AIBU to consider legal action after admitted hospital negligence?

[BillyNotQuiteNoMates]

I don't want to go into too much detail, to avoid "outing" myself, (name changed) but a close family member passed away recently, in hospital. We know there was serious negligence. The hospital have admitted this, and I have been advised in a document from the NHS to contact a lawyer. My problem is that other family members are adamant that they do not want to know what happened or pursue any action, so I can't speak to them about it. While "money" is always "useful", I don't WANT it, I just don't want anyone else to go through what my family have. I have been advised that sueing is the most effective way of forcing changes. So, should I sue (NBU), and if I do, what should I do with any financial payout?
For poll purposes
Sue ... YANBU
Don't sue ... YABU

I really don’t agree with this. If for example the OP is a child of the person who died, and the letter was written to a different child or even to the surviving spouse there is no reason why she should not take her own decision on whether to claim. OP already said she is in a position to be able to claim, which means she would have to be a close relation or be a dependent of the deceased. The fact that other family members may make a different decision does not mean she shouldn’t take action if she wants to.

OP, I would say the process is likely to be emotionally draining, take a lot of time and possibly financially difficult (at least temporarily). But I definitely agree that taking legal action is by far the best way to force the hospital to make real changes. So if it will give you some comfort and closure then go for it. But try not to lose years of your life pursuing it, I doubt your loved one would have wanted that.

Thank you

I think you need to reread my post

I am saying that if the letter is addressed to the OP, then she should do whatever she thinks is right

The letter wouldn’t be addressed to just one child

I have explained that I have the legal "right" to sue. I am simply asking whether it is morally right to do so.

I did read it. You said it was up to the person the letter is addressed to. I don’t agree.

Thank you. I really appreciate your comment.

Fair enough

Sue if it's the best way to make relevant changes to the NHS.

Donate the money to a relevant health charity.

I would say yes, go ahead as long as there is no huge cost to you (a) financially or (b) in terms of your mental health. If you are going to do it to benefit others then you should not be negatively impacted.
I would be clear from the outset that any financial compensation would go to charity. I would not contact a lawyer as you are not doing it for the money and you said the letter said to get legal support because otherwise the claim would be capped. But the process would still go ahead, lessons would be learnt and you could donate the money to either a charity that is linked to what the claim is about (so for example if your relative died due to issues with their heart donate to the BHF) or donate to a charity you know they supported.

I would also be mindful of my own mental health throughout the process; you will still be grieving for example, and be willing to withdraw if the impact on me was too much.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Who the letter is addressed to, is irrelevant. There are people who can instigate a claim, and people who cannot. All you need to know, is that i could do so, if I chose to.

I've not voted one way or the other.
I'd say whether you sue or not would very much depend on the family dynamics and the risk of potentially causing a family fallout, which only the OP can really judge.

If the OP does choose to sue then it could result in a court case which would discuss all the medical details along with all the attendant publicity that may bring. If other members of the family don't want that then that may bring about a rift that would be difficult to heal....

I think if the next of kin does not want to sue then you do not have a moral right to do so. If you are say one of a number of the siblings then I think you should do what the majority of people want to do.

If you go against the majority will of the family, are you prepared to deal with the fallout of that?

Who told you that this is the best way to change things? I’d assume a solicitor who has some skin in the game, a no win no fee potentially?

You can ask for a formal patient safety investigation, can request an investigation report, if you truly are only concerned about this not happening to any other families then as well as the hospitals reviews you could involve the CQC and ICB.

I wouldn’t storm ahead with suing if it is not what all relevant parties want- it sounds like as a family you have been through enough without adding more stress and upset if it is not a unanimous decision. There are other ways to exact change without dragging a grieving family through the gory details.

Honestly, I don't know. I DO know that my relative would not have wanted family relationships to be affected. So, thank you for raising that aspect.

not sure that’s quite the same as admitting negligence. Can you afford to lose more than you might gain?

Did the nhs open the investigation because it had life tidied possible negligence itself? Or did you / family report and then investigation progress from there?

If you don't need the money and you have concerns about the Trust spending their budget on payoffs rather than on improving care, then the fact that they admitted liability already (hopefully) means that they put processes in place to make sure the incident is not repeated.
If your "morally right" question refers to how the rest of your family feels, then your opinion is just as important as theirs. They don't need to be involved of they don't want to. You can split the money between them and they can refuse it when the time comes. In which case, you can make a decision of whether to spend it on a new house, donate to a charity or even back to the Trust.

Exactly

admitting mistakes
is categorically NOT an admission of negligence

This is what I was going to point out too. Admitting mistakes were made and that there were failings in care is not at all the same as admitting actual medical negligence.

If there are lessons to learn, they have been. The NHS loves to shame their staff and then look away.
Any money comes from the litigation fund and has no effect on lesson learning, it will just make you richer.
And it really does belong to the deceased's estate morally.

The question of morals is a tricky one. I’d say in the interest of justice yes I would sue, because my loved one should still be here and people will suffer their loss.

There should be mechanisms to prevent any recurrence, so suing shouldn’t be the only means to achieve that but it may be the most effective.

I would weigh up the ongoing distress that might be caused by revisiting this through the legal process, and any impact on family relationships along with the time it will take for you to pursue it. If you have it in you to fight it, then I would.

Out of curiosity and no judgement I am genuinely curious, how would a pay out give any justice to a family grieving a loved one? They will still be grieving, no money is going to bring that person back, nobody will be any less devastated over the loss with extra money in the bank, where is the justice in money in this situation?

An option would be for you to speak to a solicitor to get a bit more information about the process and the time frame for making a claim - for personal injury I think 3 years?
It may be that the other relatives will change their view over time and you could hold off for a while.
I’m so sorry:-(

What would you do with the money if you did sue.