Compensation following delayed treatment of caesarean wound infection

Miss K underwent an emergency caesarean section and was discharged home from hospital the next day.

In the following week Miss K was seen at home by the community midwives. A swab was taken of her baby’s cord stump, however Miss K was not notified of the results, which in fact confirmed an infection and no antibiotics were given.

During the visits with the midwives, Miss K raised concerns that her caesarean section wound was showing signs of infection including inflammation, redness and discharge. Miss K was told to see her GP who prescribed a 5-day course of antibiotics.

About one week later, despite noting that the wound was still red, the community midwives decided to discharge with no further follow up care.

Miss K subsequently visited her GP again due to her ongoing concerns and was prescribed additional antibiotics.

However, a few weeks later the wound still had not healed and the GP took a wound swab which confirmed an infection. This infection was resistant to the antibiotics that had been provided previously, and so were switched to culture sensitive antibiotics to properly treat the infection.

Using extensive medical evidence, Elia was able to argue that there was a failure to diagnose the infection in a timely manner. Had a wound swab been taken at an earlier stage, Miss K would have likely avoided unnecessary antibiotic treatment, worsening infection, prolonged recovery period as well as longer-term implications which included additional scar tissue and ongoing discomfort.