CANBERRA Hospital has been forced into another major compensation case after it was revealed a five-year-old girl was badly disfigured by allegedly negligent hip surgery.
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The girl, aged 18 months at the time of the surgery, now walks with a high-stepping gait on one side, requires an artificial brace, must regularly have an electronic stimulator applied to her right foot, and will have difficulty in the future working in certain jobs and wearing high heels, according to court documents filed by her lawyer in the ACT Supreme Court.
The girl has received a large payout from the hospital for her lifelong injuries, the details of which cannot be revealed for legal reasons.
The case comes on the back of more than $4 million in compensation the hospital has paid to patients this financial year - $3.3 million of which has already been handed over and another $853,000 yet to be paid.
As revealed in a Canberra Times investigation last year, the hospital has been recently paying increasingly larger yearly bills to unhappy patients. In 2012-13 it paid out a total of $10.5 million - a sum that rounded out a 500 per cent increase across three financial years.
The girl's statement of claim lodged in court argued her future job choices would be limited.
Her lawyer filed a report in court saying that careers she would not be able to pursue included police officer or other rescue work, courier, fitness instructor, registered nurse, electrician and anything requiring prolonged walking.
The girl's sciatic nerve - the nerve that runs from the lower end of the spinal cord down the back of the thigh and divides above the knee joint - was allegedly damaged during surgery to fix a dislocated hip.
Documents allege the damage caused weakness and even palsy - a term referring to paralysis and involuntary tremors - and injured her right foot.
The sciatic nerve palsy was allegedly noted within days of the surgery in December 2009, and it was alleged she was not promptly recommended or treated for the right foot problem.
The hospital must also pay the girl's legal costs, according to settlement documents finalised by the court in the past week.
The legal action was launched a year ago.
The ACT public trustee will invest much of the girl's payout until she can access it at the age of 18, although money can be accessed for treatment costs and high-priority needs.
An ACT Health spokeswoman said the hospital was continually increasing safety for patients and in the unlikely event of an unexpected incident occurring, it told patients about errors and they were assisted.
She said the cost and number of payouts fluctuated yearly.
The spokeswoman said claims could take many years to resolve, with some dating back decades. However, from 2011-12 onwards, the ACT government's decision to roll out a blitz on civil cases has brought more matters through the system.
