AIBU to sue the NHS for medical negligence in which my Dad died.

[Fedupofdiets]

My beloved Dad died last year from multi-organ failure due to sepsis and DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) in an NHS hospital. We had take him to hospital with a deteriorating foot wound secondary to his diabetes and staff failed to spot the signs of sepsis and also failed to do a blood test and discharged him home despite a high blood sugar reading and known cardiac issues. He was readmitted 2 day later as he deteriorated and died from multi organ failure. I raised a complaint which then turned into an investigation from which I had the report in November. I have only recently been able to bring myself to read it - they admit that had had they treated him on the first admission there is a chance his death could have been avoided (the report is very long and very technical but I am a HCP so understand what happened).

I have contacted a Solicitor and given the info they have said that there is evidence that would support a claim of litigation against the trust. I am however in two minds whether to pursue it, on one hand I don't want to add to my pain (I will be the driving force behind the claim my siblings do not know although my Mother fully supports it). The other part of me wants my Fathers name on their lips - he was in his 60s and did not deserve to die alone without his family due to their negligence. My Mother is also working FT in a minimum wage care job (70 this year) and hell yes any money would be great for her.

So my question is WWYD leave it be or pursue a claim?

Absolutely go for it. Just because the government is trying to run the NHS in to the ground does not mean we should roll over and accept terrible levels of care. It is even more important to fight it now.

It’s really not that straightforward an issue in terms of one’s ’moral compass’ though.

Yes, a successful action will result in funds leaving the NHS. But not taking action means there’s no incentive for them to change and make things better, putting untold other patients at risk. What if someone else died because lesson’s aren’t learned?

Sadly, the ‘care’ offered by too much of the NHS these days is woefully inadequate and sometimes downright negligent and unsafe, as with this case. If we all keep shtumm and let them get away with it, nothing changes.

OP - I’m so sorry for your loss. I would personally want to take action, but it will take a lot out of you. So think carefully about how that might affect you. Maybe it would help to find out roughly how long a case would take and see from there?

So sorry for the loss of your father.
My df was operated on and to say they fucked it up is putting it mildly. He had an accident and broke his hip, they put the wrong screw into his hip/leg joint which led to complications and eventually him being bed bound and never walking again.
We sued the NHS, and although they admitted it quite quickly due to an inexperienced surgeon, df didn’t get much. We needed carers to come in and it ruined his life ☹️
Get some fight in you and get this through. It is stressful, you will feel the effects, but stick with it. They won’t learn otherwise.

👏👏👏👏 great post!

I know this but they failed to spot sepsis and did not commence him on any antibiotics despite a huge spread in the necrosis, odour, heat, pain, surrounding erythema tracking up his leg (had they bothered to do bloods they would have noted the raised CRP). When it was finally x-rayed a few days later they did find osteomyelitis he was rushed to theatre and had the wound excised back to bleeding but his BP dropped and HR increased so they had to stop. The intention was to stabilise him and take him back to theatre the next day for a full amputation but he died just a few hours later.

The NHS pays insurance for things like medical negligence. Any compensation will come from the insurers.

that’s appalling then …

OP I'm a HPC directly involved in diabetic foot care and I'd take this further because it should result in increased training etc and hopefully help other people.

We regularly see medical staff not familiar with diabetic foot disease miss things that can be life and limb destroying

You might save a life my complaining

I would sue. Sounds like you definitely have a claim.

However, no idea how this works... You've been to see a solicitor. Presumably you have to pay them to pursue it? Can you afford to financially? How long does the process normally take?

First of all I'm so sorry about your Dad. You definitely need to take this further and I hope you will. Care in the NHS is absolutely appalling at the moment and they get away with it because people don't like to complain. Sending virtual hugs and wishing you strength.

if finance is an important factor, what figure would make it worthwhile? I don’t mean to be horrible but once in the realm of litigation, they could potentially bring in a financial assessor who literally values your father’s economic worth. It is an incredibly brutal process and if someone has significant comorbidities and low future earning potential (you don’t say if your dad was working or past retirement age) the figure can sometimes be shockingly low

Op my mum died last year under similar circumstances, internal investigation launched by the hospital itself, admitted errors in care. Complaint submitted which supported errors.

I have been told by 3 medical negligence solicitors that any attempt to sue would not be financially worth it - my mum was retired, 75 and had no dependents, and a limited lifespan due to co-morbidities. To be told your mum's death despite admitted errors in her care would not result in a 'worthwhile' claim is brutal.

There is the option to claim for funeral costs, which whilst comes nowhere close to 'making up' for the horror of her sudden and unexpected death at the hands of the nhs, would treat us to a good holiday to remember her.

You might have more of a claim as your mum was dependent on your dad and his income. Definitely worth a phone call or two to a medical negligence solicitor. Good luck.

But the xray is the red herring. It’s the extent of the soft tissue infection with necrosis and cellulitis than meant he needed to go to theatre

100% pursue it. Its not just a simple mistake. It's multiple errors made by multiple health professionals who are not following protocols. I put in a complaint a few years back against my local hospital and it was taken seriously and changes where made. If people don't speak up these things will keep happening to others. I'm really sorry for the loss of your dad x

Just do it. Gratitude for suboptimal standards because the NHS is "free" and they are all under pressure is misplaced.

I think you should: your mother has been left in a financially difficult position on top of the terrible emotional toll.

Yes it's expensive but expensive things mean people are incentivised to make these changes at a time when energy is thin on the ground.

Do it. Sue them. There needs to be accountability. I feel safer knowing that there are people that pursue cases of medical negligence and push for change. Yes, the NHS is underfunded, but doing nothing won't make things better.

If you said he was in his 90s I would say leave it, but he was relatively young to die and may have had more years left to enjoy life. You mention the money might help your mum, so I think for her it would be worth the additional stress this will cause you. I’m a nurse too btw.

If the issue is he wasn't fit for discharge, I would complain / sue. I feel we see this more nowadays being pushed home too quickly from the management side- or maybe the consultant made a poor decision (? Had he had up to date bloods , was his NEWS normal?) and the consultant should be more cautious.

The NHS is broken atm. Badly run and mis managed. Only by pursuing this via the courts will something be done. I’m not usually one for advocating negligence claims for money, but as regards the NHS, these sort of errors are becoming a regular thing and I really think you should take it as far as you can, otherwise you might regret not having done so further down the line when you read about it happening to someone else.

And yet he was sent home without a second glance.

My Grandad died after being given the wrong medication by a community nurse- we decided not to sue as ultimately my grandma felt no amount of money would bring him back and secondly she didn’t want to remove money from the NHS that could be used to care for someone else. My Mum agreed with her but I know other relatives didn’t.

The nurse was referred to the NMC and was struck off the register - the Trust made some changes to procedures and I insisted on an update a year after the incident as its okay to say they will change something but I wanted to know whether the change has been sustained and what difference it has made/ impact it had on patients.

Its such a difficult situation one which I hope not too many find themselves in - I am so sorry for your and your family’s loss and you just need to do what is right for you - take care.

We are in the middle of this with our NHS trust for our son. The solicitor is dealing with all of it and so far has been ok. Was initially difficult pulling all our information together, conversations we had, dates etc but once that was done it's been down to the solicitor to manage. They have admitted liability and said they will learn from it but I call BS and I'm not just taking that, our son nearly died because of their negligence. I would do it

Apologies, I read your last post. I think diabetic feet are difficult to manage well and quite often poorly managed. I would sue. I always get the Endocrine consultant to see ours, and often you also need ortho and vascular. There is also a specific abx regime for diabetic foot infection ( severe) and for osteomyelitis.
Often the ortho docs won't operate without a vascular input. That's fine, just illustrating its complex.
I would sue and it might result in better care pathway x

If the solicitor thinks there is enough to start the case, I'd go for it. Best case scenario, it changes protocols/checks/policies so that no one else has to go through what your family has.

Absolutely do it, otherwise things will not change.
The hospital has a separate budget for negligence payouts and the money won’t affect frontline services.