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

Friend has just won a. Huge case against the nhs. They missed sepsis which sent her into heart failure which she’ll need a transplant.

it took years. Emotionally broken. Yes she’s now got no money worries ever. But……was it worth it?

My mum died as a result of hospital negligence at 76 - they did their own investigation after her (unexpected) death during chemo and found a catalogue of mistakes that lead to her death.

I was advised by a number of solicitors that as I suffered no financial loss (I was not a financial dependent) that any claim would be unsuccessful - there could possibly be a case to cover funeral expenses but that was it. In UK law there is no way to sue for this sort of thing unless you have suffered 'material' loss.

Sorry about your relative op. It's spectacularly shit x

You don't have to respond to me, I'm just offering some information that might help you.

Medical negligence solicitors are currently really busy, as people try to sue for anything.

Your best chance to get them to take on your case is if there is a clear case of negligence, AND the person who died left dependents behind (i.e. there is financial need brought about by their not being here anymore).

An elderly person with fully grown adult children will not be taken on as a case.

It's all about the money, unfortunately.

It's terrible when patients suffer from deliberate harm or incompetence but maybe suing for money is only appropriate if it's paid directly to the patient or their dependents for future care. I'd rather see the incompetent and often deceitful staff lose their jobs.

The money for any given medical negligence pay out does not come from the trust. The NHS is insured for situation like this. I was awarded a payout about 10 years ago when mistakes were made with my care.

I would agree that getting them where it hurts - in the wallet - is the best way to force process change in NHS.

Otherwise things are quietly swept under the carpet.

But the 'board' or whatever will still come under scrutiny. Just because the payout doesn't come from that money (and that's good) the fallout from the insurance company needing to payout will still force more change than letting the issue quietly disappear.

I am sorry about the loss of your relative. The likelihood of a significant payout probably partly depends upon whether your relative had any financial dependents. The UK doesn’t really do emotional pain and suffering for relatives payouts. Of course, you could still pursue it, as long as you went into it realistically. My grandma’s death was almost certainly significantly related to NHS negligence, though not I think gross negligence. And to add insult to injury they issued the death certificate, when there were various factors that should have meant a referral to the coroner. I did raise this with the rest of the family, but the consensus between her closest relatives was that she would have hated it if anyone had made a fuss. So we didn’t. I think it is important for the family to come to a consensus. I hope you find the best way forward for you and your relative’s other loved ones.

That's what I asked

I could never sue the NHS, my payback would be assurances that changes were set in place, not just talked about but actually enforced.

If a trust accepts care played a role in death and you are in England there will be an inquest process. That will look at care and any changes needed to prevent the same in the future.

Hospital investigation reports often accept failings, it is a requirement of them. They sometimes accept that the failing caused or contributed to harm of a person.

I have never seen a letter admitting civil liability outside of a claim having been issued.

Is it a PSII/PSERF investigation?

No one can tell you what to do but in England the coronial system would answer many of your questions.

Do you think the deceased person, ( unclear how you are related to him or her), would want you to do this ? If you're unsure I don't think you should do it. It's obviously going to cause a lot of ill feeling with other family members. I just don't think you will feel it was the right thing to do in the end.

And if you sue, perhaps it will stop another family losing their loved one

this is not about morals, this is about righting a wrong. Your relative, your family were let down through negligence

the nhs has insurance, specifically for this reason. Nothing changes if the change isn’t forced through action like this

you’re not asking for the rest of the family to do anything, you’re asking for the NHS to take this seriously and fix it

they won’t fix anything unless forced to do so

From the sounds of it, mistakes have been admitted but categorically not negligence

The nhs does not change because people ask it to. It’s a rambling mess of administrative bureaucracy and incompetence driving under supported medical care teams.

sueing is only way anyone in nhs upper management takes any action

The NHS pays out more in maternity negligence cases than it spends on maternity care. A sorry state of affairs.

My MIL died due to hospital negligence. We did not sue the hospital, but did insist on an inquest to know what happened, and requested to know what procedures they were putting in place to make sure it didn't happen to anyone else. And more importantly an apology.

I would only sue the NHS if I had increased costs because of their negligence (eg birth injuries that mean additional physio, housing, mobility costs for a child), or if I was intent on giving the money back into healthcare (most likely an NHS charity).

Nobody wins when you sue the NHS, as if you do it to make sure it never happens again, there is then less money to make sure that happens as the money is in your bank account.

But I wouldn’t judge anyone for making a different decision.

My late husband died in hospital, and I complained about their neglect and negligence.

After months, I got an admission.

Everyone must do their own thing, but I chose not to sue. I’d got the acknowledgement of their lack of care and inappropriate treatment, , and I was too distraught to want a legal case.

I couldn’t have cared less about how suing might affect the NHS. I just couldn’t cope with any more trauma.

It's standard to advise people at the end of a formal complaint about potential next steps for redress. So you won't have been 'advised to sue' - these will be standard paragraphs.

I assume that the formal complaints process has completed? Are you happy that lessons have been learned, changes made, and the events will not happen again to another patient?

If not, what else do you want the Trust to do?

Because the trust who caused the death have to be investigated. Those who contributed to the death will know. There will be questions to be answered. This is why I am suing the NHS trust that caused the death of my Father.

I would consider suing OP if you have already had an admission of liability (ie negligence AND causation). The trust may admit negligence but say the negligence did not cause or contribute to the death. This is very common. You would then have to prove causation which would require experts on your side etc.
Difficult to say without seeing the correspondence from the hospital.
I don’t see that there is a moral reason not to, quite the opposite

Unfortunately not. The policy "changes" they have said they would be putting in place are word for word the from their policy documents dated 4 years ago. So those policies already existed and were not followed.

I suppose the question is: what outcome do you want?

People usually want things to change. Is that what you want?

If policies were not followed, have they said why, and what action will be taken to rectify that? Was it an individual's fault or something systematic?

Regarding suing, IMO the list of legal cases is just another report that senior managers have to read. There's usually one or two people dealing with the legal cases and they are quite siloed. The complaints process tends to be more robust in terms of what senior management see and what changes are made.

I’m sorry you find yourself in this position, OP. When I needed to make a similar decision I was advised to have a look at the Law Society’s list of accredited clinical negligence solicitors which you can find if you scroll down a bit here https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/career-advice/individual-accreditations/clinical-negligence-accreditation/.

All the best.