Cancer death leads to payout
It has been revealed that the family of a granddad who died due to medical negligence, has received a compensation claim.
The relatives of the deceased have been awarded £28,000 after he died due to a delay in his cancer diagnosis.
The patient, who died aged 70, was told that he had terminal lung cancer three years after he first reported his symptoms to doctors.
After his death occurred, his family continued the legal battle that he had started. As a result of their hard work, they have been compensated from two NHS trusts.
City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust admitted liability, after the victim’s daughter suggested her father would still be alive if doctors had acted quicker and without any failures.
The Hospital’s Negligence
Shockingly the case highlights a worrying rising trend in Great British hospitals. The lawsuit comes at a time when the Government's director of cancer services, Professor Mike Richards, revealed late diagnosis of cancer needlessly kills up to 10,000 people every year in the UK.
He blamed the ‘unacceptable’ situation on both GPs and patients who fail to seek medical attention in time. Sadly, this current claim will not be the last and many fear more complaints are still to come.
After being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in February 2007, the patient instructed lawyers to investigate a compensation claim against City Hospitals Sunderland about the delay.
A claim was also pursued against Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, after he was advised to stop taking medication he was prescribed after a heart attack so a biopsy to investigate his cancer could be carried out.
However four days later, the granddad suffered a second heart attack and his biopsy had to be delayed.
His daughter said: “He visited doctors on numerous occasions as he knew something more serious was wrong and although they found inflammation in his lung, dad was only referred to an oncologist in 2007. By this point the tumour was inoperable.”
She furthered: “We are pleased that both cases have now been settled. However, it has never been about the money. Dad wanted to make a stand against the hospitals if only to stop one more family from having to go through the unnecessary pain and suffering which we have had to face. We felt it was only right to continue the action in his memory.”
A spokesman for the Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust expressed their sympathy to the family and friends of the victim’s death.
A spokesman for City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust commented: “We are pleased that a resolution has been achieved in this very sad case.”
Stephen Winn, the lawyer who sought the family’s claim stated: “It is imperative that lessons are learnt and hospitals standards are improved to avoid any further cases like this.
“We are delighted with the outcome of both the compensation claims. It is, however, very unfortunate that Mr Brown did not live long enough to see the conclusion of the claims.”
Updated on 30/11/2009