HOSPITAL chiefs have been ordered to pay a disabled woman £500,000 after a district nurse failed to properly diagnose infected pressure sores.

Angela Banks spent more than two-and-a-half years in hospital and was forced to have a section of her femur removed after the sores on her buttock sent an infection spreading through her thigh and pelvis.

It left her with a wound the size of two clenched fists. She spent more than 30 months receiving treatment at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary and underwent an operation to rid her body of the infection.

Now the 47-year-old, who was born with spina bifida, has secured the payout after medics admitted they had failed to spot the infection.

Last night Ms Banks, who lives in Heaton, Newcastle said: “Being in hospital for two-and-a-half years was worse than being in prison – it was soul destroying. I couldn’t go out, I couldn’t do anything.

“When I first came home, I was depressed because I live on my own and it was difficult not having anyone around. I didn’t go into this looking for money. I wanted them to admit they were wrong – it was never about the money.” Ms Banks was born with spina bifida, a congenital defect of the spine, and all her life has required a wheelchair to help her move around her home.