A&E did not get the basics right - now my son's life is ruined at 32 — SkimNews
Get the Health newsletter
Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.
- Oli Coppock, 32, went to Warrington Hospital A&E in May 2024 with headaches and dizziness following brain tumour treatment, was sent home without a brain scan, and suffered a cardiac arrest a week later from fluid on the brain — he now lives in almost complete paralysis, communicating only by blinking.
- North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust has accepted a breach of duty for not ordering a CT brain scan that "on the balance of probabilities" would have identified the fluid and led to surgery, and an interim damages payment has now been agreed.
- BBC analysis of NHS Resolution data shows A&E clinical negligence claims in England rose 41% over five years — from 1,151 in 2020-21 to 1,623 in 2025-26 — with claim values exceeding £550 million last year, making A&E the single biggest area for clinical negligence claims by number.
- Royal College of Emergency Medicine's Dr Adrian Boyle called the figures "sobering," linking the rise to department pressures; over the last two years, one in 10 A&E patients spent more than 12 hours waiting to be treated or discharged.
- Oli's solicitor Tanzeela Aslam of Express Solicitors said the more than two-year wait for an interim payment deprived him of funds for therapies that could have improved his quality of life, and described a growing pattern of "corridor care" and misdiagnoses across A&E departments.
- NHS Resolution figures show the rise is not being repeated in other areas such as maternity or orthopaedics, with clinical negligence cases still relatively rare at roughly one in 17,000 attendances and about half of claims not resulting in damages being paid.
Why it matters: A&E is now the NHS's single biggest area for clinical negligence claims by number — 1,623 in 2025-26, up 41% in five years, valued at over £550 million. The rise, unique to A&E among NHS specialisms, coincides with one-in-10 patients waiting over 12 hours and a pattern of missed scans like the one that left Oli Coppock permanently paralyzed.
Ask SkimNews
