Our client, David*, ran his own business, and enjoyed playing tennis and walking his dogs. He was a loving, family-oriented and very hard-working man. David collapsed at home one morning, and was taken into Epsom General Hospital by ambulance. His face was dropping on one side and his speech was slurred, so he was believed to have a stroke. A CT scan confirmed that David had a small stroke in the right side of his brain.
David was admitted to the stroke unit and was given aspirin and an MRI scan, which confirmed the type of stroke he had. His ability to swallow and speak was affected, so he had a feeding tube inserted. He had some mild weakness on one side and had vertigo but his movement was not badly affected. Whilst David was in hospital, he had crackles in his chest and low oxygen levels in his blood and was diagnosed with pneumonia. Over the next 2 weeks and as the pneumonia started to clear, David was looking forward to having physiotherapy and getting his strength back to walk again.
However, despite the pneumonia seemingly improving, approximately 3 weeks after being admitted to hospital, David had another drop in his oxygen. The doctors queried whether he had a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lungs) and noted that a test needed to be carried out for this. Unfortunately, the test was never done. Instead, David was admitted to the respiratory ward and treated for worsening pneumonia with further antibiotics and suctioning.
A few days later, whilst on the respiratory ward, David had another deterioration in his oxygen levels and was struggling to breathe. Again, it was determined that a CT pulmonary angiogram should be done to check for pulmonary embolism, but this was not done. The chest x-ray did not show any evidence of worsening pneumonia, but David continued to receive treatment for it. David had a few days of improvement, and his family were told that he would shortly be able to start his rehabilitation. However, the next day David had a sudden cardiac arrest and sadly died.
A post mortem was carried out which confirmed that David had died from a blood clot.
How we helped
Jennifer Janes, clinical negligence associate at Enable Law, is acting on behalf of David’s family in this stroke negligence claim brought against Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust.
After initial investigations, we put forward our allegations that the hospital negligently failed to carry out the CT pulmonary angiogram to confirm a diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. Had these tests been done, David would have been diagnosed with pulmonary embolism and would have received anticoagulation treatment. This would have prevented the fatal pulmonary embolism a few days later.
In their response, the hospital admitted that they had been negligent, and that David’s death would have been prevented with appropriate treatment.
What does this mean for our client?
Although no amount of money or apology will be enough to compensate the family for the tragic loss of David, obtaining financial compensation will give them some financial security and allow them to deal with their loss without needing to worry about the financial implications David’s passing has had on them.
How we can help people affected by a missed stroke diagnosis
If you, or your loved one, have experienced poor treatment at a hospital which has had an impact on your lives we may be able to help you. To have a free confidential discussion with a member of our team call us on 0800 044 8488 or fill in our contact form. We will help you understand if what happened was negligent and guide you through the process of making a claim. You have nothing to lose and there is no obligation to go ahead with a claim even if we advise you that what happened was likely negligent.
*name changed for anonymity
