Oli Coppock attended Warrington Hospital’s emergency department in May 2024 following recent brain tumor treatment, presenting with severe headaches and dizziness. Medical staff performed various tests and assessments but did not order a brain scan before discharge. One week later, fluid accumulation on his brain triggered cardiac arrest. He did not recover from this event and now exists in a state of near-total paralysis, requiring tube-assisted breathing, feeding, and toileting while communicating only through blinking.
Oli’s case represents one instance within a broader pattern of clinical negligence claims against emergency departments across England. According to BBC analysis of NHS Resolution data, A&E-related negligence claims numbered more than 1,623 in 2025-26, compared to 1,151 in 2020-21—representing a 41% increase over the five-year period. The total value of these claims exceeded £550m in the most recent year, with A&E now accounting for the largest volume of clinical negligence claims by area. The sustained rise has prompted concern among medical professionals, as the pattern differs from other hospital departments such as maternity and orthopaedics.
North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust, which operates Warrington’s emergency department, has acknowledged breaching its duty of care by failing to order the CT brain scan. The trust acknowledged that such a scan would likely have identified the fluid buildup and enabled preventive surgery. An interim damages payment has been arranged, though Oli’s legal representative noted the two-year delay in reaching this resolution prevented access to therapeutic interventions that might have improved his condition.
Medical experts attribute the rise in claims to operational pressures within emergency departments. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine linked increased claims to growing service demands and extended wait times. Recent data indicates one in 10 A&E patients waited more than 12 hours for treatment or discharge. However, clinical negligence claims remain relatively uncommon, occurring in approximately one per 17,000 attendances. NHS Resolution stated it was implementing measures to address the high claim volume and had published reports to facilitate organizational learning from clinical errors, which commonly include missed signs of patient deterioration, failure to order necessary diagnostic imaging, and diagnostic inaccuracies.
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