A&E failed to get the basics right. Now my son’s life is ruined at 32

When Oli Coppock arrived at Warrington Hospital’s emergency department in May 2024, he had severe headaches and dizziness. He had recently undergone treatment for a brain tumour, but after tests and assessments, staff sent him home without carrying out a brain scan.

A week later, fluid built up on his brain and he suffered a cardiac arrest. He did not recover and now lives with almost complete paralysis. He was 32.

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Angry and broken.

Oli’s father, Stephen, says he understands the pressure facing emergency department staff, but cannot understand why doctors did not order a scan given his son’s medical history. Oli had also recently been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Before the incident, his family says, he was otherwise fit, positive about the future and working in digital marketing. He enjoyed going to the gym and DJing in his spare time.

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We are deeply sorry that Mr Coppock did not receive that standard of care that should be expected and we recognise the distress and lasting impact on patients and their families when harm is caused.

North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Warrington’s emergency department, has accepted that it breached its duty by failing to order a CT brain scan. The trust said the scan would, on the balance of probabilities, have identified the fluid build-up and led to surgery to address it. “We are deeply sorry that Mr Coppock did not receive that standard of care that should be expected and we recognise the distress and lasting impact on patients and their families when harm is caused,” the trust said.

An interim damages payment has been agreed, but more than two years passed before the case reached that point. Oli’s solicitor, Tanzeela Aslam, says the delay deprived him of funds for therapies and support that could have improved his quality of life. She says the case reflects a wider problem in England’s emergency departments, where increased reliance on corridor care and mounting pressure have contributed to misdiagnoses, serious injuries and, in some cases, deaths.

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Oli's case illustrates how preventable errors within the NHS can have devastating and life-changing consequences for individuals and their families.

BBC analysis of NHS Resolution figures, published data and freedom of information requests found 1,623 A&E-related clinical negligence claims in England in 2025-26, compared with 1,151 in 2020-21. Emergency care is now the largest area by number of clinical negligence claims, and their value exceeded £550 million last year. Not every claim results in a damages payment.

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There has been an increased reliance on corridor care for patients, and we are seeing cases across A&E departments of misdiagnoses that have led to serious injury and in some cases death.