Personal injury advice from
Thompsons Solicitors
Hospital Trust Finally Admits Liability in Clinical Negligence Case
8th January 2007
After almost seven years Mr Eastaff, whose wife Anna died in hospital in 2000, has won the fight to obtain an admission of liability from the Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust.
Medical Negligence
In March 2000 Mrs Eastaff was admitted to Barnet General Hospital due to abdominal pain. A CT scan was taken and showed obvious signs that her bowel was perforated, however the radiologist failed to report these, instead recording the results as normal.
Only a few days later Mrs Eastaff died due to the perforation of her bowel, which had still not been diagnosed or treated. Her husband was concerned that there had been clinical negligence on the part of the hospital staff, so initially made a complaint to the Trust as she had clearly been deteriorating over the weekend when few senior staff were on duty. He did not know that the CT scan had been misreported.
Complaint and Review
The Trust replied to Mr Eastaff’s complaint that every effort had been made to save his wife’s life. They also failed to forward a letter of discharge to Mrs Eastaff’s GP and it was six months before the results of the post mortem were sent.
Until December 2001 Mr Eastaff remained in correspondence with the Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals Trust, without any success. He contacted the Ombudsman in an attempt to resolve the matter and was told to carry on with local resolution.
His next course of action was to ask the Trust to investigate his wife’s death by arranging an independent review panel to look at the circumstances. He received no word about the investigation until October 2003 when they stated that, although the CT scan was misinterpreted, Mrs Eastaff could not have been saved in any event.
Following the review, the panel made some criticisms of the Trust and some recommendations for the future. These were ignored by the Trust and so Mr Eastaff had no option but to return to the Ombudsman. His complaint was eventually upheld by the Ombudsman in September 2005.
Legal Claim
Mr Eastaff then appointed our solicitors to assist him, who were able to obtain evidence showing that his wife would have survived had the scan been read properly. On this basis, a formal claim was entered in May 2006, which was never answered by the Trust.
Court proceedings were therefore issued in October 2006. The last date within which the Trust’s solicitors could file a Defence was 14 December, which was when they instead finally admitted liability.
Mr Eastaff’s solicitor commented: “Mr Eastaff has shown remarkable tenacity because throughout he believed that his wife should be alive today were it not for the incompetence of the doctors. Others would have given up, faced with the Trust’s lack of interest, straight answers or respect to Mr Eastaff and his wife.” She added “Mr Eastaff used all the alternatives to legal action available to him and received neither admission nor apology. You question whether anything would have happened here but for legal action.”
Mr Eastaff said: “I’ve been appalled by the behaviour of the Trust. It is one thing having to come to terms with the unexpected and unnecessary loss of a loved one, but no-one should have to endure the anguish piled on top by incompetent and seemingly disinterested administrators.”
This story was also reported in the national press, follow this link to see the article published by the independent.
Claiming Compensation
If you or a member of your family has suffered due to the negligence of medical staff, you may be entitled to claim compensation.
Contact The Claim Line for sympathetic, expert personal injury advice and assistance on 0800 0328511, or by completing a claim enquiry form online.
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