Uckfield man to sue NHS Trust after his wife suffered severe brain damage

He claims his wife suffered severe brain damage because of delays in diagnosis and treatment.

Janice Millward, 69, now needs help with the daily activities of life, and has severe cognitive and communications problems.

Although she is able to walk, she is unsteady on her feet, doubly incontinent, and sometimes has behavioural disturbances with occasional aggression, according to a writ issued in London’s High Court and just made publicly available.

Now through her husband, Brian, Mrs Millward, of Nursery Lane, Nutley, is claiming damages from University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust for clinical negligence.

She was seriously unwell on March 28 2018 when she was admitted to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, suffering from viral encephalitis which was misdiagnosed as cerebral stroke, the writ says.

When she was first assessed at the Brighton hospital, the diagnosis included infection, and if this had been investigated properly, she would have been correctly diagnosed and treated by March 29, it is alleged.

Instead it is claimed there was a negligent delay in investigating, diagnosing and treating her condition until April 3, and she was not given the drug, Acyclovir, until April 4. The writ says the delay allowed the infection to progress and cause more damage to her brain.

The trust has admitted partial liability, but argues that she would not have made a full recovery in any event. Now the case is heading for a court hearing.

The writ says that Mrs Millward was confused on March 28, struggled to park her car outside shops, and failed to recognize her daughter Joanne, who took her to the doctor’s, and then to the accident and emergency department at the Princess Royal Hospital in Hayward’s Heath.

She was transferred to the Royal Sussex County Hospital for investigation, where she was confused with disturbed speech, and later showed odd behaviour and eating tissues. She was unable to recognize her husband from across the room, and to take her shirt off.

Staff thought she could have a urinary tract infection, as well as a stroke, and she developed a pressure sore on her right foot, the writ says.

She became more and more drowsy, and on April 3 underwent an emergency CT head scan before being treated in intensive care, where she was put on a ventilator. Scans that evening were highly suggestive of encephalitis, but she was not treated with intravenous Acyclovir until the following evening on April 4, the writ claims.

She spent another seven weeks in intensive care, needed a tracheostomy, and was transferred to the Sussex Rehabilitation Unit in the Princess Royal Hospital on May 23, and then to the Raphael Hospital in Kent for more rehabilitation, where she needed a helper for all activities of daily life, the court will hear.

Mrs Millward was discharged to Hurstwood View Care Home in Uckfield in November 2019.

Her husband blames the trust’s alleged negligence for her brain injury, saying doctors treating her failed to consider or include an infection, failed to arrange MRI brain scans, or other tests, failed to review her condition, and after diagnosing her condition, negligently delayed in treating it.

Her claim for damages will include the cost of nursing care and assistance, case management, medical expenses, therapies, accommodation, household expenses, aids and appliances, travel and transport costs, and holiday costs.