This case was brought against the hospital by
the children of the deceased. The action arose after the death of
their mother, following a cardiac arrest in the ambulance on route
to the local hospital.
The children were aged 19 and 17 at the date
of their mother's death. Their mother was unmarried and not working
at the time of her death and aged 40.
Their mother had undergone a laparotomy
following diagnosis of a subphrenic abscess. During surgery she was
found to have peritonitis. She was discharged home a few weeks
after surgery. Six weeks later she began to suffer severe abdominal
pain and she was taken by ambulance to the same hospital's Accident
and Emergency Department.
Despite the recent history of previous
surgery, the focus of the hospital's investigations was on the
possibility of a kidney stone. She was sent home on antibiotics and
painkillers and advised that they thought she had passed a kidney
stone(s).
The previous significant medical history of
intra-abdominal sepsis was not taken into account. Over the next 10
days, she continued to suffer severe abdominal pain and there was
no improvement in her condition. Ten days after her discharge, an
ambulance was called again to take her back to the Accident and
Emergency Department, but she sadly died in the ambulance before
she arrived at the hospital.
After their mother's death her children wrote
a letter of complaint to the hospital. At a meeting with the
hospital it was admitted that "fundamental mistakes" were made with
regard to the care of their mother.
We were instructed 2 years after the death and
we invited the hospital to make an immediate admission of
liability. A letter formally admitting liability was received a few
months later. A letter was sent to the hospital making an offer to
settle the claim less than a year after we were instructed.
On behalf of the mother's estate a claim was
made for her pain and suffering and loss of expectation of life.
This was realistically valued at £5,000.00. Funeral expenses were
claimed in the sum of £1,200.00 plus the costs associated with a
memorial stone were claimed in the sum of £1,000.00. A claim was
made for the additional care that the deceased required for the 11
days post discharge and up to her death.
A claim was also made for the loss of mother's
services. Both the children were no longer in full-time education
and lived with their mother before her death. It was accepted that
they were both approaching adulthood but a claim was made because
it was argued that a mother's services still continue past the age
of 18.
An award of £1,500.00 for each daughter was
claimed. This would have been much higher had the children been
younger. There was no financial dependency. The children claimed
damages for minor to moderate psychological injury. They had been
particularly traumatised by seeing the condition of their dead
mother at the hospital. Both had suffered depression mostly
resolved at time of settlement. An award of £3,125.00 was claimed
on behalf of each child.
The matter settled for £16,000.00 of which
approximately £5,000.00 represented a sum for the mother's pain and
suffering, £6,250.00 for the psychological injury of the children,
£3,000.00 for loss of mother's services. The balance represented
costs of the funeral expenses, memorial stone, care and
flowers.
At our specific request, the Trust apologised
to the family in writing following the settlement.
Jacqui Hayat
Hodge Jones Allen