The High Court in Birmingham has awarded £3.2 million to a man whose meningitis was missed by NHS staff when he was 12 years’ old, resulting in him being left severely brain damaged.

The Daily Mail reports that 20-year-old Mark Thomas from Walsall in the West Midlands has the mind of a child and virtually no short-term memory – he also suffered a stroke and lost the use of the right-hand side of his body, meaning he will require constant care for the rest of his life.

Doctors failed to spot that an ear infection Mr Thomas developed when he was 12 had spread to his brain. They also failed to diagnose the infection from the classic symptoms of meningitis – an aversion to bright lights, severe tiredness and a stiff neck. Mark was sent home from hospital without staff passing on the results of blood tests to his parents, David and Elaine Thomas.

The court heard how antibiotics might have prevented Mr Thomas’ disabilities had they been given to him soon after he began presenting symptoms of meningitis.

Mr Thomas had suffered a series of ear infections in the six weeks prior to his developing meningitis in February 2002.

His GP saw him on several occasions but his parents took him to Walsall Manor Hospital on 9 February, 2002, from where he was sent home.

After five days, his symptoms became more severe and the family returned to the hospital, where a nurse told them they were using A&E services ‘inappropriately’. They refused to take Mark home and demanded a second opinion – it was then that the results of the blood tests were reviewed and doctors diagnosed meningitis, but by this time the infection had attacked Mark’s brain.

Health chiefs at Walsall NHS Hospital Trust admitted liability for the errors. Chief executive of the trust, Sue James, said:

'We wish to apologise again to Mark and deeply regret the delay in diagnosing his condition.’

The settlement will pay for Mark’s care for the rest of his life – he will never be able to work or live alone and is currently cared for by his parents.

Mark’s mother Elaine Thomas said:

'My son had to learn to walk again, eat – it was just like having a baby again. If the doctors had done their job properly and acted more quickly, Mark would now be living a completely normal life.’

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