Dr. Maggie Bloom

Call:1994

Introduction and Contact details

Maggie’s work is exclusively in the areas of Clinical Negligence, Personal Injury, Mental Health and Coroner’s Law. She has been recognised as a leading junior clinical negligence practitioner by the Legal 500 since 2003 and by Chambers UK Directory. Before being called to the Bar, Maggie practiced as a medical General Practitioner for over 13 years in south London. She sat as a Deputy Coroner for Inner London North and later for Greater London North for over 11 years. She now sits on an ethics committee for a Ministry of Defence research establishment.

Tel:    020 7242 2523
Fax:   020 7691 1234
Email: maggie.bloom@hardwicke.co.uk

INSURANCE

Clinical Negligence

About 75%-80% of Maggie’s work is Clinical Negligence, where her medical qualification enables her to provide dual medical and legal insight into each case. She has experience of a wide range of clinical negligence cases but specialises in brain injury at birth. At present Maggie is instructed in about 34 cases of cerebral palsy caused by birth injury, or negligent treatment in the neonatal period. During the last 12-18 months she has settled liability in a number of cases and has settled damages (including lump sums and periodical payments) worth over 2 million pounds in 7 cases, including 2 cases in which awards of £7-8 million were made.

Examples of the cases Maggie has been instructed in during the last year are as follows:

Anaesthetic negligence: 2 cases of aspiration during anaesthetic as a result of the wrong mask being used, leading to a mild brain injury in one case and death in the other. Delivery of a baby under inadequate epidural anaesthetic, causing pain and psychological injury and anaesthetic awareness during abdominal surgery, causing psychological injury.

Orthopaedic negligence: Surgery to the wrong intervertebral disc. Negligent orthopaedic surgery to toes, feet, knees and hips, including one case in which a small fragment of surgical glove was left in a hip joint causing infection. Failure to diagnose a fractured sacrum. Two cases of delay in the diagnosis of a ruptured Achilles tendon. Delay in the diagnosis of tibial fracture. Negligent severing of the knee tendons in child with cerebral palsy, instead of lengthening, causing reducing mobility.

Psychiatric negligence: including suicide after refusal to admit a patient to psychiatric unit. Three suicides of patients detained in psychiatric units. Wrongly diagnosed gender dysphoria leading to inappropriate surgery.

Paediatric negligence: Delay in diagnosis of congenital hip dysplasia. Failure to diagnose retinopathy of prematurity leading to blindness. Extravasation of intravenous treatment in a newborn baby leading to tissue damage and scarring. Failure to diagnose a blocked shunt in a child with hydrocephalus, causing blindness.

Obstetric negligence: other then Cerebral Palsy (see above), four cases involving injuries to the mother sustained during birth and negligently treated leading to fistulae, incontinence and in one case a colostomy. Delayed diagnosis of premature rupture of membranes in pregnancy, leading to infection, choreoamnionitis and death of the baby.

General surgical negligence: Transection of the common bile duct. Unnecessary bowel resection due to misdiagnosis. Bowel perforation due to faulty laparoscopic diathermy scissors, unnecessary endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) leading to pancreatitis and death. Delay in diagnosis of a bleed after laparoscopic surgery leading to an infected haematoma and peritonitis. Surgical bowel perforation at open operation not diagnosed, leading to peritonitis, septicaemia and bowel resection.

Oncological negligence: Cases involving delay in diagnosis of bowel cancer, breast cancer and cervical cancer Cases involving unnecessary and inappropriate breast surgery and ovarian surgery as a result of misdiagnosis.

General Practitioners negligence: failure to diagnose and refer cases of coronary thrombosis and pulmonary embolus.

Ophthalmic negligence: Inappropriate laser eye treatment in previously damaged eyes, leading to poorer vision. Delay in diagnosis of glaucoma by optometrist and General Practitioner in an adult. Failure by a hospital to provide adequate treatment for diabetic retinopathy. Failure by an optometrist and a General Practitioner to refer a patient with glaucoma.

Pharmaceutical negligence: two cases of dispensing wrong medication.

Accident & Emergency negligence: missed diagnoses of fractures of a talar bone in the foot, scaphoid bone in wrist, the pelvis and several cases of missed ruptured Achilles tendons.

Plastic Surgical negligence: several cases of negligent plastic surgery to the face and abdomen.

Dental negligence: a number of cases of dental negligence, including a fracture of the tip of an endodontic file, which was left in the root canal.

Neurological negligence: incorrect diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy

Miscellaneous: Extravasation of intravenous chemotherapy treatment causing tissue damage in an adult. Misdiagnosis of hypothyroidism. Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) and psychological injury caused by the wrong dose of a botulinum injection being given for spasmodic torticollis (muscle spasm in the neck). Death in a patient with Myasthenia Gravis, as a result of a failure adequately to treat respiratory problems caused by fractured ribs after a fall. Several cases of delay in diagnosing tuberculosis, one case leading to spinal damage and paralysis.

Personal injury

Maggie has a wide ranging practice in all areas of personal injury, acting for both claimants and defendants. During the last year she has acted in claims involving road traffic accidents, accidents at work, occupier’s liability and public liability. She specialises in cases involving serious brain and spinal injuries.

Examples of some interesting cases in which Maggie has been instructed during this year are as follows:

Damage to mouth and oesophagus due to claimant with learning difficulties being given corrosive substance to drink in place of orange juice, while in the care of a local authority (recently settled for £720.000).

Severe damage to a child’s eye caused by another child in a school for children with special educational needs.

Several cases of employees injured in residential homes by residents with learning difficulties and personality disorders.

Sexual abuse of a child by her stepfather causing psychological injury.

A case involving the collapse of a wall injuring a number of young people queuing for a night club.

Two cases of E.coli infection and two of salmonella after eating in restaurants.

Professional Indemnity

In addition to her practice in clinical negligence (see clinical negligence) Maggie has acted in many cases involving solicitors’ and barristers’ negligence in the conduct of personal injury and clinical negligence cases.

BTE & ATE

Maggie regularly acts for claimants bringing injury claims funded by BTE policies and by way of conditional fee agreements for claimants backed by ATE insurance policies. She also represents claimants by direct access agreements in selected cases.

Employers’ Liability

Maggie has acted for claimants and defendants in cases involving a wide variety of injuries at work resulting from falls, faulty scaffolding and work equipment including orthopaedic injuries, burns, electrical burns and psychological injuries, including stress at work and death. An unusual case this year was a phlebotomist injured at work in a hospital by a patient, while trying to take a blood sample.

Occupiers’ Liability

Maggie has acted for claimants and defendants in cases involving a wide variety of injuries, including serious injury and death (see personal injury).

Medical Malpractice

In addition to her clinical negligence practice (see clinical negligence), Maggie has acted in a number of cases involving alternative medical practitioners including herbalists, laser therapists and chiropodists. An interesting case this year was a claim for temporary renal failure as a result of a herbal remedy dispensed in a high street shop.

Health & Safety

Many of Maggie’s personal injury cases involve issues of health and safety, as do many of the cases in which she represents clients in coroners’ courts (see personal injury and employers’ liability).

Product Liability

Maggie has acted in numerous cases involving personal injury due to defective products. During the last year cases have ranged from a defective washing machine leaking water, causing the claimant to slip fracturing her humerus and damaging her radial nerve leading to permanent disability and a defective surgical diathermy scissors causing injury to bowel.

Maggie has acted in many cases for insurers of Local Authorities, shops, offices and factory premises. She has also advised both claimants and defendants regarding coverage and policy interpretation issues, including medical insurance and professional indemnity coverage (see personal injury).

Road Traffic Accidents

Over the years Maggie has gained extensive experience of injuries in road traffic accidents both in civil proceedings and coroners’ courts. She frequently acts in cases of severe injury and fatality. During the last year she has acted in cases involving road traffic accidents causing orthopaedic injuries including severe spinal injures, serious head injuries and psychological injuries including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and personality change. She has also acted in 5 cases involving fatalities.

PUBLIC LAW

Inquests

Maggie’s experience of 11 years sitting a coroner and her extensive knowledge of coroners’ law enables her to provide representation of the highest quality at inquests. Clients frequently remark upon her sensitivity interacting with bereaved families which she attributes to her experience in medical general practice.

During the last year Maggie has been instructed to attend inquests involving, sudden post operative death in a young woman, the sudden death of a baby hours after birth, two suicides while the clients were detained in mental health institutions and a sudden death in hospital as a result of antibiotic allergy.

In the past she has represented the MOD at inquests relating to the deaths of soldiers in the Army Airborne Division. She is frequently instructed to represent the John Radcliffe Hospital and the West Midlands NHS Trust at inquests.

Maggie represented the family of Sally Witcomb at the inquest into her death. She died in Namibia while volunteering with Raleigh International and fell to her death from a zip line due to the use of the wrong type of karabiner.

Public Health

Maggie has advised Local Authorities regarding the lawfulness of their eligibility criteria for NHS rather than Social Services funding for long term care.

Other

Last year Maggie was engaged to represent a young athlete who was accused of drug taking, at a second testing at the WADA laboratory in Belgium, where her knowledge of biochemistry was very useful.

Publications

Maggie has contributed to the 3rd Edition of “Clinical Negligence” edited by Powers, Harris and Barton, 2008
Mason’s “Forensic Medicine for Lawyers” 5th Edition 3008, edited by Cowan and Hunt
Editor of Butterworths Health Services, Law and Practice 2003

Maggie has lectured extensively on
Severe Brain Injuries
Back Injuries
Many aspects of Clinical Negligence
Psychiatric Injuries
Coroner’s Law

 

• Clinical Negligence
• Professional Indemnity
• Road Traffic Accidents
• BTE & ATE
• Employers' Liability
• Occupiers’ Liability
• Medical Malpractice
• Health & Safety
• Product Liability
• Road Traffic Accidents
• Healthcare Law