Failures in Psychiatric Care: Securing Justice for Victor
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Nicholas Leahy
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Nicholas Leahy, a Senior Associate in the medical negligence team at Osbornes Law was instructed in March 2021 by Victor to bring a claim against Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust.
The background
Victor, first presented to the Emergency Department at Barnet Hospital on 2nd January 2021, following a seizure at work earlier that day. He was seen, before being sent home with diazepam. Later that day Victor was seen on the street appearing very confused. He was taken back to the Emergency Department at Barnet Hospital by the police. On that occasion, Victor disclosed that he was feeling depressed, that he had been having suicidal thoughts and that he did not feel safe to return home. Victor was then referred to the Psychiatry Liaison Team.
When the liaison team arrived to assess Victor, he was not there. A search was undertaken and Victor was found unresponsive in the toilets, having attempted suicide. He received immediate medical treatment and the Psychiatric Liaison Nurses advised that he be nursed on a 1:1 basis for his own protection.
Following a Mental Health Act Assessment, arrangements were made to transfer Victor to St Ann’s Hospital as a voluntary patient.
Upon arrival to St Ann’s Hospital on 4 January 2021, he was assessed by the duty doctor who advised that he remain on 1:1 observation that evening. Unfortunately, later that evening Victor was able to leave his room unobserved. He was found unresponsive in the bathroom with a ballpoint pen in his right ear and a swollen right eye.
Victor’s injury left him permanently blind in his right eye. Medical assessment confirmed a non-functioning right eye (with no perception of light) secondary to trauma. His left eye was unaffected. He remained at St Ann’s for two months, before being discharged. He later returned to a hospital in Spain with the agreement of his family.
Claim for medical negligence
The Trust had produced their own Serious Untoward Incident Report into Victor’s care, which identified a number of failures of care. Expert evidence was obtained from a Consultant Ophthalmologist, and a Letter of Claim was then directed to the Defendant Trust.
The Trust responded, admitting that the care provided to Victor on 4 January 2021 was negligent, and that this had caused the loss of vision in his right eye.
This case was complicated by Victor’s complaints of reduced/lost visual acuity in his left eye, which significantly impacted his ability to work and to perform day-to-day activities. Expert evidence was obtained from a Consultant Ophthalmologist which showed no clinical injury to his left eye. Additional expert evidence was then obtained from a Consultant Psychiatrist. The expert’s opinion was that the vision loss in Victor’s left eye was caused by Dissociative Neurological Symptom disorder, a treatable psychiatric illness. The Defendant denied that that the reports of vision loss in Victor’s left eye were as a result of their negligence.
Victor was then seen by each of the parties’ experts (Psychiatric, Care/OT and Ophthalmology) to allow each party to accurately understand his condition and to quantify his current and future medical and care needs. At a Joint Settlement Meeting in October 2025, the claim successfully settled for £150,000.
Nick Leahy, Senior Associate in our Medical Negligence Department commented:
“I am pleased that more than four years after the catastrophic injury which my client sustained and which could have been prevented, we have been able to secure a settlement for him which will enable him to move on with his life. This case involved very complex expert medical evidence and underlines the importance of securing expert legal advice at an early stage in order to ensure that the interests of injured people are properly represented. I am very pleased that we were able to resolve matters through ADR and without the need to resort to court proceedings”.
How can we help?
Osbornes’ Medical Negligence team brings extensive experience in handling complex claims involving both physical and psychiatric injuries. By combining thorough knowledge of the law with access to leading medical experts, Osbornes is able to secure timely, effective resolutions for clients while holding healthcare providers accountable for failures in care. If you need legal advice, please contact our Medical Negligence team, by:
- completing our online enquiry form;
- or calling us on 020 7485 8811
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Osbornes Law offers experience in obstetric and fatal claims as well as niche cauda equina cases.
The team has particular expertise in cases stemming from delays in diagnosis as well as surgical injury and wrongful birth claims.
Osbornes Law is an established firm which handles a breadth of complex and high-value clinical negligence matters.
They are a very tight team. They're very friendly, helpful and obtain excellent results for clients.
A quality firm of solicitors with excellence at all levels of the team.
They know the law inside out and proactively work with counsel to drive cases forward. They are a go-to for complex claims.
Osbornes handles a wide range of high-value and complex clinical negligence cases, with particular expertise in birth injury, delayed cancer diagnosis, spinal injury, and fatal claims.
I am always happy to get instructions from Osbornes. They have excellent quality work, the team knows exactly what they are doing and are a real pleasure to work with. Excellent legal knowledge.
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Osbornes are always professional and diligent in respect of their clients.
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Small but very effective and experienced team so every client benefits from the personal touch but also highly skilled litigation know-how. Capability of the team means they can handle all aspects of very complex cases as well as straightforward matters.
Osbornes has a skilled team of solicitors advising clients on a wide range of clinical negligence matters.
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A joy to work with and always 100% client focused at all times.
The clinical negligence team at Osbornes is much lauded for its ability to ‘represent the diverse range of London-based clients
Stephanie has developed a particularly strong reputation for her handling of birth injury claims, as well as cases concerning surgical negligence and delays in surgery.
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"Stephanie Prior takes on complex cases and gets excellent results. She has a background in medicine which serves her clients well and is a realistic but tough litigator."
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Osbornes provides a very intimate and personal client service which is increasingly rare in this sector.
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