If you contracted necrotising fasciitis while staying in hospital and are looking for a solicitor to help you with a claim, please get in touch with us today. We specialise in necrotising fasciitis claims and can help you sue the NHS hospital in question. Contact us today for more information.
Hospital infection Bath hospital
There are many different types of hospital acquired infections. The most well-known is MRSA, a bacterial infection that is hard to treat because the organisms have become resistant to commonplace antibiotics.
A less talked about hospital acquired infection is necrotising fasciitis (or necrotizing fasciitis). The infection can also be referred to as Fournier’s Gangrene if it appears in the male genitalia.
Necrotising fasciitis in hospital
Necrotising fasciitis is not contagious in the same way that other hospital acquired infections such as C. Difficile are. However, they can be contracted in hospital if certain types of bacteria manage to get into the body via a break in the skin. Hospital patients often have a penetrative skin wound, be it a large surgical incision or a small needle prick from a cannula.
Necrotising fasciitis can also develop as a result of other infections that affect the skin, including MRSA.
Diagnosing and treating hospital infections
When a patient develops necrotising fasciitis in hospital, it should be diagnosed and treated right away. The infection is very aggressive so the patient will quickly begin to feel unwell. There will also be an intense pain at the site of infection. The skin will discolour, eventually becoming gangrenous.
Medical practitioners should be able to spot the early stages of necrotising fasciitis and provide treatment, before the infection progresses too far. Treatment must involve intravenous antibiotics and debridement surgery.
Failure to recognise hospital infection
Unfortunately we have seen many cases in which a patient has contracted necrotising fasciitis in hospital, only for the condition to remain undiagnosed and untreated by medical practitioners. Consequently the patient is discharged home and the problem is only identified once he/she has become critically ill.
This will not be deemed acceptable as clinicians should be able to identify an infection, even if it is one as rare as necrotising fasciitis. A failure to diagnose a hospital infection will amount to a substandard level of care. If this causes a patient to come to harm, there will be grounds for a claim.
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For more information on necrotising fasciitis hospital claims, please get in touch with us today.
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