Oli Coppock at a National Trust property
Oli Coppock attended Warrington Hospital A&E complaining of feeling dizzy and sick with a severe headache.
But despite file notes showing he had had recent brain surgery and radiotherapy weeks before, he wasn’t given a CT scan and doctors dismissed him as having a virus, simply advising him to take paracetamol.
Oli later had a respiratory arrest and was left with inoperable brain stem damage. As a result of the NHS negligence, he was later diagnosed with ‘locked in syndrome’ and has remained in hospital or a specialist neurological home care since.
An Internal Patient Safety Incident Investigation carried out by the hospital in December 2024 outlined a catalogue of failings and admitted the CT scan should have happened which would likely have revealed the fluid on his brain; the cause of the brain damage. If discovered, the fluid could have been easily drained leading to a quick recovery and normal life.
Tanzeela Aslam, Partner and Head of Clinical Negligence at Express Solicitors said:
“Oli’s case illustrates how preventable errors within the NHS can have devastating and life-changing consequences for individuals and their families.
“The impact of the initial failings was further compounded by delays in the defendant admitting wrongdoing following submission of the claim, despite an internal Trust investigation already finding the standard of care fell below the required standard.
“During this time Oli was deprived of access to funds for essential therapies and treatments that could have improved his quality of life.”
Oli’s father Stephen said Warrington Hospital bosses were happy for his son to ‘waste away’ in an independent rehab centre for nearly a year following the report before finally admitting wrongdoing.
Stephen said:
“Warrington should hold their heads in shame. As far as I am concerned, they destroyed my boy by failing to do the only basic CT test and now he is a shell of his former self. They robbed him of his life. Every day is like a lifetime for him as his mind is still completely fine and he knows exactly what is going on but his body can’t respond.
“Oli is only in this position because of their failings in the first place and for them to starve him of any stimulation or specialist rehab equipment which would have made his life slightly bearable for so long is unforgivable.
“He has zero quality of life. I fear the damage done is irreversible. He should have had access to specialist rehab from day one.”
North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust which runs Warrington Hospital has now taken full liability for what happened to Oli and, after court approval, is arranging for an interim payment to help pay for specialist care equipment and treatment.
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