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Picture of Leanne McRobb

Leanne Couzens

Clinical Negligence Solicitor in Newcastle

Leanne Couzens is a clinical negligence solicitor based in Thompsons' Newcastle office. She has previously handled other types of personal injury compensation claims but now specialises in medical negligence claims.  The Newcastle medical negligence team are ranked in the Legal 500. They comment ‘Impressive national firm Thompsons has a track record of landmark cases’.

Leanne has experience of dealing with a variety of clinical negligence cases such as delay in diagnosis of various cancers, misdiagnosis of fractures, prescription errors and surgical errors.

Medical Negligence cases often involve very complex circumstances and serious injuries therefore it is important to instruct a solicitor with an in depth knowledge of medical practices and procedures. They also need to understand how sub-standard medical treatment caused their client’s injuries and whether the injuries could have been avoided with the appropriate standard of care.

Leanne is a committee member for Headway Durham and Chester-le-Street, a regional charity located in the North East that operates as part of the Brain Injury Association. She is also involved in fundraising for local regional charities including the Percy Hedley Foundation, a regional cerebral palsy charity and The Children’s Foundation, a charity that works to improve the health and well-being of young people in the North East.

Successful Clinical Negligence Claims

Below, you will find just a small selection of some of the clinical negligence claims that Leanne has dealt with in the Newcastle office.

Surgical Error resulted in fatality

In this case Leanne acted for the family of a man who sadly died after a surgical error was made during a routine operation. The patient had been taken into hospital to have keyhole surgery carried out to remove his gall bladder, but the surgeon did not realise that the patient's bowel had been punctured in two places, caused by negligent stitching of the bowel to the keyhole entry site.

Following the operation, the patient suffered from bouts of fever and infection and was taken back into theatre where the damage to the bowel was discovered. Remedial surgery was carried out, however, the patient sadly died a few days later.

Liability for the patient's death was denied by the hospital and Leanne had to obtain expert medical evidence to prove that the substandard medical treatment had caused the patient's death. After issuing court proceedings she was able to recover compensation for the family.

Prescription Error

Leanne's client in this case was a 48 year old woman with an intact uterus and history of fibroids who presented symptoms of the menopause and was prescribed hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which included oestrogen and progesterone. At a later review, her HRT medication was changed to an oestrogen only preparation.

She then underwent periodic review of her medication, but it was never noted that she was taking an oestrogen only preparation. She started to experience heavy vaginal bleeding and reported this to her GP, but no action was taken.

During a review with a different GP she reported her symptoms of heavy bleeding again. An examination was carried out and she was told to stop taking her HRT immediately, she was also referred for an urgent gynaecological opinion.

After undergoing investigations at hospital, our client was diagnosed with complex hyperplasia and an endometrial cancer could not be excluded. Her unopposed oestrogen only prescription had increased her risk of developing endometrial cancer. She therefore underwent a total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and went on to make a full recovery. She is no longer at risk of developing endometrial cancer and there is no increased risk of her developing any other cancer in the future.

Leanne obtained supportive expert evidence and submitted a letter of claim to the four GP’s who were involved in our client’s care. They admitted that they had provided care falling below a reasonable standard and did not dispute liability. Leanne recovered 16,000 compensation for her client.

Surgical Equipment left inside patient

In this case Leanne's client, Mr Bould, went into hospital to undergo hip resurfacing surgery. The aim of the procedure was to relieve the constant pain and suffering that he had developed due to a deterioration in his hip bone. The surgery was carried out under a local anaesthetic with the use of an epidural.

The day after the surgery, Mr Bould was told that a guide pin had been left inside his hip by mistake and he required another operation to remove it.

The second operation had to be done under a general anaesthetic and the original surgical incision line had to be extended. He subsequently experienced severe pain at the site of the extended scar.

Liability was admitted by the hospital and Leanne recovered 4,000 compensation for Mr Bould. The hospital also implemented changes in their internal procedures to prevent similar accidents from happening again.

Clinical Negligence Compensation Claim Advice

If you or anyone you know has suffered from any form of clinical negligence, telephone us now for accurate claim advice.

There are strict time limits in place to make any personal injury claim. For further information, contact us or visit our Questions Answered page.

Thompsons Solicitors are experts in all matters relating to clinical negligence and will be able to advise you as to whether or not you have a valid claim for compensation. Our specialist clinical negligence solicitors and lawyers will be happy to talk you through the process of making a claim in plain English and will be happy to answer any questions or queries you may have.

Telephone us now on 08000 224 224 or complete one of our online personal injury compensation claim forms.