More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A dad left disabled after medics failed to spot his fractured hip has been awarded £80,000 in compensation.
Robbie Barber's left leg was in agony after the former labourer fell 15ft from the roof of a shed.
But A&E staff at the QEQM Hospital in Margate ignored his complaints and did not perform an X-ray.
The now-42-year-old, from Ramsgate, had suffered an immediate hip fracture through the accident in March 2017, yet doctors did not diagnose his injury until the final day of June three months later.
The delayed diagnosis left him in severe discomfort and has dealt lasting damage.
He is now registered as disabled and struggles to walk 100 yards into the town centre. He has also been left with the increased risk of developing osteoarthritis in the future.
At the time of his accident, he was rushed to A&E via ambulance and X-rays of his heel and wrist were carried out - yet his painful hip was neglected.
“I was raging because I was trying to tell them all along and nobody had listened to me at all," Mr Barber said.
"It just made it all the harder to take, especially as I had told them.”
Following his months of pain, Mr Barber reached out to Patient Claim Line and proceedings began to secure compensation from East Kent Hospitals Trust.
Years down the line, he has now settled at £80,000 and the trust has issued an apology for its mistakes.
It admitted to failing to perform an adequate examination and X-ray, and has accepted that because of the negligence, the fracture healed in a malunion - when the bones heal in the wrong position.
The aftermath has left Mr Barber with a maligned leg which is two inches shorter and significant reduction in his range of movement.
'We would like to offer our sincere apologies to Mr Barber and apologise that the care provided to him fell short of the high standards we aim to provide...'
This week, Siobhan Jordan, interim chief nurse at East Kent Hospitals, said: “We would like to offer our sincere apologies to Mr Barber and apologise that the care provided to him fell short of the high standards we aim to provide.
"Whenever circumstances such as these give rise to concerns we always conduct a thorough investigation to understand what lessons can be learned, even from very rare events, to ensure that we continue to provide services that offer safe care, support and treatment to our patients.”
Prior to the fall, Mr Barber worked as both a labourer and barman and was going to start practising massage therapy - yet that hope has now been scuppered.
“I used to go out a lot more and my son Leo said to me the other day, 'you’re not the same person you were four or five years ago'," he said.
“Before all this I had a broad spectrum of friends and I carried a real social outlook. I went to a fit club and had friends there, along with plenty of other places.
“Then when what happened, happened, I couldn’t go to these things. I’d describe it as quite a lonely period.”
The dad-of-one is soon set to leave Thanet and move to a ground floor flat in order to prevent the need to use stairs.
“As for the future, I’m looking forward to everything getting back to normal," he said.
