Thompsons Solicitors has secured more than £12,000 in compensation for a patient who was left in pain and discomfort when manufacturers provided him with defective medical equipment.

The 66-year-old from Cheshire, who has had a stoma since 1986, started using Pelican Healthcare Limited’s Pelican Select Convex Drainable Pouches after he had 80cm of his small intestine removed in 2003.

After a year of trial and error he found the siting of his stoma meant the Pelican pouches were the only kind which fitted without leaking.

After using the pouches for three years he found he only needed to change them three to four times a day, taking on average around five to 40 minutes at a time allowing him to lead a fairly active life.

But in 2007 they started to leak meaning burning stomach acid infected the stoma leaving it inflamed and painful.

The bags would often leak when he least expected it, sometimes whilst he was out in public or in bed covering him and his clothes in the contents of the bag.

Problem caused patient to be bed ridden

The problem became so bad that he had to change the pouches up to 15 times a day and he was bed ridden.

He said: “It is not an exaggeration to say that during the period when these pouches were leaking, my life was a living hell. I was constantly in pain from the burning around the stoma site. In addition, I spent most of my time attempting to clean myself off as a result of either a defective pouch, or a perfectly good pouch which would not stick because of the effect of defective pouches. I was completely bed ridden.”

The client tried to resolve the case informally but when Pelican offered to settle the case for just £1460 he decided to instruct Thompsons Solicitors. Thompsons settled the claim for almost ten times as much.

Thompsons’ investigations found that Pelican had previously used another manufacturer’s pouches but when in 2007 they started manufacturing the pouches they experienced problems with the glue on the bags.

Michael Burrell from Thompsons Solicitors said: “I am pleased we have been able to settle this claim on behalf of our client. The defective pouches left him in severe pain and discomfort during the year he was using them. He suffered real emotional anguish and extreme embarrassment when the pouches leaked in public.

“The final settlement makes clear why it is worth having independent specialist solicitors when fighting a claim like this. This client would have received just £1,460 in compensation had he accepted Pelican’s initial offer – not even enough to cover the cost of the bedding and clothes ruined by the failed pouches.”