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 is an established firm which handles a breadth of complex and high-value clinical negligence matters.”
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Ben Posford, head of catastrophic injury, is well-known for spinal cord and cauda equina claims, including high-profile fatality work.
Josie Robinson brings 20 years of experience to the team, with specialist insight into pelvic mesh claims and maternal death cases.
Elline Demetriou supports the team on catastrophic injury cases and has a growing caseload in maternity and care home negligence.
Elline Demetriou is an up and coming associate. She is thorough and empathetic, with great client care skills.
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Josie Robinson- very experienced, caring and professional. Excellent.
Elline Demetriou is one to watch for the future. She is determined and thoughtful, with a real dedication to her clients.
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Jodi Newton is a passionate, hard-working and committed partner. She is excellent with clients, and gives absolutely 100% to all of her cases.
Nicholas Leahy - understands client needs very well, very responsive and proactive.
Jodi is very experienced and knowledgeable
It is a pleasure to work with Jodi. She has an excellent understanding of the issues and provides a good service.
Osbornes are always professional and diligent in respect of their clients.
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Across the board, they are all a pleasure to work with. They always keep a pragmatic head and all have an eye on the best outcome for the client.
Jodi Newton - very hands on, gives every case her heart and soul
Jodi Newton is rapidly becoming the go-to partner for cerebral palsy cases. She has the determination to fight for her clients and is involved in some of the biggest cases at the moment.
Nicholas Leahy is a very safe pair of hands and really compassionate with clients. I expect great things from him in future.
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.
Ben Posford typically operates in the team’s spinal cord and cauda equina syndrome litigation.
Jodi Newton holds over 20 years of experience in birth and surgical injury cases, including those pertaining to cerebral palsy, negligent treatment of sepsis, and negligent A&E treatment.
The team frequently represents claimants in complex cognitive and spinal injury disputes, involving hypertensions, spinal fractures, as well as inadequate treatment of heart and blood diseases.
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The clinical negligence team are knowledgeable and professional in their approach and demonstrate a high level of skill in litigation work.
Osbornes Law offers experience in obstetric and fatal claims as well as niche cauda equina cases.
Osbornes Law is an established firm which handles a breadth of complex and high-value clinical negligence matters.
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Ben Posford leads the catastrophic injury team and regularly represents claimants in neurological injury and fatal accident claims. He also has a niche specialism in claims involving cauda equina syndrome.
Jodi Newton acts for clients on claims arising from negligent obstetric care, sepsis and delays in diagnosis and treatment. She also advises on spinal injury claims.
"She is really wonderful in sensitively handling clients in extreme situations and is a real fighter."
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‘They are ambitious for their clients and expect high standards from all who work with them.’
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Really great clinical negligence practice, staffed by experienced practitioners who know how NHS Trusts work. They also build great rapport with clients.’
The team at Osbornes was recently strengthened by the arrival of 'experienced and empathetic' associate Jodi Newton. She joins a department noted for its expertise in delayed diagnosis and wrongful birth claims.
A stand-out solicitor with a huge track record of successful clinical negligence work. She is forensic in her attention to detail, but also sees the broad sweep of strategic considerations”.
Excellent service from Osbornes throughout on a difficult clinical negligence claim. Nicholas Leahy who handled the claim was responsive and professional throughout, while also providing pragmatic advice and clear drafting.
Working with Osbornes Law was the best decision I could have made. Nick was really attentive to my issue and did a very thorough job. He truly made the process headache free! Highly recommend them.
Nick Leahy has been my Solicitor throughout this journey and has been absolutely amazing; kind, approachable and extremely supportive... Through some dogged determination by Nick we achieved our goal without having to go to trial. I cannot thank Nick, Stephanie and all of the team at Osbornes highly enough for achieving a very favourable settlement, the outcome of which will make a huge difference to myself and my family.
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Quite simply excellent, with a highly competent and well-rounded team. They understand complex medical litigation and have been our lifesavers, and we will always owe them our immense gratitude.
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