A TEACHER who became paralysed from the chest down has launched a legal battle for compensation of more than £500,000.

Doctors at Swindon's Great Western Hospital failed to spot that she was suffering from an abscess in her neck, it is claimed.

Now Maureen Greenwood, 56, of Roman Way, Lechlade, is confined to a wheelchair.

She says that Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, was negligent and is demanding damages of more than £500,000.

She claims that hospital staff ignored a letter from her GP describing her sudden extreme pain and sent her home when she needed emergency surgery.

If doctors had operated on her neck sooner, she would have made a complete recovery, it is claimed in a High Court writ.

She developed sudden neck and shoulder pain on May 3, 2005, and could not go to work, the writ says. Her GP, Dr Ian Thompson, visited her and prescribed painkillers, which did not work.

A second GP, Dr Veronica Sawicki, dialled 999 for an ambulance, gave her morphine, and telephoned the casualty sister on duty to speak of her concerns that Mrs Greenwood might have a serious problem involving her spinal cord. Dr Sawicki also wrote a letter for the hospital, which she gave to the ambulance crew, the writ says.

Mrs Greenwood was put in a side ward for an hour before she was given Voltarol, after pleas from her husband and daughter Caroline, the writ claims.

Almost two hours after arrival, Mrs Greenwood was seen by a doctor, who thought she had a soft tissue injury although she had no history of trauma or fall.

The doctor sent her home, telling her to rest, and said she had cellulitis following a soft tissue injury, the writ says. But Mrs Greenwood's pain did not lessen, and on May 9 she collapsed, after losing the use of her legs.

She was taken to hospital, but left overnight without treatment.

The next day she was rushed as an emergency to the John Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, where she needed spinal surgery followed by two more operations.

Now she is accusing the trust of negligence, and says staff failed to appreciate her condition was serious and needed emergency surgery.

If she had been properly examined and treated on May 5 and May 9, tests would have shown that she needed neurosurgery, the writ says.

Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust communications manager Chris Birdsall said: "The trust has received a notice of a claim.

"As with all these cases, due to the rules of confidentiality we are unable to discuss any details on this matter."

8:04pm Thursday 15th May 2008

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