Case studies

Post-mortem consent
Post-mortem consent

14 March 2017

A consultant in elderly care medicine contacted the MDU advice line.

Retaining records after retirement
Retaining records after retirement

14 March 2017

A consultant surgeon called the MDU advice line. She intended to retire in several months.

Ruptured Achilles tendon
Ruptured Achilles tendon

14 March 2017

A patient developed a pre-Achilles tendon bursitis and was referred for a steroid injection.

guide to raising concerns
Case study - dating a patient

9 February 2017

Your friend, who is also a doctor in the same unit, has posted Facebook photos of a drunken date with a very pretty girl. You recognise the girl as an 18 year old patient who was under the care of your friend several weeks ago.

Allegation of injury
Allegation of non-accidental injury

17 February 2016

A consultant paediatrician had been asked to provide a report regarding a five-year old child he had seen on the ward.

Tragic case
A tragic but defensible case

17 February 2016

A mother brought her 18-month old son to see their GP. The child had a history of congenital heart defect.

Avascular Necrosis
Avascular necrosis

17 February 2016

The MDU successfully defended at trial a claim against a consultant orthopaedic surgeon in respect of alleged failure to diagnose avascular necrosis.

Conflicting accounts
Conflicting accounts

17 February 2016

A patient claimed her GP should have diagnosed unstable angina. She suffered an ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction nine days after her GP consultation.

Drop hands
'Drop hands' offer

17 February 2016

An obese patient with a BMI of 44.7 was referred for a bariatric procedure to a consultant vascular surgeon with an interest in bariatric and laparoscopic surgery.

Duty of care breach
Duty of care breach refuted

17 February 2016

A GP visited an 81-year old patient who had stumbled in the street and injured his right ankle. The doctor noticed that although the patient was able to fully weight bear, there was mild pitting oedema of both ankles.