Key facts
- Oli Coppock suffered a cardiac arrest and near-complete paralysis after being sent home from Warrington Hospital's A&E without a brain scan.
- The North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust accepted a breach of duty for failing to order a CT scan.
- Clinical negligence claims related to A&E care in England have increased by 41% over the past five years.
- A&E is now the largest category for clinical negligence claims, with over 1,623 cases in 2025-26.
- The value of A&E-related claims exceeded £550 million last year.
- Experts attribute the rise in claims to increased pressure and delays in emergency departments.
A 32-year-old man, Oli Coppock, has been left in near-complete paralysis after a decision not to order a brain scan at Warrington Hospital's A&E department led to a preventable cardiac arrest. His father, Stephen Coppock, stated that the hospital failed to perform basic checks, despite his son's history of a brain tumour and multiple sclerosis.
Oli had attended the emergency department in May 2024 with severe headaches and dizziness. After assessments, he was sent home without a brain scan. A week later, he suffered a cardiac arrest due to fluid buildup on his brain. He is now being cared for in a neurological rehabilitation unit, communicating only through blinking.
The North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust, which operates the A&E department, has accepted a breach of duty for not ordering a CT brain scan. The trust issued an apology, acknowledging the distress and lasting impact on patients and their families. An interim damages payment has been agreed, though Oli's solicitor highlighted that the more than two-year delay in reaching this point has deprived him of funds for therapies that could have improved his quality of life.
This case is one of a growing number of clinical negligence claims in England related to A&E care. BBC analysis reveals a 41% increase in such cases over the past five years, with A&E now being the largest area for these claims. Experts and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine attribute this rise to increasing pressures and long delays within emergency departments, where one in 10 patients have recently waited over 12 hours. The value of these claims exceeded £550 million last year. NHS England noted that A&E waiting times are improving and that many claims relate to older cases.