Leading north west law firm, Stephensons, has won an out of court settlement of £46,500 against the Trust responsible for Newham General Hospital for London couple Dr & Mrs Bungre following the misdiagnosis of meningitis in their 10 month old baby.
Kamran Bungre was born on 6th October 2000, and was just 10 months old when he died. He had been suffering with sickness, diarrhoea, poor appetite and a high temperature for 3-4 days. This was diagnosed by their GP as a throat infection and gastroenteritis.
Whilst on a visit to her mother, Mrs Bungre sought a second opinion from her mother’s GP. He also voiced concerns, and sent Kamran directly to Newham General Hospital, identifying his suspicion of meningitis.
An external examination only was conducted at the hospital, which concluded that Kamran was indeed suffering from gastroenteritis and was prescribed ibuprofen and dioralyte and discharged.
Mr Bungre returned to work the next day as normal, leaving Mrs Bungre and Kamran at home. During the course of the morning, Mrs Bungre noticed purple patches and bright red pin pricks on the underside of Kamran’s legs. She realised that these marks could be an indication of meningitis and telephoned her husband, who advised her to call an ambulance.
Kamran died of meningitis just 14 hours later.
The couple were devastated by the loss of their child and suffered psychologically (over and above what they would be expected to suffer due to the loss of a child) due to the failure to diagnose and treat Kamran’s illness. Subsequent complaints made to Newham General Hospital did not provide a satisfactory response and a claim was brought against the hospital in 2004.
Having fought a two year battle, the out of court settlement has just been secured [summer 2006]
Louise Griffiths, clinical negligence expert at Stephensons, said: “The claim, and the time taken for it to be settled, has been extremely distressing to the couple. Following the birth of Kamran, Mr and Mrs Bungre had considered their family to be complete, as they had two children. However, I am delighted to report that, following the death of Kamran, Mrs Bungre became pregnant with Kriya who is now a healthy three year old.”