Widower receives £299,000 and apology in medical negligence claim against A&E

In February 2020, Mr M approached Co-op Legal Services following the tragic and untimely death of his wife. Mrs M had been pronounced dead by paramedics less than 24 hours after being discharged from hospital, after being assured that she was fine to return home. As a healthy individual with no prior ailments or health conditions, her death coming so shortly after discharge was understandably a shock. Something, clearly, had gone very wrong, and Mr M wanted to bring a medical negligence case against the hospital.

Why did Mrs M go to hospital?

In December of 2019, Mr M took his wife to see their GP. She had been suffering from considerable abdominal pain, vomiting, and had been unable to keep food down. Mrs M had no significant prior medical problems, so was advised by the GP to attend A&E. The GP forwarded a letter to the hospital to provide some medical context to her condition, and to ensure that she was properly examined.

Arriving at A&E, Mrs M was triaged was put forward for an X-Ray. Tests were conducted and she was admitted to the emergency surgical assessment unit. A few days later, Mr M was told that his wife was to be discharged and was likely just suffering from a viral infection. He asked if she was fit for discharge and was reassured that she was.

Mr and Mrs M returned home. Though her condition worsened as the day progressed – they continued in the knowledge that it was simply a viral infection. Despite the pain growing and Mrs M becoming weaker, they both went to bed. Mrs M awoke shortly after midnight in immense pain. An ambulance was called. By the time the paramedics arrived, Mrs M was already dead.

What had happened to Mrs M?

A post-mortem report revealed that the cause of death was a small bowel obstruction that the hospital had failed to detect. An investigation launched by the hospital themselves concluded that Mrs M should not have been discharged from hospital without a CT scan. A scan would have likely identified the bowel obstruction, for which she would have undergone emergency treatment. That treatment would almost certainly have saved her life.

A few months later, the widowed Mr M reached out to Co-op Legal Services. We conducted an initial assessment of his case and assisted in his writing of a formal complaint to the hospital. Afterwards, we entered into a no win no fee agreement with Mr M and our experienced medical negligence solicitor took on his case. Together, they began seeking justice for Mrs M’s death.

Our medical negligence solicitor gathered evidence and initiated legal correspondence with the hospital. After some back and forth, Co-op Legal Services were able to receive the following admissions from them: 1. Mrs M was inappropriately discharged. 2. 2. Further investigations should have been undertaken. 3. 3. Mrs M would not have died had procedure been followed.

What was the outcome of the case?

The Trust admitted liability, this prompted us to begin assessing the approximate value of Mr M’s case. We gathered evidence of past and future losses to all dependents to the claim, and consulted with a specialist barrister for further advice. Using all of the evidence and advice that we gathered, we created a “schedule of loss” for Mr M, which she submitted to the hospital’s legal representatives.

After extensive negotiations, Co-op Legal Services did not initiate court proceedings. Instead, we invited the hospital’s legal representatives to a mediation meeting to hopefully reach a resolution to the case. The meeting concluded with a settlement offer of £299,000.

Of the resolution offer, Mr M said:

“Thank you very much for helping us conclude this matter. On behalf of me and my family, we appreciate and thank staff, counsel, and Co-op Legal Services.”

Co-op Legal Services' Medical Negligence Solicitor, said:

“We are pleased that the matter settled in the way that it did – with an honest admission of wrongdoing and without the need to initiate court proceedings. I hope this outcome has helped Mr M attain some degree of closure from his tragic loss”

For more information about A&E Medical Negligence claims at Co-op Legal Services, please click here.

Other relevant case studies: