Case Study: Compensation Secured After Missed Diagnosis of Testicular Torsion

Toni Bedward, Solicitor in our Medical Negligence team secured compensation for a client in a claim against Medway Community Healthcare and Medway NHS Foundation Trust as a result of a failure to diagnose and treat testicular torsion. When our client woke up one January morning in 2021 with severe abdominal and testicular pain, swelling, and nausea, he did exactly the right thing, he called 111 and followed their advice to attend hospital immediately.

Unfortunately, mistakes were made from the very start. Instead of being sent to A&E and reviewed by the urology team, he was wrongly diverted to an urgent care service. There, staff dismissed the possibility of testicular torsion which is a medical emergency and diagnosed an infection. He was sent home with antibiotics.

Over the next few weeks, his symptoms continued, and he sought further care and treatment from his GP surgery but it wasn’t until April 2021 that an ultrasound revealed that his testicle had effectively died, due to untreated torsion. Surgery to remove the necrotic testicle took place and unfortunately, the Trust failed to fix the client’s remaining testicle, meaning he was at risk of torsion happening again to his remaining testicle.

How We Helped

The client came to us for help in holding the healthcare providers to account. Our specialist medical negligence team:

• Gathered every piece of evidence – chasing missing medical notes, call recordings, and internal policies.

• Secured robust medico-legal experts – to confirm that proper triage and diagnosis would have saved our client’s testicle.

• Negotiated effectively – presenting a strong, well-evidenced case that led to settlement without the need for trial.

The Result

We achieved a £30,000 settlement for our client, alongside a formal apology from both Defendants for the failures in his care.

The Defendants admitted that our client was incorrectly triaged to the urgent care centre and they admitted that there was a failure to refer him to the urology department after he had been assessed in the urgent care centre. However, they denied that our client’s testicle would have been saved even with the correct management. This is due to relying on outdated literature which suggests that a testicle is only salvageable within 6 hours from the onset of pain. Nonetheless, we were able to negotiate the settlement which is reflective of the client losing his testicle despite the Defendant’s denial that their negligence caused our client to lose his testicle. Thankfully in this case, the expert deemed it very unlikely that the client would have a negative effect on his fertility in the future.

If you’ve experienced harm because of a delayed or incorrect diagnosis, TR’s expert medical negligence solicitors are here to help you secure answers, accountability, and fair compensation.