in the town, about leg pains and raised the subject of DVT two weeks earlier only to be sent home with a bandage and some painkillers.
Ms Badhams, a former staff trainer with the NHS, said: “I know I’m lucky to be alive, but my life shouldn’t have been threatened in the first place. My whole life has been changed by this horrific experience.”
The doctor admitted liability for failures in Ms Badhams’s care and paid an undisclosed sum in compensation.
A spokesman for Walsall NHS Trust said: “Dr Kushwaha has also undertaken personal study into the diagnosis of DVT in order to prevent such an incident happening again.”
Copyright © Press Association 2010
