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?

i’d sue

in fact i have unwell family member with terminal illness who i intend to sue nhs over - now not the time

i know the staff didn’t mean to make mistakes

but in any job, mistakes reported repeatedly lead to pressures and change from above

that’s why i will act when. the time comes

nhs is a disgrace

i’d much rather they get rid and i use my tax to pay for private care

Disgraceful comment . The people "robbing the NHS" are the government through chronic underfunding

I think most people who sue the nhs really put s great deal of though and moral wrangling into it. It's something a friend has done. Thought it over for over a year a d was going to drop it. She didn't need or want the money. She won her case and it changed nhs guidelines on her procedure. Lots of woman had the same side effects. But my friend stopped this being a possibility. Hopefully a common event is now a never event. It's not a bad thing. One Surgeon says "no this can never happen" , then that follows you around. This is not possible, it's not possible. Then you almost die of that impossible complication. Then you find out there's ten of cases just like your "not posdible" outcome? In some cases it's absolutely the right thing to do. No one lost their job, no revenge, just better practice that ripples out.

Suing is the only way things might improve

I don't think you would be unreasonable to sue but you have to keep in mind that lot of the time only the solicitors win. You might win and get compensation but it will likely come at a cost of time and having your dad and your family drag through mud.

I am former clinician and now work around mortality picking cases for further review. Most of the times when I have found a case where I feel things didn't go well, the review comes back with no concerns. That doesn't mean that there were no issues, just that the decisions made can be justified based on what was documented. If the ED notes documented that there was signs of significant infection, obs were stable and your dad was safety netted then they can not only justify not admitting him or giving him antibiotics but also shift the blame to him and your family for not bringing him back sooner. They will use his poorly controlled diabetes not only to explain why he died, but to extrapolate to his character as someone who doesn't take care of themselves, and to explain that his life expectancy probably wasn't great either (even though no one has a crystal ball). It is not fair but that is how the legal system works and unless the trust thinks they don't stand a chance then it is going to litigation which you may lose (costing you money for solicitor) or win a sum of money that might not be worth it.

Not that it should impact our decision but nhs is notorious for trying to shift blame to individual clinicians when the true problem is lack of staff, beds and other resources and having to go through litigation when you were doing your best with what resources you had is soul destroying.

I'm sorry for your loss and I'm sorry there isn't a better way to get compensated and to make the trust acknowledge their failures.

The NHS needs to be held accountable for the negligence. I am so fed up of excuses being made for the NHS. The system as a whole does not work anymore and its time that people realised that. You can't just sweep negligence under the rung and pretend like its not a system wide issue.

They have insurance to cover this …..I would . I also lost my dad I think to negligence in the hospital. But I can’t prove it .

so yes I would take it further. I wish I had .

I am so sorry for your loss. Horrific circumstances.

Do it. Take them the full road.

Please make a claim. The NHS is insured for such cases. I lost a family member due to NHS failure in duty of care. I will never forgive the staff for their failings. They get moved onto different departments, re- training and carry on with the jobs and lives. You have a letter of apology. But, is it enough? It is not immoral to sue the NHS. A failure to provide care is immoral.

Suing feels like getting justice as it hits the Trust where it hurts, an investigation and an apology doesn't it is just bullshit. I know what it is like when a complaint comes in everybody just passes it around like a hot potato hoping they weren't involved in it and tomorrow it is forgotten, he is forgotten. I do want 'justice' I took my Dad to hospital to be cared for and yet their negligence very possibly killed him

I understand you are upset but you seem to think things will happen that won’t. No one will be ‘hit where it hurts’. There is an insurance and litigation budget that is set (nothing to do with pt care budgets). Your claim, successful or not, will basically not affect this budget at all. So you can win and claim you have ‘hurt them’ but it won’t effect anything one iota. Basically, you really won’t affect anyone on the clinical end much more than a complaint will. That’s because this really leaves the clinical sphere and gets dealt with by lawyers. An end result may be increased awareness, enhanced training etc, but that will be a bit down the line at which point no one will know it’s linked to your poor father, he has been forgotten, and most people who were involved in his care likely won’t even be there anymore but will have organically moved on meanwhile. So, there will be no ‘hitting where it hurts’ and likely little to no justice in the way you want, even if you do win a claim. That’s the brutal truth as sad as it is.

Also, please don’t think the above is a ‘do not take legal action’ spiel, it’s not that at all. It’s just setting expectations on your ‘justice’ angle.

This sounds so similar to the situation with my father this past summer. Hospital in Cambridgeshire.
I am so sorry for your loss, I was incredibly lucky that my Dad did come out after his second stay. If it sounds like the same hospital and you decide to sue please let know as I may have evidence of similar malpractice

Just a side point.
There's no other health system than the nhs. The private system is mainly a couple of sessions in a clinic from nhs consultants and some surgical procedures.
If it ' goes private', you'll have the same system but it costs the govt less money. Like the railways etc services farmed out.
What needs to happen is better funding and pay. The Tory govt have wound down beds and pay and recruitment but lie about it. Don't be fooled.

The foot wound was static, ironically he was booked in for a planned angiogram the day before his death for which he had waited months. My Mother rang me the morning I had him admitted to hospital the first time crying saying the foot had deteriorated. He literally could not have gone any sooner but thanks for your input.

@Jggg Thanks for this I can see exactly what you say happening. His poorly controlled diabetes does not mean he was not concordant with his treatment more that despite many different regimes it was just never stabilised. His sugars would be high then he would plummet to a hypo, 4 times a day insulin etc. There is evidence that bloods were requested on his initial visit but never done and that he had 2 assessments which failed to identify sepsis. He then went onto develop "Sepsis driven AF with rapid ventricular response". The structured judgment review stated "if the gentleman had been started on antibiotics on his first presentation to hospital he may not have become septic. It also found that if he had been operated on earlier it may have been a better outcome. Concluding that there is evidence of avoidability".

Thank you all so very much for all of the input I don't know yet which way to go I don't want to feel more angry than I already do and maybe going through the process won't help me heal rather drag out my grief. It is the injustice of losing him and him dying without us there - he was so loved and it cuts deep. Being a HCP I have always tried to give my patients a 'good death' yet I couldn't give that to my own Dad and that is the sting 😔

My father died and was not helped by NHS incompetence
I complained about his level of care during his stay and after he died
i had a meeting with the Trust and instead of holding their hands up and apologising they said he was very ill anyway
I successfully sued
not sure if it made any difference to the trust or me on reflection
I wanted some accountability and an apology, despite winning I don’t feel I got either

For all those saying that the NHS is insured, so insurers will pay any compensation, that’s not correct.

The government gives the NHS/trust its funding every year, the NHS then pays some
of this into a fund to pay any claims made. More claims = more money paid into fund.

The
Money is taken directly from the NHS budget, so does mean that less money
is available for other things.

So arguing that a faceless insurer pays compensation is wrong. We all pay for the NHS mistakes out of our taxes.

I’m not say don’t sue but when you say you want to hit them where it hurts
You won’t, if you sued me and took my life savings that would have a massive impact on me
the NHS has a team of people who deal with these cases the money would come from a central fund no individuals would feel the impact of suing on a personal level

Not RTFT yet so apologies if this has been raised already but can we please STOP with the whole 'the NHS don't care' 'care is appalling' 'the more bad press the better' - the NHS is on its knees because the Conservative government don't care!!! Not because the people who work their backsides off day in and day out don't care, they simply don't have the funding to do their jobs properly.

I work in mental health and part of my job used to be to write investment proposals for funding... I don't do that anymore as there is no funding to apply for, the government has stopped it entirely. We are supposed to run services and even save money on the same funding we've always had despite the huge increase in demand. And that's not to mention that all acute trusts got covid recovery funding yet mental health trusts didn't... despite covid impacting the nation's mental health possibly worse than their physical health.

@PawPrintsInMyPansies I'm sorry but that's not correct. The funding for care and services comes from a commissioning budget. Claims come from a claims budget. Completely separate.

@InAMess2023 the government funds the nhs. It’s allocates the funds to the nhs. The nhs then allocates this as needed. Yes, the budget is split up into salaries, facilities management, claims etc, but the more money is allocated to claims (or salaries etc) the less money is available for other things.

the NHS is self insured.

Do it OP.

No. Care isappalling. We do need the attitude to shift from angels doing their best, never complain, never question, to no this needs to be better. We need people to be angry about it, not accept it. Or nothing will change.

corridor care shouldn't be an accepted part of going into hospital with a medical emergency.

@PawPrintsInMyPansies still completely separate so ok

@ArnieLinson and what is the reason that care is appalling? People cannot do more than they are doing because there isn't the money to do so. No wonder staff are dropping like flies.

Then do something about it. Dont accept it.

@ArnieLinson oh yes I'm a secret billionaire who will throw all my money into the NHS. Wtf? I'm actually working in this area and trying my best to improve services but it's impossible without additional funding. What do I do... go marching up to number 10 and say to Rishi 'please sir can I have some more?'

I've never voted for this government and never will, I'm active in local politics and am hoping with a new government things will get better. Not sure how you think I'm able to have any influence on this 🤦🏼‍♀️