Man who became disabled accepts settlement

A man from Birmingham left permanently in a wheelchair and in pain after spinal surgery has accepted a six-figure out-of-court settlement. Gerald Morgan, 60, was thrown from his chair by a spasm after an operation at the Royal London Hospital in 2004. He had broken his pelvis and hip - but this was not diagnosed until six months after when they were untreatable.

Barts and the London NHS Trust and Mr Morgan's GP said they were pleased they had agreed a settlement. The former lorry driver from Kings Heath spent five years in legal battles with the trust and his GP, who had failed to diagnose the fractures until it was too late.

He said: "I remain very angry at the treatment I received. I regard the settlement as clear acknowledgement of failings on the part of the hospital doctors and my GP. I hope they both learn lessons from what happened to me so that nobody else has to suffer as I have."

He said he had used the money to buy an adapted bungalow in Solihull that would make life easier for him and his wife Dawn, who is his main carer. Mr Morgan had suffered chronic pain since fracturing his arm in 1980 and underwent surgery on 11 October 2004 to help control the pain.

He had a stimulator inserted in his spine which produced a violent reaction when the surgeons first turned it on.

His lawyers Irwin Mitchell Solicitors said it was inserted in the wrong place and caused a massive contraction of his muscles, which threw him from his wheelchair with such force he fractured several bones. He was sent home without further investigations and prescribed painkillers by his GP.

In a joint statement, his former GP and Barts and the London NHS Trust said they were pleased the claim had been resolved. Following independent expert advice, they admitted in October 2009 there had been a delay in diagnosing the fractures.